Broken "clear" button on 1810 switch

[docfile0]

Hi guys.

I found this old HP 1810-48g switch and I need to perform a factory reset but here is the issue: the "clear" button is broken and i'm not able to click it using a pointy object.

Is there any kinda way I can perform a reset/clear without using the "clear" button ?

Besides the switch "clear" button being broken the unit works like a charm.

Reason for reset/clear is because I need to access the management interface using the default ip address (192.168.2.10)

Cheers.

Thomas

[Emil_G]

Hello,

If the clear button is broken it is not possible to perform a HW factory reset.

Do I understand correctly that you dont know what is the current IP of the switch? Or you know the IP but dont know the password?

You can try to find out what is the current IP address of the switch and try accessing it via this IP (assuming there is no password). Once in the GUI you can reset it to factory defaults.

But how can you find the current IP?

The switch supports LLDP by default so there is a chance it was not disabled. The switch will send an LLDP packet every 30 seconds. In this packets the switch advertises varous information about itself. Among other things the management IP should also be advertised. You can attach a laptop directly to a port of the switch and start Wireshark on the NIC connecting to the switch for several minutes. Using the wireshark filter "lldp" you can display only the LLDP packets. Expanding the payload of the packets you can find the TLV type management address which contains the IP address. There are also some tools which can be used to read LLDP information.

After discovering the current management IP you can change the IP settings on your laptop such that they are compatible with the IP subnet of the switch and try to access the switch using the discovered management IP. 

Once you are in the GUI you can go to Diagnostics > Factory Defaults and reset the configuration.

If the webUI of the switch is password protected this want be possible and I dont know what else could be done.