System slowdown, DOS version of FP

[Bill Vermillion]

press any key to reboot  -oops- Joe Acquisto (joea at hvaccess.com) said on Sat, Jul 03 07:07  

> Comments inline:
> 
> >
> >>>> Robert Haussmann<haussma at nextdimension.net> 7/2/04 6:20:12 PM >>>
> >[...]

> >> The problem manifests as some, and only some, PC's begin to 
> >> "print slow".  What seems to be happening is that, when 
> >> printing and invoice (or whatever), it takes forever (for 
> >> some PC's) to sequence thru the records to "co-alese the 
> >> vapor" and send the print job out.  One can see the "records 
> >> scanned" number sequence very slowly  on the problem PC's, 
> >> but quite smartly on the ones that are OK.  Once the last 
> >> record is found (???), and the print job is submitted, it 
> >> prints normally.  It seems to take a couple of days for this 
> >> slowness to to begin again.

> >Joe--can you provide some details:

> Sure thing. 

> >1) what version of Netware (including service pack)

> NW 6.5 SP1. 

> >2) Novell Client32 or Microsoft client (if client32,
> >what version)

> Client32.  Version.  Hmm. 3.4 something, I think, whatever came with the 6.5 distribution.

> >3) are oplocks enabled on the server?

> Err, ummm.  I dunno (he says sheepishly).  I did not change it, so however it installs.  I don't have a 6.5 install handy to check.
> 

> >Finally...is there any chance this server has a gigabit
> >ethernet card in it 

> Yes, it does

> >(if so, what manufacturer and what
> >is the driver version).  

> 
> Dell Poweredge 2600.  Has a built in Intel 10/100/GB card.  It has the Novell provided driver.

I've seen drastics slowdowns - going from 10MB/sec transfer to
28KB/sec transfer from a machine with 10/100/GB setting
autonegotiating with some switches.  If your switch does not 
handle 1GB links and you can set your switch on the ports
individualy [ a managed switch implied there ] then force
the NIC to 100GB HALF-DUPLEX.   The reason is that if
negotiation fails the default fallback is HALF-DUPLEX.

If your switch is not settable change to 100 HDX and see if that
fixes things.

This link explains all the different ways the system will fail
using a matrix with different settings.  Some NIC manufacturers
adding their own enhancement can cause proper negotiation to fail.
The link is from Cicso but applies to a great many problem

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/473/46.html

It's a good read for anyone - and it is detailed.

Bill

-- 
Bill Vermillion - bv @ wjv . com