[cobalt-users] NIC Settings - speed issues

["Rich B ListServ" <rbarnes-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have some questions about the NIC settings on the cobalt NIC cards
(specifically in both the Raq4i and Raq4r)

Basically what I am asking is how do I set the NIC cards to 100/Full Duplex?
I have included the problems I am experiencing, along with why I do not
think the NICs are operating correctly at 100/Full.  I do know from working
with other boxes (both MS Windows OSes, and SUN) that if you allow the NIC
card to operate in "auto-negotiate" mode, things will not always work
optimally.  When I force the NIC card on these platforms to 100/Full I get
the speeds I expect.


I'm attempting to setup a private backup network for my servers so that I
can complete the backups quickly and not have to compete with network
traffic for the websites on the boxes.

I have two separate situations and both are experiencing similar results:

Situation 1: Raq4i connected to a 3Com 10/100 OfficeConnect Switch via NIC
II on the cobalt server with a 10.200.1.x IP address.  The switch lights
indicate that the server is connected at 100MB/Full duplex, but the backup
speeds I'm getting on the backup server are 9.1MB/minute as compared to
other servers that I know the NIC cards are forced set to 100/Full of
250+MB/minute.  The Switch is not manageable so I cannot force the port on
the switch to any particular settings.

Situation 2: Raq4r connected to a Catalyst 5500 Switch via NIC I on the
cobalt server with a public IP address.  Again, the switch lights indicate
that the server is connected at 100MB/Full duplex, and the port on the 5500
is forced set to 100MB/Full.  However, I'm getting a large amount of errors.
Here are the stats from my 5500:

Align Errors: 75465
FCS Errors: 67502
Runts: 24956

The counters on the 5500 were reset as of 3/24/03.  I have tried a different
CAT5 cable -- and to be honest I have a second cobalt box that fits into
situation 2 the exact same way, and I'm seeing the same problems.

I've downloaded a program called mii-diag that is supposed to give the
settings of the NIC cards from http://www.scyld.com/diag/

and here is what I get:

[root src]# ./mii-diag --force
Using the default interface 'eth0'.
Basic registers of MII PHY #0:  0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000.
  No MII transceiver present!.
 Basic mode control register 0x0000: Auto-negotiation disabled, with
 Speed fixed at 10 mbps, half-duplex.
 Basic mode status register 0x0000 ... 0000.
   Link status: not established.
 Link partner information is not exchanged when in fixed speed mode.
   End of basic transceiver information.


Basically what I am asking is how do I set the NIC cards to 100/Full Duplex?