[comp.os.vms] Ethernet Line Sync Errors?

lockrey%36975%essdp2%garfld.span@SDS.SDSC.EDU (07/22/87)

Network Wizards:

  Lately we have been having a rash of 'Line Synchronization Errors'
on the uVAXen connected to our multi-segment ethernet.  This problem
does not seem to be confined to just one segment. And it does not
seem to affect our Clusters (78X & 8XXX machines) which are also
on the ethernet, but on their own segment.

Since we use uVAXen as PC file servers, it's a real pain because
every PC on the net is dropped when the Line Sync Errors happen.

Does anybody know what a Line Sync Error means in the Ethernet
domain?  Does it have anything to do with the heartbeat?

Local DEC installed some patches to the uVAX which didn't help a bit.

Can this kind of problem be caused by electrical noise getting into
Ethernet? A bad Bridge / Repeater. It has not always happened.  

Are there tools to locate the cause of these Errors?
Ethernim does not help in this cases. 

Any and all help greatly appreciated.

Brian Lockrey
Battelle Columbus Labs

ARPAnet: lockrey%36975%essdp2.span@Sdsc-Sds.Arpa
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SYSRUTH@UTORPHYS.BITNET (07/29/87)

What were the "patches" that Field Service installed on your
uVAXes? Were they hardware or software? You should check that
your DEQNA's are *at least* Rev. E, preferably higher. This is
an old ECO, though (over a year). If you got your DEQNA's more
recently than, say, April of last year, this should not be a
problem. We had some problems with ours that sound similar;
2 receive errors, then a line sync. error, then a circuit up
message, a 1-minute-or-so pause, and the same thing again. This
is definitely a known problem, and Rev. E or higher is required
for LAVC's because of this.

Ruth Milner
Systems Manager
University of Toronto Physics
SYSRUTH@UTORPHYS (BITNET)
P.S. It is of course still possible that your problems are caused
by something else, but this might help eliminate something.