Investigate the Software

• There may be version incompatibilities between different software subsystems. This is essential to check for if new software has recently been installed on your node. Use the software verification utility NMMAINT to display the version identification numbers of the software modules. Compare the first five characters of these version IDs with those listed as compatible with each other in the System Status Bulletin, Software Release Bulletin, N00N files or other HP source. If a discrepancy is found, locate a known set of compatible software and install it.

• Issue the LINKCONTROL STATUS command. Inspect the output and attempt to identify the problem. Refer to Appendix A "LINKCONTROL Command" for a detailed analysis of the fields displayed. Retain a copy of the output from this command for your Hewlett-Packard representative.

• Check the configuration file. Use NMMGR to print the data screens. Inspect the output and attempt to identify the problem. Follow the suggestions provided in the section "Corrupt Configuration Files" later in this section. Retain a copy of the output for your Hewlett-Packard representative.

• In general, the log files are the best source of information. They should be checked for any problem encountered. Use the command SWITCHNMLOG to isolate the specific log file immediately after the problem occurs. Use the time range option of NMDUMP whenever possible to further narrow the focus on when the problem occurred. Inspect the formatted output and attempt to identify the problem. Retain a copy of the output from the log file for your HP representative.

• If the cause of the problem cannot be isolated with any other means, or if the recommended action has not resolved a problem, then use the line tests described in this manual. The intent is to verify each component of the hardware and software individually in hopes of isolating the faulty component. Inspect the output and attempt to identify the problem. Retain a copy of the output from these tests for your HP representative.

• If the problem is easily repeated and NMS tracing was inactive when the problem took place, turn on tracing using the NETCONTROL TRACE command. When the problem has been reproduced, turn off tracing and give this trace file to your HP representative for additional analysis.

• If the problem causes a system failure, take a full memory dump of the system. Format the system dump with the Dump Analysis Tool (DAT) and send the formatted tape to your HP representative.