SWITCH 4200 FAMILY

SOFTWARE VERSION 3.04 RELEASE NOTES

You can obtain the latest technical information for your

Related Documentation Switch, including a list of known problems and
solutions, from the 3Com Knowledgebase:
Please use these notes in conjunction with the following
documents: http://knowledgebase.3com.com
■ “Switch 4200 Family Getting Started Guide”
Part number: DUA1730-0AAA04
About this Software Version
covering the Switch 4200 26-Port (3C17300A),
Switch 4200 50-Port (3C17302A) and Switch 4200 The version 3.04 agent is a compatible super set of
28-Port (3C17304A) functionality provided by all previous versions of this
■ “Switch 4200 Family Getting Started Guide” agent. This agent provides support for the following:
Part number: DUA1730-0AAA03
covering the Switch 4226T (3C17300), Switch 4250T Product Hardware Version
(up to and including)
(3C17302) and Switch 4228G (3C17304)
Switch 4226T(3C17300) 03
■ “Switch 4200 Family Implementation Guide”
Part number: DUA1730-0BAA03 Switch 4250T(3C17302) 03
Switch 4228T(3C17304) 04
■ “Switch 4200 Family Management Quick Reference
Guide” Switch 4200 26-Port (3C17300A) 04
Part number: DQA1730-0AAA03 Switch 4200 50-Port (3C17302A) 04
■ “Switch 4200 Family Management Interface Switch 4200 28-Port (3C17304A) 04
Reference Guide”
Part number: DHA1730-0AAA03
The latest hardware versions of the Switch 4200
26-Port, Switch 4200 50-Port and Switch 4200 28-Port
will only work with Software Update Utility version 3.20

Part No. 10016305-AA

Published August 2007
 2 SWITCH 4200 FAMILY SOFTWARE VERSION 3.04 RELEASE NOTES

or later. This can be downloaded from the 3Com Web When you operate both older models and newer
site. A-models in a common stack, 3Com requires that you
upgrade all Switch 4200 units in the stack that are
running a previous software agent to Version 3.00.
Issues Addressed in Version 3.04 3Com grants registered owners of A-model units the
■ Fixes PHY issue which caused disconnection from right and license to upgrade all Switch 4200 units
IBM T43 and HP laptops. operating in the same stack to Version 3.04.

■ Prevents IP multicast address 234.0.0.1from 3Com strongly recommends that you upgrade all
flooding Switch 4200 units that are running a previous
■ Fixes TLB CPU exception issue. software agent to Version 3.04. Contact your 3Com
representative for details on Software Upgrade offers
■ Allows for adjustment of internal flow control on for all Switch 4200 units in your network.
unit PHYs. This allows better streaming of data
from Gigabit ports to 100 MB ports on 4200 Version 3.04 is available to eligible customers at
A-type units. www.3Com.com. The download for Version 3.04
■ Fixes an issue when deleting a VLAN from the contains both image variations. The install process
database, that the next VLAN was also being ensures that the proper image is loaded for each
deleted. specific Switch 4200 unit.

■ Fixes an issue with Telnet where the switch

management stops responding. Points to note when using the Switch 4200
■ Fixes internal issues with a process called the Series
watchdog that could lead to system rebooting.
Apple networks and Rapid Spanning Tree
Upgrading to Software Version 3.04 With default settings, there is a 4 second delay
between a front panel port activating its link status
Agent version 3.04 is delivered in two images: one and passing network traffic. When running
image for 3Com hardware models 3C17300, AppleTalk, which can transmit initialization packets
3C17302 and 3C17304; and a separate image for during this start-up time, you may not see some
3Com hardware models 3C17300A, 3C17302A and network devices. The delay between a port activating
3C17304A. Version 3.00 is the minimum version for its link status and passing network can be reduced for
operation on the “A” models. Both versions of the edge devices by setting the stpFastStart value for a
software support the same features. port to "Enable".
 Points to note when using the Switch 4200 Series 3

Head-of-Line Blocking members on the current unit are no longer active)

This section applies to the Switch 4226T, Switch thus ensuring resilient connectivity.
4250T and Switch 4228G only.
CAUTION: The LACP protocol is disabled by default
If the Head of Line blocking settings have been in the version 3.00 software. Some legacy devices do
changed from the default QoS setting, under very not support LACP and 3Com strongly recommends
heavy network loading, where servers transmit large LACP remains disabled on ports connected to these
numbers of consecutive frames to multiple clients (i.e. devices (in rare cases, if LACP is enabled on ports
using large window sizes), it is possible that other connected to these devices, it can result in incorrect
data streams may be disrupted due to local frame network configurations).
buffer capacity becoming exhausted. This could affect
other network applications and in extreme conditions Using VLANs
could cause stacked units to reconfigure from stacked This section applies to the Switch 4226T, Switch
to individual units in an unpredictable way. 4250T and Switch 4228G only.
The Switch 4200 implements Open VLANS. This
Configuring Link Aggregations means that if an IEEE 802.1Q tagged packet (that is,
When creating a manual aggregation between two the packet that contains a VLAN ID) is received at a
systems, the ports in the aggregation must not be port and that port is NOT a member of that VLAN, the
physically connected together until the aggregation Switch does not perform any VLAN filtering. As a
has been correctly configured at both ends of the result a tagged packet will be forwarded if the
link. Failure to configure the aggregation at both ends address has been previously learned by the Switch.
before physically connecting the ports can result in a However, if the address is unknown, the packet will
number of serious network issues such as lost packets only be flooded to ports within the VLAN (s) on which
and network loops. the receive port is a member.

When configuring a manual aggregation, all member

TFTP Upgrades
ports can only be selected from the same unit.
Automatic aggregations (using LACP) can include The Software Upgrade feature will not automatically
ports from different units in a stack. However, only re-establish a connection to the 3Com TFTP server if
member ports from a single unit in the stack will be the connection is lost temporarily for more than 15
selected for activation. Upon failure, or disabling seconds. In these circumstances, the TFTP connection
LACP on the active links, ports members from a will timeout approximately 3.5 minutes before the
different unit will be automatically activated (if all upgrade can be restarted manually.
 4 SWITCH 4200 FAMILY SOFTWARE VERSION 3.04 RELEASE NOTES

■ Microsoft Internet Explorer v5.5 and v6.0

Known Problems with the Management
Software ■ Netscape Communicator v7.1

■ If a port is unable to transmit packets due to an ■ Mozilla v1.0

incorrect duplex mismatch setting or flow control ■ The Switch 4200 Web interface can be accessed
is keeping the port continually in a pause state, on any of the following PC operating systems:
management packets from the Switch can back up
■ Microsoft Windows 2000
in the egress buffers and causes the Switch to stop
passing packets on any port. Correcting the duplex ■ Microsoft Windows XP
mismatch and turning off flow control will fix this ■ Microsoft Windows Server 2003
problem.
■ Red Hat Linux 9
■ When setting up a SLIP IP address and an IP
address for the unit you must ensure that the ■ Solaris 7
assigned IP addresses are different. ■ Solaris 9
■ If you use Netscape to manage your Switch you ■ The spanning tree mode is not synchronized
may experience problems when trying to change between units following a stack merge. This
the user password. should not cause any problems for the network
■ 3Com recommends that if you use Netscape and since rapid spanning tree is fully backward
you need to change the password you do so via compatible with legacy spanning tree. Where units
the CLI command. To do this from the Web within the stack are operating in different
interface Device View, use the System > Telnet > spanning tree modes, the User interface are not
Connect operation to start a Telnet connection and capable of reflecting this. They will choose one
then use the security device user modify setting or the other when asked to show the
CLI command. current spanning tree mode. When a new
spanning tree mode is configured in the stack (via
■ If the error The previous command window the user interface of any unit), this will be set on all
is still active is displayed when using the units within the stack regardless of whether the
Web interface, you must close that window before spanning tree mode previously differed from unit
you can select another operation. You should then to unit.
press Reload (Netscape) or Refresh (Internet
Explorer) in your Web browser. ■ When adding or removing units from an existing
stack it is advisable to ensure that traffic loads are
■ The Switch 4200 Web interface can only be at a minimum. This is particularly important when
accessed by one of the following Web browsers: multiple LACP aggregations are present. The
 Known Incompatibility Issues 5

reason for this is that during the network The products listed above disable auto-negotiation
reconfiguration that will accompany the addition when a port is added to an aggregated link (trunk).
or removal of a unit, it is possible that momentary
network loops will occur. When a lot of traffic is In order for link aggregation (trunking) to work, ports
present these loops could take several minutes to at either end of an aggregated link (trunk) must be
resolve and in the worst case may result in the identically configured. To resolve the incompatibility,
need to reset the stack to complete the resolution. you must complete the following steps:
■ If the Switch receives an IS-IS packet that is tagged 1 On any of the Switches listed, you must disable TCMP
with a VLAN ID of 0, the packet is discarded. All on a trunk (aggregated link) that connects to a Switch
other VLAN IDs are switched correctly. 4200 Series, as TCMP is not supported on the Switch
■ If you select the Bridge > Link Aggregation > 4200 Series.
Modify > LACP State web interface operation for a 2 You must disable auto-negotiation on the GBIC fiber
Switch that does not have any ports available or ports on the Switch 4200 Series prior to placing them
suitable for link aggregation, a blank screen in an aggregated link.
displays without an accompanying error message.
You can close this screen in the normal way. Refer to the Management Interface Reference Guide
on the CD-ROM that accompanies the Switch 4200
■ Some operating system or web browsers allow you Series for more information about configuring aggre-
to disable pop-ups. Please note that pop-ups must gated links.
be enabled for some web operations to work.
On the Switch 4200, aggregated links are only
supported on the 10/100/1000 Mbps, GBIC and SFP
Known Incompatibility Issues ports.
An incompatibility exists in the default settings for
Link Aggregation between the Switch 4200 and the
following 3Com products when using fiber interfaces: Software Upgrades
■ Switch 4007 To upgrade the software on the Switch do the
following:
■ Switch 3900
1 Locate the software update for the Switch and run
■ Switch 9300 the (filename.exe) executable file.
■ CoreBuilder 9000 family 2 If necessary, download the TFTP server applications
■ CoreBuilder 9400 into the management station.
■ CoreBuilder 3500
6 SWITCH 4200 FAMILY SOFTWARE VERSION 3.04 RELEASE NOTES

3 Install the TFTP server (file name 3ts01_04.exe) on ■ If you are upgrading the Switch 4226T (3C17300),
a Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP machine. the Switch 4250T (3C17302) or the Switch 4228G
(3C17304), enter the file name with the prefix s42.
4 Launch the TFTP server application.
5 Point the Upload/Download default directory on the
■ If you are upgrading the Switch 4200 26-Port
TFTP server to the directory where the upgrade file is (3C17300A), the Switch 4200 50-Port (3C17302A)
located. or the Switch 4200 28-Port (3C17304A), enter the
file name with the prefix t42.
6 Make sure the Switch being upgraded has an IP
address assigned to it. ■ If you are upgrading a stack with a mixture of
switches that require both the s42 and t42
7 Telnet to the Switch. upgrades, enter both filenames, one after the
a To Telnet to the Switch, click Start in Microsoft other, separated by a space.
Windows 2000, or XP machine. After you have entered the filename, the message
b Click Run. 'Software Upgrade in progress.....' displays.

c In the text area, type telnet IP address The entire time the upgrade is in process, the
Power/Self test LED will flash ON/OFF Green, and a
d Click OK. series of dots will indicate that the upgrade is pro-
8 Press Enter to receive a login prompt. gressing successfully.
9 Log into the Switch management. When the software upgrade is complete, the Switch
will reboot itself.
a The default user login is admin.
b There is no default password for admin (press
Enter). 3Com Network Management
10 From the main menu, select System, then select
Control. 3Com Network Supervisor (3C15100E)
11 Select SoftwareUpgrade. 3Com Network Supervisor is an easy-to-use
application that discovers and manages up to 1,500
12 Enter the IP address of the TFTP server connected to IP devices and 3Com NBX telephones.
the Switch.
For more information on how to obtain a copy of
13 Enter the upgrade file name. The file name you enter 3Com Network Supervisor, please visit:
depends on the switch or switches you are
upgrading: http://www.3com.com/3ns/
 Documentation Errors and Omissions 7

However, for larger networks and access to more You can also use the Cursor Up/Down keys to recall a
major features, 3Com recommends 3Com Network previous command.
Director, described below. In addition, the following keys can be used to edit the
command line:
3Com Network Director (3C15500)
[Ctrl A] - moves the cursor to the start of the
3Com Network Director is a standalone application command line.
that allows you to carry out key management and
administrative tasks on mid-sized enterprise [Ctrl B] - moves the cursor back one character.
networks. By using 3Com Network Director you can [Ctrl D] - deletes the character at the cursor.
discover, map and monitor all the devices on the
[Ctrl E] - moves the cursor to the end of the
network, backup and restore 3Com device
command line.
configurations, configure 3Com devices across the
network in a single operation (including VLANs and [Ctrl F] - moves the cursor forward one character.
Traffic Prioritization) and gather historical [Ctrl K] - delete all characters from cursor to the
performance information for your network and end of the line.
generate flexible reports.
[Ctrl X] - delete all characters from cursor to the
For more information on how to obtain a copy of start of the line
3Com Network Director, please visit:
Note that the Delete key now performs as a ‘Delete’
http://www.3com.com/3nd/ key, that is it deletes the character to the right, rather
After installation, click LiveUpdate to add support for than as Backspace.
the latest 3Com products.

Documentation Errors and Omissions

CLI operation
The command line console supports cursor keys in
VT100 compatible mode.
The Delete, backspace and Cursor Left/Right keys
modify the command line.
 8 SWITCH 4200 FAMILY SOFTWARE VERSION 3.04 RELEASE NOTES

Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 20073Com Corporation. All rights
reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, 3Com registered trademarks are registered
in the United States and may or may not be registered in other countries.

3Com, and the 3Com logo are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation.

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Other brand and

product names may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective
holders.