Ethernet ELITE (260-5506) Diagnostics Faxback Doc. # 5399
16 Adapter
BEFORE INSTALLING THE PROGRAM
A. Seat the board firmly into an expansion slot.
B. Make sure the Ethernet board is on a properly terminated cable.
1. Use a BNC "T" connector with the Thin Ethernet cable and a 50 Ohm
terminator installed at each end of the cable segment.
2. An AUI loopback connector. This cannot be used for the Initiate/
Respond Test Messages.
3. A drop-cable connected to the AUI port with appropriate MAU tran-
sceivers and signal repeaters.
C. Boot to a DOS prompt.
NOTE: Network memory resident (TSR) programs and device drivers
should not be loaded while the diagnostic program is active, so you
may need to temporarily rename the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
files. Network software must not be loaded when running the diag-
nostic program.
D. Screen Prompts
Enter = Select: Press [Enter] to select the high-lighted option.
ESC = Cancel: Pres [ESC] to back up to the previous screen. At
the Main Menu, press [ESC] to exit the diagnostic program.
F1 = Help: Displays additional information about any item on the
menu. To return to the menu options press [ESC].
Arrow Keys: Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the desired
location.
Several other function keys are used within specific menus.
1. STARTING DIAGNOSTICS
A. Change to the directory with the diagnostic program \DIAGNOSE on the
software diskette.
1. Type: DIAGNOSE and press [Enter]. The Introduction Screen will
appear.
2. Press [Enter] to access the Entry Menu.
3. Press [Enter] again. The "Choose a Board to Diagnose" option will
be highlighted.
4. Press [Enter] to select this option. The Board Selection Menu ap-
pears with a list of available adapters displayed for your selec-
tion.
5. If an error message appears, this indicates
A. An adapter board is not present, or
B. An adapter board is not responding properly.
C. If two or more adapters are installed, each should
be listed in the Board Selection menu.
D. Check the I/O address for each board to verify a unique set-
ting for each one.
6. Use the arrow keys to highlight the board you want to diagnose and
press [Enter] or simply type the list number to the left of the
board (for instance, 1) to select the board.
7. The current board parameters appear. Press [Enter] to access the
Main Menu. If your adapter is configured with different para-
meters, the option to correct them can be accessed from this menu.
2. MAIN MENU OPTIONS
A. Choose a Board to Diagnose - Select this option to choose a new adap-
ter to be diagnosed.
B. Set Configuration - Select this option to display the configuration
information read from the board and perform temporary configuration
changes. The permanent settings are not affected.
1. The node address and adapter type for the board is at the top of
the menu.
2. A list of the parameters and their current settings is shown in
the middle.
3. Use the arrow keys to highlight the parameter(s) to be changed
and press [Enter]. A list of optional settings will appear. Use
the arrow keys to highlight the new setting and press [Enter].
The change will be displayed.
A. The program will not stop a user from making an invalid selec-
tion.
B. The RAM address selected here is only for the purpose of this
program and has no effect on any other network software.
4. Press [F10] to save the changes or press [ESC] to exit without
change.
C. Basic Adapter Test - Select this option to run a diagnostic test on
the selected adapter.
1. Used to verify the major functions of the adapter are operating
properly, the program notifies you of any errors and suggests ac-
tions to take to solve the problem.
2. Tests are performed on I/O Port Accessibility, LAN Address ROM,
On-board RAM, Network Controller Registers, On-Board ROM (if in-
stalled), Internal Loopback, Interrupt Generation.
3. The test has failed if:
A. An error message displays at the bottom of the screen in a red
box.
B. The test hangs up at a certain blinking line and never com-
pletes. The blinking line is the test that failed.
4. If either an error message or blinking line occurs write it down.
Cycle power. Use the error message or blinking line to find the
problem. Common problems include:
A. Not terminating an Ethernet network, or
B. Hardware or software conflicts with IRQ, Base I/O, or RAM Ad-
dress.
5. If the board fails, recheck the board settings, try a different
BNC "T" connector and terminator, or remove other boards from the
PC.
D. Initiate Test Messages - Select this option to send messages to anot-
her node running DIAGNOSE in Responder mode.
E. Respond to Test Messages - This option has the program wait for a
Test Message to be received from another node on the same network
using DIAGNOSE and running "Initiate Test Messages." All Test Mes-
sages are echoed back to the Initiator.
F. Initiate/Respond to Test Messages - Both are used to verify network
cabling is properly set up to transmit and receive information.
1. In order to run this test, another node on the same network must
be using DIAGNOSE and have "Respond To Test Messages" running.
2. The Responder echoes the messages back and the Initiator makes
sure it receives the same messages it transmitted.
3. To run the initiate/respond test, follow this procedure:
A. At the chosen PC on the network, select "Respond to Test Mes-
sages" from the Main Menu. Press [Enter]. A prompt appears
on the screen: "Waiting to Respond to Test Messages. Press
any key to stop." This unit is the Responder.
B. Using a different PC, select "Initiate Test Messages" from the
Main Menu. Press [F2] and all active Responders are displayed
with their network addresses. Use the arrow keys to select
the Responder you want to test.
C. Press [Enter] to begin the test. The test will perform 1000
iterations after finding the first available Responder if a
specific one has not been selected.
D. If the error message "No Responder Found" displays, the two
computers cannot communicate across the network. A common
reason for this is faulty cabling, "T" connectors, or termina-
tors that are bad.
4. When the test is complete, press [F4] at either unit to see the
test results. This screen provides you with statistics on both
the Initiator and Responder terminals.
5. The Show Statistics screen shows whether the Initiator and Re-
sponder passed the test. It also provides a number of function
key operations.
A. To update data without clearing the counter setting, press
[F4]. This automatically updates as the test continues. To
clear these statistics, press [F6].
B. To exit this test and return to the Respond Menu, press [ESC].
C. To change the test parameters, such as the number of itera-
tions or the test pattern, press [F6] at either the Initiate
or Respond menu.
-- A screen with a list of all test parameters appears. For
most of these parameters, use the arrow keys to highlight
the one you want changed.
-- Use the [Spacebar] to change the setting. Each time the
[Spacebar] is depressed, the value will change.
D. To change either the test pattern or destination address
field, type in the value you require. Press [ESC] to return
to the Respond Menu.
E. For a definition of each parameter, press [F1] at the appro-
priate screen.
F. Select the Exit option when all diagnostic procedures have
been completed and you want to return to DOS.
G. Exit to Operating System - Select this option to exit the
diagnostic program and return to DOS.
3. Refer to the USER.DOC file located on the software diskette for more in-
formation on how to operate the diagnostic program.
(CSS/jlc-03/28/94)