Catalyst 3500 GBIC won't link to Netgear GBIC

[notthelamest]

I'm trying to connect a Catalyst 3500 with a Netgear FSM750 over SX fiber. I know the fiber is good, because the netgear switch is replacing another working catalyst 3500.

When I connect the Netgear to the Catalyst, the link light drops out on the Catalyst, but the Netgear seems to think it's connected. sho int gig 0/1 reveals that the line is down, and line protocol down.

setting "no negotitation auto" on the cisco interface lights it up, but I cannot ping the other switch, (none of the counters on the interface are incrimenting either)

I've also tried forcing duplex to half, and full on both switches, but I cannot get them to communicate over fiber.

I also confirmed the the netgear GBIC is working, as it plugs right into the cisco switch, in place of the existing one, and everything works.

Has anyone else had any luck mixing other brands of switches with cisco equipment using fiber?

I'm hoping to be able to move this catalyst to another building and solve some other problems.

Thanks

Kirk.

 

[jomcc]

I'm not sure on the catalyst but i think it might only run isl on the link, if it does then the netgear and cat won't talk. check to see if the cat can use dot1q to talk if so change it on the encap of the link. good luck not to sure on the netgear stuff.

 

[baddos]

1000BaseSX will ONLY work in 1000 full duplex. Running in something other than that is out of spec.

Also, what jomcc says is correct. Make sure that the switch port on the cisco isn't using encapsulation isl.

Is the Netgear a managable switch?

If yes, then make sure the fiber line your are working with is setup as a trunk port (All VLANS) and using 802.1q encapsulation. Setup the Cisco to use 802.1q encapsulation and switchport mode trunk.

If no, then make sure the cisco port is set to switchport mode access.

-Bad Dos

 

[junior238]

I had a problem a while back where I couldn't get a cisco switch to talk to a lucent switch via 1000SX. As it turned out the lucent didn't support autonegotiation on the GBIC ports, but the Cisco requires it.

Might be the cause..hopefully not though.

 

[notthelamest]

got it working, it required a combination of forcing the link up, with no negotiation auto, and setting the trunk type to static from 802.1q.

Thanks

Kirk