X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.novell
Date:         Mon, 31 Aug 1992 17:11:15 CDT
Reply-To:     Novell LAN Interest Group <NOVELL@SUVM.BITNET>
From:         rfranken@CS.UMR.EDU
Subject:      Re: 486/33 too fast for Token Ring network?
X-To:         NOVELL@suvm.acs.syr.EDU
              "NOVELERR@SUVM.SYR.EDU" at Aug 31, 92 7:05 pm

>
>      I have had a curious problem for some time now.  We are running Netare
> 386 rel 3.11.  On this server I have a 4 MB token ring network.  The server
> is a Gateway 2000 486/33 with 8 MB RAM.  The server has run flawlessely
> ever since I got it, and it has be up for over 100 days now.  The vast
 majority
> of my workstations have absolutely no trouble getting on the network.
 However,
> I have 2 machines (Gateway 486/33 and Dell 486/33) which sometimes will be
> able to load the network drives and sometimes will not.  As far as I can tell,
> it looks like a totally random thing.  I initially thought it was how the
> drivers were loading into memory.  However I tried a setup with just the
> network drivers and I still had problems.  We also use the ibmtoken
> packet driver.  This sometimes loads and sometimes doesn't.  If it loads,
> the IPX and NETX drivers will, if it doesn't load, the IPX and NETX drivers
> may or may not load!  I am using true blue IBM token ring cards.  My question
> is :  Is it possible that these machine are trying to do things just too
> quickly for the server?  The error I get when the drivers fail to load is:
> Error initializing token ring card.  Any suggestions would be greatly
> appreciated.
> --
> Alexander Breen                      | Last surviving member of the
> abreen@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu              | Donnie and Marie fan club.
> Agricultural Engineering Department  ----------------------------------------
> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Where Else?)
>
I have run both the machines you mention on IBM Token-Ring, as well as Dell & GW
50DX2 and 50DX machines with no trouble.  The problem you are experiencing
has nothing to do with the server.  When a Token-Ring card attempts to
become active on the ring (which will normally occur with IBMTOKEN, but
if that driver fails to load, then it will occur with IPX), a certain series
of events occurs.  First, the token-ring card will send some data out its
transmit line and see if it comes back on its receive line (this occurs
before the 5V phantom voltage is put on the transmit line, so the cable is
looped back at the MAU).  If it doesn't see back the same data that it sends,
it concludes that there is something wrong with the card or the cable, so
to protect the integrity of the ring, it aborts the process and does not
insert onto the ring.  If that passes, it then inserts on the ring, makes
sure it can receive data from the ring, and then verifies that it is the
only card on the ring using its address.  If it find another card with
its MAC address, then it removes itself from the ring; otherwise, it
goes on to some other stages, invloving, among other things, getting
ring number and bridge information if you have any source routing bridges.

Failure in any of these steps will cause the initialization process to
abort, the card to remove itself from the ring, and the message
ERROR INITIALIZING TOKEN-RING CARD to appear.  What is happening is
intermittent.  If the error does not occur while IBMTOKEN is initializing
the card, then you are set, as IPX will not re-initialize the card.  If
the error occurs while IBMTOKEN tries to initialize the card, then
IBMTOKEN simply aborts and does not load.  IPX then tries to
initialize the card (not knowing that IBMTOKEN as already tried and
failed).  If the error occurs there also, then you don't get in; otherwise, you
do (but don't have packet driver functionality).

You could put IBMTOKEN in an infinite loop, and probably always get in
after a few tries.

Things to try:

1) Do you use locally administered addresses (where you set the MAC address
via a parameter on the DXMC0MOD.SYS device driver line).  If so, make sure
there are no duplicates (this would cause an intermittent error, because
if the other workstation was truned off, then your workstation would be
able to insert).

2) Make sure your cable and the MAU port are good.  Possible try moving
this workstation to a desk that has a known good cable.

3) Make sure any source-routing bridges that you have a fully functional.
(At least one of them must function as a RPS (ring parameter server). This
is probably not your problem, as this would cause NO workstations to be able
get on the ring.  If any other workstations can initialize while this one
cannot, then this is not the problem).

The intermittent nature of the problems makes me suspect some kind of hardware
problem.  You might also want to try (if #2 above doesn't work) putting
a different Token-Ring card in these machines).

  - Brett   (rfranken@cs.umr.edu)

P.S. Wrong speed (having a card set to 16MBPS on a 4MBPS ring or vice/versa
will cause error initializing... but this would happen every time, not
intermittently.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU