How to enable 10Gb interface on ProCurve 2910al

[Dave_Raddatz]

I have a ProCurve 2910al SFP+ and am trying to use the 10Gb ports.  When I use the J9283B cable to connect the port to an adapter in my server, the LED on the switch turns on but it is flashing orange.  I don't see any other flashing orange LEDs besides this one.  The Server does not get an IP address (but the on-board 1Gb port on the server is able to get an IP address - it's connected to the same switch as the 10Gb ports - this is all on a private network with a DHCP server).

How can I verify that the port on the switch is working correctly?  Is there something that I need to do to "enable" it?

I used the CLI/menu and it looks like the status of A1 is enabled and up.

When I disconnect the cable from the 10Gb port then the corresponding 1Gb port is enabled (dual personality port) so it seems like the switch is aware of when a cable is connected to the 10Gb ports.

Any pointers are appreciated.

Dave

[Emil_G]

Hi. When the LED of a SFP slot flashes and the Fault LED doesnt flash that usually means that the module/cable is not supported by the switch or by the SW revision of the switches.  First you have to make sure that the J9008A 2-Port 10-GbE SFP+ al Module is in use. Only this module supports the DAC J9283B. This DAC is only supported with SW W.14.28 or later. Make sure that the switch is running this SW. Very usefull command will be "show tech transceiver". It usually provides information what is the reason why the transceiver/DAC is not functional.  

[Dave_Raddatz]

Hi, Emil,

Thanks for the info.  I verified that I was at a correct software version.  What also helped was that I found the information at the HP Support site (here) very useful. Specifically:

The front ports only accept the 1GbE SFP modules

After I moved my cables to the BACK of the switch (connected to the module's SFP+ ports) was I able to get IP addresses.

Now everything is working.  What's confusing is that the SFP+ DAC cable fits so nicely in the front ports and the ports are marked as dual personality so I thought it would just work as 10Gb.  So, how do the front ports need to be configured to support 10Gb?  It looks like only with the fiber optic mini-GBIC (SFP) - right?

Dave

[Richard Litchfield]

1Gb SFP ports and 10Gb SFP+ ports (and FC 2Gb, 4Gb, 8Gb, 16Gb) all have the same physical connector, but they each different characteristics.

• Many 10gB SFP+ ports, (but not all) will work with 1Gb connectors and run at 1Gb.
• Some 10Gb SFP+ ports support CEE/FCoE/FC - such as the first 4 VC-FlexFabric ports or the 5820 FCoE module ports. You can plug 1Gb, 2Gb, 4Gb, 8Gb, 10Gb modules into these, and if configured correctly, will work.

The 2910 has 1Gb only ports on the front. They will only ever work at 1Gb. The additional 10Gb modules that go in teh rear of the 2910 will support 1Gb or 10Gb connectors - no config required.