Total Packets Received with MAC Errors and Unacceptable Frame Type

Question

Hey everyone, I'm new to Dell switches and am trying to troubleshoot several issues and concerns for a N3048P stack. We've got a few counters that are increasing but wanted some clarification on their meaning. I can't seem to find anything 'definitive' from searches on Google and within the forum. On most of our interfaces, the Total Received Packets Not Forwarded counters are slowly increasing with Unacceptable Frame Type normally matching it. (Increases by 2-4 per second.) A few searches and posts seem to indicate that this originates from from Spanning-tree or interfaces receiving (un)tagged packets that do not match the configuration. (Ex. tagged VLAN 500 packet where the interface specifies it should be untagged.) While we have had issues with Spanning-tree configuration on the stack in getting it to work with a Cisco 6509 that feeds it, it's also possible that we may not have correctly set up all ports in regard to access/general/trunk. Is Unacceptable Frame Type a 'catch-all' for both of these issues, or is it specific to just one? We have several interfaces connected to some Aruba APs. These interfaces display a (very gradual) increase in counters for Total Packets Received with MAC Errors. I can't seem to find any explanation on what this indicates. (They also increase with Total Received Packets Not Forwarded.) Here's an example of interface output for just frame type and its config: OurSwitch#show interfaces gigabitethernet 2/0/9 Interface Name : .............................. Gi2/0/9SOC Hardware Info :............................ BCM56340_A0Link Status : ................................. UpVLAN Membership Mode: ......................... Trunk ModeVLAN Membership: .............................. (1),100,200,300-301,333,500,503, 600-602,700-701,706,921,977,991, 1400,1768,1801,1921MTU Size : .................................... 1518Port Mode [Duplex] : .......................... FullPort Speed : .................................. 1000Link Debounce Flaps : ......................... 0Auto-Negotation Status : ...................... AutoTotal Packets Received Without Errors.......... 294192292Unicast Packets Received....................... 260526055Multicast Packets Received..................... 33298359Broadcast Packets Received..................... 367878Total Packets Received with MAC Errors......... 0Jabbers Received............................... 0Fragments/Undersize Received................... 0Alignment Errors............................... 0FCS Errors..................................... 0Overruns....................................... 0Total Received Packets Not Forwarded........... 24780969Total Packets Transmitted Successfully......... 1559085703Unicast Packets Transmitted.................... 837319714Multicast Packets Transmitted.................. 277449678Broadcast Packets Transmitted.................. 444316311Transmit Packets Discarded..................... 3750Total Transmit Errors.......................... 0Total Transmit Packets Discarded............... 3750Single Collision Frames........................ 0Multiple Collision Frames...................... 0Excessive Collision Frames..................... 0 OurSwitch#show run interface gigabitethernet 2/0/9 !interface Gi2/0/9description 'Neeeeeerrrrrrdddd'switchport mode trunkswitchport trunk allowed vlan 1,100,200,300-301,333,500,503,600-602,700-701,706,921,977,991,1400,1768,1801,1921exit! (From my switch, a Cisco 3560CG which connects to this interface) !interface GigabitEthernet0/10 description OurSwitch G2/0/9 switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q switchport trunk allowed vlan 100,200,300,301,333,500-503,600-602,700 switchport trunk allowed vlan add 701,706,921,977,991,1400,1768,1801,1921 switchport mode trunkend Here's an example of statistics output for MAC errors: OurSwitch#show statistics gigabitethernet 2/0/45 Total Packets Received (Octets)................ 94248692Packets Received 64 Octets..................... 3957Packets Received 65-127 Octets................. 464550Packets Received 128-255 Octets................ 76837Packets Received 256-511 Octets................ 17164Packets Received 512-1023 Octets............... 979Packets Received 1024-1518 Octets.............. 11622Packets Received > 1518 Octets................. 7268Packets RX and TX 64 Octets.................... 956447Packets RX and TX 65-127 Octets................ 1904727Packets RX and TX 128-255 Octets............... 1046452Packets RX and TX 256-511 Octets............... 280204Packets RX and TX 512-1023 Octets.............. 53576Packets RX and TX 1024-1518 Octets............. 68709Packets RX and TX 1519-2047 Octets............. 3634Packets RX and TX 2048-4095 Octets............. 0Packets RX and TX 4096-9216 Octets............. 0 Total Packets Received Without Errors.......... 575109Unicast Packets Received....................... 552940Multicast Packets Received..................... 22148Broadcast Packets Received..................... 21Receive Packets Discarded...................... 4 Total Packets Received with MAC Errors......... 3634Jabbers Received............................... 0Fragments/Undersize Received................... 0Alignment Errors............................... 0FCS Errors..................................... 0Overruns....................................... 0 Total Received Packets Not Forwarded........... 3638802.3x Pause Frames Received................... 0Unacceptable Frame Type........................ 4 Total Packets Transmitted (Octets)............. 574887327Packets Transmitted 64 Octets.................. 952490Packets Transmitted 65-127 Octets.............. 1440177Packets Transmitted 128-255 Octets............. 969615Packets Transmitted 256-511 Octets............. 263040Packets Transmitted 512-1023 Octets............ 52597Packets Transmitted 1024-1518 Octets........... 57087Packets Transmitted > 1518 Octets.............. 0Max Frame Size................................. 1518 I would appreciate any input as to what these counters may mean. We will be upgrading the firmware from 6.2 to 6.3 tonight after reading that Total Received Packets Not Forwarded may just be a 'cosmetic issue,' but I would like to understand them as much as possible.

Simon5 · Answer

Hi There I'm seeing the same on some on my 4000 series devices. Did you find that the firmware update resolved the issue? Thanks Simon

coblek · Answer

Hi Simon,

I had forgotten that I posted this here. It appears that we now only have a stack of N3048P in production and it's running v6.3.1.8. I see only a handful of interfaces that have had any of these errors (possibly less than a dozen and fewer than 6 packets each). I will assume that the firmware upgrade probably fixed these along the way.

However, support never explained to me as to what triggers these counters, so I cannot help with any questions about that.

White_Ninja · Answer

hey we also see these error on n2000 switches firmware 6.5.2.9 cpld 20

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