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Release Notes for the
Catalyst 2900 Series XL
Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2

Release Notes for the
Catalyst 2900 Series XL
Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2

July 30, 1998

These release notes describe the features and caveats for Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2.

Catalyst 2900 series XL switches are supported by a special release of Cisco IOS software that is not released on the same eight-week maintenance cycle that is used for other platforms. As maintenance releases and future Cisco IOS releases become available, they will be posted to CCO in the
Cisco IOS software area.

The product documentation for the Catalyst 2900 series XL switches and the
Catalyst 2900 series XL modules is as follows:

Catalyst 2900 Series XL Installation and Configuration Guide

Catalyst 2900 Series XL Modules Installation Guide

Catalyst 2900 Series XL Command Reference (online only)

Quick Start: Catalyst 2900 Series XL Cabling and Setup

Release Notes for the Catalyst 2900 Series XL Cisco IOS 11.2(8)SA

Release Notes for the Catalyst 2900 Series XL Cisco IOS 11.2(8)SA1

Important Notes

Please review the subjects in this section before you begin using the switch.

Class A Warnings

The following information is for FCC compliance of Class A devices: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio-frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference, in which case users will be required to correct the interference at their own expense.

Loading Previous Releases of Cisco IOS Software

This Catalyst 2900 Series XL switch is shipped with Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2. If you want to load a previous release of the software, there might be some restrictions. See the section "Using Previous Releases of Cisco IOS Software" for more information.

Using BOOTP to Assign IP Address Information

You can use BOOTP to assign IP information to a Catalyst 2900 series XL switch. A database containing a list of physical MAC addresses and corresponding IP addresses must be set up on the BOOTP server. Other information, such as the corresponding subnet masks and default gateway addresses can also be stored in the database but are optional. The switch must be able to access the BOOTP server through one of its ports.

If the switch starts and no IP address has been assigned, it transmits a BOOTP broadcast request to all of its ports having a physical connection, requesting a mapping for its physical MAC address. A valid response includes the IP address, which is mandatory, and the subnet mask and the default gateway, which are optional.

The reception of a valid BOOTP response immediately activates the rest of the system protocol suite, without requiring a system reset. The running configuration is set, but the saved configuration in Flash memory is not automatically updated. To save the IP information in the saved-configuration file, log in to the command-line interface and enter the write memory command. The IP information is then preserved, and the switch does not issue BOOTP messages the next time it resets.

Downloading New Catalyst 2900 Series XL Software

This release of Cisco IOS software can be downloaded from Cisco Connection Online (CCO) at the following URLs:

Catalyst 2900 series XL software consists of a binary file and an HTML file. You can copy these files from CCO to your PC or workstation with an FTP transfer or as an e-mail attachment. You might need to register to download the new files.

Renaming the Software Image File when Upgrading Switch Software

Caveat CSCdj68326 in the section "Cisco IOS 11.2(8)SA1 Caveats/Release 11.2(8)SA2 Modifications" describes a need to rename the switch software-image file when you download it. If you are running Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA1 or Cisco 10S Release 11.2(8)SA, you need to rename the image file when you download it.

However, if you purchased a switch running Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2, you do not have to rename the image file if you upgrade to a later release. The switch searches Flash memory and boots the image that it finds.

Reading LEDs for FastEtherchannel Port Groups

Because Fast Etherchannel port groups act as a single logical port, one port status LED in a port group is green, and all other port status LEDs in the group are amber. This has no affect on packet forwarding, and all ports in the port group share the same forwarding characteristics and STP status changes.

Connecting FastEtherchannel Port Groups to a Router

During normal operation, Fast EtherChannel load balancing distributes traffic among all ports in a port group. This load balancing does not work when connecting a port group to routers. Routers are single-MAC-address devices, and the switch forwards all traffic over one port instead of over all ports in the group.

Upgrading Switch Software by Using Telnet

After you have downloaded the new image files to your PC or workstation, you can use Telnet and the switch command-line interface ( CLI) to perform a TFTP transfer of the files to the switch. You can also connect a PC or workstation to the console port and transfer the files via XMODEM.

Because the switch Flash memory can hold only one software image file, you need to change the name of the current image file to the name of the new file you are copying. You then replace the old file with the new file when you copy it into Flash memory.

Follow these steps to upgrade the switch software by using a TFTP transfer:

Step 1 If your PC or workstation cannot act as a TFTP server, copy the files to a TFTP server to which you have access.

Step 2 Start a Telnet session on your PC or workstation, and display the switch CLI by entering the following command:

server% telnet switch_ip_address

Step 3 Enter EXEC mode:

switch> enable
switch#

Step 4 Display the name of the current (default) image file. The following example shows the current name in italics:

switch# show boot
BOOT path-list: flash:current_image
Config file: flash:config.text
Enable Break: 1
Manual Boot: no
HELPER path-list:
NVRAM/Config file
buffer size: 32768

Step 5 Rename the current image file to the name of the new image. This does not affect the operation of the switch.

switch# rename flash:current_image flash:new_image
Source filename [current_image]?
Destination filename [new_image]?

Step 6 Display the contents of Flash memory to verify the renaming of the file:

switch# dir flash:
Directory of flash:
-rwx 910426 Mar 06 1993 23:47:28 new_image
-rwx 4800 Mar 01 1993 00:04:14 html
-rwx 159 Jan 01 1970 00:00:34 env_vars
-rwx 1121 Mar 01 1993 18:46:01 config.text

Step 7 Enter terminal configuration mode:

switch# conf terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.

Step 8 Change the name of the default image file:

switch(config)# boot system flash:new_image

Step 9 Verify that the name of the default image file is correct:

switch# show boot
BOOT path-list: flash:new_image
Config file: flash:config.text
Enable Break: 1
Manual Boot: no
HELPER path-list:
NVRAM/Config file
buffer size: 32768

Step 10 Use the name of the new image file when you copy it from the TFTP server to the Flash memory:

switch# copy tftp://server_ip_address//path/new_image flash:new_image
Source IP address or hostname [server_ip_address]?
Source filename [path/filename.bin]?
Destination filename [flash:new_image]?
Loading /path/filename.bin from server_ip_address (via!)
[OK - 843975 bytes]

Step 11 Enter the following command to copy the HTML file from the TFTP server to the switch Flash memory:

switch# tar /x tftp://server_ip_address//path/filename.tar flash:html

Loading /path/filename.tar from server_ip_address (via!)
extracting advanced.gif (2648 bytes)
extracting amber.gif (530 bytes)!
extracting bar.gif (4156 bytes)!
extracting cool.gif (530 bytes)
extracting daytona.gif (1470 bytes)
extracting duplgnd.gif (639 bytes)!
. . .

Step 12 The new image file loads the next time you reset the switch. You can load the new software with the following command:

switch# reload
System configuration has been modified. Save? [yes/no]:y
Proceed with reload? [confirm]

Step 13 Press Return to confirm the reload. Your Telnet session ends when the switch resets.

Using Previous Releases of Cisco IOS Software

The minimum software release for hardware revision (board ID 0x0c) is Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2. To check the hardware revision of your switch, follow these steps:

Step 1 Start a Telnet session on your PC or workstation, and display the switch command-line interface (CLI) by entering the following command:

server% telnet switch_ip_address

Step 2 Enter EXEC mode:

switch> enable
switch#

Step 3 Display the current version of the switch with the show ver command:

switch># show ver

Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS (tm) C2900XL Software (C2900XL-H-M), Version 11.2(0.0.68)SA2, Copyright (c) 1986-1998 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Tue 02-Jun-98 10:52 by rm
Image text-base: 0x00003000, data-base: 0x001C7948

ROM: Bootstrap program is C2900XL boot loader

switch uptime is 2 days, 22 hours, 0 minutes
System restarted by reload
Running default software

cisco WS-C2916M-XL (PowerPC403GA) processor (revision 0x11) with
4096K/1024K by.
Board ID 0x0c
18 Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface(s)

32K bytes of flash-simulated non-volatile configuration memory.
Base ethernet MAC Address: 00:E0:1E:9F:4C:40
Configuration register is 0xF

The Board ID indicates the hardware revision in hexadecimal notation. Table 1 lists the Cisco IOS software that you can load on the available versions of Catalyst 2900 Series XL.

Note In Table 1, different versions of the Catalyst 2916M XL hardware are indicated by different board IDs.

Table 1: Possible Combinations of Cisco IOS and Catalyst 2900 Series XL Switches
Board ID Switch Supported Software

0x04

Catalyst 2908 XL

Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA
Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA1
Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2

0x07

Catalyst 2924 XL

Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA1
Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2

0x09

Catalyst 2924C XL

Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA1
Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2

0x06

Catalyst 2916M XL

Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA
Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA1
Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2

0x0C

Catalyst 2916M XL

Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2

Current Caveats

This section describes possibly unexpected behavior by Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2.

The MIB object c2900PortRxSuppressBcastFrame is not supported. It is used to count the broadcast frames received that were discarded because of the threshold-based broadcast suppression. [CSCdj48447]
This MIB object will only indicate the LED color in the portStatus mode. Therefore, make sure that the c2900InfoVisualIndicatorMode is portStatus before relying on the validity of the c2900PortVisualIndicator object. The LED colors can also be determined by looking at the front of the Catalyst 2900 series XL switch. [CSCdj49195]
The modules cannot be dynamically installed and removed while the switch is running. First turn off the switch, and then remove the module. [CSCdj52719]
Dynamic module insertion and extraction is not supported in this release. Reboot the system after a new module is inserted. [CSCdj52749]
This could be due to a network transmitting broadcast traffic at 500 frames per second and thus containing a misconfigured or faulty device. In this case, fix or remove the faulty device. It could also be a duplex mismatch. See the Catalyst 2900 Series XL Installation and Configuration Guide for instructions on how to troubleshoot duplex mismatches. [CSCdj60660]
Do not rely on the packet/bit rate counters to provide an indication of the traffic through a given interface. SNMP/RMON or the LED flashing frequency can be used to provide this information. [CSCdj76674]
This problem occurs when the switch receives a CGMP-join for a group-address port and the self-address table is full. When space in the self-address table is freed, that group-address port is still not added to the table when another join message is received. A possible workaround would be to clear that group from CGMP so that the group can be re-populated by CGMP Joins. The command to clear the group from CGMP is clear ip igmp group-mac-address [CSCdj80234]

Cisco IOS 11.2(8)SA1 Caveats/Release 11.2(8)SA2 Modifications

This section describes Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA1 caveats that were resolved with Cisco IOS Release 11.2(8)SA2.

View the security violation messages on the console, or configure the switch to send syslog messages to a server, and examine them on that server. [CSCdj35909]
% Illegal subtree oid: c2900MibNotificationsPrefix.1 XCRS% Illegal subtree oid: c2900MibNotificationsPrefix.2
No workaround is necessary. The unit is working properly, and the above messages can be ignored. [CSCdj44968]
For dot1dStpPort, the range of system board port numbers is from 1-32, the range of module 1 port numbers is from 33-64, and the range of module 2 port numbers is 33-64.
For dot1dTpFdbPort, the range of system board port numbers is from 1-64, the range of module 1 port numbers is from 65-128, and the range of module 2 port numbers is from 129-193.
Use the above port-numbering scheme to match dot1dStpPort port number and dot1dFdbPort port number to module and port numbers on the system. [CSCdj47348]

c2900PortBroadcastRisingThreshold, c2900PortFloodUnknownUnicasts, c2900PortFloodUnknownMulticasts, c2900PortFrameAge, c2900PortMayForwardFrames, c2900PortBufferCongestionControl, c2900PortGroupIndex, c2900PortUsageApplication, c2900PortBufferCongestionThreshholdPercent, c2900InfoVisualIndicatorMode, and c2900PortClearAddresses
These C2900 MIB objects are not supported in this release. Use the corresponding command-line interface (CLI) commands to set these variables. [CSCdj49182]
c2900PortNumberOfDroppedAddresses, c2900PortFloodUnknownMulticasts, c2900PortAddrSecureAddrViolations, and c2900PortNumberOfLearnedAddresses
When retrieving these MIB objects, the values returned are always zero.
These objects are not currently supported. The values returned by these four objects should be ignored. [CSCdj49186]
If the default values for these MIB objects are altered, do not rely on their current values to be returned by the MIB. [CSCdj49197]
This is normal behavior, as the amber LEDs indicate a high-usage mark. All LEDs up to the LED that represents the highest utilization reached in the last 24-hours are colored amber. Then, all LEDs up to the LED that represents the current utilization are colored green. This high-usage mark display is reset every 24 hours, unless changed to a different PeakBandwidthInterval by SNMP management. [CSCdj49279]
Enter show controllers ethernet-controller interface at the CLI to display a complete table of statistics for an interface. This can then be used to determine the complete number of broadcast frames, including multicast and unforwarded frames. [CSCdj49315]
The ifIndex.1 interface refers to the internal, or CPU, interface to the network. Because this is an internal interface, RMON monitoring of this interface is not supported. This interface should not be specified in the historyControlDataSource. [CSCdj49324]
The ACT and COL LEDs displayed on the front panel of the HTML home page should be marked 1 and 2. They are LEDs that display module status on the real system. These LEDs on the HTML page are not supported. [CSCdj50013]
Either use a write mem command before using reload to reboot the system, or avoid using the clear command to modify the system configuration. [CSCdj50400]
When creating entries in the RMON event table from the CLI, be sure to choose unique event numbers for each entry. [CSCdj50799]
Add the static address by using the CLI command mac-address-table static hwaddr input-port. [CSCdj50857]
When creating entries in the RMON event table, choose small numbers for the eventIndex value. Sequential numbers starting with 1 will work best. [CSCdj51546]
Use the CLI show spantree command to find the STP RootPort number. [CSCdj51560]
Telnet from the system to other stations is not supported. [CSCdj51155]
If it is suspected that this is happening because one of the ports is not working, observe the front-panel LEDs during system startup. If one or more port LED is amber for a period of time after system startup is complete, you can assume that the corresponding port is defective. [CSCdj51535]
To obtain the correct value of STP Designated Port Number and STP Designated Cost, use the show spantree command. [CSCdj51594]
Do not execute the write erase command if you intend to use the show running command. If a write erase needs to be done, reload the switch after entering the command. [CSCdj51956]
The workaround is to disable both speed and duplex auto negotiation on the port and to manually set the speed and duplex mode on the port to match those of the link partner. [CSCdj53272]
If an accurate number of broadcast frames received on an interface is required, do not enable broadcast storm control on the interface. [CSCdj53486]
The ifInUcastPkts or ifOutUcastPkts counters include unicast and multicast packets received or sent by the switch. The ifInNUcastPkts or ifOutNUcastPkts counters only include broadcast packets received or sent by the switch. [CSCdj54209]
To find out if a port is in STP blocking state, go to the Spanning-Tree Management page, or check the LED above the port on the front panel of the switch itself. [CSCdj54388]
Switch the connections between port 1 and the monitor port. Disable port monitoring on the monitor port, and enable port monitoring on port 1. [CSCdj54447]
Ports that do not have filtering or traps enabled display <inactive>. When the show port storm-control command is entered through the HTML command-line interface (The Monitor the Switch link on the Access Page), the browser removes the inactive value and the angle brackets.
Display the port storm-control status using the console or Telnet interface. [CSCdj54589]
%SYS-3-CPUHOG: Task ran for 2232 msec (275/259), Process = Init, PC = 1116B0 -Traceback= A9798 128B94 129298
This message is most likely to occur on a switch with two modules installed. This message can be ignored. [CSCdj56860]
Configure the switch port to operate at a fixed speed and specify the duplex mode; for example, choose 100 Mbps and half duplex. This will disable autonegotiation on the switch port and allow the link between the client and the switch to set up faster. This allows the initial broadcast frames from the client searching for the Novell server to be forwarded through the switch more quickly. [CSCdj57531]


Avoid filling up the address table of the switch if security violations should cause actions. Ensure that the network is partitioned so that there are fewer than 2500 stations connected to the switch. [CSCdj57731]
When using the web-based management, do not make more than 15 configuration changes before clicking Apply. [CSCdj58539]
Depending on whether the static address table or system-address table is full, the workaround is either to reduce system static address number by 2 or to reduce the number of existing system addresses by 2 to allow STP to be enabled. [CSCdj59203]
After the link on a port is down, allow some delay before using the LED as indicator of the port status. [CSCdj60674]
The workaround is to reboot the system after new modules are inserted. [CSCdj61019]
Do not set an object separately in a group. Instead, set all the objects in the group. [CSCdj61728]
Certain valid TCN packets could cause buffer leak. When input buffer threshold for the interface is reached as a result of the buffer leak, all incoming packets received from the interface are dropped. No workaround is available. [CSCdj61832]
Microsoft Internet Explorer does not always update the screen when it should.
The workaround is to change the Microsoft Internet Explorer settings as follows:
1) Select menu View->Internet Options...
2) Click General tab, and choose Temporary Internet Files settings.
3) Click Every visit to the page, and click OK. [CSCdj63729]
There is no workaround for this problem. The time elapsed during one interval might be too long if the CPU was under heavy load during the interval. This could cause the intervals to not land on exact interval boundaries (for example, 24-hour periods from midnight to midnight). [CSCdj65046]
This is caused when the NIC is powered on and comes up in full autonegotiating mode, which will establish link with the autonegotiating port on the switch in 100 Mbps and full-duplex mode. When the operating system on the PC is then initialized, it resets the NIC to be in 100 Mbps and half-duplex mode, without forcing the link to drop between the switch and the NIC. The solution is to also put the switch port into 100 Mbps and half-duplex mode or to leave the NIC settings on the PC in autonegotiating mode. [CSCdj65919]
Do not set the c2900BandwidthUsagePeakRestart to FALSE. [CSCdj67194]
To work around this, change the name of the file used to boot the system, and enter the boot system flash:boot_filename command to identify the name of the new Cisco IOS image. [CSCdj68326]
This error does not have a workaround. [CSCdj70757]
When a Layer 2 interface has become blocked, this condition can be detected by entering show interface interface and observing the status of the output queue.
pheller-malibu#show int f0/14 FastEthernet0/14 is up, line protocol is up Hardware is Fast Ethernet, address is 00e0.1ee2.de0e (bia 00e0.1ee2.de0e) MTU 1500 bytes, BW 100000 Kbit, DLY 100 usec, rely 255/255, load 1/255 Encapsulation ARPA, loopback not set, keepalive not set Half-duplex, 100Mb/s, 100BaseTX/FX ARP type: ARPA, ARP Timeout 04:00:00 Last input 19:08:48, output 00:00:01, output hang never ^^^^^^^^ (1) Last clearing of "show interface" counters never Queueing strategy: fifo Output queue 0/40, 0 drops; input queue 0/75, 0 drops ^ (2)
(1) When an interface running STP is blocked, the time of last output should not be more than
2 seconds.
(2) The number of output frames queued should be either 0, or in rare cases, 1.
If this condition is detected, resetting the interface clears the output queue and restarts transmission. You can either enter shutdown and then no shutdown to reset the interface or disconnect and reconnect the Ethernet cable at both ends of the connection. [CSCdj70808]
For a port enabled for port security, use the show interface command to determine whether the port has been shut down because of security violations. [CSCdj70986]
To work around this problem, before extracting tar files, remove any files that will be over-written. [CSCdj71812]
"Start a new browser session and display the HTML interface of the selected neighboring device." [CSCdj71921]
If collision fragments are being generated at a fast enough rate on a switch port, the port status LED displays an alternating green/amber port fault condition.
Collision fragments are not an error condition in a half-duplex Ethernet network. If the port fault indication is activated on a port, use show controllers ethernet-controller interface to display a table of port statistics. Several other statistics are also used to activate the port fault display, such as Transmit Late Collisions, Transmit Excessive Collisions, Transmit Too Late Discards, Receive Alignment Errors, Receive FCS Errors, Receive Oversize Frames, and Receive Undersize Frames.
If none of these statistics are incrementing or are not incrementing very quickly, the port fault indicator was activated due to collision fragments and should not be considered a fault condition. [CSCdj72160]
The workaround is to reset the system after a port MAC address is changed and the change has been saved. [CSCdj73177]
% Illegal subtree oid: c2900MibNotificationsPrefix.1 % Illegal subtree oid: c2900MibNotificationsPrefix.2
Even though this command returns an error, the traps still work. As a side effect, the proprietary traps for the switch are received by all the trap hosts, even though the hosts are configured to receive only certain kind of traps.
Ignore the error message returned by the snmp host command. Do not depend on the trap filtering defined by snmp host hostname command. [CSCdj73497]
% No authentication server running
This happens if the user has previously entered the following configuration mode command: enable use-tacacs.
TACACS is not supported on the switch, and the above command is not supported and should not be entered. If the user has already entered the above command and now cannot enter enable mode, the user must follow password recovery procedures. [CSCdj75618]
To remove a CGMP-learned group address from the bridge forwarding table, use the Exec-mode command: clear ip igmp address address. [CSCdj83295]
If you want to save the running configuration to the startup configuration file, save the configuration from the CLI before entering the reload command. [CSCdj54346]
Display the port storm-control status by using the console or the Telnet interface. [CSCdj54589]
Do not use SNMP to disable spanning tree on a port if you intend to reenable spanning tree. [CSCdj73797]
The workaround is to use SNMP application to view RMON statistics. [CSCdj80162]
Multiply the value by 100 to get the dot1dStpTimeSinceTopologyChange value in hundredths of a second. [CSCdj80322]
The empty description does not interfere with the switch operation. To remove the empty description, issue the command no description in the configuration menu for the interface. [CSCdj84929]
The workaround is to use the write mem command instead. [CSCdj86914]
A network producing this much broadcast or multicast traffic is not operating correctly. However, if the traffic that is saturating the network is broadcast traffic, broadcast storm control can be used reduce it. Similarly, if the traffic is multicast and the address can be obtained, a static address can be added that keeps these frames from being forwarded to the CPU. [CSCdj87200]

Cisco Connection Online

Cisco Connection Online (CCO) is Cisco Systems' primary, real-time support channel. Maintenance customers and partners can self-register on CCO to obtain additional information and services.

Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, CCO provides a wealth of standard and value-added services to Cisco's customers and business partners. CCO services include product information, product documentation, software updates, release notes, technical tips, the Bug Navigator, configuration notes, brochures, descriptions of service offerings, and download access to public and authorized files.

CCO serves a wide variety of users through two interfaces that are updated and enhanced simultaneously: a character-based version and a multimedia version that resides on the World Wide Web (WWW). The character-based CCO supports Zmodem, Kermit, Xmodem, FTP, and Internet e-mail, and it is excellent for quick access to information over lower bandwidths. The WWW version of CCO provides richly formatted documents with photographs, figures, graphics, and video, as well as hyperlinks to related information.

You can access CCO in the following ways:

For a copy of CCO's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), contact cco-help@cisco.com. For additional information, contact cco-team@cisco.com.

Note If you are a network administrator and need personal technical assistance with a Cisco product that is under warranty or covered by a maintenance contract, contact Cisco's Technical Assistance Center (TAC) at 800 553-2447, 408 526-7209, or tac@cisco.com. To obtain general information about Cisco Systems, Cisco products, or upgrades, contact 800 553-6387, 408 526-7208, or cs-rep@cisco.com.





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Posted: Tue May 11 12:50:43 PDT 1999
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