Re: 3550 switch POST failure

Marian Dolinsky · ‎03-29-2011

Hi All,

I have Cisco 3550 switch, on POST all lights flash amber very quickly and stay that way, nothing on the console....

Is it possible to fix it? Any ideas?

Thanks

Marian

Leo Laohoo · ‎03-29-2011

Can you please post the full power up process? It could mean a POST failure (you can't fix it) or the switch is in ROMmon (you CAN fix this).

Marian Dolinsky · ‎04-10-2011

It looks like total POST failure; I can’t get anything on the console. The leds go amber immediately after the switch is plug on and I can’t get to ROMMON.

Leo Laohoo · ‎04-10-2011

LEDs going into amber could also mean the switch didn't boot properly.

Marian Dolinsky · ‎04-11-2011

Hi,

probably you are right, that it is a boot problem, because when I left the switch powered on after about an hour or two later the amber leds went green, it booted up and looked fine. I formatted flash and put a new IOS some days ago (the old IOS was corrupted). Could that be a problem? Do you have any idea, why the switch needs so long time to boot up and how to fix it?

Switch#show boot
BOOT path-list:       flash:c3550-ipbase-mz.122-44.SE6.bin
Config file:          flash:/config.text
Private Config file: flash:/private-config.text
Enable Break:         no
Manual Boot:          no
HELPER path-list:
NVRAM/Config file
buffer size:    393216

witch#show flash:

Directory of flash:/
    3 -rwx     6719872   Jan 1 1970 02:26:46 +00:00 c3550-ipbase-mz.122-44.SE6.bin
    4 -rwx          42   Jan 1 1970 00:04:06 +00:00 system_env_vars
    5 -rwx          69   Jan 1 1970 00:04:06 +00:00 env_vars

Switch#show post
Stored system POST messages:
POST: CPU Buffer Tests : Begin
POST: CPU Buffer Tests : End, Status Passed
POST: CPU Interface Tests : Begin
POST: CPU Interface Tests : End, Status Passed
POST: Switch Core Tests : Begin
POST: Switch Core Tests : End, Status Passed
POST: CPU Interface 2nd Stage Tests : Begin
POST: CPU Interface 2nd Stage Tests : End, Status Passed
POST: CAM Subsystem Tests : Begin
POST: CAM Subsystem Tests : End, Status Passed
POST: Ethernet Controller Tests : Begin
POST: Ethernet Controller Tests : End, Status Passed
POST: Loopback Tests : Begin
POST: Loopback Tests : End, Status Passed

Switch#show version

Cisco IOS Software, C3550 Software (C3550-IPBASE-M), Version 12.2(44)SE6, RELEAS
E SOFTWARE (fc1)
Copyright (c) 1986-2009 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Mon 09-Mar-09 14:33 by gereddy
Image text-base: 0x00003000, data-base: 0x00D32668

ROM: Bootstrap program is C3550 boot loader

Switch uptime is 50 minutes
System returned to ROM by power-on
System image file is "flash:c3550-ipbase-mz.122-44.SE6.bin"

Cisco WS-C3550-48 (PowerPC) processor (revision H0) with 65526K/8192K bytes of m
emory.
Processor board ID CAT0715Y0ZP
Last reset from warm-reset
Running Layer2/3 Switching Image

Ethernet-controller 1 has 12 Fast Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interfaces

Ethernet-controller 2 has 12 Fast Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interfaces

Ethernet-controller 3 has 12 Fast Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interfaces

Ethernet-controller 4 has 12 Fast Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interfaces
Ethernet-controller 5 has 1 Gigabit Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface
Ethernet-controller 6 has 1 Gigabit Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface

48 FastEthernet interfaces
2 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces

The password-recovery mechanism is enabled.
384K bytes of flash-simulated NVRAM.
Base ethernet MAC Address: 00:0C:CE:29:87:00
Motherboard assembly number: 73-5701-08
Power supply part number: 34-0967-01
Motherboard serial number: CAT071502MW
Power supply serial number: LIT062800Q5
Model revision number: H0
Motherboard revision number: A0
Model number: WS-C3550-48-SMI
System serial number: CAT0715Y0ZP
Configuration register is 0x10F

Leo Laohoo · ‎04-11-2011

Could that be a problem?

Not sure. If you have a POST failure during the bootup it could mean some failure. If the POST failure comes-and-go it won't "go" for a long time and will come back permanently.

Do you have any idea, why the switch needs so long time to boot up and how to fix it?

I haven't played with 3550 for a long time but I do know that some newer IOS for other models have microcode and bootstrap upgrades. Both can take a long time to fully boot the appliance but it is just a one-off. So try to boot your 3550 again and see if the bootup process is the same or quicker.