Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bbn!uwmcsd1!ig!agate!ucbvax!ICDC.LLNL.GOV!OBERMAN
From: OBERMAN@ICDC.LLNL.GOV ("Kevin Oberman, LLNL, 422-6955, L-156", 415)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: RE: VS2000 questions
Message-ID: <8805170602.AA01923@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 19 Apr 88 15:33:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 63

>  1. Nowdays it should be possible to connect a VS2000 to a thick Ethernet
>     with a H4000 (or should it?). Have anybody done this with H4000 or
>     other trancievers.

This is true of VS2000s manufactured after Jan. 15 of this year. Units
manufactured prior to that date have only have thin-wire. Just which you
have is made obvious by the presense (or absense) of the 15 pin AUI cable
connector on the rear.

>  2. I could't find how to interpreat the configuration ( that what TEST 50
>     gives). I found what most of the fields stands for, exept hoe to
>     interpreat the "error code". For example I get for the NI device following
>               NI  00100.00001  V1.3
>     and would like to know what  100 is for (it not marked as software
>     error ( ? ) or hardware error ( ?? ).

The exact meaning of these bits is known to DEC, but varies greatly from
device to device. DEC field service knows the meaning, but I've never seen
any reference to them in any user documentation.

  3. And the last one. I try to boot a satellitite ( Satellite_config has
     been run, and ethernet address is OK, and  NCP database should be OK)
     but it will not succed. The bootmember's console displays an errormessage
     it from DECNET

      %%%%%%%%%%%  OPCOM  15-APR-1988 14:01:22.29  %%%%%%%%%%%
      Message from user DECNET on XYZZY
      DECnet event 0.7, aborted service request
      From node 1.62 (XYZZY), 15-APR-1988 14:01:59.07
      Circuit QNA-0, Line open error, Line communication error
      %SYSTEM-F-TIMEOUT, device timeout
      Node = 1.122 (ATEST)

     The other Satellite node boots correctly (no problem at all, its a
     MicroVax II)

This looks like a hardware problem. The boot node is receiving the load
request. It tried to respond to the request but the satellite did not respond
(TIMEOUT). The node is known, but it can't be loaded. It looks a lot like a
case of an NI that transmits but does not receive. This can be caused by either
a failure in the NI or an improper configureation. The most common is the
connection of a DEMPR to a DELNI. While this is supported, it is only legal if
the DELNI is connected to the "backbone" by a non-heartbeat tranceiver. The
H4000 has heartbeat. The H4000-B does not. Most third party transceivers are
switchable. 

The problem is that if an H4000-B is used there will be no heartbeat for
ANY device connected to the DELNI, and most devices want to see a heartbeat.

Here we always connect DEMPRs to the backbone, never a DELNI. And to meet
the Ethernet standard (actually IEEE-802.3), this connection should be by
non-heartbeat tranceiver. (But it works either way.)

If your not using a DELNI, please ignore this, but I'd bet that you are.

					R. Kevin Oberman
					Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
					Internet: oberman@icdc.llnl.gov
   					(415) 422-6955

Disclaimer: Don't take this too seriously. I just like to improve my typing
and probably don't really know anything useful about anything.
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