Hi all,

I am trying to connect to my Cisco Catalyst 2950 switch from my Fedora Core 3 box to the Console port on the switch.

I am using the little blue cable that came with the switch, which has a 9-pin serial plug on one end and a RJ-45 plug on the other.

I have tried using both kermit and minicom to connect to the switch, but I keep getting this error message when I connect:

1w1d: %IP_SNMP-3-SOCKET: can't open UDP socket
1w1d: Unable to open socket on port 161


Here are my settings:
Device: /dev/ttyS0
Speed: 9600 bps
Carrier-watch: Off


I'm far from a Cisco guru, and this switch isn't even factory fresh (it was shipped to us from another company office), but I would assume that connecting to the console port should always work regardless of switch configuration (else you'd be locked out if you screwed up your config).

Anyway, the error message is definitely coming from the switch, as I see that exact message on a Cisco FAQ for a cable modem (I'd post a URL, but the forum won't let me).

Since the error is from the switch, it seems to indicate that at least the cabling and connectivity settings are right.

Any gurus out there have any advice on how to proceed in troubleshooting this? I'm stumped ...

Thanks,
Adam

I recently tookover a secondhand Cisco switch that I got working after I conducted a password reset. This is detailed at http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/473/156.html

At least you have the original cable! I had to make mine. I connected from my Linux box to the switch using minicom. I don't recall the exact settings, but the Cisco documentation will detail all the necessary stuff.