Chapter3      Troubleshooting
Diagnosing Problems
3-4
Catalyst 2950 Desktop Switch Hardware Installation Guide
78-11157-02
No connectivity. Incorrect or bad cable.
No link at both ends.
• A crossover cable was used 
when a straight-through was 
required, or vice-versa.
• For the correct pinouts and 
the proper application of 
crossover vs. 
straight-through cables, see 
the “Cable and Adapter 
Specifications” section on 
page B-6.
• The cable is wired incorrectly. • Replace it with a tested 
good cable.
• STP checking for possible 
loops.
• Wait 30 seconds for port 
status LED to turn green.
Switch not recognizing a GBIC 
module.
Refer to your GBIC 
documentation for more 
information.
Unreadable characters on 
the management console.
Incorrect baud rate. Reset the terminal-emulation 
software to 9600 baud.
System LED is amber, and 
all port LEDs are off.
 Corrupted software. Attach a monitor to the serial 
port to display the switch boot 
loader. For more information, 
refer to the Catalyst 2950 
Desktop Switch Software 
Configuration Guide.
System LED is amber
• Internal fan fault detected. • Check if the fan has failed 
by using the show env fan 
privileged EXEC command.
If the fan has failed, call 
Cisco Systems.
• Nonfatal or fatal POST error 
detected.
• Use the show post 
privileged EXEC command 
to see which POST test 
failed.
Table 3-1 Common Problems and Solutions (continued)
Symptom Possible Cause Resolution