Stack version mismatch - Catalyst 2960X FlexStack+

[Dan Yatzeck]

I am attempting to join two identical Cisco 2960X switches into a stack at a remote branch office.  I made sure both were running the same IOS version - 15.2(2)E5.  However when the remote technician connected the switches, the logs showed a version mismatch.

After getting the switch back, I confirmed the IOS version was an exact match.  However when I ran the command "show platform stack manager all", the Stack State Machine View is showing the version as 7.56.  The other switch is showing 1.56.

This does not make sense to me as the Cisco documentation states that the stack firmware is set on the IOS image, so if the IOS image matches then the stack version should match as well.  The minor version matches, but the major version is off.

To troubleshoot, I upgraded the switch showing version 7.56 to the latest recommended release, 15.2(2)E6.  During the IOS install, the output showed clearly that the stack firmware was 1.56.  However after the upgrade was complete, the show command still reports 7.56.

Does anyone have experience with this at all to explain what is going on and how I can get the firmware to match?

[farzu_shaikh]

Hi Mario

Will this work for minor version is problem mine is 1.160 master

1.59 in member 

[Dany970]

Sorry, I need your help!

I have a 2960X switch that is experiencing the same issue.

I followed your instructions in rommon mode, but there were errors reported. Below are the corresponding errors

switch: unset SM_MAJOR_VERSION

switch: set SM_MAJOR_VERSION <1.160>

switch:

switch: boot
Loading "flash:/c2960x-universalk9-mz.152-7.E6.bin"...
Error loading "flash:/c2960x-universalk9-mz.152-7.E6.bin"

Interrupt within 5 seconds to abort boot process.
Boot process failed...

I tried to turn off the power and start the system.

But when checking the corresponding version, it is not the version number I set

Switch#show platform stack manager all

Stack State Machine View
==============================================================

Switch Master/ Mac Address Version Current
Number Member (maj.min) State
-----------------------------------------------------------
1 Master 5017.ff23.ef80 0.160 Ready

Last Conflict Parameters

Switch Master/ Cfgd Default Image H/W # of Mac Address
Number Member Prio Config Type Prio Members
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[p oh]

I tried testing a 2960x for this issue.

Master Switch 1 is running 15.2(7)E6,

Member Switch 2 is running 152-2.E7 (previous 2960x member failed and need to be replaced.  Replacement came loaded with 152-2.E7. To test if it would auto-upgrade and use the master as donor to update itself to match the Master )

Due to hardware (maj.min) version differences, the switches would not stack. The member switch would hang after booting and displaying the hardware information.  After disconnecting the stacking cable and downgrading the member that failed to match the master IOS verison 15.2(7)E6 allowed the switches to stack and both are up. 

Few things I noticed is that the flash does not have enough space to copy another version of IOS tar file and not enough memory to display the extraction output.   These could be contributing to the member switch from hanging.  

#############Before (Versions Mismatch)########################

Switch/Stack Mac Address : d4ad.71ec.2b80
H/W Current
Switch# Role Mac Address Priority Version State
----------------------------------------------------------
*1 Master d4ad.71ec.2b80 10 4 Ready
2 Member 848a.8d55.7e00 5 4 Version Mismatch

Stack Port Status Neighbors
Switch# Port 1 Port 2 Port 1 Port 2
--------------------------------------------------------
1 Ok Ok 2 2
2 Ok Ok 1 1

Stack Discovery Protocol View
==============================================================

Switch Active Role Current Sequence Dirty
Number State Number Bit
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1 TRUE Master Ready 100 FALSE
2 TRUE Member VerMis 021 FALSE

Stack State Machine View
==============================================================

Switch Master/ Mac Address Version Current
Number Member (maj.min) State
-----------------------------------------------------------
1 Master d4ad.71ec.2b80 1.160 Ready
2 Member 848a.8d55.7e00 1.56 VerMis

Last Conflict Parameters

#########After (versions match)##############

H/W Current
Switch# Role Mac Address Priority Version State
----------------------------------------------------------
*1 Master d4ad.71ec.2b80 10 4 Ready
2 Member 848a.8d55.7e00 5 4 Ready

Stack Port Status Neighbors
Switch# Port 1 Port 2 Port 1 Port 2
--------------------------------------------------------
1 Ok Ok 2 2
2 Ok Ok 1 1

Stack Discovery Protocol View
==============================================================

Switch Active Role Current Sequence Dirty
Number State Number Bit
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1 TRUE Master Ready 178 FALSE
2 TRUE Member Ready 038 FALSE

Stack State Machine View
==============================================================

Switch Master/ Mac Address Version Current
Number Member (maj.min) State
-----------------------------------------------------------
1 Master d4ad.71ec.2b80 1.160 Ready
2 Member 848a.8d55.7e00 1.160 Ready

[p oh]

did you try entering

set SM_MAJOR_VERSION 1.160

without the "<" and ">"?