Gigabit ports on Dell Powerconnect 2324 never worked

I have a Dell Powerconnect 2324 with Gigabit ports - 24 ports 10/100 ports with 2 Gigabit ports - that never worked. It's supposed to auto-detect everything, but even trying different combinations I never get any lights or connection on the 2 Gigabit ports. I've always wired my uplink into the normal 10/100 ports (which always works, whatever the configuration of cables). I've seen this problem reported by a couple of other people on the Internet with no solution. Am I missing something obvious?

UPDATE

For some reason the manual doesn't seem to be linked from that page. I only have one other port connected, and I've tried it in several. The Gigabit ports are 10/100 compatible and I would think auto-sensing (not stated explicitly, but says all ports are MDI/MDIX sensing and auto-speed/duplex). If not auto-sensing, then there is no information about how to configure the switch (it is unmanaged).

From serverfault Sam Brightman

• I believe those two gigabit ports are probably shared with port 23 & 24 of the 10/100 ports. Make sure those are empty if you're trying to use the gigabit side.

  xeon : A lot of the lower end switches do this. I have two HP Procurve 1824-24G that share port 23 and 24 with the multi purpose slots.

  David : From the product FAQ at Dell: Are the uplinks on the PowerConnect 2324 switch so-called "combo ports"? No. The Gigabit Ethernet links on the PowerConnect 2324 switch are standalone ports. A full 26 ports of connectivity are available.

  Christopher Karel : Well, then that's definitely not it. Are you comfortable logging into the console of this switch?

  Sam Brightman : I would be, if I knew how.
  From Christopher Karel

• David, looking at the spec sheet you linked, I see that the gigabit ethernet ports are not listed as 'plug and play' or 'autosensing'. So you may have to manually configure them via the console or web admin page.

  A good chance you'll do that with:
  

  #              configure
  
  (config)#      interface ethernet g1
  
  (config-if)    no shutdown
  (config-if)    duplex full
  (config-if)    speed 1000

  If that doesn't help, try displaying all your interface statuses. This will also help if you don't know the name/number of the gig-E ports.
  # show interface status

  sparks : They could also be gigabit only which would not work when plugged into a 10/100 switch on the other end.

  Sam Brightman : The manual says they are 10/100/1000 and seems to imply auto-sensing. See update - no indication of how to configure it.

  Christopher Karel : OK, I didn't realize this was an unmanaged switch. I know you mentioned different combinations of connections. Does that include different types of devices (PC and/or router, instead of a switch) and different cabling? (crossover and regular) And of course, all the random permutations thereof.

  Sam Brightman : I've tried a few combinations, not 100% sure I've covered them all but think so. All ports are specified in all Dell documents as auto-everything.
  From Christopher Karel

• its a brandname switch, which has to be supported byt the vendor, so why not call Dell and ask?

  Sam Brightman : it's not common that you get a total dud so my first assumption was ignorance on my part. plus my experience with calling is that they tell me to clear my cookies or some other BS. i didn't have time to sort it out when it was new (we weren't using the bandwidth) now it's a few years old, maybe isn't supported. of course i will check if there's no other possibility.

  dyasny : I have worked in Dell Server/Switch support. You get extremely professional people there. This is NOT the local ISP support who will ask you to reboot everything and clear the cookies - this is an experienced sysadmin who will try to help you out, and if he cannot, he will escalate to a very good networking expert. Seriously, the guys in the networking support there are real gurus.
  From dyasny