How To: Convert an AC-MXNET-CBOX-HA to a Different Software Platform

This article walks through the necessary procedures and requirements to convert a CBOX-HA to a different software platform, either for MXnet 1G, MXnet 10G, and others. 

Requirements:

4. Personal Computer, with a physical RJ-45 port or RJ-45 USB adapter.
5. RJ-45 cable (2x)
6. Conversion Firmware files (download here)
7. 12V5A PSU (If connecting via Point-To-Point) or Power supplied via Power over Ethernet.

Converting a CBOX-HA to a different Platform

Gaining Access to the GUI

DHCP

1. Connect the AC-MXNET-CBOX-HA to power, either via 12V5A power supply, or Power over Ethernet via the AV/NETWORK port. 
2. Connect the AC-MXNET-CBOX-HA to a network serving DHCP leases. 
3. Connect a personal computer to the same network mentioned above.
4. On the front panel of the AC-MXNET-CBOX-HA, push the “PRESS TO SCROLL PAGE” button for Status Monitor A twice, or until the CBOX’s current IPV4 scheme is displayed.
5. On the personal computer, open a web browser and enter in the IPV4 address displayed within Status Monitor A, granting access to the web GUI of the CBOX-HA. 
   
   

Point-To-Point

1. Connect the AC-MXNET-CBOX-HA to a 12V5A power supply or Power over Ethernet via the AV/NETWORK port.
2. Directly connect your personal computer’s RJ-45 port to any of the ports 1-7 on the back of the AC-MXNET-CBOX-HA. 
3. The AC-MXNET-CBOX-HA is factory defaulted to search for a DHCP lease. On the front panel of the CBOX-HA, push the “PRESS TO SCROLL PAGE” button for Status Monitor twice, or until the CBOX’s current IPV4 scheme is displayed.
4.  Push and hold the “DHCP” button for 10 seconds to turn off DHCP. The IPV4 Address displayed within Status Monitor A will flicker and change to a default 192.168.1.239/255.255.255.0 Static IP Address scheme. 
5. On the personal computer, statically assign the Ethernet interface connected to the CBOX-HA an IPV4 address of 192.168.1.200, and a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. The default gateway/DNS fields are unnecessary for this connection process, and can be left blank. 
6. Open a web browser and enter 192.168.1.239 within the URL field, accessing the web GUI of the CBOX-HA.

Applying the Conversion Firmware

Note: The process described below will be identical, regardless of the software platform the CBOX-HA will be converted to. The only difference is the uploaded firmware file.

1. Accessing the web GUI will require login credentials, the default credentials are admin/admin. 
2. Upon logging in, the System Utilities Page should populate as the home page. If a different page populates, click on System Utilities within the navigation bar to the left, example below:
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Locate the MXnet System Updates section and click on the button labeled Browse for Update File.
   
4. Within the pop-up window that appears, select the appropriate conversion file to upload to the CBOX-HA.
   
1. Conversion/Reversal firmware for the MXnet 10G software platform can be located on the AC-MXNET-10G-CBOX-HA firmware page.
   

5. Once the file has been uploaded, click Update Now.
6. A Pop-Up window will appear asking for confirmation. Click OK.
7. The firmware conversion process will begin. Once the progress bar reaches 100%, the CBOX-HA will automatically reset and utilize the factory default configuration tied to the software platform currently running, and reboot utilizing the chosen platform’s firmware. 

After the conversion process is complete, it is recommended to connect to the respective software platform's AV Network that includes at least 1 encoder and 1 decoder and verify if the CBOX discovers said devices, to ensure that communication is being established as expected.