Certain Supported GBICs/SFPs Optical Transceiver Modules on Catalyst 3850 Switch

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Unsupported GBIC (SFP) in sub-module of Catalyst 3850 Switch–Mitigation Techniques

There is a common problem and mitigation techniques with certain supported GBICs (or SFPs) optical transceiver modules on a Catalyst 3850 switch:

When you insert specific GBICs on a Catalyst 3850 switch you may get following error logs:

%PLATFORM_PM-6-MODULE_ERRDISABLE: The inserted SFP module with interface name Gix/y/z is not supported
 %PM-4-ERR_DISABLE: gbic-invalid error detected on Gix/y/z, putting Gix/y/z in err-disable state

Issue has commonly been seen with GLC-SX-MMD and third party SFPs.

Solution

Please keep in mind the following points before considering this as a hardware issue with the SFP, sub-module (C3850-NM) or 3850 backplane.

Verify compatibility between the SFP and the switch, sub-module and software version. You can refer these compatibility matrix documents.

GBIC and SFP Transceiver Modules for Catalyst 3850 Series

GBIC: Gigabit Interface Converter
SFP: Gigabit Ethernet Small Form-Factor Pluggable

Catalyst 3850 series
Network Device	Transceiver Module	Minimum Software Release Required
Network Device	Transceiver Module	DOM Support	Cisco IOS Release
C3850-NM-4-1G Uplink Module	GLC-T (10/100/1000) GLC-LH-SM GLC-LH-SMD GLC-SX-MM GLC-SX-MMD GLC-EX-SMD¹ GLC-ZX-SM GLC-ZX-SMD GLC-BX-D GLC-BX-U CWDM SFP SFP-GE-S SFP-GE-L SFP-GE-T SFP-GE-Z DWDM SFP DWDM SFP (add.)	XE 3.2.0SE, 16.1.1	XE 3.2.0SE, 16.1.1
WS-C3850-12S WS-C3850-24S		XE 3.3.3SE, 16.1.1	XE 3.3.3SE, 16.1.1
	GLC-BX40-D-I GLC-BX40-DA-I GLC-BX40-U-I GLC-BX80-D-I GLC-BX80-U-I	XE 3.7.1E, 16.1.1	XE 3.7.1E, 16.1.1
	GLC-TE		XE 3.6.7E, XE 3.7.5E, 16.5.1a, 16.3.5

Catalyst 3850 series
Network Device	Transceiver Model	Minimum Software Release Required
Network Device	Transceiver Model	DOM Support	Software Release
WS-C3850-12XS WS-C3850-16XS WS-C3850-24XS WS-C3850-32XS (with C3850-NM-8-10G NM)	GLC-T (10/100/1000) GLC-LH-SM GLC-LH-SMD GLC-SX-MM GLC-SX-MMD GLC-EX-SMD¹ GLC-ZX-SM GLC-ZX-SMD GLC-BX-D GLC-BX-U CWDM SFP SFP-GE-S SFP-GE-L SFP-GE-T SFP-GE-Z DWDM SFP DWDM SFP (add.) GLC-BX40-D-I GLC-BX40-DA-I GLC-BX40-U-I GLC-BX80-D-I GLC-BX80-U-I	XE 3.7.1E, 16.1.1	XE 3.7.1E, 16.1.1
	GLC-TE	–	XE 3.7.5E
WS-C3850-12XS WS-C3850-16XS WS-C3850-24XS WS-C3850-32XS (with C3850-NM-8-10G NM)	GLC-TE	–	16.5.1a, 16.3.5
WS-C3850-48XS-S WS-C3850-48XS-E WS-C3850-48XS-F-S WS-C3850-48XS-F-E WS-C3850-48XS	GLC-T (10/100/1000) GLC-LH-SM GLC-LH-SMD GLC-SX-MM GLC-SX-MMD GLC-EX-SMD¹ GLC-ZX-SM GLC-ZX-SMD GLC-BX-D GLC-BX-U CWDM SFP SFP-GE-S SFP-GE-L SFP-GE-T SFP-GE-Z DWDM SFP DWDM SFP (add.) GLC-BX40-D-I GLC-BX40-DA-I GLC-BX40-U-I GLC-BX80-D-I GLC-BX80-U-I	XE 3.7.2E, 16.2.1	XE 3.7.2E, 16.2.1
	GLC-TE	–	XE 3.7.5E, 16.5.1a, 16.3.5

10-Gigabit Ethernet Transceiver Modules for Catalyst 3850 Series

Catalyst 3850 Series
Network Device	Transceiver Model	Minimum Software Release Required
Network Device	Transceiver Model	DOM Support	Software Release
WS-C3850-24T WS-C3850-24P WS-C3850-48T WS-C3850-48P WS-C3850-48F (With C3850-NM-2-10G or C3850-NM-4-10G uplink modules)	SFP-H10GB-CU1M SFP-H10GB-CU3M SFP-H10GB-CU5M	—	XE 3.2.0SE
	SFP-10G-SR SFP-10G-LRM SFP-10G-LR SFP-10G-ER SFP-10G-SR-S SFP-10G-LR-S SFP-10G-ER-S	XE 3.2.0SE	XE 3.2.0SE
	SFP-10G-ZR SFP-10G-ZR-S DWDM SFP+	XE 3.3.3SE	XE 3.3.3SE
	CWDM SFP+	XE 3.7.0	XE 3.7.0
	SFP-H10GB-CU1-5M SFP-H10GB-CU2M SFP-H10GB-CU2-5M SFP-H10GB-ACU7M SFP-H10GB-ACU10M SFP-10G-AOC1M SFP-10G-AOC2M SFP-10G-AOC3M SFP-10G-AOC5M SFP-10G-AOC7M SFP-10G-AOC10M	—	XE 3.6.0E
	SFP-10G-BXD-I SFP-10G-BXU-I SFP-10G-BX40D-I SFP-10G-BX40U-I	XE 3.7.1E	XE 3.7.1E
WS-C3850-12XS WS-C3850-16XS WS-C3850-24XS WS-C3850-32XS (C3850-NM-8-10G uplink modules)	SFP-10G-SR SFP-10G-LRM SFP-10G-LR SFP-10G-ER SFP-10G-ZR SFP-10G-SR-S SFP-10G-LR-S SFP-10G-ER-S SFP-10G-ZR-S DWDM SFP+ CWDM SFP+ SFP-H10GB-CU1M SFP-H10GB-CU1-5M SFP-H10GB-CU2M SFP-H10GB-CU2-5M SFP-H10GB-CU3M SFP-H10GB-CU5M SFP-H10GB-ACU7M SFP-H10GB-ACU10M SFP-10G-AOC1M SFP-10G-AOC2M SFP-10G-AOC3M SFP-10G-AOC5M SFP-10G-AOC7M SFP-10G-AOC10M SFP-10G-BXD-I SFP-10G-BXU-I SFP-10G-BX40D-I SFP-10G-BX40U-I	XE 3.7.1E	XE 3.7.1E
WS-C3850-48XS-S WS-C3850-48XS-E WS-C3850-48XS-F-S WS-C3850-48XS-F-E WS-C3850-48XS	SFP-10G-SR SFP-10G-LRM SFP-10G-LR SFP-10G-ER SFP-10G-ZR SFP-10G-SR-S SFP-10G-LR-S SFP-10G-ER-S SFP-10G-ZR-S DWDM SFP+ CWDM SFP+ SFP-H10GB-CU1M SFP-H10GB-CU1-5M SFP-H10GB-CU2M SFP-H10GB-CU2-5M SFP-H10GB-CU3M SFP-H10GB-CU5M SFP-H10GB-ACU7M SFP-H10GB-ACU10M SFP-10G-AOC1M SFP-10G-AOC2M SFP-10G-AOC3M SFP-10G-AOC5M SFP-10G-AOC7M SFP-10G-AOC10M SFP-10G-BXD-I SFP-10G-BXU-I SFP-10G-BX40D-I SFP-10G-BX40U-I	XE 3.7.2	XE 3.7.2
WS-C3850-12S WS-C3850-24S (With C3850-NM-2-10G or C3850-NM-4-10G or C3850-NM-8-10G uplink modules)	SFP-H10GB-CU1M SFP-H10GB-CU3M SFP-H10GB-CU5M	—	XE 3.3.3SE
	SFP-10G-SR SFP-10G-LRM SFP-10G-LR SFP-10G-ER SFP-10G-ZR SFP-10G-SR-S SFP-10G-LR-S SFP-10G-ER-S SFP-10G-ZR-S DWDM SFP+	XE 3.3.3SE	XE 3.3.3SE
	CWDM SFP+	XE 3.7.0	XE 3.7.0
	SFP-H10GB-CU1-5M SFP-H10GB-CU2M SFP-H10GB-CU2-5M SFP-H10GB-ACU7M SFP-H10GB-ACU10M SFP-10G-AOC1M SFP-10G-AOC2M SFP-10G-AOC3M SFP-10G-AOC5M SFP-10G-AOC7M SFP-10G-AOC10M	—	XE 3.6.0E
	SFP-10G-BXD-I SFP-10G-BXU-I SFP-10G-BX40D-I SFP-10G-BX40U-I	XE 3.7.1E	XE 3.7.1E

More info

Gigabit Ethernet Transceiver Modules Compatibility Matrix
10-Gigabit Ethernet Transceiver Modules Compatibility Matrix

Some SPFs need configuration and actions to be able to work in a Catalyst 3850 switch (mostly when they are manufactured by third-party). Try following actions:

3850(config)# no errdisable detect cause gbic-invalid 
 3850(config)# service unsupported-transceiver

Remove SFP module, shutdown/no shutdown the port, insert back the SFP module.

Take into consideration the following software defects:

CSCut94443 – GLC-SX-MMD is not recognized after OIR
CSCuj31712 – certain Vendor Sfp force ports to err-disable upon OIR

It is recommended to go to stable version of code whether if you are hitting those bugs or not. The recommended version on cisco.com has helped to fix this kind of incidents. Following documents can be referred for this.

Upgrade guide

Software Download page