I received lots of replies.
My original question(I meant to say switch not hub!):
We've been struggling to get a DE400-BA ethernet adapter
to work properly with a BayNetwork Baystack 350 hub with autosensing
at 100bps.
Right now we have the card set to fastfd at the console level.
In /etc/rc.config we have not used the "speed" parameter on
the appropriate IFCONFIG line. Should we do that?
The adapter and the hub port both indicate that it should be
working at 100bt/full duplex but we're getting substantially less transmission
speed than that. The behavior seems like a duplex mis-match.
The most emphatic reply came from:
dave.burwell_at_symmetricom.com
Auto-sensing DOES NOT WORK - Most of the time.
Tell the switch to use fixed 100MB-FD, and not auto-sensing anything.
We did this and it seems to be working much better now!
The other replies were:
speno_at_isc.upenn.edu John Speno
does netstat -in show any errors or collisions?
Yes, if you are sure the switch is set to 100FD, I'd also use the speed 200
parameter in rc.config.
SETH_at_speech.mit.edu Seth Hall
Hi Karen,
We have just wrestled with the same problem, albeit with
3Com switching gear, and found the *only* way to resolve these
problems was to force (and lock,) the 3Com port to full-duplex
mode, and do likewise with our tu cards, by setting ewa0_mode =
FastFD, and 'speed 200' in rc.config.
Having done this, all seems to be cooking along nicely.
I should mention that most of our other (non-Tulip) 100Base-T
cards (in PCs,) autonegotiate with the 3Com gear just fine.
Hope this helps,
Seth Hall
Systems Manager
Speecg Communication Group
MIT-RLE
Russ_Fish_at_idx.com
Hi Karen--
We've never been able to get autosensing to work on our hubs; they're
hardcoded to 100 mb full duplex. The DE500-BA works fine for me at FastFD
once the hub is set up properly (I don't know whose problem this is, but it
works). I don't think the speed parameter in /etc/rc.config is needed, but
other posters have recommended setting it.
--Russ
tpb_at_doctor.zk3.dec.com Dr. Tom Blinn
Karen,
You didn't say which version of DU (or TU) you're running. I know that in the
latest versions (V4.0F), we're removing the "autosense" support from the
driver, you will need to use the lan_config utility (usually invoked from the
/etc/inet.local file) to set the speed. I know that in older releases we did
think that autosense would work, but it's been a nightmare to keep it working
correctly, and we've finally given up (more or less).
I can get you a copy of the release notes if you want to see it. I believe
the lan_config utility was added in V4.0D, so if you're on V4.0D or later it
should be there. The reference page didn't show up until V4.0E, I think; I'd
have to double check.
Tom
patchkov_at_ucalgary.ca Serguei Patchkovskii
The accepted wizdom is what you should. However, we run all our
alphas without it, and hadn't had a problem.
> The adapter and the hub port both indicate that it should be
^^^
Did you say hub? I do not think you can run hubs at full duplex -
you need a switch to do this.
> working at 100bt/full duplex but we're getting substantially
> less transmission speed than that.
"Substantially less" is how much less? It usually requires some
special programming to run Ethernet at close to wire speeds even
on an uncontested network.
In any case, netstat -i and netstat -s -I tu0 are your friends.
Regards,
/Serge.P
glukhov_at_sequence.Stanford.EDU V.S. Glukhov
Go the the console mode and
set ewa0_mode FastFD
where "ewa0" is your ethernet adapter. I guess that is what you already did.
Now using either serial console or telnet login to the BayStack and
_manually_ set the port number to which your workstation is connected to
100 full duplex.
Hope this helps.
VSG
hank.lee_at_vta.org Lee, Hank
Karen,
I was just troubleshooting the same type of problem on my systems yesterday.
With the help of my network admin, we determined that the card was
connecting at 100Mb/s half-duplex to an auto-sensing port of our switch.
This is even after I specificially set it to FastFD. The machines were
showing symptoms of duplex mis-match. As a temporary solution, I set the
card to Fast to match its 100Mb/s half-duplex (setting detected by the
switch). This seems to speed things up a bit.
It'll be very much so appreciated if you could post a summary, as I am very
interested in the solution. Thanks! :-)
___________________________________________________________________
Karen Y. Byrd C511 Richards Bldg.
Systems Manager 3700 Hamilton Wlk.
Univ. of Pa. Philadelphia, PA 19104-6062
School of Medicine Voice: 215/898-6865
Information Services Fax: 215/573-7645
and Operations Group
HISD/Upenn Health
System byrd_at_mscf.med.upenn.edu
karen_at_mail.med.upenn.edu
Received on Thu Feb 25 1999 - 11:34:02 NZDT