Interpreting LED activity

System activity and status can be determined through the activity of the LEDs on the switch.

There are three possible LED states: no light, a steady light, and a flashing light. Flashing lights may be slow, fast, or flickering. The LED colors are either green or amber.

Sometimes, the LEDs flash either of the colors during boot, POST, or other diagnostic tests. This is normal; it does not indicate a problem unless the LEDs do not indicate a healthy state after all boot processes and diagnostic tests are complete.

LED locations

The port side of the switch has the following LEDs.

One system status LED (above) on the left side
One power LED (below) on the left side
Two Ethernet Port LEDs for Ethernet port activity and speed
One bicolor (green/amber) port status LED for each port on the switch. These LEDs are located above each pair of Fibre Channel ports.
The serial console port LEDs do not light up at any time, even when a cable is inserted and the link is active

Figure 1 shows the LEDs on port side of the switch. The port status LEDs for the FC ports are arranged left and right to correspond to the upper and lower ports respectively in each pair.

Figure 1. Port side LEDs

1 - System power LED
2 - System status LED
3 - FC port status LED (port 0)
4 - FC port status LED (port 4)
5 - Ethernet port activity LED
6 - Ethernet port speed LED

The non-port side of the switch has two power supply status LEDs and three fan status LEDs (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Non-port side LEDs

1 - Power supply DC status LED
2 - Power supply AC status LED
3 - Fan status LED

LED patterns

Table 1 describes the port side LEDs and their behavior.

Table 1. Port side LED patterns during normal operation
LED name	LED color	Status of hardware	Recommended action
Power status (green)	No light	System is off or there is an internal power supply failure	Verify that the power cable(s) are attached, and power source is live. The unit may be faulty. Contact IBM®.
Power status (green)	Steady green	System is on and power supplies are functioning properly	No action required.
System status (bicolor)	No light	System is off or there is no power.	Verify the system is on and has completed booting.
	Steady green	System is on and functioning properly.	No action required.
	Steady amber (for more than five seconds)	A system fault has occurred. This LED displays steady amber during POST, this is normal and does not indicate a fault.	Power cycle the switch. Check the failure indicated on the system console. Contact IBM.
	Blinking amber	Attention is required. A number of factors can cause this status including single power supply failure, a fan failure, or one or more environmental ranges has been exceeded.	Check the management interface and the error log for details on the cause of status. Contact IBM.
Ethernet Speed (green)	No light	Port speed is 10 Mbps.	No action required.
Ethernet Speed (green)	Steady green	Port speed is 100 or 1000 Mbps.	No action required.
Ethernet Activity/Link (green)	No light	There is no link.	Verify that the Ethernet cable is connected correctly.
	Steady green	There is a link.	No action required.
	Blinking green	There is link activity (traffic).	No action required.
Optical media port status (one bi-color LED for each FC port)	Off	There is no light or signal carrier (module or cable).	Verify that the transceiver is installed correctly and that the cable is connected correctly.
	Steady amber	The port is receiving light or carrier, but is not online.	No action required.
	Slow blinking amber (2 sec)	The port is disabled (by diagnostics or by portDisable command).	Verify that the diagnostic tests are not being run. Re-enable the port using the portEnable command.
	Fast blinking amber (1/2 sec)	The port has failed.	Check the management interface and the error log for details on the cause of the failure. Contact IBM Support if necessary.
	Steady green	The port is online.	No action required.
	Slow blinking green (2 sec)	The port is online but is segmented (loopback cable or incompatible switch).	Check the firmware level of the attached switch.
	Fast blinking green (1/2 sec)	There is an internal loopback (diagnostic).	No action required.
	Flickering green	The port is online and frames are flowing through the port.	No action required.

Table 2 describes the non-port side LEDs and their behavior.

Table 2. Non-port side LED patterns during normal operation
LED name	LED color	Status of hardware	Recommended action
Power supply AC input status (one green LED)	No light	Power supply is not receiving AC input voltage or AC input voltage is below operational limit.	Verify that the power supply is properly seated and the power cord is connected to a functioning AC power source.
Power supply AC input status (one green LED)	Steady green	AC input voltage is within operational range.	No action required.
Power supply DC output status (one bi-color LED)	Flashing amber (1:1)	Output voltage is not enabled.	Verify that the power supply is fully seated and that the captive screw is secured.
	Flashing amber/green (2:1)	Over temperature warning.	Verify that ambient temperature is less than 40° C (104° F) and check for intake airflow blockage.
	Flashing amber/green (1:1)	Internal fan is out of regulation.	Replace the power supply.
	Steady amber	Power supply is faulty or not plugged in completely.	Check the power cord, current, voltage, and temperature to determine the problem.
	Steady green	DC output OK.	No action required.
Fan assembly status (one bi-color LED)	No light	Fan assembly is not receiving power.	Verify that the fan FRU is seated correctly.
	Steady green	Fan assembly is operating normally.	No action required.
	Steady amber (for more than 5 seconds)	Fan fault for one of the following reasons: A fan assembly with mismatched airflow is present. One or more of the fans in the fan assembly has failed.	Try one of the following: Replace the mismatched fan assembly with one that has the correct airflow direction. Replace the faulty fan assembly.