Need to reset D-Link DES-3225G Switch

[Lord HellFire]

I goofed up...

A while ago my company purchased 4 x D-Link DES-3225G Managed Switches.

I set them up for our network and added password protection.

Now I've forgotten the password and have 4 running switches, but no access to change settings.

Does anyone know how to reset them to Factory Settings, without sending them in for repairs (expensive).

I noticed a spot on the "motherboard" of the switch, where 4 pins could logically sit, but if they are the "missing" reset pins, then I'd just need to know how I should connect them to reset the switch.

I tried updating the ROM, but that only updated the software on the switch. It did not reset the password/login.
I tried bruteforcing it, but I gave that up too as it would take a couple of million years....
Luckily I remember the username, but the password is somewhere buried deep in my swizz cheese brain.

I'm not really keen on toasting the switches by doing something wrong.

Hope someone out there know how to fix my predicament without needing me to send them in for repairs.

-Lord HellFire

I got the fix for it...

1. Send the MAC address to D-Link's support (along with the model of your switch) and they can tell you what the master password for your switch is.
- They don't need you to send in the switch. That's just a load of bull****.
2. Telnet to the IP of the switch/use console to access the switch.
3. use the password given and you're in.
4. Add a new user and set a new password.
5. Delete the old user.
6. Save settings.

tadaaa...

- Lord HellFire

[Archer]

Seems one of our regular network techs had a similar problem last year and had to send them back for reset:
http://forums.windrivers.com/showthread.php?t=52525

[Ya_know]

I was just going to reply to that Archer, good memory...

Yeah, there must be something easy to it, I couldn't figure it out. I called them, and they would not tell me how.

It only cost me $30 plus shipping, turn around was fast. It was an extra switch, so I didn't have an issue with Production requirements, which it sounds like you may be face with. Try sweat talking them; tell then you have all 4 in production, you're a new admin, and that the old admin never recorded the passwords. Maybe they will tell you what to do...

PS, if they do tell you, be sure to relay it back here for the rest of us to know

[Archer]

I bet its a simple fix too

[Lord HellFire]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll try the sweettalkin, even though I couldn't even sweettalk a dead dungbeetle.
But I'll probably end up having to send them in for repairs
That'll eat a hole in the budget...

8-10 pounds a piece and via mail.. gah... I might as well just purchase a new set of switches... (ok, maybe not, but it's not really cheap).

If only I knew how to burn ROM chips myself... and could get hold of a copy of a working ROM image with a specific password... that'd be nice.
But I won't fiddle around with that, because I'll just end up damaging the switches...

If my sweettalking works, I'll share the info

[Lord HellFire]

Hi

It's been a while.

Haven't had time (or energy) to call D-Link.

Yesterday I did however come up with a brilliant parallel, spawned from my ongoing Cisco education.

The D-Link switch has the capability to upload a new firmware, even though you do not know the password. But it also has the capability to upload a new configuration file.

In Cisco the password is stored in the configuration file, so all I should actually need to do is upload a new config file to the switch with a known login/password and thus end my predicament.

The only problem is that I do not have a config file to upload and it will not accept an empty file. I cannot find any explanation of the terminology of the file, so I cannot create a dummyfile either.

Luckily one of my friends has the exact same switch, so one of these days I'll borrow his switch and create a config file with a known login/pass.

If this works, it is the best method to change the login/password.

Here is the method I plan to use:

1. Activate a TFTP server.
2. Place config file with known login/pass in TFTP folder.
3. Attach Serial cable to switch and PC.
4. Open HyperTerminal
5. Turn on switch.
6. Press CTRL-C to abort Flash Image load.
7. Choose to upload new configuration file and specify TFTP server.
8. Reboot switch.
9. Pray it works.

-Lord HellFire

[Lord HellFire]

Today I'm going over to my friend to get the Config file.

I also got hold of a support tech at D-Link, who said I should send him the MAC addresses of the switches and he would send me new passwords to them. Exactly how he would send them, he did not specify. I sent the MAC addresses just in case my other plan doesn't work.

That the support tech asked for the MAC addresses makes me suspect that the config files are locked to a MAC address and so the config file would only work on one specific switch. This does, however, not make any sense as it should be possible to "move" the configuration to a new switch, should you need to replace it.

I'll figure the answer out by trying to upload the "friend"-config first and see if that changes the password. If that doesn't work, I'll try the solution the Support Tech will email me with sometime in the next couple of days.

-Lord HellFire

[Lord HellFire]

I got the fix for it...

1. Send the MAC address to D-Link's support (along with the model of your switch) and they can tell you what the master password for your switch is.
- They don't need you to send in the switch. That's just a load of bull****.
2. Telnet to the IP of the switch/use console to access the switch.
3. use the password given and you're in.
4. Add a new user and set a new password.
5. Delete the old user.
6. Save settings.

tadaaa...

- Lord HellFire

[Archer]

So doesnt that leave all switches of similar ilk open to abuse by peeps who know the master password as this would appear to be unchanged or are they looking your switch up via Telnet and changing it to tha password they give you?

[Lord HellFire]

You can get in with the master password, if you have it.

There is a master password per switch, it is dependant on the MAC of the switch and is different for each switch.

Ex. 00:44:EF:66:44:BB:22 has the master password B4HS2B
Ex. 00:44:EF:66:44:BB:21 has the master password KH28DV
(made up numbers/passwords)

It all depends on the MAC number..