Easy Question

[gregarican]

It's been awhile since I've had to plug into the console port on a Magix INA board. Do I use the standard Merlin RS-232 adapter that connect it to the admin port on the phone system? I've tried this, and set the baud rate to 9600 and nothing comes up using my terminal client...

 

[dagwoodsystems]

Make sure that you're plugged into the console port. There are four 8P8C jacks on the front of this module, the one you want to use is the second one down from the top.

Also check that dip switch #1 is flipped toward your right. If not, use a paper clip to change it's position and then press the Reboot button (first one above the T1/PRI port).

Although the console cable pinouts shown in the INA manual don't look anything like a 355AF, I'm very sure that I've used one for this purpose. And yes, set your terminal to 9600, 8, 1, None and NO flow control.

I don't like using the C1 (top) serial port and Legend/Magix Pass-Thru as it sometimes hangs up WinSPM. The PMVision software is OK; it's a nice GUI but it doesn't offer all the power that the command line interface does.

Tim Alberstein

http://www.dagwoodsystems.com

 

[gregarican]

Thanks for the info. Checking the INA docs the adapter appears to be a DB-25/RJ-45 null modem type. So the pinouts don't appear to correspond to the pinouts for the 355AF. That might explain why I couldn't get any response from the INA board using its console port.

I ensured my software settings for the modem connection were matched up with what you outlined. And I rebooted the board a few times. It's currently provisioned in a spare cabinet that's not really connected to our environment. So I have time to play around with it. In the interim I purchased a DB-25/RJ-45 null modem adapter and it's on its way shortly.

What's really a pain (off the subject) is that my laptop doesn't have a "real" serial port. Most newer machines don't. So my USB to RS-232 adapter is so flaky that when I disconnect from WinSPM I get a Windows XP BSOD saying the typical IRQ LESS EQUAL...blah blah blah message. But at least I can work with it okay, other than having to restart the laptop every time I disconnect

 

[dagwoodsystems]

You know, I keep a null modem adapter in my laptop bag. I wonder if I used that in conjunction with my 355AF...I guess I'm not as sure as I thought.

I've got a good friend (also in this business) who has similar problems with his USB adapter. I've offered to take a look at it a number of times, but his laptop is a bit like a baby blanket in that he cannot part with it for any amount of time.

Maybe you would entertain my curiousity and we could take a look at that problem together--either offline via email or in another thread.

Tim Alberstein

http://www.dagwoodsystems.com

 

[gregarican]

What I think the issue might be with the BSOD is that WinSPM "likes" a real COM port to sue it seems. Like COM1-4. But the virtual COM ports that USB devices emulate are much higher. So somehow these cheap, quirky USB/RS-232 adapters aren't handling the hardware interrupts gracefully. I had to assign this virtual COM port as COM1 and I think that's the issue.

Thanks for the offer for looking in, but I really don't have to connect into the admin port directly very often at my two locations. So a few reboots isn't the end of the world...

 

[gregarican]

Okay. Got connected to the INA board through the console port. Actually in addition to this null modem adapter I found the old cable that came with the first INA I ever bought. So I have a collection of adapters growing

Long story short is that I connected through the console port, assigned an IP address to the INA, then connected to it using a crossover Ethernet cable connected to my laptop. I restored the "live" INA's config to this new board and rebooted it.

When it came back up I realize that it doesn't show the WAN port. When I enter in show... at the command line I only see C0, line0, ether0, and M0. There should be a W0 entry where I can configure this hardwired PPP interface. Without this interface the board is useless.

I know I have configured INA's without a live T1 signal going into the DS1 port on the board. But just to make sure I plugged in a homemade loopback cable into the DS1 port. Still no sign of W0 in the show... options at the command line. There was another spare INA board that I configured using a similar technique and it worked without this issue.

Think I got ripped off? No wonder this board only cost 50!

 

[gregarican]

Answered my own question. Since this INA board was in a test cabinet I hadn't fully provisioned it from the Merlin WinSPM perspective. So no data channels were assigned to it. After I did that then the W0 port appears in the INA config.

Case closed

 

[dagwoodsystems]

Thank you so much. It's super cool of you to take the trouble to post back such detailed results. Now that the problem is behind you, it would have been very easy to go about your business and not bother with this forum.

Someone will be looking for a solution to their INA board problem one day, and your findings might just be the help they needed.

Stay cool.

Tim Alberstein

http://www.dagwoodsystems.com

 

[gregarican]

No problem. From my own past troubles I recall being very grateful for stumbling across some obscure answers for a nagging technical dilemma or two.

Back when I first installed our INA board I remember Avaya wasn't so bountiful in posting their tech docs. The board came with no documentation, and web searches were coming up pretty thin. Finally once I figured out that it was based on the Lucent Portmaster under the covers I found a website that contained downloads of PMVision, PMWizard, etc. Boy I felt like I had stumbled into Tut's tomb

 

[quazimotto]

Guys,

What is an INA board and what is it used for?

Thanks\Quaz

 

[gregarican]

It's an integrated board that can split out telco's voice and data they bring in. So you can provide internet access to your site, hand out DHCP client settings, etc. plus have a voice PRI. Kind of like having a Cisco, Adtran, etc. unit do the work for you but this is right in the Merlin.

For us we have a point to point private T1 and I split things out myself through the INA. You can pick them up pretty cheap on eBay and other sites. They used to cost around $2K when they were new back in the day IIRC...