| Title: | DEChub/HUBwatch/PROBEwatch CONFERENCE |
| Notice: | Firmware -2, Doc -3, Power -4, HW kits -5, firm load -6&7 |
| Moderator: | NETCAD::COLELLA DT |
| 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 |
Current situation: During the weekend 4 ports of a DECswitch 900EF went into "broken" state. The FDDI port and 2 Ethernet ports were still working (1 backplane/1 front). The 4 broken ports were all switched to the front. There was no way to get them working again, besides resetting the whole DEFBA. After the reset, all ports were working again. There were no error log entries from this event. The Ethernet error counters were in a acceptable range. (below 10 -5) (DECswitch 900EF V1.5.2 Firmware) My questions: - Under which conditions will a Ethernet port enter the broken state ? (besides disconnecting the cable) - How does the DEFBA try to recover from the broken state ? Norbert Metzger NaCS Zuerich, Switzerland
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3086.1 | IEEE Standards use "Broken State" to = no active link | NETCAD::BATTERSBY | Tue Dec 19 1995 09:36 | 21 | |
A DEFBA port going into the broken state could be because of
whatever device is connected at the other end of the link on
that particular port has gone bad. In your case, you seem to
experience this on certain ports connected to backplane channels.
A DEFBA tests its port thru a firmware mechanism known as MAC
maintenance, which checks the health of the ports periodically.
If it sees inactivity on a port (meaning no traffic and no active
device connected), it takes the port out of the forwarding state,
and sets the port to the "broken" state until such time that the
port is re-connected to an active link, then sensing an active
link, it then sets the port to the pre-forwarding state, and then
eventually back to the forwarding state. So when a working DEFBA
sets a port to the broken state, it is simply sensing no active
link on that port. It's not "broken" in the true sense of the
word. The IEEE standard uses the word "broken" when describing
the state a bridge goes into when sensing no active LAN/link on
a specific port. Other internal test mechanisms used by the bridge
to detect a defective port are implemented by its internal diagnostics
prior to starting up the operational firmware on power-up.
Bob
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