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Conference netcad::hub_mgnt

Title:	DEChub/HUBwatch/PROBEwatch CONFERENCE
Notice:	Firmware -2, Doc -3, Power -4, HW kits -5, firm load -6&7
Moderator:	NETCAD::COLELLADT

Created:	Wed Nov 13 1991
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	4455
Total number of notes:	16761

2027.0. "DECagent 90 - No Console Communication" by GIDDAY::STANISLAUS () Sun Feb 19 1995 21:14

	DECagent 90 Problem:
	--------------------

	We had a problem on a customer site which has several DECagent 90 units.
The fault call was logged on two of the DECagent 90 units saying that they do 
not communicate with the console ports.

	On-site it was noticed that the two DECagents that did not communicate
with the console port also had the Network Activity Indicator flashing at
about 1 second interval on its own - not flashing at 1 sec interval along with
the Network OK Indicator. The user manual says that if the NETWORK OK and
NETWORK ACTIVITY alternately flash at 1 sec interval then an IP address has not
been set. Anyway we can't set an IP address because we can't talk to the unit.


	So the status was DC OK 	- 	ON solid
			  Self-test OK	-	ON solid
			  Network OK	-	ON solid
			  Network ACtivity -	Flashing at about 1 sec interval

	There was no communication with the console terminal which was set
at 9600, 1 stop bit and no parity. 

	The same terminal works fine when we connect to other  DECagent 90s
other than the two suspect ones above. Except for the above two DECagent 90
units all the other units did not have the Network Activity indicator flash
as above. It was almost solid ON.

	With the suspect ones, when we do a CTRL-I while running self-test, 
then we get a CLI> prompt on the console terminal. At this prompt we can type
TEST and the test passes fine on both the suspect units.

	Anyway we ordered two DECagaent 90 units to fix this customer's problem.
Two spares arrived. One worked straight away as one would expect it to, but
the other spare had exactly the same symptom as the original two units that
this customer had, as explained above.

	We went to the CLI> prompt and tried to downline load ver 2.0 of the
DECagent 90 into the suspect units flash. We got a message that something was
corrupt - can't remember exactly what that failure was.

	Any suggestions ? Why do we have two units with the same symptom on-site
and one with the same symptom from Logistics. Is there any way of resurrecting
these suspect DECagent 90 units.

Alphonse

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
2027.1	Rev info	GIDDAY::STANISLAUS		`Sun Feb 19 1995 21:25`	9
	As I said we got two from Logistics. The one that worked says H/W rev D01, ROM rev BL05.01 and S/W 2.1.3. But all the four units refered to in .0 have a D03 sticker on the back - the three that don't work and the one that does. Alphonse
2027.2	Same Problem Over Here	SVCVAX::GAMBARDELLA	Gamby Gumba	`Mon Feb 20 1995 08:41`	11
	I just ran into this exact same problem myself. The lights were in the same state as in .0 and I could not communicate with the console. I did not know about the CTRL-I so I did not try it. In my case it was only one DENMA and I "assumed" it was DOA, so I ordered another one which worked ok. The "BAD" DENMA was rev D03, I could not get the firmware rev because I could not talk to it. Is there a way to recover from this condition ? Mike...
2027.3	Same Time - Same Problem	DECPRG::KUPKA		`Mon Feb 20 1995 09:54`	12
	Guys, same problem over here. Last week I asked in Nijmegen for spares, because we have big troubles with one agent going down over some time. Agent taken from our stock room had same symptoms as described in .-1 (SN AS42905974) Two spares arrived just a couple minutes ago - both not responding (SN AS45008629, AS45008624). As I have had several console terminals in our lab where I wanted to test spares before taking them to customer site I have observed that they are asking for DENMA020.SYS over the ethernet ... I'm going to escalate ... Regards, Tomas
2027.4	DOA DENMAs	ROGER::GAUDET	Because the Earth is 2/3 water	`Mon Feb 20 1995 11:03`	12
	Tomas (.3), this sounds like the same situation as described in note 1765. If this is true, please let us know the MAC addresses of the devices. There was a problem in manufacturing that resulted in several (quantity unknown) units being shipped without functional firmware! As for the other notes in this string, I am at a loss to explain what you are seeing. If power cycling the DENMA does not restore communications with the console terminal (not CCI but the main menu from the firmware), then something is wrong with the firmware image (especially if you can get into CCI by typing CTRL-I). ...Roger...
2027.5	Thanks.	DECPRG::KUPKA		`Mon Feb 20 1995 12:10`	10
	Roger, thanks for your response. Missing FW was the problem. Ethernet adresses are : 08-00-2B-BB-F8-96 08-00-2B-3A-CF-11 for the PNs from week 50. The older box was sent to Nijmegen. Tomas
2027.6	new batch with same problem	NCMAIL::SCHEID		`Sun Aug 27 1995 22:39`	6
	Just got two more of these in CT ... have to go onsite and see if and see I can get to CCI prompt ... Resellers claims documentation said that v3.0.1 was suppose to be loaded ... is this an ongoing problem ...should i provide info on these two ... for tracking purposes -Charlie
2027.7	Does engineering want one?	TROFS::WEBSTER	NIS, London, Canada	`Mon Sep 18 1995 14:48`	9
	I now have one of these "broken" units also. The demo DA90 in my hub would not power up, so MCS replaced it with a new unit. This DA90 only flashes the Network Activity LED about 1/sec. This error condition is not in the troubleshooting section of the manual. I'd be happy to exchange this for a working unit!!! -Larry
2027.8	They're still out there.	CHEFS::SMYTHI	Ian Smyth 774-6110/830-6275	`Fri Oct 13 1995 09:55`	12
	I have just received one of these dead units (actually it was probably shipped in mid-Sept). A SHOW SERVER from the unit gives - DENMA Station address : 08-00-2B-99-A3-C0 Current Hardware Revision Level : D01 Current LANCE Revision Level : F Current Romcode Revision Level : BL05.01 regards, Ian
2027.9	It needed some old software...	MSDOA::REED	John Reed @CBO = Network Services	`Mon Oct 16 1995 17:22`	12
	I just got one too... (through a VAR). The console was dead, and would not respond to any keystrokes and I could not get into CCI mode. I was installing it in a HUB90 stand-alone, for a remote site. Just for grins, I took it into the main CPU room, and found a DEChub 900. I attached it to my live network, and it requested a download of DENMA021.SYS. I luckily had this in MOM$LOAD on one of the VAXEs, and the module came up, after a successfull download. FYI