Cisco Catalyst 4000 Series Switches

Revised November 2, 2005
October 3, 2001

NOTICE:

THIS FIELD NOTICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS AND DOES NOT IMPLY ANY KIND OF GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY, INCLUDING THE WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY. YOUR USE OF THE INFORMATION ON THE FIELD NOTICE OR MATERIALS LINKED FROM THE FIELD NOTICE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. CISCO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE OR UPDATE THIS FIELD NOTICE AT ANY TIME.

Products Affected

Serial Numbers

Problem Description

Catalyst 4000 & Catalyst 4500 WS-X4013 supervisor modules can exhibit total or partial loss of connectivity. Performing a reset of the supervisor will not remedy the issue and may indicate a software or hardware quality problem.

This Field Notice covers identification of hardware component problems.

Software problems with similar failures are documented in Field Notice 14464. Customers who are experiencing the known problems in CSCdt80707 or CSCdu48749 as explained in field notice 14464 are requested to upgrade their Catalyst 4000 software to revision 5.5(10) or 6.2(3).

Background

Cisco has identified a potential hardware component quality issue related to the Serdes on WS-X4013 supervisor modules. Detailed failure analysis indicates serial number ranges from JAB0411xxxx to JAB0422xxxx, JAB0452xxxx to JAB0453xxxx and JAB0522xxx to JAB0522xxxx on the WS-X4013 exhibit a higher probability of Serdes component failure.

Loss of connectivity can be a symptom of this faulty Serdes component or a symptom of a software initialization issue addressed by Catalyst OS version 5.5.10.

Problem Symptoms

The failure symptoms are explained below.

1. The following events appear in order indicating a hardware problem:
2. • Total loss of connectivity on the affected port. Receive port counters will not increment. Transmit port counters may increment, but no traffic is actually transmitted.
   • If the port is an uplink, the switch is partitioned from the network.
   • The device will reliably fail POST following software upgrade to 5.5(10) or 6.2(3).
   • The example below shows a WS-X4013 that has failed POST due to SERDES or SRAM component failures:
     

               Power-on-self-test for Module 1: WS-X4013
               Status: (. = Pass, F = Fail)
               uplink port 1: . uplink port 2: . eobc port: .
               processor: . cpu
               sdram: . rtc: .
               eprom: . nvram: . flash: .
               temperature sensor: . enet console
               port: . switch 0 port 0: .
               switch 0 port 1: . switch 0 port 2: . switch 0 port 3: .
               switch 0 port 4: . switch 0 port 5: . switch 0 port 6: .
               switch 0 port 7: . switch 0 port 8: . switch 0 port 9: .
               switch 0 port 10: . switch 0 port 11: . switch 0 registers: .
               switch 0 sram: . switch 1 port 0: . switch 1 port 1: .
               switch 1 port 2: . switch 1 port 3: . switch 1 port 4: .
               switch 1 port 5: . switch 1 port 6: . switch 1 port 7: .
               switch 1 port 8: . switch 1 port 9: . switch 1 port 10: .
               switch 1 port 11: . switch 1 registers: . switch 1 sram: .
               switch 2 port 0: . switch 2 port 1: . switch 2 port 2: .
               switch 2 port 3: . switch 2 port 4: . switch 2 port 5: .
               switch 2 port 6: . switch 2 port 7: F switch 2 port 8: .
               switch 2 port 9: . switch 2 port 10: . switch 2 port 11: .
               switch 2 registers: . switch 2 sram: F
               Module 1 Failed
     

3. Software revisions below 5.5(10) or 6.2(3) can cause intermittent connectivity problems based on known caveats CSCdu48749 and CSCdt80707. Symptoms include:
4. • Partial Loss of Connectivity that effects 1/3 or 2/3 of switch
   • Loss of connectivity on any Front Panel Port
   • Packet Loss until software reset
   • Upgrading to either level of software is recommended and should resolve connectivity issues not related to failing hardware components.

Workaround/Solution

Please follow the process outlined below to correct loss of connectivity problems.

1. Software upgrade will resolve the majority of failures resulting from existing Field Notice 14464.
2. Download the 5.5(10) or 6.2(3) image and change the configuration to boot 5.5(10) or 6.2(3) respectively.
3. Reset the Catalyst 4000 switch from the command line.
4. The switch will reset, boot the new image, and run Power On Self Test (POST).
5. If POST detects any latent hardware component failures, it will generate a POST failure.
6. RMA the modules that fail POST and fall into the serial number range on this field notice.
7. Customers who experience WS-X4013 failures as seen by POST can use the regular RMA process to replace modules within the serial number ranges JAB0411xxxx to JAB0422xxxx, JAB0452xxxx to JAB0453xxxx and JAB0522xxxx to JAB0522xxxx when hardware revision is lower than 1.5 or equal to 3.0

Note: Any WS-X4013 supervisor module that has been received by a customer from a return materials authorization (RMA) after October 3, 2001, that falls within the serial number ranges JAB0411xxxx to JAB0422xxxx and JAB0452xxxx to JAB0453xxxx and JAB0522xxxx to JAB0522xxxx will have been reworked and not be affected with the potential Serdes component quality problem. Any unit received from RMA regardless of the serial number will be free of the issue described in this field notice. These units will have been upgraded to hardware revision 1.5 or higher for PCA part number 73-4316-06, and hardware revision 3.1 or higher for PCA part number 73-4601-04. Information on HW version can be obtained by issuing the show version command (please see below for more details). Information on HW PCA number can be obtained by checking the sticker on the unit. Any unit with PCA part number higher than 73-4316-06, such as 73-4316-07, are free of this problem. Similarly, any unit with PCA number higher than 73-4601-04, such as 73-4601- 05, are free of this problem.

DDTS

To follow the links below and see detailed bug information, you must be a registered user and you must be logged in.

Related Field Notices

Catalyst 4000 Ports Lose Active VLAN State Resulting in Packet Loss

How to Identify WS-X4013 Serial Numbers

Use either the show version or show module commands to identify if the WS-X4013 module falls within the serial number ranges above.

Below is an example of show version and show module command output:

cat4k-switch> show version
WS-C4006 Software, Version NmpSW: 5.5(10)
Copyright (c) 1995-2001 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
NMP S/W compiled on Aug 8 2001, 18:08:31
GSP S/W compiled on Aug 08 2001, 14:47:46

System Bootstrap Version: 5.4(1)

Hardware Version: 1.2 Model: WS-C4006 Serial #: FOX04112592  

Mod Port Model      Serial #             Versions
--- ---- ---------- -------------------- ---------------------------------
1   2    WS-X4013   JAB044201FJ         Hw : 1.2
Gsp: 5.5(10.0)
Nmp: 5.5(10)

DRAM FLASH NVRAM

Module Total   Used    Free    Total   Used    Free    Total Used  Free
------ ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ----- ----- -----
1      65536K  29604K  35932K  16384K  8093K   8291K   480K  260K  220K
Uptime is 0 day, 0 hour, 8 minutes
cat4k-switch >

cat4k-switch > show module
Mod Slot Ports Module-Type               Model               Sub Status
--- ---- ----- ------------------------- ------------------- --- --------
1   1    2     1000BaseX Supervisor      WS-X4013            no  faulty

Mod Module-Name         Serial-Num
--- ------------------- --------------------
1                       JAB044201FJ 

Mod MAC-Address(es)                        Hw     Fw         Sw
--- -------------------------------------- ------ ---------- -----------------
1   00-03-6b-9e-13-00 to 00-03-6b-9e-16-ff 1.2    5.4(1)     5.5(10)

Note: Any WS-X4013 supervisor module that has been received by a customer from a return materials authorization (RMA) after October 3, 2001, that falls within the serial number ranges JAB0411xxxx to JAB0422xxxx, JAB0452xxx to JAB0453xxxx and JAB0522xxx to JAB0522xxxx will have been reworked and not be affected with the potential hardware component problem. These units have had the hardware revision updated to 1.5 or higher.

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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