Recovery USB

The purpose of this tutorial is to show you how to make a recovery USB and image or reimage the harddisk of your Callbox or UEsim PC. Amarisoft provide special image files for each of the product (e.g, Callbox Classic, Callbox mini, Callbox Ultimate, SIMBOX). You can burn the image file onto a USB memory stick and image / reimage the hard disk of product PC.

Table of Contents

• Recovery USB
• Introduction
• Summary of the Tutorial
• Before you start
• Download Media Writer
• Download Recovery Image
• Make Recovery USB
• Reimaging Callbox/UEsim PC
• Install Callbox or UEsim software

Introduction

The process of creating a recovery USB and performing hard disk imaging or reimaging is a crucial aspect of system maintenance and disaster recovery for specialized hardware such as the Callbox or UEsim PCs provided by Amarisoft. These systems, integral components in telecommunications testing and simulation environments, rely on stable and consistent operating environments to ensure reliable performance. Amarisoft supplies distinct disk image files tailored for each product variant—such as the Callbox Classic, Callbox Mini, Callbox Ultimate, and SIMBOX—enabling users to restore a system to its original factory state or recover from software corruption and hardware failures. The imaging process involves writing the provided disk image to a USB memory stick, which then serves as a bootable medium to overwrite or repair the PC's hard disk. This technique leverages low-level disk operations to ensure the target machine’s software environment matches the tested and supported configuration, minimizing compatibility issues and reducing downtime. Understanding and executing this process correctly is essential for technicians, engineers, and administrators responsible for deploying, maintaining, or recovering Amarisoft-based test infrastructure within broader network development and validation ecosystems.

• Context of Technology
  • Amarisoft's Callbox and UEsim PCs are specialized hardware platforms used for mobile network testing, simulation, and validation.
  • System imaging and recovery are vital for maintaining operational reliability and swiftly restoring functionality after system failures or software issues.
  • Disk images provided by Amarisoft are custom-tailored for each product line, ensuring compatibility and optimal performance.
• Relevance and Importance of Topic
  • Creating a recovery USB and reimaging the hard disk are essential skills for system administrators and technical users managing Amarisoft products.
  • Quick and reliable recovery procedures minimize system downtime and maintain test environment integrity.
  • Correct imaging ensures the system is in a supported, predictable state, which is critical for troubleshooting and support.
• What Learners Will Gain
  • An in-depth understanding of the recovery and imaging process for Amarisoft Callbox and UEsim PCs.
  • Practical skills to create a bootable recovery USB using Amarisoft-supplied image files.
  • Step-by-step guidance to reimage or restore hard disks to their factory default state.
  • Knowledge to troubleshoot and resolve common issues related to system recovery and imaging.
• Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
  • Basic familiarity with USB memory stick usage and file management.
  • Understanding of boot device selection in PC BIOS/UEFI settings.
  • Experience with disk imaging tools (e.g., balenaEtcher, Rufus, or dd) is helpful but not mandatory.
  • General awareness of PC hardware and Amarisoft product models is recommended.

Summary of the Tutorial

This tutorial outlines the procedures for preparing, creating, and using a recovery USB to reimage an Amarisoft Callbox or UEsim PC, as well as post-reimaging steps for software installation and system configuration.

• Preparation Steps:
  • Prepare a USB memory stick with at least 8GB capacity (16GB recommended).
  • Back up important files and the /etc/.amarisoft-product directory, including the license file, to a safe location.
  • Back up any custom configuration files from the PC to be reimaged.
• Downloading Required Tools and Image:
  • Download FedoraMediaWriter appropriate for your operating system (Windows, Mac, or Linux) from the provided links.
  • Download the correct recovery image file for your product from the Amarisoft Extranet.
• Creating the Recovery USB:
  • Launch FedoraMediaWriter on your PC.
  • When prompted, select .iso file type (the provided .img file is compatible).
  • Choose the downloaded image file and the target USB device.
  • Follow on-screen instructions to write the image to the USB stick.
• Reimaging the Callbox/UEsim PC:
  • Insert the prepared recovery USB into the PC to be reimaged.
  • Reboot the PC and enter BIOS mode (typically by pressing F2 or F12, depending on the model).
  • In the BIOS, navigate to the Boot menu and select UEFI as the boot mode.
  • Save and exit BIOS. The system will boot from the USB and display a splash screen.
  • Follow on-screen prompts to specify the USB dongle and the hard disk to be reimaged.
  • Confirm all prompts (typically by typing 'y').
  • Wait for the reimaging process to complete. The PC will power off when finished.
• Post-Reimaging Software Installation and Configuration:
  • System Identification:
    • Check the product name and serial number from the physical label and update the /etc/hostname file accordingly.
    • Use text editors like nano, vi, or vim to edit the hostname file.
  • SDR Mapping Configuration:
    • List available SDR mapping files in the /etc directory.
    • Determine the correct mapping file by running dmidecode -t2 and matching the motherboard product name with available mapping files.
    • If no specific mapping file matches, use the default mapping file for your equipment (e.g., sdr-mapping-ultimate for Callbox Ultimate).
    • Create a symbolic link between sdr-mapping and the appropriate mapping file using ln -s <your sdr-mapping-file> sdr-mapping.
  • Software and License Installation:
    • Install Callbox or UEsim software as required, following the respective installation tutorials.
    • Install the necessary license file.

The tutorial provides a comprehensive, step-by-step methodology for safely reimaging Amarisoft Callbox or UEsim systems and preparing them for further use.

Before you start

Before you start the process, I would suggest you to prepare followings first.

• Get a USB memory stick ready. It should be at least 8Gb capacity. (I used a USB with the capacity of 16 Gb in this tutorial)
• (If you are going to reimage a PC that you have been using, back up all the files into safe place so that you can recover it later. For example, if you have created your own configuration files, save all of them in safe place).
• Backup licence file. Your license may get invalid once you reimage the PC since host ID get changed with the reimaging. But just in case, I would suggest you to backup the license file.
• Backup the directory /etc/.amarisoft-productand its contents into a safe place (Usually this directory has a file named hostname)

Download Media Writer

First step is to download FedoraMediaWriter program. You can download it from follwong link depending on the operating system for making the recovery USB.

"For Windows":https://getfedora.org/fmw/FedoraMediaWriter-win32-latest.exe
"For Mac":https://getfedora.org/fmw/FedoraMediaWriter-osx-latest.dmg
"For linux":https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.fedoraproject.MediaWriter

In this tutorial, I am working on Windows PC and I downloaded the windows version FedoraMediaWriter as shown below.

The file arrives in the Downloads folder as FedoraMediaWriter-win32-latest. It is an installer executable, so there is nothing to unpack. Keep the location in mind because the next section runs it from here.

Download Recovery Image

Download the image file for your product. You can download it from your downoad account in Amarisoft Extranet as shown below.

Log in to the Extranet with your account and open the resources link on the Support line. That opens the Support list.

The recovery image is in the BoxRecoveryDisk section at the bottom of that list. In this example the file is Recovery_F39.img and its size is 7864320KB. That is why the USB stick has to be 8 Gb or more, and it is also why the download takes a while.

The other sections of the list hold BIOS and BMC files for the different product families, such as Xtreme, Mini, Ultimate, Classic and Simbox. This tutorial does not use any of them.

Make Recovery USB

Now we have FedoraMediaWriter and image file. We are ready to make the Recovery USB.

Run the FedoraMediaWriter and follow through the instruction by hitting the button highlighed on the screenshot.

Double click the downloaded file to start Fedora Media Writer Setup. The first page is the License Agreement, and the program is under the GNU General Public License version 2.

Press I Agree to continue.

The next page is Choose Install Location. The destination folder is C:\Program Files (x86)\Fedora Media Writer and there is no reason to change it.

Press Install.

The copying takes only a few seconds and the page turns into Installation Complete. Show details is there if you want to see the file list.

Press Next.

The last page of the installer keeps Run Fedora Media Writer ticked. Leave the tick where it is and press Finish. The program then starts on its own and the following steps continue inside it.

I recovery file that we provide is *.img and Media writer does not provide for *.img file. *.img file that we provide is compatible with *.iso file. So select *.iso file at this step.

Select Image Source offers two choices. Download automatically fetches a Fedora release over the internet, and that is not what you want here.

Pick Select .iso file and press Next.

Select image file that you downloaded at previous step. (NOTE: You would see different name in USB Drive depending on the USB memory stick that you use)

Selected file still reads None at this point. Press Select... and browse to the recovery image. In this run the file is Recovery_Classic_F34.img and it was kept in C:\temp\BoxRecoveryDisk.

The USB Drive box just below is where you choose the stick to write to. Here it is a Kingston DataTraveler 3.0 of 31.0 GB. Read this entry carefully before going on, because everything on the selected stick is overwritten.

Selected file now reads Recovery_Classic_F34.img and USB Drive is still the Kingston DataTraveler 3.0 (31.0 GB). Both lines are the ones you want, so press Write.

Previous takes you back if the wrong file or the wrong stick is selected.

Writing starts and the window title becomes Writing Recovery_Classic_F34.img. Do not unplug the stick while the bar is moving.

The drive is resized to a smaller capacity during the write. You can resize it back to normal later with Fedora Media Writer, and doing that removes the installation media from the stick.

The title changes to Finished! and the message reads Recovery_Classic_F34.img Successfully Written. Press Finish to close the program.

The stick is now the Recovery USB. The machine you want to reimage has to be restarted and booted from it, and that is what the next section does.

Reimaging Callbox/UEsim PC

Once you have Recovery USB ready, now we are ready to reimage the Hard disk of the product using the USB.

Step 1 : Insert the USB key to the PC.

Step 2 : Reboot the PC and get into BIOS mode as shown below. How to get into BIOS would be a little bit different depending on the product. In this tutorial, I am reimaging Amarisoft Callbox Ultimate. In most case, F2 or F12 key would be the one to get into BIOS mode. Once you get into BIOS mode, go to [Boot] menu and select UEFIas shown below

The BIOS on this Callbox Ultimate is an Aptio Setup Utility from American Megatrends. Open the Boot menu and change Boot Option #1.

The Recovery USB appears in the list twice, as UEFI: Generic Flash Disk 1100, Partition 1 and as Partition 2. Take Partition 1. The SATA_5 entry is the internal Samsung SSD 870 EVO 250GB. That is the disk about to be overwritten, so it must not stay first in the list.

Step 3 : Then save the configuration and Exit. You will see the splash screen as shown below.

The boot loader is GNU GRUB 2.04-12 and it offers only one entry, Restore Fedora 39 image for Amarisoft Products, Target Disk > 120Gb. That entry is meant for a target disk larger than 120 Gb.

There is nothing to select here. Press Enter, or simply wait, and the restore starts booting.

Step 4: While continuing booting, you will get the screen as shown below. Specify the disk name for USB dongle and hard disk you want to reimage as below.

The restore runs a chain of scripts named ocs_prerun1 to ocs_prerun11. The first one calls lsblk -o TYPE,NAME,SIZE and prints the disks it found.

Two disks are listed in this run. sda is 232.9G and that is the internal hard disk. sdb is 7.5G and that is the Recovery USB. Write both names down. The size is what tells the two apart, so check it rather than guessing from the letter.

Step 5: Specify the disk name for USB dongle and hard disk you want to reimage as below.

Two prompts arrive one after the other. Set USB Dongle takes the name of the USB stick, sdb in this run. Set Target Disk takes the name of the disk to be reimaged, sda in this run.

Get the two the right way round. The target disk is erased, so answering the second prompt with the USB name would destroy the Recovery USB instead of the hard disk.

Step 6: As it moves to next step it will get some questions. Just type 'y' for all the questions as shown below.

The restore itself is Clonezilla. ocs_prerun10 mounts the USB on /home/partimag, and ocs_prerun11 calls ocs-sr with restoredisk on the image Ultimate-AsrockRack-F34-Disk250Gb-img.

The warning printed before the first question is real. The partitions of the target disk are listed with their sizes, sda1 as 1G ext4 and sda2 as 222.6G btrfs, and both are overwritten. This is the last point where you can still stop.

The ocs-sr command line ends with -p poweroff. That is why the machine switches itself off when the restore is done instead of rebooting.

Step 7 : Now there is nothing you need to do. Just wait until the process complete. Once the process is complete. The PC will turn off.

Install Callbox or UEsim software

Recovery Image itself does not contain any callbox or UEsim software in it, so you need to intall them depending on your needs. Refer to following tutorials to install Callbox or UEsim software.

Step 1 : Check your product name and serial number. You should see a label on the back of the equipement with this information. As an example if you have a Callbox Ultimate, you should see something like CBU-2024031200. Edit the file /etc/hostname and copy the product name inside. You can use nano, vi or vim for this puropose. In our example, you would write CBU-2024031200 in this file and save it as shown in the example below.

The file holds the product name on a single line and nothing else. In this example it is CBU-2024031200, edited with nano 5.8.

The header still says Modified, so the change is only in the editor at this point. Save the file before you leave nano.

NOTE : 'CB' in the host name stands for 'Call Box' and 'U' stands for 'Ultimate'. So from the initial three letters of the host name, you can figure out whether the product is a Callbox or UEsim and know the model family (e.g, Mini, Classic, Ultimate, Extreme etc).

Step 2 : Under /etc directory, there are multiple SDR mapping files. Each file is relevant to a product. Assuming our example in Step 1 with CBU-2024031200, your product is a Callbox Ultimate (You can figure this out from the initial 3 letter 'CBU'). You can see that there are 3 different SDR mapping files for Ultimate Callbox under /etc. In order to check which one of these 3 files to use with your equipment, you should type dmidecode -t2 and check the Product name which is basically the motherboard model. In this example the Product Name is X299 Creator, so the sdr-mapping-ultimate-creator is the one to be used. You need to create a symbolic link to this SDR mapping by typing

ln -s sdr-mapping-ultimate-creator  sdr-mapping  

Let's follow through this procedurestep by step.

First, check out the list of mapping file locationed in /etc directory.

The command is ll /etc/sdr-mapping* and it prints one file per product variant. The name carries the product family, so sdr-mapping-mini, sdr-mapping-classic, sdr-mapping-ultimate and sdr-mapping-xtreme are the Callbox families and the sdr-mapping-uesb names are the UEsim ones.

For a Callbox Ultimate there are three candidates: sdr-mapping-ultimate, sdr-mapping-ultimate-creator and sdr-mapping-ultimate-formula. The motherboard is what decides which of the three you take.

There is no plain sdr-mapping entry in this listing yet. Only sdr-mapping.bak and sdr-mapping.old are there. Creating that missing link is what the next two steps do.



Figure out which mapping file to use from the mother board product name using the command 'dmidecode -t2' (NOTE : If the product name in the output of the command 'dmidecode -t2' does not appear in the list of SDR mapping files, you should just use the default SDR mapping of your equipment. The default mapping for a Callbox Ultimate is 'sdr-mapping-ultimate' file)

The command prints the Base Board Information from SMBIOS. Manufacturer is ASRock and Product Name is X299 Creator.

Creator in the product name is what points at sdr-mapping-ultimate-creator. Match the last word of the product name against the tail of the mapping file names, and take the plain sdr-mapping-ultimate when nothing matches.



Make a symbolic link between sdr-mapping and the specific mapping file for your product using the command 'ln -s <your sdr-mapping-file> sdr-mapping'.

Run the command from /etc, because the link is created in the current directory. The target file comes first and the link name sdr-mapping comes second.

The listing right after it is the check. sdr-mapping now points to sdr-mapping-ultimate-creator. If the link ends up on the wrong file, delete it and create it again.

Step 3 : Install Callbox or UEsim software as you need according to following tutorials.

• License installation : Check out this
• Callbox software installation : Check out this.
• UEsim software installation : Check out this.