Cisco Switch series 350 CBS350-8P-E-2G no communication with PC ports

[pavel-sugako]

Hi forum!

I have a problem with the switch CBS350-8P-E-2G. It had been configured and in use for a couple of months, mainly for PoE devices.

In the past week there was this problem, where the switch port 10 that it was connected to the PC motherboard stopped blinking (both the switch and PC). Another PoE device was connected to Port 1 during that time period. The network devices showed Cable Unplugged. 

We had tried connecting the switch to PC from Port 1 and Port 2, and it remains the same, Unplugged and not blinking. 

We had attempted to factory reset the device by unplugging all of the cables except power and pressing the button for 15-20 seconds. Usually the switch starts communicating after 4-5 minutes after reboot, but it doesn't happen. We have done it multiple times. 

Currently the gear LED is blinking, showing that is is either in default configuration OR in reboot ( possibly infinite in our case since the network devices still say that "Cable is unplugged") 

We confirmed that PC ports (both motherboard and network card) are communicating with other devices, and that the switch does not. 

There has been no power outrages at the switches location in the past week, as per operators

How can I continue debugging it? 

Can all this mean that the switch has died on us?

Thanks!

[marce1000]

  - Does the port on the CBS work , when you connect a standard PC to it ?

 M.

[pavel-sugako]

Ports arent blinking, if this is what you mean. 

Here is a short list of the things we noted and did try to debug:

During the debugging session we recorded next details:

• Switch was connected to PR through port 10
• There has been no LED indication on both switch and PC that communication between them is present
• There have been no communication to the DUT in the port 1 either                                              
• When the problem was noticed at first the gear icon on the switch was blinking ( should have remained steady, showing that the switch is configured )
• Switch adapter in Network Devices showed “Cable Unplugged” error     
• There were no power outrages in the past week in FBN

We attempted next tests:

• Plugging PC to Switch Port 1 and Port 2 – No communication
• Plugging Switch to PC network adapter (originally in motherboard port) – No communication
• DUT device in Switch Port 1 has no communication
• PC to another PC from both motherboard and network adapter do have communication
• Switch to another PC have no communication
• Switch factory reset has been done multiple times, resulted in no communication and still remain as unplugged in network devices ( The communication had to been up after 4-5 minutes after reboot )
• Resetting Switches power did not solve the issue.
• Confirmed drivers version                           

[marce1000]

           >...Ports arent blinking, if this is what you mean. 
  - Not exactly ; I was confused when you say making a connection to a motherboard ; therefore my question is :
                does the port on the CBS work when  a 'fully clothed' and standard PC is connected to it ?

 M.

[pavel-sugako]

The port LEDs remain off

[marce1000]

 - Has the PC network connectivity ? 

 M.

[pavel-sugako]

Yes. 

The PC can connect to network through both motherboard port and network adapter.

On the other hand the switch does not communicate with neither 

[marce1000]

  - What is a 'motherboard port'  . normally a PC will only get connected to the network (switch)
  using it's network adapter.
  If the PC can communicate on the network, then everything is OK , the switch does not need to 
  communicate with the PC directly , 'it only relays traffic' , 

 M.

[pavel-sugako]

Motherboard port in integrated ethernet port on the motherboard.

We use motherboard port to connect the switch, because it requires certain NIC driver, which we cannot install on the network adapter card ( that is used to connect the PC to internet ).

The cable from the motherboard goes into port10 on the switch. 

White the cable from network adapter card connects the PC to the internet. I hope this is clear this time.

It is done so that we can connect to the computer remotely for switch configuration, as the switch is located in a factory half of the world from our office. I believe that if we had been connected to the switch from the internet and then from the switch to the PC, we would not be able to connect to the PC at all in our case. I hope I understood what you mean in your last comment. 

Did you take in account what I previously wrote regarding our debug? That the switch ports dont light up on 2 different PCs, and the device connected to it also does not affect port status? 

[marce1000]

              >...The cable from the motherboard goes into port10 on the switch. 
 - I can understand all of this , your above and subsequent remarks (beneath)
   , however :
                       whatever is tried here , if for instance
   the CBS350 works normally with a standard laptop connected to that  switchport , then
                                all of what is happening must
   be related to your special setups (motherboard port + driver )
    and not likely related to the CBS350. You can decide to go for 
   a device with two standard network adapters to not have special hurdles with drivers , motherboard ports , networking ,......

 M.

[pavel-sugako]

As I've mentioned earlier

• Switch to another PC have no communication

So No - the switch does not work normally even after factory reset (hard reset)

We have a second instance of this tester in our own labs, with exact same configuration and drivers. Also the hardware models are identical. Out switch is working as expected. So I doubt this is a configuration issue. 

My concern is that the switch is stuck in infinite reboot since it was configured and should had static gear LED, while when operators noticed that DUT port LEDs are off, it also happened that gear LED was blinking

• Switch factory reset has been done multiple times, resulted in no communication and still remain as unplugged in network devices ( The communication had to been up after 4-5 minutes after reboot )

When I refer to "no communication" I mean that there is no visible lights blinking neither on PC ports neither on the switch.

• When the problem was noticed at first the gear icon on the switch was blinking ( should have remained steady, showing that the switch is configured )

So I though maybe somebody can suggest either another way to reset the switch, or at least a way to test it's connectivity, since I think we tried most of possible things.

• Plugging PC to Switch Port 1 and Port 2 – No communication
• Plugging Switch to PC network adapter (originally in motherboard port) – No communication
• DUT device in Switch Port 1 has no communication
• PC to another PC from both motherboard and network adapter do have communication
• Switch to another PC have no communication

[marce1000 · Accepted solution]

 >...So No - the switch does not work normally even after factory reset (hard reset)
        - You should try to examine the logs on the switch (if possible)

  >... is stuck in infinite reboot since it was configured and should had static gear LED
       As far as this , and all the rest following ; it might be simpler to have the switch replaced by another one
       since it turns out that currently it's correct operational status can not be determined , (or it could be faulty)

 M.

[pavel-sugako]

Can you recommend me how can I view the logs without being able to connect to the switch? Are you talking about windows event viewer logs? 

How can I reach them?

[marce1000]

    >... view the logs without being able to connect to the switch? 
  - You can't indeed , if the device would be completely down or faulty.

 M.

[pavel-sugako]

I guess it may be. Thank you!

I will keep this thread open for while, maybe I can get more input.