[K12OSN] Network Question

[Les Mikesell]

On Sat, 2005-02-12 at 17:23, Jim Christiansen wrote:

> All of the switches go into new 10/100 dell or dlink switches.  I don't know 
> more than that, but I'll check.  Our cables are rarely checked after 
> install... I know, but our techie is the only one for 9 schools and ...
> 
> We did install a new fiber backbone at your and a couple of others 
> encouragement last summer.  Things were just awesome here for almost 3 
> months, until more old recycled cat5 got added to the extremities of the 
> network.  Until then, the K12LTSP server system ran without a single issue- 
> smb printing, nis, nfs, clients- all perfect. Now sometimes we can't print, 
> kids can't access the NIS server (also the K12LTSP server) or clients just 
> drop off.
> 
> How do I check to see if autonegotiation is is on?

If the switches are managed you should be able to telnet to them or
use a web interface to check/change settings.  You may be able to
see which ports have errors and whether you have any full/half
duplex mismatches.  On the Linux side, use mii-tool or ethtool.
Switches are supposed to isolate errors but they don't always,
especially ones caused by out-of spec wiring.  If you have to do
a brute-force check, unplug the new wires at the switch end until
the rest of the network stops seeing errors.

-- 
  Les Mikesell
   les at futuresource.com