From: cld@yankee.caltech.edu (Cheryl L. Southard)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: VAX 4000/200 ethernet problems
Date: 9 Nov 1992 21:27:19 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: yankee.caltech.edu

Hi All,

We had a MicroVAX II.  We upgraded it to VMS 5.4-2.  Then we purchased
an upgrade kit to convert it to a VAX 4000/200.  The upgrade kit
included a new CPU board, memory board, an DSSI disk, and various
cables and patch panels.

Anyhow, the VAX 4000/200 CPU board has an onboard ethernet port, EZA0.
I've been trying to get this port working, but haven't been getting
anywhere.  The old DEQNA board still works, but is rumored to be much
slower than the EZA0 channel.

After I took the ethernet cable off the DEQNA (AUI cable) and attached
it to the EZA0 port, I would get lots of decnet errors on the console
like "Circuit up", "Circuit Down", "Adjacency up"  There were numbers
that came with these errors, and I could look them up in the DECNET
manual if necessary.  When I would "set host" out of this machine to
other machines, the link would be VERY VERY slow, and often freeze up
for several seconds, as the "circuit up", "circuit down", and "adjacency 
up" errors flasshed by.

I got a new CPU board from DEC, and also replaced all the cables and the
patch panel.  After that, then I couldn't "set host" at all, because
the destination would always be unavailable.  I don't know how the second
board differed from the first, except that the problem got worse.  I also
no longer get any "circuit up", "circuit down", and "adjacency up" errors.

When I executed a "mcr ncp sho known circuits"  it would give me
circuit			state
isa-0			on - synchronizing


When I execute a "mcr ncp sho active lines counters" I would get:
433 seconds since last zeroed
42 data blocks received
42 multicast blocks received
0 receive failure
3685 bytes received
3685 multicast bytes received
0 data overrun
3 data blocks sent
3 multicast blocks sent
0 blocks sent, multiple collisions
2 blocks sent, single collision
0 blocks sent, initially deferred
108 bytes sent
108 multicast bytes sent
83 send failures, including:
	excessive collisions
	carrier check failed
	remote failure to defer
1 collision detect check failure
0 unrecognized frame destination
0 system buffer unavailable
0 user boffer unavailable

Anyhow I called Colorado Springs.  Colorado Springs sent software patch
CSCPAT_0252019 which is a new ezdriver.exe.  I've installed the patch,
but the problem is still occuring.  After the patch, here is a sample
of "mcr ncp sho active lines counters"

1208 seconds since last zeroed
1 data blocks received
0 multicast blocks received
0 receive failure
46 bytes received
0 multicast bytes received
0 data overrun
91 data blocks sent
70 multicast blocks sent
2 blocks sent, multiple collisions
2 blocks sent, single collision
6 blocks sent, initially deferred
3554 bytes sent
2523 multicast bytes sent
91 send failures, including:
	carrier check failed
0 collision detect check failure
0 unrecognized frame destination
0 system buffer unavailable
0 user buffer unavailable

Also, "mcr ncp sho known circuits" now states that isa-0's state is on, and
not "on -synchronizing".

This is where I am right now.  Has anyone ever heard of this problem?  I
actually swapped out the 4000/200 CPU once more since then, but that
didn't fix the problem either.  Each time I install a new board, I
run sys$manager:netconfig to setup the parameters.  I've also swapped
out the AUI cable and the tranceiver to the backbone.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Cheryl Southard
Computer Systems Manager, Caltech Astronomy Department
cld@phobos.caltech.edu