Newsgroups: bit.listserv.banyan-l
Date:         Mon, 16 Nov 1992 08:27:35 GMT
From:         ps@JET.UK

>>I'm hoping someone out there might be able to help me. I'm not very
>>familiar with 10Base-T equipment or specifications, although i have
>>installed and managed Ethernet (thick and thin), and token ring
>>networks. What i'm trying to do is set up a 10Base-T lan segment off one
>>of our servers. Seemed easy enough. Bought a couple of Etherlink III,
>>Racal NI6510 and an SMC 3608 concentrator. When i installed the 6510 in
>>the server (4.11(5)), the server recognized it correctly.  But after a
>>few minutes i got a "NI6510 ethernet card going offline - check cable"
>>message at the service monitor. And within a minute or two the "going
>>online" message appeared. Initially i didn't think anything of it
>>because i had not connected it to the concentrator yet. When i finally
>>connected one workstation and had everything wired correctly, i was able
>>to login to the server correctly. The problem is the server keeps giving
>>the message "going offline", " going online" continuously; at
>>intermittent intervals. Even though there is another workstation on the
>>segment. Any ideas?
>
>I experienced these symptoms once, and seem to remember that there was an
>interrupt conflict between the ethernet board and a parallel or serial
>port. I suggest you check for this.....
>
>Bob Napier (rwn@vines@ornl.gov)
>
The is a problem between the NI6510 and VINES if you use more than one NI6510
card in a server.  This (according to BANYAN) is a problem with the card and
if fixed in Rev BF1.   We have a load of rev BE1 cards which are useless, and
have given up playing "ping-pong" with the dealers / distributors trying to
find out what the difference is, what the proceedure is for getting an upgrade
(to brand new cards!). Calling Racal direct does not help, they tell me there
is nothing thay can do and I should speak to the dealer, who should speak to
the distributor, the dealer (normally very good) has had no joy whatsoever
with the distributor.

As a result, my recommendation for Racal-Interlan products is, if you're
having problems **DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME**  the support (at least here in the
UK) is lousey.

We will probably replace these cards with the 3C509 (Etherlink III) if the
benchmark results are as good as the hype suggests.

Regards

Paul Simmonds
VINES Network Manager

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