Cisco Catalyst 6000 Series Switches

Revised April 10, 2000

Products Affected

Problem Description

When upgrading a Catalyst 6XXX supervisor with Multilayer Switch Feature Card (MSFC) (WS-X6K-SUP1A-MSFC=) to Cisco IOS release 12.0(7)XE1 or 12.1(1)E, a typo in the release note conversion process results in an incomplete IOS upgrade. This can create the following problems after reload:

• The supervisor is stuck in boot monitor mode.

• The supervisor boots normally, but the new image does not appear in boot flash.

• The NVRAM is not programmed successfully.

Background

The conversion process includes twenty-three steps that have to be followed exactly. Please see the release note below.

Release Notes for Cisco IOS Release 12.1 E on the Catalyst 6000 and Cisco 7600 Supervisor Engine and MSFC

Problem Symptoms

Here is how you can identify the following problems:

The supervisor is stuck in boot monitor mode.

When booting, the following error appears:

boot: cannot determine first file name on device "bootflash:"
System Bootstrap, Version 12.0(3)XE, RELEASE SOFTWARE
Copyright (c) 1998 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Cat6k-MSFC platform with 65536 Kbytes of main memory
rommon 1 >

First check if the boot image really does exist on the bootflash, and if the BOOTLDR= was either not set, or set incorrectly. Use the dir bootflash command as follows:

rommon 1 > dir bootflash:

File size                               Checksum        File name

4666017 bytes (0x4732a1)    0x83daf8fb   cat6000-sup.120-7T.XE1.1.11.bin

If the boot image does exist, try typing the following:

rommon 1> boot system sup-bootflash

The new image does not appear in boot flash.

Either boot flash is not listed at all:

Note: You will have to power cycle the switch to get back to the switch console.

rommon 1 > dir bootflash:

File size       Checksum        File name

rommon 2 > set

PS1=rommon ! >

BOOT=

?=0

Or, only the earlier boot flash image is listed:

rommon 1 > dir bootflash:
         
File size Checksum File name
         
4666017 bytes (0x4732a1) 0x83daf8fb cat6000-sup.5-3-3-9-CSX.bin       

The NVRAM is not programmed successfully.

The supervisor won't boot, and console access doesn't work.

Workaround/Solution

1. The supervisor is stuck in boot monitor mode.

   • Boot off the supervisor boot flash, but do not specify a boot file. At the rommon 1> prompt, type boot system sup-bootflash.

   • Or use the Boot recovery process explained in Recovering a Catalyst 6000 Running Native IOS from a Corrupted or Missing Boot Loader Image or ROMMON Mode.

2. The new image does not appear in boot flash.

   • If an earlier boot flash revision is available in slot0, follow the commands below, then restart the conversion process.

     rommon 1 > dir slot0:
     File size Checksum File name
     4666017 bytes (0x4732a1) 0x83daf8fb cat6000-sup.5-3-3-9-CSX.bin
     rommon 2 > boot slot0:cat6000-sup.5-3-3-9-CSX.bin
     

3. The NVRAM is not programmed successfully.

   This is a rare situation. If it happens, contact the Cisco Systems Technical Assistance Center (TAC) using the contact information below.

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

Receive Email Notification For New Field Notices

Product Alert Tool - Set up a profile to receive email updates about reliability, safety, network security, and end-of-sale issues for the Cisco products you specify.