[comp.unix.ultrix] SUMMARY: ku_fastsend ethernet blocking

robert@computing-maths.cardiff.ac.uk (Robert Evans) (06/17/91)

A couple of months ago I asked for information about this repeated message:
>----- EVENT INFORMATION -----
>EVENT CLASS                             OPERATIONAL EVENT
>OS EVENT TYPE                  250.     ASCII MSG
>SEQUENCE NUMBER                143.
>OPERATING SYSTEM                        ULTRIX 32
>OCCURRED/LOGGED ON                      Sat Apr 27 11:48:36 1991 WET DST
>OCCURRED ON SYSTEM                      v1
>SYSTEM ID                 x05903B14
>PROCESSOR TYPE                          KA825
>PROCESSOR COUNT                  2.
>PROCESSOR WHO LOGGED      x00000002
>MESSAGE                                 ku_fastsend: transmit failed on de0,
>                                         _errno 55

under ULTRIX 4.1 on a VAX 8350 with a DEUNA on its ethernet which
caused all ethernet traffic to hang.  The message appears to show that
the system is running out of buffers for the ethernet but DEC's
suggested fixes for this failed.

I had several replies from people who had similar-looking problems with
various causes:
  physical damage to the ethernet cabling,
  a bug in Ultrix4.1 LAT (not applicable in our case),
  failure to recover from a temporary break in the ethernet,
and Tom Arons at UC Davis had had exactly the same problem on an 8600.
The sugested fix was to replace the DEUNA with a DELUA.  DEC did this
and we've been up for 17 days now with no repetition of the problem.
Looks like the ethernet driver hasn't allowed for some different
characteristic in the old DEUNA.

Thanks for all the replies.  Sorry that this solution is of no help to
those of you with a similar error but an entirely different hardware
configuration.
--
  Robert Evans, Dept of Computing Maths, University of Wales College of Cardiff,
  PO Box 916, Cardiff, Wales, UK, CF2 4YN.  Tel: +44 (0)222 874000 x 5518
  Internet: R.Evans%computing-maths.cardiff.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk
  UUCP:     R.Evans@cf-cm.UUCP or ...!uunet!mcsun!ukc!cf-cm!R.Evans
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