Solved 0 packets input - Need some clarification from an expert

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Question about Zero input packets on an interface

Here is the interface:

FastEthernet7/47 is up, line protocol is up (connected)
Hardware is Fast Ethernet Port, address is 0017.5a00.b36e (bia 0017.5a00.b36e)
Description: MacAfee Spam Filter
MTU 1500 bytes, BW 100000 Kbit, DLY 100 usec,
reliability 255/255, txload 1/255, rxload 1/255
Encapsulation ARPA, loopback not set
Keepalive set (10 sec)
Full-duplex, 100Mb/s, link type is auto, media type is 10/100BaseTX
input flow-control is unsupported output flow-control is unsupported
ARP type: ARPA, ARP Timeout 04:00:00
Last input never, output never, output hang never
Last clearing of "show interface" counters 00:01:26
Input queue: 0/2000/0/0 (size/max/drops/flushes); Total output drops: 0
Queueing strategy: fifo
Output queue: 0/40 (size/max)
5 minute input rate 0 bits/sec, 0 packets/sec
5 minute output rate 0 bits/sec, 0 packets/sec
0 packets input, 0 bytes, 0 no buffer
Received 0 broadcasts (0 multicasts)
0 runts, 0 giants, 0 throttles
0 input errors, 0 CRC, 0 frame, 0 overrun, 0 ignored
0 input packets with dribble condition detected
55 packets output, 7974 bytes, 0 underruns
0 output errors, 0 collisions, 0 interface resets
0 babbles, 0 late collision, 0 deferred
0 lost carrier, 0 no carrier
0 output buffer failures, 0 output buffers swapped out

Now the packets output continues to slowly increment and I see it happening by repeating the sh int fx/x command.

The input remains Zero.

What does this mean exactly? Does it mean that there are no packets being received on the interface? and the output means packets exiting the interface?

Also if there are no input packets what are the output packets?

Now I did ping the device on the other end of the connection and the input incremented by 24. I repeated the ping again and the input increased to 29. I cleared the counters again and without pinging the input packets remain at Zero.

Any help making this clear for me would be most helpful.

Thanks

NMF

@Amador-Torrez,

The packets input indicates total number of the input packets received by the system without errors.

So, the 0 would indicate that something along the path from the switch to the endpoint may be sending errors.

This could be the sending device itself having Layer 3 issues. Remember that what you're seeing if you're typing the Show Interface fa7/47 is really detailed at Layer 2 information and may indicate some layer 3 information but to see more try the Show Interface fa7/47 detail or details to see more.

Thanks Ronnie,

Forgot about the detail command. Thanks for the added detail.

NMF