Lik`s forum

[lik]

Auto-Negotiation on Catalyst Switches that Run Cisco IOS Software

The commands described in this section apply to these types of switch products: Catalyst 2900XL, 3500XL, 2950, 3550, 2948G-L3, 4908G-L3, Catalyst 4500/4000 that runs Cisco IOS System Software (Supervisor Engine III), and the Catalyst 6500/6000 that runs Cisco IOS System Software.

The switches that run Cisco IOS Software (as opposed to CatOS) default to auto-negotiation for speed and are set to on for the duplex. Issue the show interface slot/port status command to verify this.

This output is taken from a Catalyst 6500/6000 that runs Cisco IOS Software Release 12.1(6)E. It shows a connected port that auto-negotiates a link to 100 Mbps and half-duplex. The configuration that runs for this switch has no duplex or speed commands underneath interface FastEthernet 3/1 because auto-negotiation is the default. Issue the show interface slot/port command (without the status keyword) to see the port speed and duplex.

NativeIOS#show interfaces fastethernet 3/1 status

Port Name Status Vlan Duplex Speed Type
Fa3/1 connected routed a-half a-100 10/100BaseTX

NativeIOS#show run
...
!
interface FastEthernet3/1
ip address 172.16.84.110 255.255.255.0

!--- Notice there is no speed or duplex commands under this interface because
!--- it is in the default configuration of auto-negotiate speed and duplex.


NativeIOS#show interfaces fastethernet 3/1
FastEthernet3/1 is up, line protocol is up
Hardware is C6k 100Mb 802.3, address is 0002.7ef1.36e0 (bia 0002.7ef1.36e0)
Internet address is 172.16.84.110/24
MTU 1500 bytes, BW 100000 Kbit, DLY 100 usec,
reliability 255/255, txload 1/255, rxload 1/255
Encapsulation ARPA, loopback not set
Keepalive set (10 sec)
Half-duplex, 100Mb/s
...

If you want to hard code the speed and duplex on a switch that runs Cisco IOS Software (turn off auto-negotiation), issue the speed and duplex commands underneath the specific interface. Duplex is subservient to speed in the sense that if speed is set to auto, then the duplex cannot be manually set. You might see cyclic redundancy check (CRC) error messages when both the speed and duplex settings are hardcoded on the two devices. This might be because any one of the devices runs an earlier version of Cisco IOS. You can upgrade the Cisco IOS or set the speed and duplex to auto on both devices in order to resolve this.

NativeIOS#show run
...
interface FastEthernet3/2
no ip address
!
NativeIOS#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
NativeIOS(config)#interface fastethernet3/2
NativeIOS(config-if)#duplex full
Duplex will not be set until speed is set to non-auto value

!--- Error: On this platform, you must set the speed before the duplex.
!--- Not all switch platforms have this command ordering requirement.

NativeIOS(config-if)#speed 100
NativeIOS(config-if)#duplex full
NativeIOS(config-if)#^Z
NativeIOS#show interfaces fastethernet 3/2 status

Port Name Status Vlan Duplex Speed Type
Fa3/2 notconnect routed full 100 10/100BaseTX

NativeIOS#NativeIOS#show run
...
interface FastEthernet3/2
no ip address
duplex full
speed 100

!--- Notice that the speed and duplex commands appear in the configuration
!--- now because they have been manually set to a non-default behavior.