29 Jul
2005
29 Jul
'05
3:48 p.m.
On Thursday 21 July 2005 17:46, John Boffemmyer IV wrote:
Actually, I feel pretty retarded, but I may as well
ask (pre-emptive
shut-up, Sellam -grin). I have been trying to get my TR network
working for over a year now and can't for some damned reason. Most of
the NICs are either Madge or IBM PCI (a few are Olicom PCI/ISA or IBM
MCA). The hubs are Bay Networks Baystack 504 (loaded with DCM, NMM,
MDA, etc) or Centillion 100 with TokenSpeed 4 port blades mixed with
ATMSpeed/155 and EtherSpeed 10/100 blades. Can't get either to
properly allow the NICs to communicate over the hubs. Tried a lot of
things and still can't figure out what is wrong. Also have an IBM
8228 MAU, but no reset tool to make it work. I have all the cabling
and even tried RJ45<->RJ45 vs. Type 1 vampire<->DB9 cabling -
nothing. Anyone have any ideas? I was dumb and gave my working 3Com
TR hub to a friend years ago, so that is out of the picture. What I
can't understand is why I can't get the 504 working on the network
again after it ran a few years ago when last used.
-John Boffemmyer IV
John,
I know Token Ring well - but you haven't provided enough information for me to
give you a hand.
1) Have you connected a single workstation successfully to a MAU - i.e. Did it
"open" as expected?
2) Once you've got two workstations/servers connected individually, then test
them together. Although I found IBM, Olicom and Thomas-Contrad to be very
compatible - I'd stick to one vendor until you've got at least two stations
communicating with each other. The drivers for each vendors product and
sometimes model are totally different. Be sure you are using the drivers
appropriate for each vendor's board.
3) Make sure you don't mix speeds! This was a classic problem w/TR networks -
if you mix 4 and 16 speeds, a TR network will go into continual "beaconing".
4) Keep is simple - one MAU - adding/testing workstations - then add
additional MAUs, using the verified workstations at UUT (Units under test).
Cheers,
Lyle
--
Lyle Bickley
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
Mountain View, CA
http://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"