Field Notice: FN74402 - Automatic Upgrade of FPDs May Not Complete During Cisco IOS XR Software Update on Enhanced XR Platforms - Workaround Provided

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Updated:June 26, 2026

Document ID:FN74402

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High

Impact Rating:

High

First Published:

2026-Jun-26

Last Published:

2026-Jun-26

Revision:

1.0

Cisco Bug IDs:

CSCws23426

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

Affected Software Product	Affected Release	Affected Release Number	Comments
IOS XR Software	25	25.2.1, 25.3.1, 25.4.1	Kernel changes implemented in all releases in 25.2.x release train Kernel changes implemented in all releases in 25.3.x release train Kernel changes implemented in all releases in 25.4.x release train
IOS XR Software	26	26.1.1	Kernel changes implemented in all releases in 26.1.x release train

Defect Information

Defect ID	Headline
CSCws23426	Auto-FPD upgrades are ineffective during software upgrades from <25.2.1 to ≥25.2.1; an additional reload is required

Problem Description

The automatic upgrade process for field-programmable devices (FPDs) may not complete when upgrading an Enhanced XR (eXR) platform to one of the Cisco IOS XR Software releases that are listed in the following table. The FPD status may show RLOAD REQ, indicating that an additional step is required to activate the updated FPD.

This behavior is seen when upgrading from any Cisco IOS XR Software release earlier than one of the affected releases mentioned in the following table:

Cisco eXR Platform	Current Cisco IOS Software XR Release	Affected Cisco IOS XR Software Release
ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers	Any release earlier than 25.2.1	25.2.1 or later
Network Convergence System (NCS) 560 Series Routers	Any release earlier than 25.2.1	25.2.1 or later
Network Convergence System (NCS) 540 Series Routers	Any release earlier than 25.3.1	25.3.1 or later
Network Convergence System (NCS) 1000 Series
Network Convergence System (NCS) 5500 Series

Background

A change in the kernel in Cisco IOS XR Software releases 25.2.1 and later and 25.3.1 and later can cause the FPD upgrade process to not complete during Cisco IOS XR Software installation.

This issue occurs because the FPD is upgraded after the Cisco IOS XR Software installation is complete. At that point, the system is running the affected release, and the FPD status remains in the RLOAD REQ state. An additional step is required to activate and complete the FPD upgrade.

Note: No functionality degradation is expected on devices that are running with FPDs in RLOAD REQ state. Therefore, the additional step to complete the FPD upgrade process that is required may be planned in a separate maintenance window.

Problem Symptom

After a router or a device has been upgraded to an affected Cisco IOS XR Software release, the FPD status will be RLOAD REQ. The output in the following example was collected from an NCS 5500 Series platform that was upgraded to Cisco IOS XR Software Release 25.3.1 or later:

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show hw-module fpd
Auto-upgrade:Enabled
Attribute codes: B golden, P protect, S secure
                                                                         FPD Versions
                                                                        ==============
Location   Card type             HWver FPD device       ATR Status   Running Programd  Reload Loc
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS-5501              0.1   Bootloader        S  CURRENT    1.23    1.23         0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS-5501              0.1   CPU-IOFPGA           RLOAD REQ  1.153   1.154        0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS-5501              0.1   MB-IOFPGA            CURRENT    1.49    1.49         0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS-5501              0.1   MB-MIFPGA            RLOAD REQ  1.04    1.05         0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS-5501              0.1   SATA              S  CURRENT    3.00    3.00         0/RP0
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#

Workaround/Solution

Workaround

There is no software solution that eliminates the need for an additional one-time reload when performing an upgrade across the Cisco IOS XR Software releases 25.2.x or later releases. Customers must perform this extra reload as part of the upgrade process to complete the FPD update successfully.

Cisco recommends using the following steps to perform an additional reload of the system to complete the FPD update:

After upgrading to the affected Cisco IOS XR Software release, allow the system to fully boot into the upgraded software release.
Use the install commit command. The FPD upgrade process begins only after the install commit command is used. Wait for the system to complete the FPD upgrade process and for the FPD to transition into the RLOAD_REQ state.
Run the command admin show hw-module fpd to check the current status of the hardware.

Perform a reload of the location (RP/LC/system) using the CLI to complete the FPD upgrade process.

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:MBH-PE2-9902#admin
sysadmin-vm:0_RP0# hw-module location <0/0 <or> 0/RP0  all>      <<<<<<< to reload a specific LC or RP
sysadmin-vm:0_RP0# hw-module location all reload                 <<<<<<< to reload the system

The following output was collected after the additional reload from an NCS 5500 Series platform that was upgraded to Cisco IOS XR Software Release 25.3.1 or later:

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show hw-module fpd
Auto-upgrade:Enabled -> expected o/p if issue not seen
Attribute codes: B golden, P protect, S secure
                                                                         FPD Versions
                                                                        ==============
Location   Card type             HWver FPD device       ATR Status   Running Programd  Reload Loc
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS-5501              0.1   Bootloader        S  CURRENT    1.23    1.23         0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS-5501              0.1   CPU-IOFPGA           CURRENT    1.154   1.154        0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS-5501              0.1   MB-IOFPGA            CURRENT    1.49    1.49         0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS-5501              0.1   MB-MIFPGA            CURRENT    1.05    1.05         0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS-5501              0.1   SATA              S  CURRENT    3.00    3.00         0/RP0
RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#

How to Identify Affected Products

This behavior is seen when upgrading from any older Cisco IOS XR Software release to any of the releases listed in the table:

Product	Affected Cisco IOS XR Software Release
ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers	25.2.1 or later
NCS 560 Series Routers	25.2.1 or later
NCS 540 Series Routers	25.3.1 or later
NCS 1000 Series	25.3.1 or later
NCS 5500 Series	25.3.1 or later

The following example shows the output of the show version command on an LNT platform, which is not affected by this issue:

Router# show version
Cisco IOS XR Software, Version 25.3.1 LNT     <<<<<<<<< indicates it is a LNT platform, not affected
Copyright (c) 2013-2025 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Build Information:
 Built By     : swtools
 Built On     : Mon Sep 15 22:29:03 UTC 2025
 Build Host   : iox-lnx-016
 Workspace    : /auto/srcarchive12/prod/25.3.1/ncs540l/ws
 Version      : 25.3.1
 Label        : 25.3.1-RN3

cisco NCS540L (D1519 @ 1.50GHz)
cisco N540-24Q8L2DD-SYS (D1519 @ 1.50GHz) processor with 16GB of memory
PE6-Arches uptime is 6 minutes
Cisco NCS540 Series, Fixed Router 2x400G, 8x50G, 24x25G Chassis

The following example shows the output of the show version command on an eXR platform, which is affected by this issue:

Router# show version
Mon Sep 15 23:57:35.840 PDT
Cisco IOS XR Software, Version 25.3.1
Copyright (c) 2013-2025 by Cisco Systems, Inc.

Build Information:
 Built By     : swtools
 Built On     : Mon Sep 15 07:19:49 PDT 2025
 Built Host   : iox-lnx-026
 Workspace    : /auto/srcarchive12/prod/25.3.1/ncs5500/ws
 Version      : 25.3.1
 Location     : /opt/cisco/XR/packages/
 Label        : 25.3.1

cisco NCS-5500 () processor
System uptime is 50 minutes

Revision History

Version	Description	Section	Date
1.0	Initial Release	—	2026-JUN-26

For More Information

For further assistance or for more information about this field notice, contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) using one of the following methods:

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