Field Notice: FN72382 - Cisco C111x Hardware Shipments with New Versions Require a Minimum Cisco IOS Software Release - Software Upgrade Recommended

Future versions of Cisco C111x routers will require a minimum Cisco IOS Software release. The new hardware version which includes Return Material Authorization (RMA) replacement hardware, will require a minimum Cisco IOS Software release for operation. 

A critical semiconductor chip used in these platforms was versioned by the manufacturer. Cisco IOS Software changes are required for compatibility with this new chip version.

Hardware versions V02 or later will not boot with an unsupported software version. The Cisco IOS Software image hangs after successful signature verification, as shown in the following example:

rommon 2 > b usb0:c1100-universalk9_ias.16.08.01prd6.SPA.bin

Located c1100-universalk9_ias.16.08.01prd6.SPA.bin

##############################################################################

…

###############################


Package header rev 3 structure detected

IsoSize = 386246656

Performing Integrity Check ...

Performing Signature Verification ...

RSA Signed RELEASE Image Signature Verification Successful

Image validated

}W?


!!!  Boot hangs here, router does not continue boot, console is unresponsive  !!!

Use the supported software release for hardware shipped after June 30, 2025. C111x customers should migrate to one of these software releases in order to maintain compatibility with new hardware shipped after June 30, 2025. Other software releases will not support the new hardware version and will not boot on the new hardware version.

Use the following minimum supported software versions for affected V02 or V03 hardware shipped after June 30, 2025:

• Cisco IOS Releases 17.8, 17.9, 17.10, 17.11 or later
• Cisco IOS Release 17.7, Release 17.7.1 (released to Cisco.com on December 15, 2021 or later)
• Cisco IOS Release 17.6, Release 17.6.3 (released to Cisco.com on March 31, 2022 or later)
• Cisco IOS Release 17.3, Release 17.3.6, or later
• Cisco IOS Release 16.12, Release 16.12.8, or later

Cisco will continue to ship the current revision of hardware until May 30, 2025, in order to accommodate customer qualification of the supported Cisco IOS releases.

To determine the hardware version of a C111x router, use the show inventory command. The VID field in the show inventory output indicates the hardware version. In the following example, the original hardware version was V01. The new hardware version, which requires the latest Cisco IOS Software, is V02 or V03. For more information, see the chart below.

Router#show inventory

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

INFO: Please use "show license UDI" to get serial number for licensing.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


NAME: "Chassis", DESCR: "Cisco C1111-8PLTEEA Chassis"

PID: C1111-8PLTEEA     , VID: V01  , SN: FGL214390SE


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