If devices such as modems, printers, or fax boards are connected to a ring station or a file server, they are not actually considered network peripherals because they do not contain their own NICs. If the peripheral you are troubleshooting does not contain its own internal NIC, go to the applicable page. (For example, suppose a modem or printer is connected to a ring station or file server, and the ring station or file server contains the NIC. In this instance, you would go to either the modem or printer problem page.) But if the device does contain its own internal NIC, this page is applicable. 

 Did you arrive at this page because of NIC failure indications from running a protocol analysis session?
Go to page 10.1. 
 

 Did you arrive at this page because you have identified a failure symptom that appears to be directly related to a problem with a specific network peripheral?
Go to page 10.2. 

A network peripheral failure symptom is usually different from that of a standard ring station. But because both a network peripheral and a standard ring station contain an NIC and both access the ring through the 802.5 rules, they both can be assumed to have the same logical network area of fault components, which is the respective network peripheral's lobe area specifically the network peripheral, NIC, lobe cable, and MAU or hub port. 

Some of the network peripherals access the Token Ring network with NIC and hardware/software components; others just use NIC hardware with firmware contained within PROM chips. Both configurations allow the assigned network peripheral to access the ring through standard ring insertion, and they both operate according to the Token Ring architecture operating-mode principles. 

This procedure is generic as to the network peripheral manufacturer. For some of the troubleshooting steps mentioned on this page, you should also reference the network peripheral manufacturer's documentation for any special predefined methods for checking network peripheral configuration and for network peripheral testing. 

Whether the error is a hard error indicated by a Beacon MAC frame or a soft error that indicates a possible NIC failure in the network peripheral, swap the respective NIC and rerun another thorough protocol analysis session on the ring.
Some types of network peripherals have an NIC physically built in to the motherboard. If this is the case, then you may have to replace the whole unit. Reference the manufacturer's instructions.

After you swapped the NIC and reran a protocol analysis session, did the error go away?

Leave the newly replaced NIC in the network peripheral and record the problem in the network maintenance and service log.

Return the original NIC back into the network peripheral; go to page 15 ; rerun a protocol analysis session on the ring. Sometimes, by rerunning a protocol analysis session, the failure cause becomes more clear by moving to another Token Ring address.
If after rerunning a protocol analysis session the error does not move to another device and is still identifying the particular NIC address as a failure cause, troubleshoot the assigned lobe area for the respective NIC by going to page 2 .
If after using this procedure you cannot conclusively locate the problem and continue to find failure symptoms that point to a network peripheral problem, reference the manufacturer's instructions.

Is the network peripheral involved in some network communications with a particular application, or is it using the same directory or file on a particular file server when experiencing the symptom?

Go to page 14 and troubleshoot a possible file server application or directory/file problem that may be related to the network peripheral operation.

Move the network peripheral to another port on the MAU or wiring hub and recheck the network peripheral operation.

Did moving the network peripheral to another port resolve the problem?

Go to page 4 and troubleshoot a possible MAU or wiring hub problem.

Troubleshoot the respective lobe cable involved by going to page 3 . If troubleshooting the lobe cable does not identify any problems with the lobe cable, come back to this page, using the "back" command in your browser as often as necessary, and proceed from here.

Test the respective network peripheral for proper software and hardware configuration setup and requirements:

If the network peripheral has local disk storage, make sure that all the necessary directories and files for the network peripheral are set up correctly.

Make sure that all the necessary hardware is installed in the network peripheral and that it is configured correctly.
Check the network operating system manuals for network peripheral setup concerning both software and hardware prerequisites.

Did rechecking the network peripheral software and hardware requirements find any incorrect configuration-setup problems?

Take the necessary action to resolve the configuration problem and retest the network peripheral device for proper operation. If the failure symptom is gone, record the problem in the network maintenance and service log. If the problem still exists, go to the next step .

Attempt to run any available network peripheral diagnostics. Also try to troubleshoot the network peripheral for any I/O board conflicts.

Did running the diagnostics or troubleshooting the network peripheral find any problems?

Take the necessary action to resolve the problem and retest the network peripheral for proper operation. If the failure symptom is gone, record the problem in the network maintenance and service log. If the problem still exists after retesting, go to the next step .

Continue.

Has the NIC in the assigned network peripheral been troubleshot?

A network file server-to-network peripheral related problem may exist as to ring insertion or protocol communication. Perform a protocol analysis session and focus closely on the communication between the network file server and the assigned network peripheral. Go to page 15.

Go to page 5 and troubleshoot the respective network peripheral station for a NIC problem.
Many network peripherals are being manufactured with internal NICs within the respective logic board hardware architecture. If the network peripheral you are troubleshooting has this configuration, attempt to replace the motherboard rather than going to 5 and troubleshooting the NIC.
If after using this procedure you cannot conclusively locate the problem and continue to find failure symptoms that point to a network peripheral problem, reference the manufacturer's instructions. 

 November 15, 1996