Strange log message. Is this an error?

Zyxel_Judy

Hi @peos42 ,

We've confirmed with the RMA team that your new item has been delivered and the L3 license transfer is complete.

We appreciate your feedback on the RMA process and will work to improve the user experience.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

peos42

Tnx för the notify. I am in the middle of it, but will of course give feedback within a few days.

Regards
Peo

FlamencoAssassin

Hi,

Just to add to this thread, my XS1930-12HP got the mysterious PoE exceeding threshold message 4 days ago.

140 2025-01-20T01:43:25Z IN authentication: HTTP(s) user admin login [IP address = 192.168.17.130]
141 2025-01-20T01:42:31Z NO system: PoE power usage is less than 95% threshold, remaining power is 339.7W

This previously happened just once before on 14th March 2024 (documented in another thread). It is completely impossible for my PoE devices to draw so much power. On checking the logs/monitoring for my PoE devices there was no outage on these devices (Access points/wifi controller) so they continued to function uninterrupted.

It will be interesting to see if @peos42's new RMA switch is cured of this error.

peos42

Around 170 hours of uptime now since I powered up this new RMA replaced switch January 23.

Now… This just appeared in my syslog:

Jan 30 16:38:29 switch0.incedo.org  2025-01-30T15:38:31Z switch0.incedo.org system: PoE power usage exceeds 95% threshold, remaining power is 0.0W

Jan 30 16:38:30 switch0.incedo.org  2025-01-30T15:38:33Z switch0.incedo.org system: PoE power usage is less than 95% threshold, remaining power is 327.3W

The switch was powered up jan 23, and this message came jan 30. As with the old switch before it was replaced, it was just EXACTLY 1 second and no port flap or data interruption. And again, normal total power draw is less than 50W. And its possible max value is around 10-20 W more. The network had no load at all at the time of this log event.

switch0.incedo.org> show poe
  PoE Mode : Consumption mode

  Total Power:375.0(W)
  PoE Usage:12(%)
  PoE Usage Threshold:95(%)
  Consuming Power:45.3(W)
  Allocated Power:NA  
  Remaining Power:329.7(W) 

  Averaged Junction Temperature: 34 (c), 93 (f).

  Port   State   PD  Class  Priority       Power-Up  Consumption (W)  MaxPower(W)  

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

     1  Enable   On      4       Low        802.3bt              5.6            -  
     2  Enable   On      5       Low        802.3bt             10.8            -  
     3  Enable   On      5       Low        802.3bt             10.7            -  
     4  Enable   On      5       Low        802.3bt             10.8            -  
     5  Enable  Off      0       Low        802.3bt              0.0            -  
     6  Enable   On      0       Low        802.3bt              5.3            -  
     7  Enable   On      4       Low  Force-802.3at              2.1            -  
     8  Enable  Off      0       Low        802.3bt              0.0            -  

And again… with the newly replaced switch, no ports flapped or anything when this happened. Everything worked as intended. It could bee seen that “show interfaces status” still show long uptime and that data sessions to the PoE powered devices did not go down. 

The fans dis not spin up when the switch logged this 95%+ power draw. This can bee seen on the fan MAX value that is very near the current rpm.

switch0.incedo.org> show hardware-monitor C
  Temperature Unit : (C)
  Temperature(%c)  Current    Max    Min  Threshold  Status  
  ---------------  -------  -----  -----  ---------  ------  
              MAC     35.0   37.0   20.0       85.0  Normal  
            BOARD     32.0   34.0   23.0      110.0  Normal  
              PHY     33.0   35.0   20.0       83.0  Normal  

  FAN Speed(RPM) Current  Max  Min Threshold Status Detect 
  -------------- ------- ---- ---- --------- ------ ------ 
            FAN1    3805 3837 3573       500 Normal        
            FAN2    3784 3827 3670       500 Normal        
 
  Voltage(V)  Current     Max     Min  Threshold  Status  
  ----------  -------  ------  ------  ---------  ------  
        3.3V    3.325   3.325   3.325    +6%/-6%  Normal  
         12V   12.093  12.093  12.093  +10%/-10%  Normal  

Now.. What real facts to we have?

• I have had another PoE switch for those PoE powered units with no issues at all. 
• It seems the messages that logs and restore 95%+ power draw is always exactly 1 second (strange! isn´t it?)
• It is impossible for my connected PoE powered units to draw this amount of power without a short circuit (Max worst case power for all six devices according to its devices specs are 5+4.5+13.5+4x26.4=128.6W. But According to the switch it mostly draw 45-48W in total during std usage.) The same comment has come from @FlamencoAssassin in the forum.
• No port flap or network outage caused by it
• This issue is not related to a specific switch as I have had it replaced over RMA as well as it has been seen for others as well. This message has “probably” been there for a lot of other people as well as you only notice it if looking into the logs. Most people only look there if the have seen real problems.
• As a single PoE++ port can deliver max of around 71W it is therefore a conclusion that not a single port wire short circuit could cause this message.

And what conclusions can we draw from this?

I have been around regarding software development, networking etc for over 20 years, but I am of course not a switch supplier. So this is my guess…

• Either a hardware bug in the whole product line of this switch OR a switch firmware bug

You could maybe add some debug log flags into the firmware to enable in the running config. If so, it is maybe possible to see what is happening. As it is now, I as a customer and you as supplier are blind to the ground cause of this message.

PS
I have NOT (not YET) seen the…

system: PethPse Port <NUM> - <PORT NAME> OnOff Trap Port Detection Status is Delivering Power

system: PethPse Port <NUM> - <PORT NAME> OnOff Trap Port Detection Status is Searching

on this newly replaced switch. Also a message that did not cause port flap or network outage. But I guess time will tell if these will come too…

The positive thing is that everything continues to work as it should without any outage. So the switch delivers and perform without interruption. But still…. What are you at Zyxel suggesting and what are you going to do about this issue?