Nortel 5510 SFP GBIC Issues 1

[kroyal]

Hello guys,

First post so be gentle if this turns out to be a noob question!

I've recently bought two Nortel 5510-24T switches, each with a 1000sx SFP GBIC to go either end of my 8-core fiber backbone. First thing I've done after putting the GBIC's in to the switches (put in port 23 in both switches) was upgrade the software on both to 4.0.2.02. As per the manual I've switched auto-negotiation off for port 23 on both switches, and set high speed flow control to symmetric for this port on both switches. So, both switches are configured identically. If I look at switch information within a telnet session I can see that the GBIC in port 23 has been detected on both switches, however on both the "IN USE" LED is off as though there is no GBIC installed, when it should be a steady green.

Glancing through the manual i came across a section which states that if the LED is off with a GBIC inserted then "the SFP GBIC is not activated by software"

Continuing through the manual, there is no further mention of this "software" which I need to use to activate the GBIC, and there appears to be no setting within the admin interface or DM. Surely if the GBIC is not activated, why does it show up as plugged into port 23 within system information!?!

HELP! What am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance,

Karl

 

[netmanrick]

What about trunking setup ?

Rick Harris
SC Dept of Motor Vehicles
Network Operations

 

[kroyal]

Rick,

I hadn't looked at that yet predominently because the "In Use" light isn't coming on at all. Will check now and get back to you

Karl

 

[anthonyanderberg]

Just to clarify: is this a Nortel SFP module? Most of the vendors only recognize their own "certified" SFP modules. Other than that, I'd always thought that the SFP modules were seen and enabled as soon as they were inserted (and in this case the TX port is disabled.)

 

[helmethead]

You mentioned 8-core fiber backbone, I assume that means you are connecting singlemode fiber to this SX gbic? If so that is not correct, that gbic sends out LED light were singlemode cable is made for laser light. What is the distance between the switches? You may need to either swap out the SX gbic's for LX or if the distance allows change the singlemode fiber to multimode.

Thanks, Ken

 

[kroyal]

Guys,

Thanks for the replies. In answer to your questions then...

Rick, I tried configuring a MLT for ports 23/24 on both 5510's but this still did not work.

Anthony, yes, the SFP GBIC's are Nortel.

Ken, the distance between cabinets (and therefore the switches) is around 120meters. I'm pretty sure the fiber between the cabs is multimode as it is terminated at both ends into a fiber patch panel with 4 pairs. I already have one pair connected to Nortel 450/460 mixed stacks with 1GBMDA's each end and thats been working fine.

I'm actually begining to think the whole fiber part of this solution is a bit of a white elephant as, surely regardless of whether the fiber infrastructure was sound or not the "In Use" light should be active with a GBIC installed, there simply wouldn't be a link light. This is certainly the impression I get from the manual.

Thanks again for you continued help guys,

Karl

 

[helmethead]

Karl,
I have a Nortel 5510 in my lab with a fiber gbic, I just tested it and my "IN USE" LED did not light until I made the fiber connection.

Also keep in mind that the sfp gbic ports are shared with the corresponding copper ports, do you have anything connected to the 10/100/1000 copper port 23?

FYI- for the most part, multimode fiber is orange, singlemode is usually yellow. The number of pair has nothing to do with it being single or multimode.

 

[kroyal]

Ken,

Thanks for that mate, it looks like my problem might be fiber related in that case and I can stop hastling Nortel and my supplier! (which they'll no doubt be relieved about!)

I have nothing plugged into the copper ports 23/24 on either switch.

Finding our what fiber I have is going to be difficult, as it was installed by a contractor at least six years before I joined the company. All it has labelled on it is "8-core to cabinet A" and in cabinet A it's labelled not surprisingly "8=core to cabinet B" As I mentioned previously, I already have one of the connections occupied by a 450/460 mixed stacks either end, which I've just noticed are using 400-LX MDA's. Any further advice as to what it could be? I'm hoping your not going to tell me I've got the wrong GBIC's!

Thanks

Karl

 

[helmethead]

Good news/bad news

Karl,
The good news is that you now know what your issue is, bad news is yes, you have the wrong gbics. Singlemode fiber has a core ( glass ) diameter of anywhere between 8-10 microns, that why I assumed thats what you meant when you said 8 core. The 450-LX mda you have in the 450 is correct and meant for singlemode fiber, the SX gbics you have are meant for multimode. Here is the Nortel p/n you will need-
AA1419015, this gbic has LC fiber ports. ( the SX gbic you have are either LC or MTRJ ). Let me know how things go or if you run into any further problems.

Thanks, Ken

 

[kroyal]

Ken,

Tried to post before you could reply but I've solved the problem. It would appear that the fiber is either damaged, or has always been installed wrong. I've been trying the different pairs in each cab to see if the fiber had been wired up incorrectly. I finally came across a connection which infact worked! What I had to do however is connect the pairs round the wrong way in cabinet B! They have been terminated incorrectly by the looks of things. This has taken me hours trying the different combinations but it is definately now working.

Thanks for all your help on this Ken. Stars for you.

Karl

 

[Jynxx]

Sorry that I did not see this earlier guys. I have become QUITE proficient at 5510's and their intricacies.

The IN USE LED will NOT light if it does not have a physical link. By default it will "ignore" the GBIC unless it is plugged in to a active link. You will see it in the "display hardware units..." area via console or telnet, but again, it will not go active and will show as greyed out via device manager unless it is sensing a link. At that point, the "In Use" LED will go green, and via Device Manager, the copper port will go grey, and the GBIC port will show as green.

When these things were first released, we were one of the first companies to put these in to production environments. As it turns out, there were some major bugs and problems with the 5510's that prevented them from being used successfully in our environment (huge gig-capable Mac and Imaging file transfer environment).

We had, at one time, 6 different CR's open with Nortel and were working directly with product engineering with our issues.

Luckily, they resolved most of them in 4.0.

I am not saying that I am the foremost expert on these things...just that I don't want anyone to go through the headaches that we went through.

 

[anthonyanderberg]

It should be noted that it is possible to mix and match single and multimode fiber with the wrong light sources, especially if your distances are short. That's not to say that you're in spec and that the equipment will function properly at high loads...

The good news is that it'll probably by you the time needed to figure out what you've got.