Field Notice: FN - 63476 - Certain Catalyst 3560G and 3750G Switches Do Not Support Some Older IOS Versions - Software Upgrade Recommended

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Updated:May 30, 2018
Document ID:FN63476

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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.

Revision History

Revision Publish Date Comments
1.0
08-Dec-11
Initial Release
10.0
12-Oct-17
Migration to new field notice system
10.1
30-May-18
Fixed Broken Image Links

Products Affected

Affected Product ID Comments
WS-C3560G-24PS-E
WS-C3560G-24PS-S
WS-C3560G-24TS-E
WS-C3560G-24TS-S
WS-C3560G-48PS-E
WS-C3560G-48PS-S
WS-C3560G-48TS-E
WS-C3560G-48TS-S
WS-C3750G-24PS-E
WS-C3750G-24PS-S
WS-C3750G-24PS-S-1
WS-C3750G-24TS-E1U
WS-C3750G-24TS-S1U
WS-C3750G-48PS-E
WS-C3750G-48PS-S
WS-C3750G-48TS-E
WS-C3750G-48TS-S

Defect Information

Defect ID Headline
CSCtv22044 Some 3560G/3750G do not support old versions of IOS

Problem Description

Due to hardware changes in the flash component of the Cisco Catalyst 3560G and 3750G switches, some older Cisco IOS® versions are not supported on the affected hardware.

Background

Due to supply constraints, Cisco was required to migrate to new flash components on its Catalyst 3560G and 3750G switches. The switches, with the new flash, are compatible back to the 12.2(35)SE IOS release.

Problem Symptom

The affected Catalyst 3560G and 3750G switches are unable to use IOS versions prior to the 12.2(35)SE release. If a Cisco IOS version prior to 12.2(35)SE is used on an affected 3560G or 3750G switch, the following error messages will be displayed during the boot process:

intel_28f256j3_16x_write_bytes: command sequence error

flashfs[1]: writing to flash handle 0x254D8A0, device 0, offset 0x1600000, length 0x208: Operation Failed

flashfs[1]: sector ptr: {0xB0, 0xE7}

flash:/c3750_ucode_image.tar: No space left on device

In addition to displaying the above error messages, when the boot process is complete, the switch will appear to be running properly. However, the flash will be inaccessible and, therefore, the switch will not be operational (see the following two sample outputs below).

3560#dir

Directory of flash:/

%Error opening flash:/ (Device or resource busy)

32514048 bytes total (16258560 bytes free)

OR

3560#wr mem

Building configuration...

nv_done: unable to open "flash:/config.text.new"

nv_done: unable to open "flash:/private-config.text.new"

nv_done: unable to open "flash:/multiple-fs.new"[OK]

Workaround/Solution

Any Catalyst 3560G or 3750G switches within the Affected Serial Number Range provided in the table below are affected. For the affected 3560G and 3750G switches, IOS versions prior to 12.2(35)SE cannot be used. The recommendation is to upgrade to 12.2(55)SE4 and above.

Affected PIDs Affected Serial Number Range
WS-C3560G-24PS-E FOC1536X198 and above
WS-C3560G-24PS-S FOC1528372B to FOC15283737
FOC1539V3RD and above
WS-C3560G-24TS-E FOC1539Z2PH and above
WS-C3560G-24TS-S FOC152816W3 to FOC152816X1
FOC1534X4NW and above
WS-C3560G-48PS-E FOC1537X3AD and above
WS-C3560G-48PS-S FOC1528370C to FOC1528371E
FOC1537X3ML and above
WS-C3560G-48TS-E FOC1537V1C4 and above
WS-C3560G-48TS-S FOC152816XF to FOC152816YA
FOC1536X1ZR and above
WS-C3750G-24PS-E FOC1545Z19A and above
WS-C3750G-24PS-S FOC1531Y3TV to FOC1534Y3FU
FOC1545X1N8 and above
WS-C3750G-24PS-S-1 FOC1545X1N8 and above
WS-C3750G-24TS-E1U FOC1542Y25R and above
WS-C3750G-24TS-S1U FOC1530Y03Y to FOC1534Y3FZ
FOC1542V3HF and above
WS-C3750G-48PS-E FOC1542Y33J and above
WS-C3750G-48PS-S FOC1532Y316 to FOC1532Y31G
FOC1541V35G and above
WS-C3750G-48TS-E FOC1542X1KD and above
WS-C3750G-48TS-S FOC1534Y24E to FOC1534Y24G
FOC1541V412 and above

If a non-supported IOS software image is installed on an affected Catalyst 3560G or 3750G switch, then please follow the "Recovering from a Software Failure" guidelines in the Catalyst 3560 Software Configuration Guide or Catalyst 3750 Software Configuration Guide on Cisco.com. Once a supported version of IOS is re-installed on the switch, it will operate normally.

How To Identify Affected Products

There are two methods to obtain the serial number of a Catalyst 3560G and 3750G switch.

  1. Use the show version command. 
    3560-G#show version | include System serial

System serial number : FOC1048Y5N6
  2. Physical inspection of the device. The serial number label is near the console port (see the label circled in red in the image 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:

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