Cisco 4500 24-port Gigabit Module being picky...

Peter Ellwood · ‎01-08-2013

Hi Folks,

We have recently purchased a Cisco 4506 that has several Gigabit Ethernet modules installed.

One of the Ethernet Gigabit modules - a WS-X4424-GB-RJ45 - is being picky with who it talks to at Gigabit Ethernet.

If I plug a laptop into one of it's RJ45 ports using a Cat 6 cable, nothing happens. No link light, no notification of link up or down on port statistics, absolutely nothing.

If I plug a server into the same port it works fine at Gigabit Ethernet (even using the same Cat 6 cable).

I can get the module to recognise a laptop if I fix the speed/duplex on the laptop to 100Mb/Full - but as you can imagine that doesn't help any.

I have tried this with other staff laptops from different vendors (HP / Dell / etc.) all with the same result.

The module directly underneath this module - a WS-X4448-GB-RJ45 - works fine for both laptops and servers. We have tried swapping the module positions but to no avail.

Has anyone seen this issue before and have any recommendations on how to debug / resolve?

Regards.

Gabriel Hill · ‎01-08-2013

That's pretty odd.

Could you post the following from the 4506.

1. show version

2. show module

Peter Ellwood · ‎01-08-2013

Show module output (show version coming soon): -

#show module

Chassis Type : WS-C4506

Power consumed by backplane : 0 Watts

Mod Ports Card Type Model Serial No.

---+-----+--------------------------------------+------------------+-----------

1 6 Sup II+10GE 10GE (X2), 1000BaseX (SFP) WS-X4013+10GE JAE12460DWU

2 24 10/100/1000BaseT (RJ45) WS-X4424-GB-RJ45 JAE0934JRBW

3 48 10/100/1000BaseT (RJ45) WS-X4448-GB-RJ45 JAE0939LU9W

4 48 10/100BaseTX (RJ45) WS-X4148-RJ JAE07390941

5 48 10/100BaseTX (RJ45) WS-X4148-RJ JAE0739094Y

M MAC addresses Hw Fw Sw Status

--+--------------------------------+---+------------+----------------+---------

1 0019.2f23.e000 to 0019.2f23.e005 1.5 12.2(31r)SGA 15.0(2)SG6 Ok

2 0013.6047.93b8 to 0013.6047.93cf 1.7 Ok

3 0015.632e.ef60 to 0015.632e.ef8f 1.2 Ok

4 000d.bd80.ff40 to 000d.bd80.ff6f 3.1 Ok

5 000d.65ed.ba90 to 000d.65ed.babf 3.1 Ok

Show version: -

#show ver
Cisco IOS Software, Catalyst 4500 L3 Switch Software (cat4500-IPBASEK9-M), Version 15.0(2)SG6, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 1986-2012 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Wed 31-Oct-12 13:38 by prod_rel_team
Image text-base: 0x10000000, data-base: 0x120921B8

ROM: 12.2(31r)SGA
Pod Revision 14, Force Revision 31, Tie Revision 32

NCSRTR01 uptime is 0 minutes
System returned to ROM by power-on
System image file is "bootflash:cat4500-ipbasek9-mz.150-2.SG6.bin"

This product contains cryptographic features and is subject to United
States and local country laws governing import, export, transfer and
use. Delivery of Cisco cryptographic products does not imply
third-party authority to import, export, distribute or use encryption.
Importers, exporters, distributors and users are responsible for
compliance with U.S. and local country laws. By using this product you
agree to comply with applicable laws and regulations. If you are unable
to comply with U.S. and local laws, return this product immediately.

A summary of U.S. laws governing Cisco cryptographic products may be found at:
http://www.cisco.com/wwl/export/crypto/tool/stqrg.html

If you require further assistance please contact us by sending email to
export@cisco.com.

cisco WS-C4506 (MPC8540) processor (revision 4) with 262144K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID FOX10320189
MPC8540 CPU at 667Mhz, Supervisor II-PLUS-10GE
Last reset from PowerUp
11 Virtual Ethernet interfaces
96 FastEthernet interfaces
76 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
2 Ten Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
511K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.

Configuration register is 0x2102

Edit: Updated with show version information

Leo Laohoo · ‎01-08-2013

If I plug a laptop into one of it's RJ45 ports using a Cat 6 cable, nothing happens. No link light, no notification of link up or down on port statistics, absolutely nothing.

If I plug a server into the same port it works fine at Gigabit Ethernet (even using the same Cat 6 cable).

Sound like you have a cable problem.

When you connect a problem to a laptop and then you change the interface to "speed auto 10 100", does the port go up?

Peter Ellwood · ‎01-09-2013

Hi leolaohoo,

You'd think so but we've tried different cables to no avail.

We even tried the same cable connected to a server (works) then connecting to a laptop (doesn't work), so I'm not convinced it's a cable problem. Will try the speed auto 10 100 shortly.

Peter Ellwood · ‎01-09-2013

ok when connecting a laptop with the 'speed auto 10 100' the interface comes up at 100Mb.

#show int gig 2/1

GigabitEthernet2/1 is up, line protocol is up (connected)

Hardware is Gigabit Ethernet Port, address is 0013.6047.93b8 (bia 0013.6047.93b8)

MTU 1500 bytes, BW 100000 Kbit, DLY 100 usec,

reliability 255/255, txload 1/255, rxload 1/255

Encapsulation ARPA, loopback not set

Keepalive set (10 sec)

Full-duplex, 100Mb/s, link type is auto, media type is 10/100/1000-TX

input flow-control is off, output flow-control is off

ARP type: ARPA, ARP Timeout 04:00:00

Last input 00:00:01, output never, output hang never

Last clearing of "show interface" counters never

Input queue: 0/2000/0/0 (size/max/drops/flushes); Total output drops: 0

Queueing strategy: fifo

Output queue: 0/40 (size/max)

5 minute input rate 2000 bits/sec, 2 packets/sec

5 minute output rate 1000 bits/sec, 1 packets/sec

99 packets input, 10640 bytes, 0 no buffer

Received 93 broadcasts (53 multicasts)

0 runts, 0 giants, 0 throttles

0 input errors, 0 CRC, 0 frame, 0 overrun, 0 ignored

0 input packets with dribble condition detected

15 packets output, 4281 bytes, 0 underruns

0 output errors, 0 collisions, 0 interface resets

0 babbles, 0 late collision, 0 deferred

0 lost carrier, 0 no carrier

0 output buffer failures, 0 output buffers swapped out

Leo Laohoo · ‎01-09-2013

ok when connecting a laptop with the 'speed auto 10 100' the interface comes up at 100Mb.

Either your laptop doesn't support 1Gbps or you have a cable issue, particularly the fourth pair or pair "D".

Try to run a TDR. Be aware that you are using a 4500 and the "wait" from the test command to the show command could be as long as 61 seconds.

Peter Ellwood · ‎01-09-2013

Hi leolaohoo,

Just to be clear - this isn't only happening to my laptop. As mentioned in the first post, we already tried different laptops from my colleagues and they all experienced the same issue. Oh and the gigabit works fine on the laptop when connected to our 2960 or 3650 switches, even to the gigabit ports in the other line cards - just not this line card.

However I have tried to run a TDR and unfortunately the line cards we have do not appear to support them: -

C4K_IOSDIAGMAN-4-TESTNOTSUPPORTEDONMODULE: Online cable diag tdr test is not supported on module 2

Edit: Added detail about gigabit working on the laptop when connected to other devices

Leo Laohoo · ‎01-09-2013

C4K_IOSDIAGMAN-4-TESTNOTSUPPORTEDONMODULE: Online cable diag tdr test is not supported on module 2

Ok, you got me stumped. The only thing left is an IOS bug.

Peter Ellwood · ‎01-09-2013

ok folks I have it figured out. As we couldn't see anything on the switch I went to the laptop in question and disabled every funky feature on the NIC so it didn't try and do anything fancy.

Waddya know, the link came up at Gigabit.

So I turned each feature on 1-by-1 to see which feature was causing the problem and the culprit is 802.3az (Energy-Efficient Ethernet) - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy-Efficient_Ethernet

For some reason the 24-port line module does not like 802.3az but the 48-port line modules work with it fine.

This also explains why the servers would work but the laptops wouldn't - almost all laptops would come with 802.3az drivers these days to ensure better battery life, however I doubt any servers would have this extension.

Oh well, live and learn. Hope this helps someone else out there.

Thanks leolaohoo for trying to help, much appreciated.