engineering training manual

aw QUANTEL

NETWORK

ENGINEERING TRAINING

MANUAL

. NOTICE

Quantel Limited accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained herein and reserves the right to change the contents without prior notice.

Warning: Maintenance of Quantel equipment should only be performed by competent and experienced engineers. The procedures and information contained within this Training Manual are not necessarily an all embracing description of all methods and practices. Those which are outlined within this manual should be used in conjunction with those detailed in your own company’s procedures. ,

THIS MANUAL IS REVISION “B”

Copyright © Quantel Ltd 1996

2066-58-050 B Quantel Training Manual i

Network

AMENDMENT RECORD

This is a change controlled document. Each page of this document is given an issue letter (shown at the bottom of each page with the drawing number and revision date) which represents the status of the page. Revision “A” on any page indicates that the page is the original.

Any changes to any pages will raise the revision status of the document. When re-ordering, always quote the document type, the document's number and revision status along with the unit’s serial number.

REV DATE ECO COMMENTS’ REVISED PAGES

A 09/93 E05170 All pages

B 06/96 E13679 All pages

ii Contents 06/96 2066-58-050 B

Ve

NOTICES

ELECTRO MAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY

This equipment complies with the requirements in: Part 15 of FCC Rules for a Class A computing device. EN55022 for a Class A ITE device. (Emissions) EN50082-1 Class 1. (Generic immunity standard) Operation of this equipment in a residential environment may cause unacceptable interference to radio and television reception, requiring the equipment user to take whatever steps are necessary to correct the interference.

DISCLAIMER

Quantel Limited will not accept responsibility for any damage to equipment or property, or personal injury howsoever caused where this is resultant upon the improper operation or installation of the company’s product in any environment or in a manner for which it is not designed or approved by the company.

TRADE MARKS

Most of the product names mentioned in this manual are manufacturer trade marks and are used within this manual only for the purpose of identification.

Hal, Harriet, Paintbox, Picturebox, Picturenet, Picturebank and Cypher are trade marks of Quantel Limited.

DRAWINGS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

All drawings and illustrations used in this manual are the property of Quantel Limited and may not be used or reproduced in any manner without the express written permission of Quantel Limited.

MAINTENANCE

Maintenance and Servicing of this equipment should only be carried out by qualified service personnel.

2066-58-050 B Quantel Training Manual iti

Network

CONVENTIONS USED

@ WARNING: Indicate danger to life and limb if the indicated statements are ignored, or the indicated procedures are not

performed correctly.

t= Cautions: Indicate possible damage to (or misalignment of) the equipment if the indicated statements are ignored, or the indicated procedures are not performed correctly.

<TEXT> Text in these brackets represents a key press on the Keyboard.

NN This indicates a value entered on the numeric keypads.

TEXT Text in italics represents a menu function or option.

IMPORTANT ADVICE

@ WARNING 1: If this equipment (or the responsibility for this equipment) is transferred to another company, institution or person, then the documentation supporting the equipment also MUST BE transferred to that company, institution or person. Failure to do this may put persons at risk.

@ WARNING 2: Maintenance and Servicing of this equipment should only be carried out by qualified Quantel service personnel. Failure to obey this warning may put persons at risk. Before carrying out any maintenance work on the equipment, the technician or engineer must check that the power has been switched off, that the power plug has been removed, and that all moving parts have come to rest.

@ WARNING 3: The equipment must be earthed at all times.

@ WARNING 4: Dangerous voltages can be exposed by the removal of the unit’s panels. Always disconnect the unit from its electrical supply before attempting to remove any of the unit’s panels. When asked to remove any panel, ALWAYS isolate equipment from its electrical supply first.

iv Contents 06/96 2066-58-050 B

QU

@ WARNING 5: This equipment IS NOT WATER PROOF. Exposing water and other liquids to this equipment will cause an electrical shock hazard. Always isolate the equipment from the electrical supply before cleaning. Cleaning should only be performed as detailed in the appropriate maintenance procedures.

@ WARNING 6: The fans within each unit continues to rotate for a

period of time after the electrical supply has been removed.

@ WARNING 7: This equipment is very heavy and attempting to lift or move the equipment may cause personal injury. Before lifting or moving any equipment, read the unpacking/handling instructions and always comply’ with YQUR Company’s/institution’s Heath & Safety directives.

@ WARNING 8: Do not poke metallic or conductive objects into any exposed holes as there may be a risk of electrocution.

@ WARNING 9: In the event of a fire or other emergency isolate the equipment from its electrical supply.

@ WARNING 10: If the equipment has been damaged by FIRE, there may be a risk of exposure to TOXIC FUMES and substances. No part of this equipment should be destroyed by incineration because of this possible risk.

@ WARNING 11: Never have more than one unit on extended rack slides as this may cause the cabinet to fall over.

ts Caution 1: Maintenance of this equipment must only be performed by trained and qualified maintenance personnel. Only the procedures detailed in this documentation can be performed by the user.

ts Caution 2: The equipment’s mains voltage setting is indicated on the rear panel adjacent to the mains connector.

ts Caution 3: Ensure that the hot air expelled from one unit is not drawn into another as this may cause overheating and subsequent damage.

t= Caution 4: Moving the equipment while in operation may cause damage.

2066-58-050 B Quantel Training Manual v

Network

t= Caution 5: The output pins of all ports will be damaged by short

circuit to 0 Volts.

t= Caution 6: This equipment is not water proof. Exposing water and other liquids to this equipment will cause damage to the

equipment.

t= Caution 7: Do not dismantle the tablet as the delicate electronics

can be easily damaged.

t= Caution 8: The equipment contains Winchester disk drives which are prone to shock damage.

t= Caution 9: The Integrated Circuits and other components within the system can be irreparably damaged by static fields or discharge. Therefore adequate precautions must be taken to prevent any possible damage.

vi Contents 06/96 2066-58-050 B

Ne

CONTENTS

GENERAL

— i aa ia ea ei el

Theory

PUN Pie ne seta fie doe a ae at wc nas hes eet: CABLE LENGTH os ee ADDRESSES RANKS ss TERMINATIONS ——

Diagnostics

RANKS RIVES ois oo cif ne tue ede oe htel ee UNIT ADDRESSES NUMBER TABLES

PICTURENET

TED ORY. ooo nce test Yon te Cnt ee tee Su ely ce ete

TERMINOLOGY —— COMMUNICATION

BRIDGEPROC ee Rules

AREANAME_ = tt

2066-58-050 B Quantel Training Manual

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vii

Network

viii Contents 06/96 2066-58-050 B

GENERAL

GENERAL

Introduction

The purpose of this document is to give broadcast engineers an understanding of the principles, operation and diagnosis of Quantel’s networking systems. This guide should help engineers to make basic checks on asystem, and provide adequate information to enable them to make further checks with the help of telephone support from Quantel. This manual assumes that the engineer is familiar with the terminal diagnostic routines detailed in the diagnostics section.

Quantel have developed two systems for networking certain Quantel products together. These are Shared User Bus (SUB) and Picturenet. These systems are very different, and are designed for different applications. The common factor is that they are intended to be as transparent as possible to the user, which makes fault finding quite difficult.

Shared User Bus

The Shared User Bus network system uses a SCSI bus to link individual units together. Each unit is then able to access a number of shared disks, while still maintaining the security of its local disks. The system is fast, but the number of units which can be connected is limited to three, and the units must be physically close together as the maximum total SCS! cable length is limited. The SUB system needs no additional hardware.

2066-58-050 B Quantel Training Manual 1

Network

Picturenet

The Picturenet networking system uses ethernet to connect systems together. Each unit has access to a central pool of disks, and is also able to mail specific pictures to other units on the system. Each unit Still has its own local disks which are not accessible from other units. The Picturenet system is slower than the SUB system, but a system can have up to 128 outstations, and the maximum total cable length is far greater than SUB. Using proprietary ancillary ethernet equipment the system could be extended. Please refer to Quantel before using any other equipment to ensure that it will not affect system operation. Any of the outstations could be a SUB system. Any of the outstations could be a SUB system. Connection to the Picturenet system requires the addition of a picturenet Interface card called a Bridge Processor, in any one unit on the network (SUB systems only require one Bridge processor between them), plus a 3U crated Picturenet controller which acts as a system server.

2 Introduction 06/96 2066-58-050 B

SHARED USER BUS

SHARED USER BUS

Theory

Paintboxes, Harriets and Pictureboxes contain two SCSI systems. SCSI A is the Local Bus and SCSI B is the Shared Bus. Their implementation varies with the type of machine.

A SUB system may consist of up to 3 Quantel units, each of which can access up to four shared disks. One of the Quantel units will be ranked as the bus master and all requests for access to the bus will be routed through the master. A ranking system is used so that if the master fails, the next in line will take over.

On the picture monitor, the shared disks appear the same as the local disks, except they are designated ‘shared’. Using a Picturebox, pictures may be taken to air directly from a shared disk.


Network

Shared User Bus Typical System Diagram

ron 06, Paintbox or Harriet

scsi Magneto Optical

=0.0

Sabre 1.2/2.2GB

a 5 Address 2

scsi . Factor Pictureport

is

Total length = 5.9m

SCSI Factor (length)of @ = interconnecting cable.

: : Minimum Requirement

Additional Options

Introduction 06/96 2066-58-050 B

SHARED USER BUS

Rules

To ensure that the system functions without error the following rules must be followed:

A CABLE LENGTH

The total cable length (internal and external) must not exceed 6 metres. Quante! products have internal SCSI cable of the following length:

Picturebox Twin Picturebox Single 1.4m Paintbox / Harriet 0.6m

See SCSI factors in above diagram.

B ADDRESSES

Each unit must have a unique address on the SCSI bus. There are eight addresses available (0 - 7) and the following conventions must be followed:

Disks use addresses 0 - 3 and Quantel products use addresses 4-7:

Paintbox / Harriet Address 7 Picturebox Single Address 6 Picturebox Twin Address 5 Bridge Proc Address 4 Magneto Optical disk Address 3 Additional Sabre/MO disk Address 2 Sabre disk Address 1 Internal disk Address 0

See Address in above diagram.

Cc RANKS

As well as a SCSI address, each Quantel product will have a rank for the SCS! A and B bus. The rank is a number from 0 to 7 and determines the unit’s position in the priority order. A machine with the rank of 0 will never be master of a bus under any circumstances, whereas a machine with the rank of 7 will always be master. Rank is set up in FILER UTILITIES described in the diagnostics section below:


Network

Product: Rank

SCSI A SCSI B Bridge Proc. 0 Picturebox Twin 1 Picturebox Single 1 Paintbox 1 Harriet { -NWOAN

The ranking order is based on relative CPU free-time. It is important that the system having the least busy CPU is master, otherwise the system management will slow down due to other demands on the controlling CPU.

It is important that if a SUB system is connected to a Picturenet network, then the Bridge Processor MUST be master of the SCS! B (shared) bus. Also, in a SUB system, only one unit can be fitted with a Bridge Processor.

See Rank in above diagram.

D TERMINATIONS

Both SCSI buses (local and shared) must be terminated at each end.

The CPU card is the source of the two SCSI buses and termination facilities are provided on the card. Early machines used passive terminating resistor strips that were fitted as required. Later machines are fitted with a CPU having active terminators. These are switched using small links located on the edge of the terminator sub-PCB on the CPU. The external terminators are distinctive; passive are silver colour encased, active are buff or black colour plastic encased.

The different products have different internal configurations as follows:

Picturebox

Twin/Single The SCSI A local bus is terminated internally on the CPU and on the internal local disk. There is no external SCSI A connection. The SCSI B shared bus is unterminated on the CPU the terminations being provided by 2 terminators or terminated devices connected to the external SCSI sockets at the rear of the crate. These are loop through connections. Because of this, Pictureboxes are placed in the middie of sub SYSTEM.

6 Introduction 06/96 2066-58-050 B

PICTURE BOX

SINGLE

SHARED USER BUS

CPU SCSI A PICTURE

: BOX TWIN

a + é ni SCSI LOOP SCSI LOOP THROUGH THROUGH

CONNECTORS CONNECTORS

Paintbox/ Harriet The SCSI A local bus is terminated on the

internal disk, and on an external SCSI socket at the rear of the crate but not on the CPU. The SCS! B shared bus is terminated on the CPU card and on the external SCSI socket at the rear of the crate. Hence Paintboxes or Harriets are placed at the ends of SUB system.

P, 0) ANTS Xx CPU

HARRIET SCSIA scsi B

4 4 SCSIA SCSIB

To summarise, a Picturebox has an unterminated loop through for the SCSI B shared bus, whereas a Paintbox or Harriet will always terminate one end of the SCS! B bus. Therefore, if a Paintbox or Harriet is included in the SUB system it must always be at one end of the shared bus, and any system can only have a maximum of two Paintbox/Harriet units.


Network

Disk

terminations

CPU SCSIA ScsiB

SUB CHAIN OR

TERMINATION

SUB CHAIN OR

TERMINATION

50 OHM ETHERNET

Wherever possible, an externally terminated disk should be at the end of the SCSI bus. When using a Sabre drive the rear panel switch should be set to ‘T’ if a terminator is fitted and ‘I’ if not.

On new Sony M.O. drives terminator power is always supplied, but on older models the terminator power switch should be enabled and the terminator switch should be disabled.

If using an Elite 3G4 drive, it should be configured with terminator power coming out of both of its SCSI connectors This drive can be fitted either within a SCSI daisy chain or at the end of it with an active terminator fitted in the second SCSI connector.

introduction 06/96 2066-58-050 B

SHARED USER BUS

Diagnostics

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Quante! Training Manual 2066-58-050 B

Network

Using a terminal connected to the Serial A port of the Quantel box enables an engineer access to the systems operating system. From a terminal, it is possible to ascertain the status of the system, which may not always be obvious from the menus.

A RANKS

As mentioned above, a unit’s CPU or, if fitted, the Bridge Proc, must be ranked in order to maintain its position in the event of higher order unit failure and to determine bus mastership.

To see the current RANK settings, enter the ‘FILER UTILITIES’ sub-menu and type ‘RANK’ <return>. the diagnostic will respond with:

SCSI A Rank 1 Master this station

SCSI B Rank 4 Master device 4

This means that on the system’s SCSI A local bus, this unit is master. On the system’s SCSI B shared bus the device with address 4 is master.

If the response is ‘master none’ then there is a problem; if a bus has no master then no unit on the bus will be able to see the disks on that bus.

To set or change a RANK, enter the ‘FILER UTILITIES’ sub-menu and type RANK <r> <n> <return>, where ris A or B SCSI port and n is the required number. The machine must be restarted after this entry so that the operating system can register the new data.

B DRIVES

In order to see what drives a system can see on the bus, enter the ‘FILER UTILITIES’ sub-menu and type ‘DRIVES’<retn>. The system will respond with:

Drive SCSI #0 AFS $1234ABCD, flags $123

Drive SCSI #10 AFS $ABCD1234, flags $456, remote

Drive SCSI #13 UNMOUNTED

Drives on the SCSI B bus are denoted by a 1 preceding the drive address, so drive #10 is drive 0 on the B bus. If a drive is designated ‘unmounted’ then the system can see the drive but is unable to read from it, either because it is uninitialised or faulty.

10 Introduction 06/96 2066-58-050 B

a

Restoring a drive

Initialising a drive

Formatting a drive

2066-58-050 B

SHARED USER BUS

If a drive has become corrupted, it must be restored. This process is not destructive to valid files, but will erase corrupt files. To restore a drive it must first be dismounted. Enter the ‘FILER UTILITIES’ sub-menu and type ‘DISM #n’<retn>, where #n is the drive address. To dismount drive 3 on the SCSI B bus you would type ‘DISM #13’<retn>. If this command fails to dismount the drive, it may be because files on the drive are in use. Under these circumstances you should force the system to dismount the drive by typing ‘DISM #n FORCE’ <retn>.

To restore a dismounted drive, type ‘RESTORE #n’<retn>. This process takes 5-10 minutes depending on the size of the drive and the number of files. After restoring, it is advisable to restore the number tables (see section D below). Remount the drive.

At times it may be necessary to re-initialise a drive. Beware! This action will destroy disk data and therefore prevent access to pictures. To initialise, first dismount the drive. Then enter the ‘FILER UTILITIES’ and type ‘INIT #n drivename’<retn>, where #n is the drive address and drivename is the name you wish to appear on the menu (see section on retitling drives). Finally, remount the drive.

If a drive is continually giving disk errors, there are possibly bad sectors on the disk which are not included in the format table. In these circumstances it will be necessary to reformat the drive. Dismount the drive. Enter the ‘FILER UTILITIES’ sub-menu and type ‘FORMAT #n’<retn>, where #n is the drive address. This system will ask for confirmation. Respond with ‘Y’<retn>. Formatting takes between 10 and 20 minutes depending on the drive. After formatting, the drive must be initialised (see above).

Quantel Training Manual 11

Network

Retitling a drive All drives must have a title, which appears in the system’s disk menu. To retitle a drive, enter the ‘FILER UTILITIES’ sub-menu and type ‘RETITLE #n.0.0 drivename’<retn>, where #n is the drive address and drivename is the title for the drive. The drive title must be at least 5 characters long. Use easily remembered titles to refer to the drive type and address. Titles such as SABRE (1) indicating a Sabre drive address 1 are recommended. Remember the disk menu title bar is space limited. Titles which are too long will be truncated and may cause confusion.

Cc UNIT ADDRESSES

Each Paintbox, Picturebox and Harriet has a SCSI A and SCSI B address, set by switches on the CPU card. If a Bridge Proc. is fitted, then this will also have SCSI A and B addresses set.

To determine these addresses from the diagnostic terminal connected to Port A, halt the software by typing <ctrl>Y. The diagnostic will respond with A(Il), E(xit), R(estart), H(elp)>. Type USCSI<retn>. The diagnostic will respond with:

Controller 0 33c93 scsi address 7 scsi phase 0

Controller 1 33c93 scsi address 4 scsi phase 0

Controller 0 is the A bus controller, and controller 1 is the B bus controller.

To restart the software, type R<retn>.

To find the addresses of the Bridge Proc., connect the terminal to the Serial B port and follow the same procedure.

D NUMBER TABLES

The number tables are the files which cross-reference the picture numbers to the pictures for replay from the Picturebox record/replay panel. Each local or shared bus has number table files that are stored on drive 0 of the particular bus. As well as having the number table file, each picture file is tagged with the picture number. If the number tables become corrupted, or if pictures are deleted from a terminal (either directly or by using the ‘restore’ routine) then the number tables must be restored.

12 Introduction 06/96 2066-58-050 B

SHARED USER BUS

To restore the number tables, first ensure that all the relevant drives are on line, and then enter the ‘PANEL’ sub-menu and type NRESTORE LOCAL<retn> to restore the local bus number tables, or NRESTORE SUB<retn> to restore the shared bus number tables. The machine must not be used by anyone during this process and it is advisable to disconnect the Control Panel serial cable to ensure this. The software will check each picture file header for a number and rebuild the number tables using this information.


Network

Introduction 06/96 2066-58-050 B

PICTURENET

PICTURENET

PICTURENET

SHARED

sn kK sk

SYSTEM

PAINTBOX

PICTUREBOX

50 Ohm Thin Wire Ethernet cables connected to units via T Pieces and terminated at both ends.


Network

Theory

A Picturenet system consists of a number of outstations linked to a Picturenet controller and this can be expanded by linking Picturenet controllers to a Picturebank manager. The machines are interconnected using Intel/Xerox/Digital V2 ‘thin wire’ ethernet using 50 ohm coaxial cable and running Quantel’s own private protocol. Outstations can be grouped into areas and by defining read/write privileges between areas, protection can be given.

The Picturenet controller consists of a 3U crate containing a power supply, a Picturenet interface card and an internal 520 Mb disk drive. The controller may have up to 5 external disks. Each individual unit is able to access any of the controllers’ disks and, using ‘Picturemail’ send selected pictures directly to another unit’s shared drive 0. The unit’s disk menu will show the controllers’ disks as ‘net 1 - Sabre 2.2’ etc.

A TERMINOLOGY

There are a number of terms used in the following text which should be clarified. A Bridge Proc. is a card fitted into a Paintbox/Harriet/Picturebox unit to act as the Picturenet interface. A Paintbox/Harriet/Picturebox unit which is fitted with a Bridge Proc. is known as a host unit, an outstation or a user. A Picturenet controller unit is known as a controller or a server.

B COMMUNICATION

Ethernet communication works on the ‘polite party’ principle wnereby a unit wishing to transmit on the ethernet bus will first listen to the bus to ensure that no other unit is active. Then, if the bus is quiet, it will begin transmitting. If two units begin transmitting at the same time they will stop and wait for a random time before trying again.

Cc BRIDGE PROC

The Bridge Proc. is a half-height card that fits into a Paintbox/Harriet/Picturebox unit. It is an extremely powerful processor and functions as an interface between the host unit and the Picturenet system. The Picturenet controller also contains a Bridge Proc. It is a different version to the one fitted in the outstations and the two are not interchangeable. Quantel recommend that no attempt is made to repair these cards because their complexity makes repair impossible without highly specialised equipment.

16 Introduction 06/96 2066-58-050 B

PICTURENET

Rules

A CABLES

The cables used should be 50 ohm coaxial cable. A 50 ohm Picturenet socket is fitted on the rear of the unit. All ‘T’ pieces and terminators must be 50 ohm types. There is a physical difference between 50 ohm connectors and 75 ohm connectors and damage will result if a 50 ohm connector is inserted in a 75 ohm ‘T’ piece. Such damage can be very difficult to diagnose. Quantel supply 50 ohm parts which are grey plastic shrouded for easy identification.

The maximum cable length of a system should not exceed 180 metres and the minimum cable length between units should not be less than 1 metre. The cabling should be in a ‘daisy chain’ arrangement. The system must be terminated at both ends using 50 ohm terminators. The termination must take place on a ‘T’ piece, not just with a barrel connector.

B NUMBERS

Each station must be given a unique station number which consists of the area number and the station number. All station numbers must be unique, eg 1-7 means Area 1 station number 7.

Cc ADDRESSES

Each station has a unique twelve digit ethernet address. This address is factory set in the hardware and consists of six digits which have been allocated to Quantel to ensure there are no clashes with other manufacturers’ ethernet equipment, and six digits set by Quantel specifically for the unit.

Diagnostics

Connecting a terminal to the Serial port B of a host unit, or the VDU port of a Picturenet controller, provides access to the Bridge Proc. operating system. From this it is possible to obtain Picturenet system Status information. When the unit is booting up, the terminal will display Startup information, software version numbers and the results of self diagnostics. It will display the unit’s identification and a list of other units connected on the network.

2066-58-050 B Quante! Training Manual 17

Network

A STATION NAME AND NUMBER

A station name comprises an area number, station number, 6 digit unique Quantel identifier, 6 digit unit differentiator, type, area name, equipment name and equipment number.

To show the station name, enter the ‘NET’ sub-menu and type ‘NAME’<retn>. For example, the system may respond with:

This station is

1-7 00-80-F5-00-76-8B user PICTURENET AREA ONE HARRIET 10347

The following stations are known:

1-5 00-80-F5-00-5F-A8 user PICTURENET AREA ONE PICTUREBOX 70024

1-1 00-80-F5-00-2E-E7 server PICTURENET AREA ONE CONTROLLER 12007

To name a station type ‘NAME name type’<retn>, where name is the name which will appear in the P-mail menu and type is either user for outstations or server for controllers.

To show the station number type ‘NUMBER’<retn>. The system will respond with, for example:

This station is

1-7 00-80-F5-00-76-8B user PICTURENET AREA ONE HARRIET 10347

To number a station, type ‘NUMBER x-y’<retn>, where x is the area number and y is the station number (1-3 for controllers, 4-31 for users). There must not be two stations with the same number in the same area.

Note: You should never alter the station numbers without first consulting Quantel, as the system configuration diagrams held on file for future reference must be up-dated. Station names may be altered to suit the operators.

B AREA NAME

To name an area, enter the ‘NET’ sub-menu and type ‘AREANAME name’<retn>.

18 Introduction 06/96 2066-58-050 B

PICTURENET

Cc USERS AND CONTROLLERS

To find out what other outstations the unit can see, enter the ‘NET’ sub-menu and type ‘USER’<retn>. The system will respond with, for example:

1 picturenet users found

1-5 00-80-F5-00-5F-A8 online PICTURENET AREA ONE PICTUREBOX 70024

To find out what controllers a unit can see, enter the ‘NET’ sub-menu and type ‘CONT’<retn>. The system will respond with, for example:

1 picturenet controllers found

1-1 00-80-F5-00-2E-E7 online PICTURENET AREA ONE _ CONTROLLER 12007

D NETWORK STATISTICS

The system keeps a record of its communication statistics. These can be displayed by entering the ‘NET’ sub-menu and typing ‘STAT’<retn>. The system will respond with, for example:

weeckeeeNetwork statistics" Receive interrupts 207901 Good packets 230860 Errors: framing errors 0

overflow errors 0 CRC errors 0 buffer errors 0 linked packets 0 rogue packets 0

Transmit interrupts 178509 packets sent 235059

Errors: buffer errors 0 underflow errors 0 late collisions 0 lost carrier errors 0 retry errors 0

Warn: deferred packets 2312 one retry needed

retries needed 94 Network errors

babbling transmitter missed packets memory errors

-oO 00 Initialise interrupts


Network

By typing ‘STAT NONZ’<retn> it is possible to display only those Statistics which are not zero. The system will display the following:

wexeroeeNetwork Statistics**rr"™* Receive interrupts 207919 Good packets 230878 Transmit interrupts 178531

packets sent 235082 Warn: deferred packets 2312

one retry needed 77 retries needed 94

Initialise interrupts 1

The following is an explanation of each field in the statistics list. Please note that a small number of errors are likely to happen even on a good network.

Receiver Side Statist

nf ion

Receive Interrupts: Gives a number of interrupts needed to process the packets received. (Usually a large number)

Good Packets: Information only. Number of good packets received since started. (Usually a large number)

Errors

Framing Errors: A framing error indicates incoming packet contained a non-multiple of 8 bits and always associated with a CRC error. It means that something somewhere is producing or garbling packets on the network. (Not normally expected)

Overflow Errors: An overflow error means that the receiving Bridge Proc. could not store all the data in its buffer quickly enough. (Not normally expected)

CRC Errors: Indicates that the receiver has detected a CRC error on the incoming packet. A CRC (cyclical redundancy check) is a checksum on the whole packet and ensures that all the data has been received successfully. (Occasionally expected)

20 Introduction 06/96 2066-58-050 B

Buffer Errors:

Linked Packets:

Rogue Packets:

nsmitter

Information

Transmit Interrupts:

Transmit Packets Sent:

Errors

Buffer Errors:

Underflow Errors:

Late Collisions:

PICTURENET

A buffer error occurs when the software cannot remove the data quickly enough from ethernet. (Not normally expected)

A linked packet error means that a packet bigger than the maximum size allowed has occurred on the network. (This is normaily caused by some sort of error on the network causing packets to be garbled, or an illegal ethernet device.)

This is not technically an error, but is caused by non-Quantel packets being received by the Bridge Proc. (This should not occur in systems where the ethernet is only used by Quantel equipment. If it does occur it indicates that non-Quantel equipment is connected somewhere on the network.)

Gives the number of interrupts that were caused by packets being sent. (Usually a large number)

Number of packets transmitted by this station. (Usually a large number)

Buffer error occurs if the Bridge Proc. has been asked to transmit a packet and no data is supplied to the ethernet chip. (This is normally a software error.)

An underflow error is caused by the transmitter being unable to retrieve all the data from memory. (This is probably caused by a hardware error.)

Late collisions are where a packet was transmitted and it collided with a packet beyond the allocated time window. (This can be caused by an illegal ethernet network with cables too long or incorrect cabling /termination.)


Network

Lost Carrier Errors: The Bridge Proc. has lost its ethernet carrier. (This is a major error normally caused by a hardware error.)

Retry Errors: This error indicates that the transmitter tried 16 times to transmit a message due to repeated collisions. (This can be caused by illegal networks, unterminated ethernet, as well as hardware errors.)

Warnings Deferred Packets: Deferred packets are where the Bridge Proc.

attempted to transmit a packet but the ethernet was busy. (This is not an error, but indicates that the network is busy.)

One Retry Needed: This is where the Bridge Proc. attempted to transmit a packet but it collided with another station also attempting to transmit. (This is not an error, but indicates that the network is busy.)

Retries Needed: Retries needed is where the Bridge Proc. attempted more than one time to transmit a packet and was stopped by a collision. (This is not an error, but is the third indication of how busy the network is.)

Network Errors

Babbling Transmitter: This indicates that a packet longer than the maximum allowed on ethernet has attempted to be transmitted. (This may be caused either by software or hardware errors.)

Missing Packets: This is where the Bridge Proc. has received a packet but has no spare data areas to hold it. (This is normally a software error or can be caused by multiple bad packets or rogue packets.)

Memory Errors: This indicates that the Bridge Proc. could not transfer packets to and from its memory. (This is normally a hardware error.)

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Initialising Interrupts:

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PICTURENET

This statistic will be set whenever the ethernet chip on the Bridge Proc. is initialised during switch-on or during a <ctrl> <Y>, <R> diagnostics reset. (This should normally be 1. If not the Bridge Proc. hardware is incorrect.)

Quantel Training Manual 23

Network

24 introduction 06/96 2066-58-050 B

engineering training manual

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