Troubleshooting Guide - FarSync WAN T-Series Installation - Linux

Checking Installation

If you are having problems with the software installation, check the following:

Install Script Reports Errors

If you see messages like:

ln: creating symbolic link '/etc/init.d/rc0.d/K91farsync' to '/etc/init.d/farsync'
No such file or directory

Then it is possible that you are using a Linux distribution that we have not tested our installation process with yet.

At this point in the script, we are trying to install System V startup and shutdown scripts for the various run levels. If you have encountered this error, then when the installation completes, the startup/shutdown scripts will be missing, and therefore when you reboot the system the FarSync T2P or T4P card will not be loaded with low level driver software or be configured. (This will be indicated by the Green LED's on the FarSync T2P/T4P card near the connector being in an off state after you have rebooted the system).

This problem can occur if your distribution uses a BSD like method to boot the system. BSD uses a small number of scripts to configure the system software. In this case you need to place the following command in a startup file (e.g. /etc/rc.d/rc.local , or similar)

farutil sync0 load /etc/farsite/downloads/trtbios.cde /etc/farsite/downloads/farsync2.cde

and

farifup sync0

You will need to add one farifup command to the startup file for each port you want to configure.

If you see any other error message while running the install script, please let us know.

Check PCI card detected

Assuming that the mechanical installation id OK you can check whether the system has detected the card by running the lspci command: 

[root@minion doc]# lspci 
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C598 [Apollo MVP3] (rev 04)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C598/694x [Apollo MVP3/Pro133x AGP] 
00:07.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586/A/B PCI-to-ISA [Apollo VP] (rev 47)
00:07.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
00:07.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. UHCI USB (rev 02)
00:07.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586B ACPI (rev 10)
00:08.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc 210888GX [Mach64 GX] (rev 01)
00:09.0 Ethernet controller: Accton Technology Corporation SMC2-1211TX (rev 10)
00:0a.0 Communication controller: FarSite Communications Ltd FarSync T2P (2 port X.21/V.35/V.24) (rev 02)
00:0b.0 Communication controller: FarSite Communications Ltd FarSync T4P (4 port X.21/V.35/V.24) (rev 02)
[root@minion doc]#

Check device driver is being run

Watch the startup sequence carefully. When the FarSync device driver is first loaded four lines like this will appear: 

FarSync X21 driver 0.08 (c) 2001 FarSite Communications Ltd.
Cronyx Ltd, Synchronous PPP and CISCO HDLC (c) 1994 
Linux port (c) 1998 Building Number Three Ltd & Jan "Yenya" Kasprzak.
sync0-sync1: FarSync T2P IRQ10, 2 ports

The first and last line are from the FarSync driver and the middle two from the syncPPP module. If the syncPPP module has already been loaded by another driver the middle two lines may appear elsewhere in the startup messages instead.

The last line is the most important it indicates the card detected and the ports that have been assigned to it. If more than one card is installed then the last line will be repeated with values for each card.

These messages can also be viewed after startup by using to command:

$ dmesg | more

If the card is installed as indicated by the lspci command yet the device driver message is not apparent the most likely cause is that you are running a kernel without the device driver built in correctly or where the module is not being loaded correctly.

Check the kernel build and installation and that the correct kernel is being bootstrapped by lilo. It's easy for a new build not to be registered by lilo if you've performed a kernel upgrade at the same time as installing the FarSync software. To be absolutely certain they you are running the correct kernel modify the EXTRAVERSION entry in /usr/src/linux/Makefile, rebuild and then check for it with uname -r. Alternatively uname -v will give you the kernel build date and time.

Check module loaded

If the device driver was built as a module then you can check whether it has been loaded by using the lsmod command. 

# lsmod 
Module                  Size  Used by 
pcnet32                10456   1 
farsync                 9556   1 
syncppp                 9520   0  [farsync]

This shows the farsync module has been loaded and that in turn it has caused the syncppp module to be loaded. (The pcnet32 entry if for an unrelated Ethernet driver.)

If the modules have not been loaded check the sync0 alias entries in /etc/modules.conf

Check card detection and download OK

You can check the status of the firmware using the farutil command, response for a FarSync T2P card shown. 

# farutil sync0
card:   T2P FarSync T-Series
ports:  2
state:  Running normally
         
firmware id:    2
firmware vers:  0.06.00
          
Configuration for port 0
physical:       X.21 (RS422/V.11)
cable status:   Cable presence detected
active inputs:  None
active outputs: Control
clock:          External, Detected
speed:          0
protocol:       Sync PPP

The information that is most important is the the state: line which gives the current firmware status. If this is not Running normally then check the system startup messages for possible download error messages. You could also run the system startup script manually to check for errors.

The Kernel is configured OK but the card is not loaded

You have verified that you can manually load the FarSync card, but the card does not seem to load after a reboot.

This problem can occur if you do not have an ifcfg-sync0 file. Please make sure that this file exists, even if you do not use Port A.

Last updated: 29 Nov 2001

 
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