Cisco Lightstream ATM Switches

Revised October 21, 1999

August 25, 1999

Products Affected

Problem Description

A failure can occur when writing data to the 16MB or 20MB PCMCIA Flash cards from Smart Modular (with part number suffix of "-C7500S" or "C7500MC") or Sharp. This failure is dependant on the data being written at three or four specific locations within the Flash card (depending on the Flash card size). The failure is random and when it does occur, the problem is catastrophic and repeatable.

This defect has Cisco bug ID CSCdm47012 (registered customers only) . If you are a registered CCO user and you have logged in, you can view the bug details.

The following platforms are affected:

AS5800

7000 Series

7100 Series

7200 Series (standard and VXR)

7500 Series

uBR7200 Series

8500 Series (CSR and MSR)

Catalysis 5XXX Series

Catalysis 6XXX Series

12000 Series

LightStream1010

Note:?The product ID numbers are identical for the Intel and non-Intel Flash cards since these were intended to be the same (transparent) product(s). The only way to identify the PCMCIA Flash card in a system is by visually inspecting it for the physical number(s) as noted below.

Background

Intel announced the end of life (EOL) of the PCMCIA Flash cards used by Cisco. This defect has Cisco bug ID CSCdk24890 (registered customers only) . If you are a registered CCO user and you have logged in, you can view the bug details.

These cards used the 28F016 chip set from Intel. Smart Modular and Sharp PCMCIA Flash cards are the replacement for the Intel PCMCIA Flash cards and use a new Sharp chip set (LH28F016SCT).

The Sharp chip set does not use the complete command set implemented in the Intel chip set. Cisco IOS software uses the complete Intel command set and fails with the Sharp chip set when using the unimplemented commands.

This failure is manifested when writing files to the Flash card and is based on the data written to specific locations within the card. These locations are offsets 0x00400008, 0x00800008, 0x00C00008, and 0x01000008 (20 MB Flash card only) within the Flash card. The offsets are based on the fact that each Sharp (LH28F016SCT) chip set is 2 MB and there are a total of eight (in the 16 MB Flash card) or ten (in the 20 MB Flash card) in the card organized into four or five banks (depending on whether it is a 16 or 20 MB Flash card), each of 4 MB.

A software fix is available for this problem via CSCdm47012. It is not practical to try to bypass the failure without the software fix; such an effort would be too complicated to be worth the effort.

The original Smart Modular cards as well as the Intel Flash cards are not affected and the original Smart Modular cards can be identified by a Smart Modular part number suffix of "-C7500".

Problem Symptoms

Cannot load Cisco IOS images onto the 16 or 20 MB Flash cards from Smart Modular or Sharp. Intel and original Smart Modular PCMCIA cards are not affected.

This problem occurred in the field when copying the config file over from either another card on the router (which were non-SMART Modular Technologies or non-Sharp cards) to the Smart/Sharp PCMCIA cards; or were moving from an RCP/TFTP server to the Smart/Sharp PCMCIA cards.

Any of the following errors can be encountered while copying files onto the 16 or 20 MB Flash cards from Smart Modular (with part number suffix of "-C7500S" or "C7500MC") or Sharp:

%Error writing slot1:dca1-cpe14.19990428 (Device driver error 
writing device) 

%Error writing slot0:/running-config (Device driver error writing device)

An inconsistent state error for the file can also be encountered.

Workaround/Solution

If this problem is encountered, this Cisco IOS bug has been resolved and will require the customer to upgrade their Cisco IOS software since the Intel PCMCIA Flash cards are no longer available.

This problem has been resolved in the following Cisco IOS versions:

11.2(18)GS2

12.0(6)S

11.3(11)NA

11.2(19.2)

12.0(6)

11.2(19.2)P

11.3(10)AA1

12.0(4)XL1

12.0(4a)W5(11a)

12.0(4a)WX5(11a)

12.0(5)T1

11.2(19.2)BC

12.0(4)XI2

12.0(6)SC

11.1(28.2)CC

11.3(11a)T1

11.3(11a)

12.0(4)XJ3

How To Identify Hardware Levels

Affected PCMCIA Flash cards use a new Sharp chip set (LH28F016SCT). The affected Flash cards can be visually identified by the following part numbers:

SHARP; P/N: ID24ZL02

SMART MODULAR; P/N: SM9FA520-C7500S

SMART MODULAR; P/N: SM9FA520-C7500MC

Note:?The affected Smart Modular cards have a Smart Modular part suffix of "-C7500S" or "-C7500MC". All Sharp PCMCIA cards are affected by this software bug.

Intel Flash cards and the original Smart Modular cards are not affected. These can be visually identified as follows:

INTEL; P/N: iMC020FLSP

INTEL; P/N: iMC020FLSP,S H018

SMART MODULAR; P/N: SM9FA520-C7500

Note:?The original unaffected Smart Modular cards have a Smart Modular part suffix of "-C7500" with no letter appended to the end of the suffix.

Note:?The product ID numbers are identical for the Intel and non-Intel Flash cards since these were intended to be the same (transparent) product(s). The only way to identify the PCMCIA Flash card is in a system is by visually inspecting it for the physical number(s) as noted above.

In an installed system, using the show flash all command will still report the Flash as an Intel even if it is not because it was designed to be a transparent replacement. As noted above, the original Smart Modular cards do not have this problem, but will also appear as Intel Flash cards. The newer Smart Modular cards do have the potential for this problem and will also appear as Intel Flash cards with the show flash all command.

Since the new Flash cards have been shipping since January, there have been very few reports of this problem being encountered. However, for those who have, the results have been very visible and consistent. The only way to verify a PCMCIA Flash card type is by visual inspection.

For More Information

If you require further assistance, or if you have any further questions regarding this field notice, please contact the Cisco Systems Technical Assistance Center (TAC) by one of the following methods:

• Open a service request on Cisco.com
• By email
• By telephone

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