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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).

4 Answers 4

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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

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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.

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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, 2009 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, 2009 at 21:13
  • Well, then that's definitely not it. Are you comfortable logging into the console of this switch? Dec 18, 2009 at 21:36
  • I would be, if I knew how. Dec 21, 2009 at 9:51
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its a brandname switch, which has to be supported byt the vendor, so why not call Dell and ask?

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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. Dec 22, 2009 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, 2009 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). Feb 7, 2013 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

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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, 2009 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. Dec 21, 2009 at 9:51
  • 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. Dec 21, 2009 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. Dec 22, 2009 at 11:22

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