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Troubleshooting the Hardware Installation        4


This chapter includes the following troubleshooting topics: hardware problems, solutions, and boot sequence in diagnostic mode.


Hardware Problems and Solutions


Hardware problems during installation can be identified by certain LED indications. Table 4-1 identifies these behaviors, the likely cause, and the likely solution. If the solution requires contacting Livingston Technical Support, refer to "Contacting Livingston Technical Support" on page xv of the Preface.

Table 4-1 Hardware Problems and Solutions
LED Indication Likely Cause Solution
System LED fails to light. Lack of power. Check power switch, power cable, outlet, and fuse.
During power-on, the System LED fails to light, becomes solid ON, or becomes stuck at blinking three times per second. Hardware problem. Contact Livingston Technical Support.
During power-on, the System LED continues blinking once per second for more than a minute. DIP switch #2 UP and no boot server present.             Flash RAM contents corrupt. If you have no boot server, verify that DIP switch #2 is in the down position; otherwise, refer to the "Network Booting" procedure in the Configuration Guide for PortMaster Products.  

Follow the Configuration Guide for PortMaster Products procedure for "Network Booting" and rewriting the contents of Flash RAM.

Immediately after booting, the System LED becomes stuck at solid ON or solid OFF. Flash RAM problem. Contact Livingston Technical Support.
During operation, the System LED becomes stuck at solid ON or solid OFF. Hardware failure (possibly caused by an external device). If still solid ON or OFF after removing all external devices (except the diagnostics terminal), contact Livingston Technical Support.
No console login prompt. Incorrect terminal settings, bad connection, or bad cable. Verify that cable is plugged into S0, not S5. Verify terminal is set for 9600, 8N1. Verify DIP switch #1 is UP. Verify that you have a working null modem cable and that it is properly connected at both ends. Refer to Appendix B, "Cabling Specifications."
Link LED is solid OFF. If you are connected to an AUI or BNC Ethernet transceiver, this is not a problem.  

If you are connected to a 10BaseT Ethernet hub, you do not have link integrity.

         

Verify that both DIP switches #4 and #5 are UP (for 10BaseT), that you have a working 10BaseT cable, and that it is properly connected at this end and at the hub.

For ether1 on the IRX-211, verify the setting of the two-section DIP switch.

Network LED is solid ON. If traffic is heavy, this may only be an illusion.  

If no packets are being passed, you may have an incorrectly cabled network.

        Verify correct network cabling.
Network LED is solid OFF. If there is no traffic, this is normal.

If packets cannot be passed, you may have an incorrectly cabled network.

Verify correct network cabling.
Undefined difficulty with power-up and you are not able to isolate the problem by observing LED behavior. Unknown Boot in Diagnostic Mode. For information about diagnostic mode, refer to "Boot Sequence in Diagnostic Mode" on page 4-5.

If the displayed diagnostics do not suggest a solution, record the information and contact Livingston Technical Support.


Boot Sequence in Diagnostic Mode


If you are having difficulty with booting and are unable to isolate the problem by observing LED behavior, you may wish to boot in diagnostic mode, as follows:


1. Set the power switch on the IRX to the OFF position.

2. Set the terminal to 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, Xon/Xoff software control.

3. Set DIP switch #1 to the UP position.

4. Attach the terminal (or PC) to the console port (S0) using a null modem cable. Refer to Table B-1 in Appendix B for pinouts.
Caution: Before you reapply power, refer to "Safety Recommendations" on page 2-1 and "Power Guidelines" on page 2-4.

5. Set the power switch to the ON position.

6. Observe the boot diagnostics displayed on the console screen. Refer to Figure 4-1 for a sample boot screen in diagnostic mode and Table 4-2 for a description of displayed messages.

 

Livingston Enterprises, Inc. Boot Prom Rev G
  Testing Low Memory .... Testing System Clock ....
Testing System Memory .... 1024K
Checking Boot Rom ....
Starting FLASH Boot .....
Loading Image at 0fff0000
340592 flash copy complete
Verifying Load Module Checksum ...
Starting Load Module ...
Sizing Physical Memory ... 1MB
Testing High Memory ... . 1024K
Found 5 ports....
ether0 active ... 64K burst-IO
Running ComOS...
PortMaster Console login:

Figure 4-1 IRX Boot Screen in Diagnostic Mode

Table 4-2 Interpreting the Diagnostics Boot Screen
Field Possible Message What it Means
Boot Prom Rev G Version number of the boot prom installed
Testing Low Memory ERROR Message only on failure. Record all information to this point and contact Livingston Technical Support.
Testing System Clock ERROR Message only on failure. Record all information to this point and contact Livingston Technical Support.
Testing System Memory ERROR at failed memory address Message only on failure. Record all information to this point and contact Livingston Technical Support.
Checking Boot Rom ERROR Message only on failure. Record all information to this point and contact Livingston Technical Support.
Starting FLASH Boot N/A N/A
Loading Image at 0fff0000 RAM Address
flash copy complete 340592 Counter for Flash bytes transferred to RAM. If the counter freezes, record all information to this point and contact Livingston Technical Support.
Verifying Load Module Checksum Invalid Length for Flash at RAM address Message only on failure. Record all information to this point and contact Livingston Technical Support.
Starting Load Module N/A N/A
Sizing Physical Memory 1MB Amount of RAM installed, either 1, 4 or 16 megabytes
Testing High Memory ERROR at failed memory address Message only on failure. Record all information to this point and contact Livingston Technical Support.
Found 5 Ports N/A Number of serial ports found, including s0.
ether0 active N/A Ethernet interface found. IRX-211 also prints a message for ether1.
Running ComOS N/A If system hangs at this point and does not print the next message, the configuration flash memory has been corrupted. Refer to the "Troubleshooting" chapter of the Configuration Guide for PortMaster Products.
PortMaster Console login: N/A System up and running.




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