why? how? wtf...

why hasn't cisco fabricated rj-45 to usb console cables?
so you can go out and spend 40 bucks to buy a 3rd party adapter...

when a root bridge is established, why is its priority 32769?
because of  sys-id-ext 1

how often does spanning-tree send hellos?
every 2 seconds

if you debug spanning-tree you can expect a lot of output at the console, so how do you preempt this?
by issuing the command un all before issuing the command debug spanning-tree... why?
so you can stop the madness by pressing up arrow and enter, to turn it off...

from a telnet session you issue debug spanning-tree... why isn't there any output to the screen?
you haven't issued terminal monitor from privileged-exec mode, that's why...

to accomplish convergence, what states must the ports be in?
blocking and forwarding

and how long does convergence take?
50 seconds

how do you turn off stp to get rid of this 50 second shit on a port?
in interface configuration mode use spanning-tree portfast and the the interface will move to forwarding on linkup

a new beginning...

my first shipment arrived today, the 3550, i expect the rest of the gear tomorrow... it's kind of weird having the shit in my apartment... it'll be a constant reminder; configure me, connect me, make me go to porn sites... i'll do pictures tomorrow once i have them racked...

so i take the switch out of the box, set it on a stand for now, grab the console cable and i'm ready to connect it to my laptop...  no serial port... not a problem... i break out the old desktop, monitor, etc, power it up and i'm all set...  no serial port on that either and that's got to be five years old by now... damn... off to office max, nice that it's just up the road, and i look around a bit... over ten bucks for a power cable, nearly thirty for a long rj-45... i turn a corner and there is the section i'm looking for...  37 dollars for a serial to usb adapter... i have these visions that i'm about to nickel and dime myself into the poor house with this project... all right, buy it, return it before 14 days are up, and get a cheaper one on line... not a chance, 30 bucks on line not including shipping... good God...

had to install software for it also...  connect it up, run putty, select serial, com1, defaults to 8, none, and 1
and i get errors; serial port not found...  go to control-panel, system, hardware, (xp machine) and there it is... on com3...

works great... connected it up through the wireless router to the cable modem and i'm pinging the time warner gateway within moments... routers and more switches tomorrow...