AVAYA ERS8600 8692SF with no console output

Just recently after attending a customer site I discovered a failed standby CPU/SF (in slot 6) in an  ERS8600 running 5.1.x software.  I initially discovered the fault remotely via Java Device Manager (JDM) when performing a configuration change on another connected switch.

When I physically inspected the ERS8600 I was confronted with the following:-

 

As I you can see, the CPU/SF in slot 6 is displaying 75% CPU utilization and all other LED's shown were solid.  I attempted to console into the card via the console port shown on the front and the card was not responding.  Not trusting my own equipment, which was borrowed anyway, I consoled into card 5 and was promptly presented with the login banner.  After checking the DCE/DTE console switch on both cards (which should be set to DCE if using a straight through serial cable), I consoled back into card 6, removed and reinserted the module, but still no console output.  I noticed that as soon as power was applied to the card, the CPU utilization graph on card 6 would light up to 75% and stay solid with no other activity.

I could tell this was not normal behavior as when the cards generally perform a Power On Self Test (POST) the LED's do have a sequence where they turn on and off and the CPU utilization graph would show some activity before console output would be displayed.  [I will try to capture this sequence in a future post.]

Now I have only seen a few 8692 CPU/SF cards fail and most of them have actually had faulty RAM.  So after replacing the 256MB RAM module with an Avaya 8691SF/8690SF/8190SF memory upgrade kit  (DS1411016) PDF "Installing a CPU Memory Upgrade ERS8600" that I had spare, I was able to get the module to boot.

Success!