UISP Devices - Recovery Mode

These instructions will help you restore a UISP device to its default state in the unlikely event that it becomes unresponsive. Please note that this process is intended as a last resort, not an initial troubleshooting step.

The TFTP Recovery feature is initiated by pressing an unresponsive device’s Reset button and using a TFTP client at a workstation. Pressing the Reset button will trigger the device’s TFTP Recovery Mode by running a TFTP server on the device. Afterwards, the recovery image can be retrieved from the TFTP client. During the recovery process, the device will install the UISP application version listed in the recovery image’s name.

The UISP recovery images used for TFTP Recovery can be downloaded below.

UISP Recovery Images

Public Release:

UISP-Console recovery image - 2.3.0

UISP-R recovery image - 2.3.0

UISP-S recovery image - 1.5.0

UISP-S-Pro recovery image - 1.5.0

UISP-P recovery image - 1.0.0-beta.5

Recovering Devices with a Third-Party TFTP Client

Note: This process assumes that a TFTP client is already set up at a workstation to allow the recovery image to be uploaded to an unresponsive UISP device.

1. Download the appropriate device recovery file above.
2. Connect Port 1 of your UISP device directly to your desktop or LAN with an Ethernet cable.
   If you are connected to a LAN, the device will try to obtain an IP using DHCP while in TFTP Recovery Mode, and use the 192.168.1.20 address if no DHCP server is found.
   If you are connected directly to a desktop, assign a static IP address to your computer's network interface (e.g., 192.168.1.10/24).
3. Follow the reset steps below to initiate the device’s TFTP Recovery Mode.
4. Run a TFTP client application and upload the recovery image to the UISP device.

Windows Clients
In this example, our TFTP client is Tftpd32 with the following settings:

Host: 192.168.1.20
Port: 69
Local File: <image-path>.bin
Remote File: <blank>
Block Size: Default

macOS Clients
Open a new Terminal window and use the following TFTP client commands:

tftp
tftp> connect 192.168.1.20
tftp> binary
tftp> put <image-name>.bin

5. Wait for the recovery process to finish. Progress is indicated by the port’s LED status pattern. See the reset steps below.

Using the Reset Button

There are two ways to initiate TFTP Recovery Mode on a UISP device with its Reset button:

• Power-On Reset: Hold the Reset button for five seconds once the device is plugged in and turning on.
• Running Reset: Hold the Reset button for five seconds while the device is running.

Regardless of your method, follow these steps to initiate TFTP Recovery Mode:

1. Press and hold the Reset button until the device’s port LEDs light up sequentially, starting with the first port and ending with the last. Continue holding the button
2. Continue holding the Reset button for approximately 30 seconds until all the port LEDs light up, then release.

Note: The port LEDs will blink continuously in sequence while the device is in TFTP Recovery Mode.

1. Follow the third-party TFTP client steps above.
2. Wait for the TFTP recovery process to finish. Once complete, the device will reboot. If successful, you can readopt the device with either the UISP application or a UISP Cloud Console.