IP500 some phones boot, some do not

[gburna]

Hello!

I have a school network that I manage. I have inherited responsibility for an Avaya phone system since the original installing company closed.
It is an IP 500 with Manager 6.2 installed on an XP Pro computer.
There are about 55 extensions.
All phones are 5610 models.
There are 2 MAC address ranges on the phones, 0007 and 001B.
All 0007 phones work.
None of the 001B phones will register. They all hang on discover file server.

NO changes have been made to the network.
All phones of both MAC addresses worked almost 3 weeks ago.
There are no V-LANs.
The phones that work do not get an IP from my SonicWall so they must be getting them from the IP 500.
When I program ALL info statically into a phone, IP, mask, gateway, IP of file server and call server, the phones hang on Discover 192.168.2.XXX which is the file server IP
When I plug a 0007 phone into the same exact cat 5 cable as a non-working 001B phone, it boots fine.
When I plug one of each directly into one of my switches, 0007 boots, 001B hangs on discovery.
When the 0007 phone boots, it get an IP in less than 4 seconds. The IP is from a range excluded from my SonicWall.
When the 001B phones try to boot, it takes about 12 seconds before they get an IP from the SonicWall DHCP server.
The SonicWall does not have a seat license (education).

It certainly appears that the IP500 is verifying the phones through their MAC. It also appears that this info got damaged or corrupted.
My questions are:
How does the IP500 verify what units it is handing an IP to?
Where is this info stored?
How can I modify it?
Or, is the MAC list added to the firmware?
If it is part of the firmware, how do I acquire a copy of it for my unit?
How do I tell the difference between a version 1 and a version 2 IP500?

Thank you for your time!

[markgallagher]

If you have two devices on your network handing out IP addresses how are you managing which one handles which devices? More that one DHCP server in a network is not normal except when using VLANs.

[havel3]

If you did not get a clear answer in the other forum then to my guess the change is slim to get a solid answer here.

If you manage the network includig the Sonicwall the in the Sonicwall add a scope option number 176 type string and add the following as string : MCIPADDR=<IP Address IP Office>,TFTPSRVR=<IP Address IP Office OR IP Address of the PC running Manager/TFTP server>, MCPORT=1719

Now the IP Phones get their options from the Sonicwall and does not need a ip address from the IP Office, turn the DHCP server in IP Office off.

[gburna]

havel3 - before I do that, please answer this - why will the 001B phones not connect when I manually program the info? Why would the 0007 phones register using the same wire that a 001B phone was on that will not register?
My concern is that the string in the SonicWall will make no difference if the IP500 does not recognize the 001B phones as legitimate Avaya devices.
The phones are configured the same. They were all working 3 weeks ago.
Why is one MAC address working and one not?

I will try the string tomorrow and post back.

Thank you!

[zakabog]

If your phone says "Discovering" and the IP address of the file server (if it differs from the IP Office) then you manually programmed it incorrectly. It should be discovering the IP Office address.

The IP Office isn't a very good DHCP server so there's no way to answer why it's not handing out DHCP, but you shouldn't have two DHCP servers on your network anyway.

[havel3]

If I knew the direct answer you would have gotten it a long time ago but I have never seen something like this. If it is only depending on the MAC address then there must be a blacklist somewhere were these are stored in.
To exclude the IPOffice as the source of the problem you could take a clean switch or a mini layer 2 switch and connect only IP Office and a non working IP Phone and see what happens.

[gburna]

What information is stored on the CF or SD card that is installed in the IP500? This unit has a CF card in it. Does that make it a version one unit?

Thanks!

[zakabog]

If the unit says "IP Office 500v2" on the front it's a 500v2, if it just says 500, then it's a v1. You have a v1 if you have a CF card, and on the v1 the CF card provides voicemail storage, on a v2 it's required and stores all of the binaries, embedded voicemail, phone firmware. Everything phones would normally have to pull from a TFTP or HTTP server it can pull from the IP Office, also all of the licenses are tied to the SN on the 500v2 SD card.

[havel3]

@zakabog, i'm lost.... what does that have to do with the issue?

[gburna]

If the info is stored on the CF card, then the file is corrupt or damaged, which is why one set of MAC's will not register. Remember, ALL phones worked 3 weeks ago. No changes were made to the network. One day, phones were not working. All of the non-working phones have the same range of MAC addresses, they all start with 001B.
Yes, I did add option 176 to my Sonicwall with the string provided and defined as a string. The 001B phone will still not register. I can actually see them attempt to connect to the Avaya in the manager software, says bootp MAC and then failed.

[gburna]

The IP500 is a version one, which has a CF card installed. While no one has been able to tell me exactly what is stored on the CF card, it is my belief that the card is starting to deteriorate, leading to a data loss. Unfortunately, no one can tell me how or where to get a replacement card. I was told that the card is unique and a standard CF card can't be used as a replacement. Can anyone verify this? Can anyone tell me how to create a new card?
Thanks

[markgallagher]

The card, if it is an Avaya supplied one, is potentially the storage for your voicemail. You need to look in the IP Office configuration to see if it is set to use Embedded Voicemail as its Voicemail type. If it is then yes, the cards have a hidden unique identifier so do not reformat or delete all files.

It can also be used to store files for other purpose including the files used by IP phones so that may be a fact. The answer would lie in the checking if the TFTP Server IP Address and HTTP Server IP Address settings in the system are set to the IP Office system's own address. If that is the case, then when the phones as the system for files it uses the CF card as the source.

Knowing those two values will tell us a lot (they are included in the DHCP info that the IP Office sends to the phones if it is the IP Office that is providing their IP address (You still haven't answered how you are managing two DHCP servers on one network!)).

[zakabog]

havel3, gburna asked what was stored on the CF card and how he can tell which version IP Office he has, so I explained what the memory card is for on both models and explained that he has a 500v1.

Also, gburna, your system would work if you removed the CF card, only voicemail would stop working so it has nothing to do with the issues you're experiencing with your phones.

[gburna]

The call server points to the IP500, the file server points to the computer with manager installed. I have tried pointing to just the call server for both call and file in the non-working phones, but that changed nothing in their response.

[gburna]

The manager has a check box option to DHCP only for Avaya phones, which currently is checked. How does the unit know which MAC's are Avaya MAC's?

Yes, they have embedded voice mail.