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I inserted a FET-10G (Fabric Extender Transceiver) SFP transceiver in my Nexus 5548UP and I got "access down" "SFP Validation Failed" in show interface.

FET-10Gs came with my 2232's so I figured they'd be plug and play. This is with a blank port configuration.

How do I get past "SFP Validation Failed" on a FET-10G transceiver on a Nexus 5548UP?

dawud
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Alain O'Dea
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  • What version are you running on the 5548? – Joseph Dec 11 '11 at 22:45
  • This is not a duplicate. Please reopen. The solution for this is different. I know the answer and was trying to get this on ServerFault so other people running into it would have an easy answer available from Google. – Alain O'Dea Dec 13 '11 at 02:26
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    I also fell for the temptation of just skimming over the text where it says FET-10G here and SFP-GE-T [there](http://serverfault.com/questions/339957) and wondered for a while why you would want a nearly exactly duplicate question re-opened - the wording is quite similar – the-wabbit Dec 14 '11 at 18:34
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    Is the solution different between the two? Why not simply update the other question/answer to apply to both? – Zoredache Dec 14 '11 at 20:18
  • Are you sure it's not counterfeit? Did you check the serial number? – MikeyB Dec 14 '11 at 20:23
  • So were you planning on posting the Answer if you know if already??? – Chris S Dec 14 '11 at 22:17
  • I was going to post the answer when the question was closed :) Posting now. – Alain O'Dea Dec 15 '11 at 23:04
  • @syneticon-dj, I totally understand :) That was my laziness in asking two very similar questions by altering the text of one to suit the second. Thank you for understanding :) – Alain O'Dea Dec 15 '11 at 23:09
  • @Joseph the 5548 is running NX-OS 5.0(3)N2(1) :) – Alain O'Dea Dec 15 '11 at 23:10
  • @MikeyB, they are authentic SFP's verified with, for example "sh int e1/1 trans". They show up as CISCO-FINISAR and they do work when the port configuration is corrected :) Thank you for your interest :) – Alain O'Dea Dec 15 '11 at 23:12
  • @AlainO'Dea: I ask as some transceivers entered our supply chain a while ago that show up correctly and validate under certain conditions but are counterfeit. They do show up as CISCO-FINISAR. – MikeyB Dec 16 '11 at 14:46

1 Answers1

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Setting the port's switchport mode to fex-fabric will clear the SFP Validation Failed message. You can do this while the SFP transceiver is inserted.

Example setting up port 1 to allow fabric extension:

conf
int e1/1
switchport mode fex-fabric

The trouble is the order in which I thought this would work. I was trying to verify the transceiver hardware before getting into software configuration of the ports, but the transceiver expects a certain configuration first. This configuration can be changed while the transceiver is inserted.

Alain O'Dea
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