Field Notice: FN - 70506 - Authentication Failure Observed on C9200/C9200L Switches When a Stacking Cable, Stack Adapter, or Network Module Is Inserted in the Switch - Hardware Upgrade Available

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	18-Feb-20	Initial Release
2.0	05-Mar-20	External Field Notice Revision Published

Products Affected

Affected Product ID	Comments
STACK-T4-50CM=	Part Alternate
STACK-T4-50CM
STACK-T4-1M
STACK-T4-1M=	Part Alternate
STACK-T4-3M=	Part Alternate
STACK-T4-3M
C9200-NM-4G
C9200-NM-4G=	Part Alternate
C9200-NM-4X
C9200-NM-4X=	Part Alternate
C9200-STACK=	Part Alternate
C9200-STACK

Defect Information

Defect ID	Headline
CSCvs42280	C9200L/9200 : Stack Cable or Stack Adapter or Uplink FRU module (NM) hardware authentication failed

Problem Description

A set of stacking cables, stack adapters, and network modules, as mentioned in the Products Affected section, will fail to authenticate when inserted into a stack port or the network module slot of C9200/C9200L switches.

Background

A specific set of stacking cables, stack adapters, and network modules manufactured during a short period of time between September 2019 and January 2020 (identified by the serial number) have incorrect/missing Cisco Manufacturing authentication data. This will leads to failure during bootup/installation of the switch. The issue was caused by a very specific manufacturing process deviation that has been corrected with the introduction of additional verification steps into the process.

As of January 2020, the set of improperly manufactured units represents less than 1% of the entire install base.

Problem Symptom

The affected product will fail to authenticate when inserted into the stack port or network module slot. This failure will be noticed during system bootup. Any product that did not encounter an authentication failure and is already in use/functional/service was manufactured correctly and will not run into this issue/failure.

On authentication failure, the affected product should show one of these problem symptoms.

Stacking Cable Authentication Failure

The stack switch will reload and might show any of these error messages:

*** Stack cable authentication failed for cable inserted on stack port 1 on switch 2 ***
*** Stack cable authentication failed for cable inserted on stack port 2 on switch 2 ***
*** Stack cable authentication failed for cable inserted on stack port 1 on switch 1 ***
*** Stack cable authentication failed for cable inserted on stack port 2 on switch 1 ***

Stack Adapter Authentication Failure

The stack switch will reload and might show any of these error messages:

Stack Adapter Auth Fail : SIF_SERDES_CABLE_EASTBOUND
*** Stack adapter authentication failed on stack port 1 on switch 1

*** Stack adapter authentication failed on stack port 2 on switch 1
Stack Adapter Auth Fail : SIF_SERDES_CABLE_WESTBOUND

Network Module Authentication Failure

The network module and corresponding ports on it will not work, but the rest of the switch will continue to operate correctly. It might show the error message as:

***Uplink FRU module hardware authentication failed***

Workaround/Solution

There is no workaround for this issue. Cisco is proactively notifying its customers of the potential field issue via this notice. This issue will be seen across a small set of units manufactured between September 2019 and January 2020.

If the issue is observed as mentioned in Problem Symptom section, and the serial number is listed in the Serial Number Validation Tool, use the Upgrade Program section in this field notice to submit a replacement request.

Cisco customers can return the impacted stacking cable, stack adapter, or network module to Cisco or choose to dispose of the unit at the customer site.

If the switch fails with a similar symptom, but is not included in the Serial Number Validation Tool, the customer should create a Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) case to get further assistance before attempting to replace the product.

Cisco is committed to the delivery of high quality units and regrets any inconvenience that this might cause. Contact TAC or your account team for further support.

Serial Number Validation

This field notice provides the ability to identify if the serial number(s) of a device is impacted by this issue. In order to verify your serial number(s), use the Serial Number Validation Tool.

Upgrade Program

A Form must be filled out for each separate Ship to Address.

The Upgrade Order Reference Number should be unique for each time the Form is filled out.

Please enter a valid Serial Number in the Form.
You will receive an acknowledgement email immediately after submitting the Form with Request #. Depending on material availability, both you AND the Customer email address will receive a confirmation email with Order# in 7 to 10 days. UMPIRE orders are proactive replacements and do NOT adhere to normal SLAs or Service Contracts.

NOTE: If your Ship to Address is in the following countries, please expect delays of up to 3 months depending on importation regulations: Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, Venezuela, India, All countries in Asia (i.e. Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Philippines), and all non-EU countries (ie: UAE, Russia, Turkey). You will receive your Order# at that time. Thank you for your patience as this process is beneficial for the customer; it will save them the cost of vat/duty in these countries (which is very high).

If you were given a Sales Order Number for the shipment of your replacement parts, please refer to the SO Status Tool (Please note: you must have a CCO User ID and Password to access this site):https://cisco-apps.cisco.com/cisco/psn/commerce

If you were given an RMA Number for the shipment of your replacement parts, please refer to the "Service Order QuickSearch" Tool at the following location (Please note: you must have a CCO User ID and Password to access this site):http://tools.cisco.com/support/serviceordertool/home.svo

If you have not received an email with an Order# after 10 days, please send an email with your Request#(s) and Customer in the Subject line to:mailto:umpire-escalations@cisco.com
If you were given a Sales Order Number for the shipment of your replacement parts, please refer to the SO Status Tool (Please note: you must have a CCO User ID and Password to access this site): https://cisco-apps.cisco.com/cisco/psn/commerce


Note: Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required fields.

Requestor Information
*Name
*E-mail Address
TAC SR Number
Customer Shipping Information
*Company
*Address
Address_line2
*City
*State/Province
*ZIP/Postal Code
*Country	Select a Country AFGHANISTAN ALBANIA ALGERIA AMERICAN SAMOA ANDORRA ANGOLA ANGUILLA ANTARCTICA ANTIGUA ARGENTINA ARMENIA ARUBA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA AZERVBAIJAN BAHAMAS BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BARBADOS BELARUS BELGIUM BELIZE BENIN BERMUDA BHUTAN BOLIVIA BOSNIA BOTSWANA BOUVET ISLAND BRAZIL BRITISH INDIES BRUNEI DARUSSALAM BULGARIA BURKINA FASO BURUNDI CAMBODIA CAMEROON CANADA CAPE VERDE CAYMAN ISLANDS CENTRAL AFRICA CHAD CHILE CHINA CHRISTMAS ISLAND COCOS COLOMBIA COMOROS CONGO CONGO, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE COOK ISLANDS COSTA RICA COTE D IVOIRE CROATIA CUBA CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC DENMARK DIJIBOUTI DOMINICA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ECUADOR EGYPT EL SALVADOR EQUATORIAL ERITREA ESTONIA ETHIOPIA FALKLAND ISLANDS FAROE ISLANDS FIJI FINLAND FRANCE FRENCH GUIANA FRENCH POLYNESIA FRENCH SOUTHERN TERR GABON GAMBIA GEORGIA GERMANY GHANA GIBRALTAR GREECE GREENLAND GRENADA GUADELOUPE GUAM GUATEMALA GUINEA GUINEA-BISSAU GUYANA HAITI HEARD ISLAND HONDURAS HONG KONG HUNGARY ICELAND INDIA INDONESIA IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAQ IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN JORDAN KAZAKHSTAN KENYA KIRIBATI KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA, REPUBLIC OF KUWAIT KYRGYZSTAN LAO PEOPLE LATVIA LEBANON LESOTHO LIBERIA LIBYAN ARAB LIECHTENSTEIN LITHUANIA LUXEMBOURG MACAO MACEDONIA, THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MADAGASCAR MALAWI MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALI MALTA MARSHALL ISLAND MARTINQUE MAURITANIA MAURITIUS MAYOTTE MEXICO MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF MOLDOVA MONACO MONGOLIA MONTSERRAT MOROCCO MOZAMBIQUE MYANMAR NAMBIA NAURU NEPAL NETHERLANDS NETHERLANDS ANTILLES NEW CALEDONIA NEW ZEALAND NICARAGUA NIGER NIGERIA NIUE NORFOLK ISLAND NORTHERN COMMONWEALTH NORWAY OMAN PAKISTAN PALAU PALESTINIAN TERRITORY,OCCUPIED PANAMA PAPUA NEW GUINEA PARAGUAY PERU PHILIPPINES PITCAIRN POLAND PORTUGAL PUERTO RICO QATAR REUNION ROMANIA RUSSIAN FEDERATION RWANDA SAINT HELENA SAINT KITTS SAINT LUCIA SAINT PIERRE SAINT VINCENT SAMOA SAN MARINO SAO TOME SAUDI ARABIA SENEGAL SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO SEYCHELLES SIERRA LEONE SINGAPORE SLOVAKIA SLOVENIA SOLOMON ISLAND SOMALIA SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH GEORGIA AND THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS SPAIN SRI LANKA SUDAN SURINAME SVALBARD AND JAN MAYEN ESWATINI SWEDEN SWITZERLAND SYRIAN ARAB TAIWAN TAJIKISTAN TANZANIA THAILAND TIMOR-LESTE TOGO TOKELAU TONGA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TUNISIA TURKEY TURKMENISTAN TURKS AND CAICOS TUVALU UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNITED KINGDOM UNITED STATES UNITED STATES MINOR OUTLYING ISLANDS URUGUAY UZBEKISTAN VANUATU VATICAN CITY VENEZUELA VIET NAM VIRGIN ISLANDS, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS, U.S. WALLIS AND FUTUNA WESTERN SAHARA YEMEN ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE
Product	Affected Product *Quantity *Serial# 2 Replacement PID STACK-T4-50CM= STACK-T4-50CM= STACK-T4-50CM STACK-T4-50CM= STACK-T4-1M STACK-T4-1M= STACK-T4-1M= STACK-T4-1M= STACK-T4-3M= STACK-T4-3M= STACK-T4-3M STACK-T4-3M= C9200-NM-4G C9200-NM-4G= C9200-NM-4G= C9200-NM-4G= C9200-NM-4X C9200-NM-4X= C9200-NM-4X= C9200-NM-4X= C9200-STACK= C9200-STACK= C9200-STACK C9200-STACK=
Customer Contact Information
*First Name
*Last Name
*Phone 1	Ext.
Fax 1	Ext.
*E-Mail
Upgrade Order Reference Number	Please provide a number that you can use when inquiring about order status
Notes

¹ For phone and fax, include 011 and the country code outside North America.

² The serial number input field for each Product ID can hold up to 4,000 characters, including commas and white space. For longer lists of serial numbers, please submit additional requests.

³ For customers in Japan only *** please enter the building and the floor in the address field. Also, enter the contact person's name, the telephone number and the e-mail address in the appropriate fields.. 

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 or telephone

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