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Text File | 1990-04-03 | 14.6 KB | 307 lines

LANtastic (tm) LANCHECK Program Documentation ------------------------------------------ (C) Copyright 1990 ARTISOFT Inc. Once the NETBIOS has been installed, you can be sure that the adapter is functioning. You cannot, however, be assured that the adapter can communicate with the network. There may be several reasons why an adapter is not communicating with the rest of the network. The most obvious cause is that the cabling is faulty or not connected correctly. Another reason may be that there has been a hardware failure on the adapter in the circuitry that is responsible for communication on the network. The distribution floppy disk that comes with your LANtastic Starter Kit contains a LAN diagnostic program (LANCHECK) which may be used to make sure that all adapter cards are functioning and connected together on the network. The LANCHECK program appears as LANCHECK.EXE on the distribution diskette. To run the program type: LANCHECK a-unique-name [/MONO] where a-unique-name is a unique name (up to 16 characters) that you wish your PC to be known by on the network. This name will be displayed on each computer running LANCHECK and allows you to monitor which computers are actively running LANCHECK. It is recommended that you bring up all your network nodes simultaneously to ensure that they are evaluated for performance during the same period. LANCHECK evaluates each node's performance from when it is first brought up on the network, not just from the time LANCHECK is executed. LANCHECK will test six adapter cards per computer (adapters 0 through 5) and can display a maximum of 1000 nodes. You can run LANCHECK any time after bringing up the NETBIOS, even after other LAN software is running. The most important test for the adapters is whether they all appear on the screen when LANCHECK is run. If an adapter is not listed on the LANCHECK screen, it is probably not communicating with the rest of the network. The optional switch /MONO forces the screen to run the LANCHECK program in monochrome (2 color) mode. Testing a Network Adapter After the NETBIOS software has been installed, type the following commands: LANCHECK a-unique-name For example, LANCHECK JOAN or LANCHECK BOB would be typical unique names. After an initialization message and a short pause (Note: the pause will be longer if you have multiple adapter cards attached), the LANCHECK screen will appear as shown: LANtastic (tm) LANCHECK Version 3.01 (C) Copyright 1990 Artisoft Inc. ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ A# NAME NODE NUMBER MINUTES RUNNING STATUS ERROR INDEX ║ ╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ 0 BOB 00006EA00029 9 (local) 2% ║ ║ 0 JOAN 00006EA00045 9 active 2% ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Enter - Select Entry, Esc - Exit Lancheck, Space - Update Screen, F1 - Help At any time while the LANCHECK program is running you may press the F1 key to receive more information about the fields presented in the screen. You can make the help window double in size by pressing the letter Z on the keyboard. Pressing Z a second time will change the help screen back to its original size. Use the arrow keys to scroll the text up and down, or use the PgUp or PgDn keys to move the text up or down a page. The screen updates itself every ten seconds, or when you press the SPACE BAR. "A#" tells you which adapter you are receiving information on . The first adapter is numbered "0," the second "1" and so on. Up to six adapters per computer may be tested. "NAME" refers to the unique node name you specified with the LANCHECK command. Check to make sure that all the adapter cards you are running LANCHECK on are listed in this table. If any are missing, you may have a cabling problem or a faulty adapter. "NODE NUMBER" denotes the unique network number assigned to the adapter. "Minutes Running" shows how long the adapter has been running since you installed the NETBIOS software. The "Status" field tells you whether the adapter being tested is active or inactive, and which adapters are "local," (located on your computer). If an adapter that is supposed to be active lists as inactive, there may be a problem with the adapter or the cabling to that adapter. If you see an adapter with a status that keeps switching between "Active" and "Inactive" there is probably an intermittent problem with the cabling. The Field "ERROR INDEX" presents you with a statistic to help you deduce the relative performance of each adapter in the sending and receiving of network data. The values given in the example above should not be considered an average or ideal value for the adapters you are evaluating. Look instead for adapters that have ERROR INDEX values that are either much higher or lower than the other adapters in your network. An adapter with a much higher ERROR INDEX might have a cabling problem or other hardware problem. Low values might indicate the node is able to receive data correctly, but is not properly transmitting data to the rest of the network. This will increase the other nodes' ERROR INDEX scores because they will be receiving bad transmissions from the faulty adapter. To further evaluate the efficiency of a network node, use the arrow keys to move the highlight bar to the desired node and press ENTER. This window will appear: LANtastic (tm) LANCHECK Version 3.01 (C) Copyright 1990 Artisoft Inc. ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ A# ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ INDEX║ ╠═════║ Adapter Status of: JOAN ║══════╣ ║ 0 ╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ ║ 0 ║ Adapter Number: 0 ║ ║ ║ ║ Node Number: 00006EA00045 ║ ║ ║ ║ Software Version: 2.10 ║ ║ ║ ║════════════════════════════════╤═════════════════════════════║ ║ ║ ║ TRAFFIC AND ERROR STATISTICS │ ADAPTER RESOURCE STATISTICS ║ ║ ║ ║────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────║ ║ ║ ║ Minutes Running: 9 │ NCBs Available: 26 ║ ║ ║ ║ CRC Errors: 222 │ NCBs Allocated: 32 ║ ║ ║ ║ Alignment Errors: 320 │ Max NCBs Possible: 128 ║ ║ ║ ║ Collisions: 9 │ Active Sessions: 4 ║ ║ ║ ║ Bad Transmissions: 65 │ Sessions Allocated: 32 ║ ║ ║ ║ Good Transmissions: 3928 │ Sessions Possible: 128 ║ ║ ║ ║ Good Receives: 23103 │ Max Packet Size: 2461 ║ ║ ║ ║ Retransmissions: 65 │ Number of Names: 8 ║ ║ ║ ║ Resource Exhaust: 838 │ ║ ║ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Esc - Exit Status Window, Space - Update Data, F1 - Help The information at the top of the window tells you the name of the node, adapter number and node number being tested as well as the version of the LANCHECK software you are using. The bottom left portion of the screen provides you with "Traffic and Error Statistics" which may help you diagnose a hardware problem with you network. To the right of this are the "Adapter Resource Statistics" which provide information concerning your NETBIOS configuration. Once again, do not assume that the values presented in the example above are the same values that you should see. What you should look for instead are values that are out of the average range for the rest of your adapters. Traffic and Error Statistics The field "Minutes Running" refers to the length of time since the NETBIOS was run. Cyclical Redundancy Check (CRC) errors occur when a packet of data arrives at a node in a corrupt form. Before a computer sends a packet, it mathematically evaluates the contents of the packet and places this information in it. The receiving node performs the same calculation on the data as it receives it then matches it against the results of the sending node's evaluation. If the results don't match, the receiving node asks the sending node to retransmit the packet. A high value in the "CRC" field could indicate that an adapter is not correctly transmitting data. It might also indicate faulty cabling or electrical noise is corrupting the data in transit. Alignment errors occur when bits of data arrive out of the 8-bit group they were sent in. These bits must then be regrouped into their original bytes by the receiving node. While this does not usually degrade network performance, a high value in this field could indicate cabling or hardware problems. Network collisions occur when two or more nodes attempt to access the network simultaneously. A high value here will usually indicate a busy network. In rare cases, however, a malfunctioning adapter will continuously transmit noise resulting a higher number of collisions. The fields, "Good Transmissions" and "Bad Transmissions" provide you with statistics for successful and unsuccessful transmissions. Busier networks will have more unsuccessful transmissions than networks with less frequent use. A high number of Bad transmissions could indicate a faulty adapter. "Retransmissions" occur after unsuccessful transmissions. Once again, look for values that are significantly higher than the rest of the nodes. A low value for "Good Receives" could indicate that an adapter is not receiving network data well. In such cases, it is best to test this node with only a few other adapters and make sure this low value is not a result of poor transmissions from an adjoining network node. When a node exhausts its supply of buffers, it can no longer receive data from the network. The field "Resource Exhaust" keeps count of each time this happens. If your node is continually running out of buffers, it may be advisable to set your buffers higher to better accommodate your network traffic. If you suspect that there is a hardware problem and an adapter has a higher than average value in one or more of the above categories, remove the node from the network and see how network performance changes. If performance goes up dramatically the adapter could be at fault. Adapter Resource Statistics The values given in this field can help you evaluate how well your software configuration meets your network needs. For example, if you don't have enough Network Control Blocks (NCBs), to process data and commands in and out of the adapter, network performance will suffer, or some network software will not run. If the field "NCBs Available" has a value less than eight you should consider raising the number of NCBs allowed for this adapter. You can set this with the NETBIOS command line switches. A good way to estimate the number of NCBs you need is to take the number of log ins you will need and add eight. The "Max NCBs Allocated" field informs you how many are allocated in the NETBIOS command line. The maximum number of NCBs available depends on the NETBIOS. A session is created any time a connection between two nodes is made or attempted to be made. If the number given in the "Active Sessions" seems out of proportion with what you feel it should be, check your software to make sure it is configured for the proper number of sessions. The maximum number of sessions available depends on the NETBIOS. "Max Packet Size" refers to the largest size data packet that this adapter can either send or receive. The Maximum size of a data packet depends on the size of the buffers set for the adapter. The field "Number of Names" refers to the number of network names currently being used. An adapter with a much larger value than the other adapters may be running a program that is erroneously creating a large number of names. To check a second node, press Esc to exit to the previous window then select the node you want to test and press ENTER. You can also check the adapter status of any network node by pressing Ins while in the first LANCHECK window. A screen will appear asking you for the name of the node you want to test. Type in the name exactly as it used by the node in question, then press ENTER. Normally you will use all capital letters. The "Adapter Status" window for the desired node will appear. Repeat this process for each adapter you want to evaluate. To exit the LANCHECK program from the main window, press the Esc key.