AppleTalk through 4108gl

[Steve Lovaas]

Since installing a 4108gl as a backbone switch at several sites that use both Windows and Mac networking, I've seen problems with the newer Macs. IP works fine, but the machines don't seem to receive any reply to their initial broadcast asking about what AppleTalk node number to use. Thus, they just pick one, and that leads to conflicts.

Does anyone have an idea of what setting might be causing this, or whether (as the Apple engineers have claimed) it's a bug?

[Sietze Reitsma]

Please check:

http://www.hp.com/rnd/library/tech_note.htm

If possible migrate to IP only.

Best Regards,

Sietze.

[Tito Tortelli]

Do you have a seed router, that limits the availble cable range? Is one of the symtoms, objects dropping out of the chooser?

Sometimes hardcoding speed-duplex settings help but it's only a band-aid approach to a mis-configured, or absent seed router.

HP switches detect link first, then speed setting and then duplex settings. Some versions of the Mac OS cannot keep up with the speed that this happens and think they are on the wire and start to chat with other Macs. But since it's really not on the network yet it grabs a cable number and starts to go.

I've seen this problem more than once and have worked on site with Apple engineers, and configuring the seed router solved the issue once and for all.

It's not a HP bug and it's not an Apple bug, but most likely a simple configuration issue.

tito

[Steve Lovaas]

Thanks, Tito

Some sites do have seed routers; others have not seemed to need one, and work just fine having the Macs sort themselves out. This has worked fine with the 4000m, but now with the 4108gl, we see this new problem.

Up to now, I've solved it by the addition of a seed router or by manually coding AppleTalk addresses. I'd just hoped there was an easy software fix :)

Thanks for your input!
Steve

[SCOOTER]

If you need to set the speed-duplex on the Mac's (btw not supported by Apple, but it works):

Duplexer

The Apple iMac (including the slot loading CD-ROM versions)
Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White version only)
Power Macintosh G4
iBook
1999 PowerBook G3 (Bronze version only)
2000 PowerBook (Firewire version)

Uses auto negotiation to determine what speed (10 Mbit or 100 Mbit)
and duplex (half or full) to use for the built in Ethernet.

Duplexer is an unsupported system extension that allows you
to disable the auto negotiation and to use a set speed (10 Mbit or 100 Mbit)
and duplex (Full or Half) for the built in Ethernet.

[Shane_33]

My answer in the thread below should be applicable here as well.

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0xf6cd38008f5d2441bdfad50d4505b453,00.html

Regards,
Shane.