Field Notice: FN - 64214 - NCS 2000-Transponder Startup Issue - Replace on Failure

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.

Revision History

Products Affected

Defect Information

Problem Description

A startup issue is observed in select NCS2K-200G-CK-C and NCS2K-100GS-CK-C units. In affected units, boards provided that use a Coherent Transponder (CT) with integrated tunable laser assembly (ITLA) might go into a fault state which is not recoverable with a hardware/software reset. The issue has been limited to select Top Assembly Numbers (TANs) as mentioned in the Products Affected section.

Background

In the CT Firmware (FW) upgrade in low power mode, the ITLA sees a short reset pulse of 21ms. The ITLA is sensitive to any reset pulse <50ms during the first power up cycle short, and the short reset pulse can trigger a fault state (Micro Electro Mechanical Sensor (MEMS) snap over).

Problem Symptom

In the CT FW upgrade/downgrade, the affected linecard can go into a fault state and is not recoverable with a hardware or software reset. The affected linecards will not transmit an optical signal and this failure message is displayed:

CT Failure; EQPT-DEGRADE; Equipment Low Tx power; ...

Workaround/Solution

If the customer installation is complete and the linecard goes into a fail state during the first time installation with the failure message "CT Failure; EQPT-DEGRADE; Equipment Low Tx power", the linecard cannot be recovered and the customer should replace the unit. See the How to Identify Affected Products section for the affected serial numbers.

Before the First Time Installation

The recommended action is to perform a CT FW upgrade in "high power mode". This is a temporary workaround for potentially affected units that have already been identified.

The affected linecards as mentioned in the Products Affected section are programmed with this version of the firmware:

SCP_FW_Version: 3.24
CT_FW_Version: 4.05

After upgrade, the linecards have this version of the firmware:

SCP_FW_Version: 3.54
CT_FW_Version: 4.06

Upgrade Shipped Linecards

Required Equipment/Tools

• M6 or M2 shelf with Shelf software (SW) package
  • 10.5.1x as Working Version
  • 10.5.2x as Protect Version
• Linecards to be upgraded - TAN 800-45046-04, 800-42758-04, 800-42757-04 (and previous versions) as mentioned in the Products Affected section
• Cisco Transport Controller (CTC)
• One Shelf Controller in the shelf only, no cards in any other slot

1. Before the upgrade, check the Shelf SW package in the Maintenance tab > Software section > Software tab. Verify that the Working Version and Protect Version is 10.5.1x and 10.5.2x as shown here:

   

2. In the Provisioning tab, provision all slots for the 200G card, set the Card Mode for TXP-100G, create the Pluggable Port Module and Pluggable Ports, and set the Trunk ports into service (IS), ALS Mode is Disabled as shown in these screenshots:

   

   

   

3. Insert the linecards into the provisioned slots.
4. Wait until all cards are running. In the Maintenance tab > Info section, verify that the CT_FW_Version is 04.05 as shown here:

   

5. In the Performance tab > Optics PM section > Current Values tab, verify the TX Optical Pwr (dBm) on the Port 2 (Trunk) is > -20dBm as shown here:

   

6. In the Maintenance tab > Software section > Software tab, click Activate in order to upgrade the Shelf SW to Version 10.524. Verify that the Working Version changes from 10.5.1x to 10.5.2x as shown here:

   

7. In the Maintenance tab > Info section, verify all the cards boot up with CT FW version: 4.06 after the upgrade.

   

8. In the Performance tab > Optics PM section > Current Values tab, verify the TX Optical Pwr (dBm) on the Port 2 (Trunk) is > -20dBm.
9. Plug-out the upgraded linecards.
10. Revert to the old Shelf SW Version 10.5.1x as shown in step 6.

The long term solution is a software-based solution which will have the latest CT FW Version 4.08 in order to avoid the short reset pulse during the first FW upgrade. This will ensure the ITLA will not trigger a fault state (MEMS snap over). This solution will be available with system releases 10.6.2 and 10.5.2.7.

How To Identify Affected Products

The affected units can be identified by the TANs 800-45046-04, 800-42758-04, and 800-42757-04. Previous versions are also included. They must also match the serial numbers listed in the Cisco Serial Number Validation Tool.

For More Information

If you require further assistance, or if you have any further questions regarding this field notice, please contact the Cisco Systems Technical Assistance Center (TAC) by one of the following methods:

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

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