Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Switches

Revised March 6, 2008
August 21, 2006

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.

Revision History

Products Affected

Problem Description

Redundant and non-redundant systems with WS-X4516-10GE or WS-X4013+10GE Supervisors may reset due to multibit ECC error.

Background

Cisco has found that the above Cisco Supervisor models have a potential to experience SDRAM degradation. This could result in switch reloads. In advanced circumstances when SDRAM has degraded extensively, the switch could reload and hang on reboot. Factors which influence the extent of SDRAM degradation are the length of time the supervisor has been in operation along with network traffic patterns that affect SDRAM access. The extent of degradation is not easily quantifiable. In a chassis with redundant supervisors, both the active and standby units can experience SDRAM degradation.

Problem Symptoms

The degradation of SDRAM is a slow process over an extended time. Marginal SDRAM degradation can be noted when a switch reloads unexpectedly and leaves behind a multibit-ecc error signature in the crashdump file. Severe SDRAM degradation can be noted when the switch fails to boot and hangs in the process of loading IOS. See CSCsd63410 for additional information.

Workaround/Solution

Upgrading Rommon to 12.2(31r)SGA and above mitigates degradation of SDRAM. Prior to upgrading ROMMON, SDRAM may need to be replaced, depending on the hardware revision and serial number of the Supervisor

NOTE : Customers with ROMMON 12.2(31r)SG3 do not need to upgrade ROMMON further. ROMMON 12.2(31r)SG3 also mitigates degradation of SDRAM.

Affected:
1. WS-X4013+10GE with Hardware Revision 1.1 or lower AND
Supervisor serial numbers lower than JAx1030xxxx

2. WS-X4516-10GE with Hardware Revision 2.0 to 2.3 AND
Supervisor serial numbers lower than JAx1030xxxx

3. WS-X4516-10GE with Hardware Revision 3.0 to 3.2 AND
Supervisor serial numbers lower than JAx1030xxxx

Supervisors with the hardware revision mentioned above and Supervisor serial numbers lower than JAx1030xxxx are affected. The solution is as follows:

Between JAx1023xxxx and JAx1029xxxx (inclusive):
1. Upgrade ROMMON only to version 12.2(31r)SGA or later; SDRAM does NOT need replacement. See the link below.

JAx1022xxxx and lower:
1. Fix on Failure (RMA the SDRAM) :- Use the standard RMA process to order SDRAM replacement (MEMC4K-512D-SDRAM = for WS-X4516-10GE or MEM-C4K-256-SDRAM= for WS-X4013+10GE)
2. Replace SDRAM after receiving spare unit. See the link below.
3. Upgrade ROMMON to version 12.2(31r)SGA or later. See the link below.

Units that do not meet both the serial number and hardware revision detailed above are not affected by this problem.

For ordering replacement SDRAMs please use the standard RMA process. After receiving the replacement SDRAM, please scrap the original SDRAM as it does not need to be returned to Cisco.

Refer to the Installation and Configuration Note for the Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine II-Plus 10GE - Memory Upgrade Instructions for guidance on removing and installing SDRAM on both WS-X4013+10GE and WS-X4516-10GE.

Ensure that after replacing the SDRAM the ROMMON is upgraded to version 12.2(31r)SGA or above.
Rommon 12.2(31r)SGA and above can be downloaded from the Catalyst 4000 Platform ROMMON Software Download (registered customers only) page.

Instructions on upgrading ROMMON can be found here: Guidelines for Upgrading the ROMMON.

DDTS

To follow the bug ID link below and see detailed bug information, you must be a registered customer and you must be logged in.

How To Identify Hardware Levels

To identify the Serial Number of the installed supervisors, issue the show module command as shown in the example below:
Example: show module on WS-C4510R (Redundant Chassis)

4510R-switch#show mod
Chassis Type : WS-C4510R

Power consumed by backplane : 40 Watts

Mod Ports Card Type Model Serial No.
---+-----+--------------------------------------+------------------+-----------
1 6 Sup V-10GE 10GE (X2), 1000BaseX (SFP) WS-X4516-10GE JAB09160081 -> Inside the affected S/N range
2 6 Sup V-10GE 10GE (X2), 1000BaseX (SFP) WS-X4516-10GE JAB103205B2 -> Outside the affected S/N range
3 6 1000BaseX (GBIC) WS-X4306-GB JAE09023MRL
4 6 1000BaseX (GBIC) WS-X4306-GB JAE09023MU2

M MAC addresses Hw Fw Sw Status
--+--------------------------------+---+------------+----------------+---------
1 0012.4389.6340 to 0012.4389.6345 2.0 12.2(25r)EW 12.2(25)EWA2 Ok -> h/w revision number inside affected range
2 0012.4389.6346 to 0012.4389.634b 3.3 12.2(31r)SG3 12.2(25)EWA2, Ok -> h/w revision number outside affected range
3 0011.bbe2.57a8 to 0011.bbe2.57ad 3.0 Ok
4 0011.bbe2.57a2 to 0011.bbe2.57a7 3.0 Ok

Mod Redundancy role Redundancy mode Redundancy status
----+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------
1 Active Supervisor SSO Active
2 Standby Supervisor SSO Standby hot

For More Information

If you require further assistance, or if you have any further questions regarding this field notice, please contact the Cisco Systems Technical Assistance Center (TAC) by one of the following methods:

• Open a service request on Cisco.com
• By email
• By telephone

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