Field Notice: FN74142 - Cisco Catalyst 9600 Switches Supervisor Cards Can Experience Memory Failures - Hardware Upgrade Available (2024)

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.

Products Affected

Defect Information

Problem Description

A limited number of Cisco Catalyst 9600 Supervisor Engine 1 cards may fail to boot up and encounter a boot loop. This issue may be seen after a software upgrade or other action that results in a power cycle of the supervisor card. The issue is specific to the supervisor card with the product identifier (PID) C9600-SUP-1. Supervisor cards with the PID C9600X-SUP-2 are not affected.

The dual in-line memory module(s) (DIMM) used in the Catalyst 9600 Supervisor Engine 1 encountered an issue during manufacturing. This issue can result in a higher rate of failure.

Background

In this case, a manufacturing deviation in specific modules impacts 16GB DIMMs. This deviation was contained to a specific date range, and the DIMMs that use these chips were manufactured during the middle to end of 2020.

Since the discovery of this deviation, additional limits have been imposed on the manufacturing process to help prevent future DIMMs from experiencing this process variation.

Problem Symptom

DIMMs in affected Catalyst 9600 Supervisor Engine 1 cards will exhibit persistent, correctable memory errors. If left untreated, affected Catalyst 9600 Supervisor Engine 1 cards will eventually encounter an uncorrectable memory event. This may result in an unexpected reboot of the switch or switches.

Various DIMM reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) features or even operating system features can mask the extent of these correctable errors.

The following error messages may be seen:

Initializing Hardware...... Initializing Hardware...... ***BOOT FAIL***: Rommon invalid or timeout. ***BOOT FAIL***: Rommon invalid or timeout.

For reference, this is an example of a normal boot log message:

Initializing Hardware... Initializing Hardware...... System Bootstrap, Version 17.6.1r, RELEASE SOFTWARE (P) Compiled 18-03-2021 12:00:00.00 by relCurrent ROMMON image : Primary Rommon Image Last reset cause:PowerOn C9600-SUP-1 platform with 16777216 Kbytes of main memory

Workaround/Solution

Cisco recommends replacing the affected DIMM C9K-MEM-16GB= to mitigate the potential for unexpected switch failure. For information about validating the serial number of a supervisor card, see the How to Identify Affected Products section of this field notice. For information about requesting a replacement, see the Upgrade Program Information section of this field notice.

All serial numbers are the supervisor card serial number, not the DIMM serial number.

DIMM Replacement

Customers have the option to replace the DIMMs directly. For video instructions for replacing a DIMM, see Replace a DIMM Module on Cat9600 Supervisor Engine 1.

Cisco is offering field services free of charge for DIMM replacement through a qualified Cisco third-party field engineer. After the new DIMMs have arrived on site and you are ready to schedule the replacement, email ciscodimmswap@parkplacetech.comto engage the field services team.

Important notes for replacement orders:

• The replacement orders are proactive replacements and do not adhere to normal Service Level Agreements or service contracts. Furthermore, some countries have strict importation regulations. For these reasons, extended lead time may occur for these replacements.
• Customers should dispose of the impacted DIMMs or optionally raise a return-only RMA when they are ready to return the faulty devices. Follow the instructions in the Additional Information section of this field notice.

How to Identify Affected Products

Impacted supervisor cardscan be identified based on their PIDs and serial numbers. To identify impacted products, use the Serial Number Validation Tool, as described in the Serial Number Validation section of this field notice.

For More Information

Use the following link to raise a return-only RMA: Support Case Manager (cisco.com)

To initiate an RMA, complete the following steps:

1. Choose Return of Defective Asset.
2. Choose Return Queries for the Request Type.
3. Choose New Services Return – RMA Needed for the Sub-Request Type.
4. In the Additional Request Details field, enter the following information and submit the return-only RMA request:
   • Street Address:
   • State/Province:
   • Zip/Postal Code:
   • City:
   • On-site Contact Name:
   • On-site Contact Phone number:
   • On-site Contact E-mail:
   • Reason for RMA Creation: FN# FN74142
   • Bill to ID: (not mandatory)

Serial Number Validation

Cisco provides the Serial Number Validation Tool to verify whether a device is impacted by this issue. To check the device, enter the serial number in the Serial Number Validation Tool.

Important: For security reasons, you must click the Serial Number Validation Tool link that is provided in this section. Do not copy and paste the link into a browser. Use of the Serial Number Validation Tool URL external to this field notice will fail.

Upgrade Program Information

Support Case Manager (SCM) must be used for ordering replacement parts for this Field Notice. To open SCM in a new tab, click the following link:
https://mycase.cloudapps.cisco.com/fieldnotice?fn=FN74142

SCM will validate eligibility and ensure that a request for a particular serial number has not already been submitted. If there is already a request, SCM will indicate RMA already submitted and NOT eligible for replacement.

Provide the following information:

1. Affected serial numbers. Note that a serial number entitlement check may be performed.
2. One ship-to address per request.
3. Service Request number (SR#). This is not required, but if one exists, enter it for better tracking purposes.

Order entry supports up to 50 serial numbers per request. For more than 50, submit additional requests.

Revision History

For More Information

For further assistance or for more information about this field notice, contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) using one of the following methods:

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

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