Post

Reviving a Cisco Catalyst 2960G

Reviving a Cisco Catalyst 2960G

One of the coolest wins for my homelab recently was getting a failed a Cisco Catalyst 2960G switch.

Cisco Catalyst 2960G Front Panel

When I first powered it on, all the indicator lights looked good—except the top “SYST” light, which stayed solid amber. Normally, this means there’s a hardware fault, so I initially suspected a bad power supply. But after some digging, I discovered that many others had seen this exact issue, and it was often caused by a failed RAM chip.


Investigating the Faulty RAM

After opening up the switch and taking a closer look at the board, I found the suspected RAM chip.

Close-up of Faulty RAM Chip

Based on forum posts and YouTube videos, it seemed like thermal instability in the chip was causing the boot issue.

So, I decided to test a workaround: heating the RAM chip just before powering on the switch. I grabbed a small handheld heat gun from Walmart, gave the chip a solid blast of hot air, and sure enough—the switch booted right up!


Still works

Now, I’ve got a working 2960G in my lab setup—but there’s a catch: if the device powers down, I have to reheat the chip before booting again. Definitely not ideal, but it works for now.

Inside of the Cisco Switch with RAM and Heat Sink

Eventually, I’d like to attempt desoldering the bad chip and replacing it with a new one. Until then, it’s staying warm and running!


For anyone doing homelab on a budget, this kind of hardware revival trick is worth keeping in your toolbox.

This post is licensed under Apache License 2.0 by the author.