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I have a Dell Powerconnect 2324 with Gigabit ports - 24 ports 10/100 ports with 2 Gigabit ports - that never worked. It's supposed to auto-detect everything, but even trying different combinations I never get any lights or connection on the 2 Gigabit ports. I've always wired my uplink into the normal 10/100 ports (which always works, whatever the configuration of cables). I've seen this problem reported by a couple of other people on the Internet with no solution. Am I missing something obvious?

UPDATE

For some reason the manual doesn't seem to be linked from that page. I only have one other port connected, and I've tried it in several. The Gigabit ports are 10/100 compatible and I would think auto-sensing (not stated explicitly, but says all ports are MDI/MDIX sensing and auto-speed/duplex). If not auto-sensing, then there is no information about how to configure the switch (it is unmanaged).

Sam Brightman
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4 Answers4

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Old post, I know.

I just diagnosed pretty much the same thing.

The gigabit ports cannot do 10/100, in spite of what the user's manual says about it.

I found another document, which can be found by googling "K5672A00.fm". It appears to be an erratum for the manual regarding this specific issue.

This one indicates that the gig ports are 1000-ONLY. They are not triple-speed ports. From that document:

Connect only 1000Base-T full-duplex capable devices to ports 25 or 26 on the PowerConnect2324 switch

Sam Brightman
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chrismarget
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I believe those two gigabit ports are probably shared with port 23 & 24 of the 10/100 ports. Make sure those are empty if you're trying to use the gigabit side.

Christopher Karel
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  • A lot of the lower end switches do this. I have two HP Procurve 1824-24G that share port 23 and 24 with the multi purpose slots. – xeon Dec 18 '09 at 20:18
  • From the product FAQ at Dell: Are the uplinks on the PowerConnect 2324 switch so-called "combo ports"? No. The Gigabit Ethernet links on the PowerConnect 2324 switch are standalone ports. A full 26 ports of connectivity are available. – David Dec 18 '09 at 21:13
  • Well, then that's definitely not it. Are you comfortable logging into the console of this switch? – Christopher Karel Dec 18 '09 at 21:36
  • I would be, if I knew how. – Sam Brightman Dec 21 '09 at 09:51
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its a brandname switch, which has to be supported byt the vendor, so why not call Dell and ask?

dyasny
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  • it's not common that you get a total dud so my first assumption was ignorance on my part. plus my experience with calling is that they tell me to clear my cookies or some other BS. i didn't have time to sort it out when it was new (we weren't using the bandwidth) now it's a few years old, maybe isn't supported. of course i will check if there's no other possibility. – Sam Brightman Dec 22 '09 at 11:20
  • I have worked in Dell Server/Switch support. You get extremely professional people there. This is NOT the local ISP support who will ask you to reboot everything and clear the cookies - this is an experienced sysadmin who will try to help you out, and if he cannot, he will escalate to a very good networking expert. Seriously, the guys in the networking support there are real gurus. – dyasny Dec 22 '09 at 19:59
  • Marked this correct, although I never got around to trying it it's probably the right way to go. Now the switch has completely stopped working (power, presumably). – Sam Brightman Feb 07 '13 at 21:08
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David, looking at the spec sheet you linked, I see that the gigabit ethernet ports are not listed as 'plug and play' or 'autosensing'. So you may have to manually configure them via the console or web admin page.

A good chance you'll do that with:

#              configure

(config)#      interface ethernet g1

(config-if)    no shutdown
(config-if)    duplex full
(config-if)    speed 1000

If that doesn't help, try displaying all your interface statuses. This will also help if you don't know the name/number of the gig-E ports.
# show interface status

Christopher Karel
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  • They could also be gigabit only which would not work when plugged into a 10/100 switch on the other end. – sclarson Dec 18 '09 at 22:43
  • The manual says they are 10/100/1000 and seems to imply auto-sensing. See update - no indication of how to configure it. – Sam Brightman Dec 21 '09 at 09:51
  • OK, I didn't realize this was an unmanaged switch. I know you mentioned different combinations of connections. Does that include different types of devices (PC and/or router, instead of a switch) and different cabling? (crossover and regular) And of course, all the random permutations thereof. – Christopher Karel Dec 21 '09 at 15:18
  • I've tried a few combinations, not 100% sure I've covered them all but think so. All ports are specified in all Dell documents as auto-everything. – Sam Brightman Dec 22 '09 at 11:22