Verify Cabling:
make sure the connection is secured, UTP Category 5 is used, the
card is well inserted. Also, assure the cable length is not within
35 - 41 meters. Check the cable running from the HP adapter to the
Switch, and the Switch port, in case either is defective.
If the cable length is between 35
- 41 meters, (or 114 - 133 feet), then expand or reduce the length
so that the cable is less than 35 meters or greater than 41 meters,
keeping within 100Base-T specifications.
Have your site technician verify that
the pair assignments and color codes of the RJ45 connector pins
match the following recommended version:
Receive Signal: pin 1 = White and
pin 2 = Orange
Transmit Signal: pin 3 = White and
pin 6 = Green
Double-check your existing punch-down
blocks in your networking environment. Punch-down blocks may affect
the characteristics of the medium and therefore the problem seen
with the 35-41 meter length cable may vary in length.
Some visible symptoms that might occur
when the cable length is between 35 - 41 meters are:
Link Status is Down: LED light color turns amber
because card negotiating with switch defaults to 10Mb/s instead
of 100Mb/s. Or the LED lights are intermittent between 10Mb/s and 100Mb/s.
They blink between 10Mb/s and 100Mb/s and keep doing that.
There is no traffic or there is high rate of packet
loss.
To
verify if the link is not yet established, format log file using the
following command and syntax:
netfmt -LN -f /var/adm/nettt.LOG* > outfile |
Once the nettl log file is formatted, look for a string such
as "...10/100Base-T driver detected bad cable connection
between the adapter in slot # and the hub or switch."
Or use the command lanscan to get the name of the Net Interface Name or ppa number
or nmid number. Once you have the ppa number, for example lan17,
you can issue these following commands one at a time:
- Look for the value of Operation Status. It should say "DOWN".