G'day.
I am trying to get a very old Solaris 5.7 server to ftp data to my updated CentOS 5.4 server but the Solaris box keeps losing networking after sending some data. I can't ping the Solaris box from any of the servers on my network.
Could this be related to a much newer (modern) TCP/IP stack in Linux and TCP options? If so, does anyone have any suggestions for how I can tune the Linux server? I am not as concerned about performance, but just to keep the Solaris box from crashing (and no, I can't upgrade the legacy Solaris server).
Thanks, -- Wade Hampton
On Sat, 2010-03-27 at 13:02 -0400, Wade Hampton wrote:
I can't ping the Solaris box from any of the servers on my network.
--- That in it self should tell you to look at the cabling and nic card. I suspect its a very old nic card like ISA or begining PCI. Just because it is Sol 5 does not mean TCP/IP will not work.
Thanks for the feedback. On Linux I have tried setting:
rmem_default=32768 rmem_max=65536 tcp_window_scaling=0 tcp_sack=0 tcp_fack=0
I can send data to the Solaris x86 box all day with no problems. It is only when it sends data to my Linux box that it crashes. The NIC is 3Com Etherlink XL PCI.
I'm trying the ndd commands in a few minutes after the box reboots yet again....
On Sat, Mar 27, 2010 at 1:19 PM, JohnS jses27@gmail.com wrote:
On Sat, 2010-03-27 at 13:02 -0400, Wade Hampton wrote:
I can't ping the Solaris box from any of the servers on my network.
That in it self should tell you to look at the cabling and nic card. I suspect its a very old nic card like ISA or begining PCI. Just because it is Sol 5 does not mean TCP/IP will not work.
CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
JohnS wrote:
On Sat, 2010-03-27 at 13:02 -0400, Wade Hampton wrote:
I can't ping the Solaris box from any of the servers on my network.
That in it self should tell you to look at the cabling and nic card. I suspect its a very old nic card like ISA or begining PCI. Just because it is Sol 5 does not mean TCP/IP will not work.
SunOS 5.7 is Solaris 7, actually. 'Solaris 10' is really SunOS 5.10.
Bill Joy wrote the TCP stack thats in all Unix systems, and was copied for Linux. There's nothing wrong with the TCP in any SunOS version going as far back as you like.
btw, an older Sun Sparc is more likely to be SBUS and not ISA. If its PCI, its likely 64bit and maybe 66Mhz. SBUS is a 32bit synchronous bus thats somewhat slower at clock speed than 32bit 33MHz PCI, however its capable of higher throughput due to being a more efficient bus protocol.
me, I'd get on the console (most Sparc's newer than about 10 years old have a ALOM or RSC or whatever remote console module you can telnet or ssh to, older ones were almost all serial console, which is typically connected to a cyclades type console controller you can ssh to), and run some diags from there (check dmesg for any events, check ifconfig, ndd, and verify the settings, see if you can ping, etc)
On Sat, Mar 27, 2010 at 1:49 PM, John R Pierce pierce@hogranch.com wrote:
JohnS wrote:
On Sat, 2010-03-27 at 13:02 -0400, Wade Hampton wrote:
I can't ping the Solaris box from any of the servers on my network.
That in it self should tell you to look at the cabling and nic card. I suspect its a very old nic card like ISA or begining PCI. Just because it is Sol 5 does not mean TCP/IP will not work.
SunOS 5.7 is Solaris 7, actually. 'Solaris 10' is really SunOS 5.10.
Bill Joy wrote the TCP stack thats in all Unix systems, and was copied for Linux. There's nothing wrong with the TCP in any SunOS version going as far back as you like.
AFIK copied to Windows 2K and later as well....
btw, an older Sun Sparc is more likely to be SBUS and not ISA. If its PCI, its likely 64bit and maybe 66Mhz. SBUS is a 32bit synchronous bus thats somewhat slower at clock speed than 32bit 33MHz PCI, however its capable of higher throughput due to being a more efficient bus protocol.
Standard, old PCI.
me, I'd get on the console (most Sparc's newer than about 10 years old have a ALOM or RSC or whatever remote console module you can telnet or ssh to, older ones were almost all serial console, which is typically connected to a cyclades type console controller you can ssh to), and run some diags from there (check dmesg for any events, check ifconfig, ndd, and verify the settings, see if you can ping, etc)
Thanks. The Solaris server is on PC hardware and is running CDE. I can log into it even when it can't connect to the network.
The ethernet driver is /dev/elx (/dev/elxl0 and /dev/elxl1). The card is a 3Com Etherlink XL PCI card connected to a 3Ccom switch.
Trying ndd /dev/elx ? results in "couldn't push module 'elx'..... so no idea how to tune it. I can run ndd /dev/ip ? and I get a list of tuneables....
I've been copying data TO the Solaris box for years without problems (it is a test machine). However, when I try to get data back to my Linux server, the Solaris server seems to lose its networking and I have to reboot it.
The last thing that wireshark displays is a bunch of ACK's from my Linux box to the Solaris box (there are multiple connections open).
I am about ready to go home as rebooting this Solaris is getting rather old. -- Wade Hampton
Wade Hampton wrote:
Trying ndd /dev/elx ? results in "couldn't push module 'elx'..... so no idea how to tune it. I can run ndd /dev/ip ? and I get a list of tuneables....
i'm pretty sure its /dev/elx0 or /dev/elx1 or whatever and not just /dev/elx
oldest sol box I still have warm is sol9 on a v240 (dual ultrasparc III), with a bge, and it for sure wants /dev/bge0
we never ran much solaris x86 prior to solaris 10, the hardware support was too sketchy for us.
I've been copying data TO the Solaris box for years without problems (it is a test machine). However, when I try to get data back to my Linux server, the Solaris server seems to lose its networking and I have to reboot it.
FWIW, I *never* liked 3Com adapters, I never understood why they were so popular with the PC crowd.
Thanks. I'll try it on Monday when I get back to the machine.
On Sat, Mar 27, 2010 at 2:45 PM, John R Pierce pierce@hogranch.com wrote:
Wade Hampton wrote:
Trying ndd /dev/elx ? results in "couldn't push module 'elx'..... so no idea how to tune it. I can run ndd /dev/ip ? and I get a list of tuneables....
i'm pretty sure its /dev/elx0 or /dev/elx1 or whatever and not just /dev/elx
oldest sol box I still have warm is sol9 on a v240 (dual ultrasparc III), with a bge, and it for sure wants /dev/bge0
we never ran much solaris x86 prior to solaris 10, the hardware support was too sketchy for us.
I've been copying data TO the Solaris box for years without problems (it is a test machine). However, when I try to get data back to my Linux server, the Solaris server seems to lose its networking and I have to reboot it.
FWIW, I *never* liked 3Com adapters, I never understood why they were so popular with the PC crowd.
CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
FWIW, I *never* liked 3Com adapters, I never understood why they were so popular with the PC crowd.
My fiddling with PC networking goes as far back as '98 and Novell Netware 3.13/4.0. Back then I recall a lot of Netware folks telling my to buy nothing but 3Com as their networking gear was supposedly rock solid. Until Intel started releasing the Pro/100 & Pro/1000 series, 3Coms were pretty much all you found in my gear.
Also helps that Linux drivers worked 'out of the box' in earlier versions (pre-6.0) of RH. ;-)
On 03/28/2010 05:04 AM, Wade Hampton wrote:
me, I'd get on the console (most Sparc's newer than about 10 years old have a ALOM or RSC or whatever remote console module you can telnet or ssh to, older ones were almost all serial console, which is typically connected to a cyclades type console controller you can ssh to), and run some diags from there (check dmesg for any events, check ifconfig, ndd, and verify the settings, see if you can ping, etc)
Thanks. The Solaris server is on PC hardware and is running CDE. I can log into it even when it can't connect to the network.
The last thing that wireshark displays is a bunch of ACK's from my Linux box to the Solaris box (there are multiple connections open).
It stops working after sending a certain amount of traffic, so your network conf if probably okay. I've seen this before with a card that was in the process of dying. You could rule this out by swapping in a spare NIC that you know works. If its old hardware, re-plugging the NIC or using a different PCI slot may help. If it does help, its probably only a temporary fix and you should be planning for some new hardware :-(
Kal
On Sat, Mar 27, 2010 at 10:02 AM, Wade Hampton wadehamptoniv@gmail.com wrote:
G'day.
I am trying to get a very old Solaris 5.7 server to ftp data to my updated CentOS 5.4 server but the Solaris box keeps losing networking after sending some data. I can't ping the Solaris box from any of the servers on my network.
Could this be related to a much newer (modern) TCP/IP stack in Linux and TCP options?
I'd think it much more likely there's something wrong on the Solaris box -- you don't say what the hardware is, but I remember having to make sure the NICs did _not_ autonegotiate -- there's a way to set that with ndd that I don't recall offhand, but no doubt Google does :-)
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Drew -
Jim Davis -
John R Pierce -
JohnS -
Kahlil Hodgson -
Wade Hampton