Cisco Catalyst 2900 XL Series Switches

Revised September 29, 2005

September 2, 2003

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

From FAB0541XXXX to FAB0552XXXX
From FAB0601XXXX to FAB0611XXXX
From CHK0610XXXX to CHK0611XXXX

FAB0545XXXX
FAB0548W390
FAB0548W384
FAB0548W380
FAB0538XXXX
FAB0552XXXX
FAB0549Y1JN
FAB0549Y1NY
FAB0551Y0YZ
AB0540XXXX
FAB0542XXXX
FAB0552XXXX

Problem Description

A component problem has been identified that can reduce the life span of the systems listed. The problem has been traced to a specific lot code of electrolytic capacitors. A chemical process in the capacitor that occurs during storage, or in an extended power-down state, can cause reduced life span of the capacitors and lead to failure of the system. Systems that have not been stored for extended periods are less likely to experience this failure.

It is not possible for any data corruption to occur because of this issue.

Background

Units listed in the Products Affected serial number ranges were manufactured during the time that the capacitor was available and may contain the capacitor. Some customers reported unexpectedly high failure rates in these systems, and failure analysis revealed that the reduced life was a result of these capacitors.

This capacitor is used as a power filter capacitor on network interfaces for the system.

Problem Symptoms

The customer experiences a high number of CRC or FCS errors on multiple ports. As the capacitor degrades, the network interface controllers are unable to reliably decode packets from the network. Eventually, the capacitor degradation leads to system failure.

Use these commands to determine the customer CRC errors:

show interface

or

show controllers ethernet XX/XX

These commands list the CRC errors encountered by the customer switch. Apply standard network troubleshooting techniques to remove other issues that may also cause degradation of the customer network before you associate the failed capacitor as the root cause.

The following command can be used to look for the FCS errors on multiple ports. This problem causes errors on multiple ports concurrently. FCS errors on only one port are not the result of this problem, and normal troubleshooting techniques should be used to isolate such a problem.

3500# clear controllers ethernet-controller

3500# show controllers ethernet-controller | include FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors
0 4 collision frames 0 FCS errors

3500# show version
Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software IOS (tm) C3500XL Software (C3500XL-C3H2S-M), Version 12.0(0.0.24)WC(1), CISCO DEVELOPMENT TEST VERSION
Copyright (c) 1986-2001 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Tue 10-Apr-01 17:59 by devgoyal
Image text-base: 0x00003000, data-base: 0x00333224

Workaround/Solution

Cisco recommends a fix-on-fail strategy for this problem.

As of approximately 12-AUG-2003 new products that were manufactured under Engineering Change Order (ECO) E074992 are guaranteed to be free of this problem. Refer to How to Identify Hardware Levels below for instructions on how to view the version of in-service product. Service Logistics has known-good inventory at this time. The standard RMA process and delivery times are in effect.

Note: Products that fall within the serial number range listed above are NOT affected by this problem if they have ECO E074992 applied (73 level version numbers will be rolled upon repair from AO to BO or greater).

Account Managers (AM) and Sales Engineers (SE): Customers that have units held in reserve should rotate these units first due to this capacitor issue. See the Problem Description section of this document for further information.

How To Identify Hardware Levels

Switches with the potential to have been manufactured with affected capacitors were manufactured with specific serial numbers. This issue has not resulted in confirmed failures for switches outside the serial number ranges listed in the Products Affected section of this document.

The switch serial numbers can be found:

• On the packout box.

• On the back of the switch itself.

• With use of the show version command. If the switch is already installed in a network, establish a Telnet to the unit or connect directly to the switch console. Issue the show version command and reference the System Serial Number.

To determine whether your switch has been upgraded, check the Top Assembly Number (TAN) / Motherboard Assembly Number using the show version command. If the TAN / Motherboard Assembly Number found in your Cisco product is equal to or less than the listed TAN / Motherboard Assembly Numbers and Rev in this field notice, then your switch has not been upgraded.

In the example below, the TAN / Motherboard Assembly Number for this customer's unit is 73-4100-12 Rev B0. The field notice TAN / Motherboard Assembly Number for the WS-C3512-XL-EN affected product, indicates 73-4100-12 Rev A0. In the case of this customer's unit, 73-4100-12 Rev B0, is not affected by this problem.

An example of the show version output with the Serial Numbers, TAN / Motherboard and Rev numbers shown in bold for your convenience:

Example 1. WS-C3512-XL-EN

Switch#show version 

Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software 

IOS (tm) C3500XL Software (C3500XL-C3H2S-M), Version 12.0(5.2)XU, MAINTENANCE IN 

TERIM SOFTWARE 

Copyright (c) 1986-2000 by cisco Systems, Inc. 

Compiled Mon 17-Jul-00 18:29 by ayounes 

Image text-base: 0x00003000, data-base: 0x00301F3C 



ROM: Bootstrap program is C3500XL boot loader 



Switch uptime is 2 minutes 

System returned to ROM by power-on 

System image file is "flash:c3500XL-c3h2s-mz-120.5.2-XU.bin" 



cisco WS-C3512-XL (PowerPC403) processor (revision 0x01) with 8192K/1024K bytes 

of memory. 

Processor board ID FAA0435X05A, with hardware revision 0x00 

Last reset from power-on 



Processor is running Enterprise Edition Software 

Cluster command switch capable 

Cluster member switch capable 

12 FastEthernet/IEEE 802.3 interface(s) 

2 Gigabit Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface(s) 



32K bytes of flash-simulated non-volatile configuration memory. 

Base ethernet MAC Address: 00:03:6B:22:42:80 

Motherboard assembly number: 73-4100-12 

Power supply part number: 34-0851-02 

Motherboard serial number: FAA0433AE3B 

Power supply serial number: PAC040302V8 

Model revision number: N0 

Motherboard revision number: B0 

Model number: WS-C3512-XL-EN 

System serial number: FAA0435X05A 

Configuration register is 0xF 



Switch# 

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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