jschneider

I have a Definity R011i which was just upgraded to the latest version. I have only one TN 771 Maintenance Board. Now, after the upgrade, I suddenly get a Pkt Bus Alarm in one Port Network. If I move the TN 771 from one PN to another the problem moves. Anyone have any idea why this would happen? I just inherited this switch and it is a mess. Also, one Duplication Interface board was unplugged for no apparent reason. This board was reinstalled during the upgrade. Could this be the reason for the Pkt Bus Alarm suddenly appearing? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

martinyoung

Tell us a little about your switch configuration.

Is it a G3i or a G3r?

The only reason for a duplication interface board is if you have two processors in the PBX. Do you? If one of the interfaces was unseated then duplication was not working and you should have had several major and minor alarms to begin with. There are also cables on the back of the carriers that go along with duplication.

The packet bus alarm could be caused by having a duplication board inserted that is not doing anything. But we do not know enough about your configuration yet to help.

Who did the upgrade? If it was Avaya or an Avaya Business Partner they should have recognized your problem and resolved it during the upgrade. One of Avaya's rules is to resolve alarms before upgrading.

That you had a duplication interface board unseated and one seated (they come in pairs) with no alarms I find troubling. There is a lot of missing information here. Not having access to your system to check it, I seriously recommend that you get a qualified Avaya tech on site to look it over.

If it is a mess like you say, it should be cleaned up anyway.

If you have a packet bus problem it will show up in the port network that the TN771 lives in because that board tests it and a packet bus problem is system wide. Resolving a real packet bus problem can be very traumatic because you have to disassemble the PBX one carrier and one card at a time until you find the card causing the problem. And it can be caused by a card that does not use the packet bus itself.

I say "real" packet bus problem because your problem may only be caused by having an unnecessary card in the PBX. Only someone familiar with a Definity can help and they will need to be in your switch to do so.

__________________
Marty
Retired Avaya DSIC tech

PBXtech.info

 

jschneider

Marty,
Thanks for all the info.
Avaya did the upgrade last night. It was an Avaya tech onsite, and when complete he called Denver about the alarm. They told him we were short one TN771.
This is a Duplicated Processor R011i.03.2.536.1.
No one has any idea how long the Processor Interface board from the A Spe was unplugged, but, it was causing no alarms. This packet bus alarm didn't appear until after the upgrade. Avaya replaced the Processor Interface prior to the upgrade and we still had no alarms. At that point we were able to interchange processors. The TN 771 in now is Port network 2 and the Packet Bus alarm is in Port Network 1. Last night we moved the TN771 and the alarm always moved to the PN not containing the board.
This is extremely troubling to me also because the switch didn't alarm on the missing Processor Interface or a missing TN 771.

John

martinyoung

A G3i really only requires one TN771. Only a critical reliability PBX must have a TN771 in each port network and a G3i cannot be a critical reliability PBX. I usually recommend that people put a TN771 in each port network that contains an ISDN T1 for reliability, but it is not required.

Having a TN771 in each port network will certainly not hurt and it is possible that your latest upgrade made that necessary but the documentation that came with it should have said something.

The Processor Interface board is the processor connection to the packet bus and yours is probably a TN794/TN2400 sandwich board. But this is not the duplication interface. So what was unseated? Was it the PI board or the Duplication board (TN792)? Either one would have taken SPE A out of service and alarmed the switch.

__________________
Marty
Retired Avaya DSIC tech

jschneider

It was the Processor interface in the A Spe and for some reason there was no alarm. I didn't even know it was pulled until I did an inventory.

martinyoung

Since this happened before you got there, you have no idea why they did such a harebrained thing. Without a PI card SPE A was out of service and you would have had at least one major alarm. If SPE B had failed, your switch would have crashed.

Only Avaya can disable maintenance object alarms, that is the only way you would not have had an alarm. This had to have been a temporary fix that was never followed up on. The PI board has been replaced and you have successfully interchanged processors so all seems to be ok now. It is still strange though.

__________________
Marty
Retired Avaya DSIC tech

PBXtech.info