3750-x POE Issue powering Avaya 4620 phone

[mmshively]

I have a WS-C3750X-48PF-S switch that will not power up Avaya Model 4620SW IP phones. Following error is displayed:

*Feb 28 20:16:11.145 EST: %ILPOWER-3-CONTROLLER_PORT_ERR: Controller port error,

Interface Gi1/0/48: Power Controller reports power Tstart error detected (AIS-1

)do show power inline g1/0/48

Interface Admin Oper       Power   Device             Class Max

                           (Watts)

--------- ------ ---------- ------- ------------------- ----- ----

Gi1/0/48 auto   faulty     0.0     n/a                 n/a   30.0

Interface AdminPowerMax   AdminConsumption

             (Watts)           (Watts)

---------- --------------- --------------------

Gi1/0/48             30.0                 30.0

[mmshively]

This is a known issue:

See this link:

http://tools.cisco.com/Support/BugToolKit/search/getBugDetails.do?method=fetchBugDetails&bugId=CSCte39759

[Matthew Blanshard]

You might try configuring this under the ports where the phones are connected "power inline port 2x-mode".  This will require you to upgrade your IOS to 12.2(55)SE3 or 12.2(58)SE1. 

The Avaya phone is in violation of the IEEE 802.3af spec and is providing too much inrush current, but that command allows for spikes in the inrush current and it might suffice as a workaround to get these slightly non-compliant phones to work. 

-Matt

[pmasters2699]

Hi Mathew,

Thanks for this tip.  Based on Michael's comment above, we were faced with the option of either extending the patch cable at the desk to increase the length to 30+ meters or replace the phones.  This now provides me with a simpler option to try and resolve this temporarily until we purchase new phones.  We are able to get the phones powered on eventually, but it very tempermental and intermittent which we have to move the phone to different ports on the stack until it powers up.  Extending the patch cable at the desk would create quite a mess, so we'll be planning on replacing the phones at some point soon, but I'm going to look at doing the upgrade of the IOS first.

Thanks again to everyone for the quick and helpfull responses.

Cheers

Patrick