On 01/16/2006 04:13 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >>Just out of curiosity: are you sure ethernet speed/duplex >>autonegotiation is working? Sun boxes are notorious for misnegotiating >>duplex, especially with Cisco switches. (Yeah, you wouldn't expect Sun >>and Cisco to interoperate properly, would you? ;^/) Check the duplex >>reported in /var/adm/messages when link comes up versus the duplex >>reported on the switch for the port in question. If they don't match you >>could be having collision problems. You should also check the error >>counters on the switch and using netstat -i on the Sun. > > I think many of us will take issue with that statement; when auto > negotiating hardware came out both switches and interfaces had some > warts (specifically the first Ciscos needed new firmware). > > Unfortunately, what happened then was typical for the computer industry; > it was possible to work around these issues to fix full-duplex/100 mbit. > And I bet that 99.9% of the duplex issues these days are caused by exactly > that workaround, implemented at only one side of the connection.
I certainly don't wish to offend any Sun aficionados; I myself have used them since 3/60 days. I can certainly imagine that, to fix an issue with an old switch, someone stuck a few lines in /etc/system; then he swaps out the switch and those forgotten lines are no longer needed but remain--as a result, the Sun appears not to negotiate with the new switch because of an ancient workaround. I have no doubt that this scenario has contributed unfairly to perceptions about Sun. I note, however, that even a new HP Procurve 4108gl switch I purchased within the last three years required hardwiring duplex when I connected it to Sun E5500 and E250R boxes at 100Mb/s, while having no trouble with other boxes (mostly Intel). So I don't think all the problems have been completely resolved. -- Jefferson Ogata <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> NOAA Computer Incident Response Team (N-CIRT) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "Never try to retrieve anything from a bear."--National Park Service
