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Bad expansion cabinet? 2

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kpzan

kpzan

Technical User
May 14, 2016
173
US
Hello,

Got a call from a customer last week after a bad storm saying half their phones are dead. BCM50 6.0 with 2 expansion cabinets, 8 x 16 module in each cabinet.

Site is 200 miles away so I had a nearby co-worker go to site and he found green power light, orange status light on 8 x 16 in expansion cabinet 2. All the phones on expansion 2 out of service. Expansion 1 working fine.

Shipped replacement 8 x 16 module and exp.cabinet to the site. Tried replacing module first - no help. Dip switches are set identical to original module. Replaced power supply and ethernet cord with known good power supply and ethernet cord - still no help.

Next, replaced expansion cabinet and inserted replacement 8 x 16 module in it.

Powered up BCM first, waited 60 seconds then powered up expansion cabinets 1 and 2.

Steady green LEDs on both expansions now but expansion 2 phones are just flashing and won't sync up. The BCM and expansion 1 are fine.


Any advice on how to proceed? Maybe try another module and cabinet?
 
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Have you been able to access the BCM 50 via Element Manager?. You might need to disable the 2nd expansion unit and then enable it again.

Also, check the alarms and events.

Firebird Scrambler

Nortel & Avaya Meridian 1 / Succession & BCM / Norstar Programmer

Website = linkedin
 
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After you do above, reboot just the BCM via programming.

If it still does not work then swap the 2 ethernet exp cords at the BCM and see if the problem stays or follows to see if issue with the BCM ethernet port or the cabinet.


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Toronto, Canada

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Thank you sir.

My co-worker at the distant site is not experienced on Nortel products and doesn't have access to Element Manager.

I have no remote access to the system either.

I've stepped my co-worker through telset programming to ensure Expansion 2 in Hardware is set to 8 x 16.

If I remember correctly modules can be disabled and re-enabled through telset programming.
Does that sound correct?

 
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Thank you Mr. curlycord. Will follow your advice.
 
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I think its Mod 4 and 5, 5 being the culprit.
So when you get to Maintenance/ModuleStatus/5/ press State, then the Disable button will appear.

If the BCM is on the network have the client forward port TCP 5989 to the BCM for BEM to connect.


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Many thanks Mr. curlycord for your expert advice.

Question: Is there any benefit in powering down the BCM after disabling the module then re-enabling it after powering back up?

Or should we just disable it then re-enable it during the same telset programming session?
 
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Example:
On new installs if you selected a station module and at least one set is plugged in then it will enable.
If no sets are plugged in yet then you will need to reboot for the enable setting to take.
I have seen situations where a set was plugged in but it did not enable so I had to reboot.

Your situation is different.
So you can just disable, then re-enable, if it works then no boot required, but if it does not then reboot it.

Some choices in order...
-Disable, Re-Enable
-Disable, Re-Enable, Reboot
-Disable, Reboot, Re-Enable
-Change MBM to NONE, Change back to 8X16, Re-Enable
-Change MBM to NONE, Change back to 8X16, Re-Enable, Reboot

Best to get BEM setup (remote or onsite) and do a backup.



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Excellent.

Many thanks Mr. curlycord for providing multiple scenarios. We'll go ahead and do as you've instructed.

I'll post back with results - it may take a few days.

Thanks also to Firebird Scrambler for expert advice.
 
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I would suggest that the engineer on site tries to log on via the maintenance OAM port.

You should be able to download the Element Manager software via the browser, but it might be easier with an old laptop as its not straightforward on newer computers these days.

The OAM port rarely gets changed.

Try IP = 10.10.11.1
Subnet = 255.255.255.252

Set your computer IP address to 10.10.11.2.
You still need to know the login and password details.

Firebird Scrambler

Nortel & Avaya Meridian 1 / Succession & BCM / Norstar Programmer

Website = linkedin
 
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Before getting too carried away, you might just try swapping the power supplies between the 2 cabinets. I've ran into this a couple of times where the supply puts out the voltage but can't deliver enough current to run the phones. It only takes a minute to try it....might save a lot of headaches. Power hits do some strange stuff to telecom equipment.
 
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Thanks Firebird Scrambler.

I had remote access to this system for a few years until the customer was bought out by a corporation that shut down the VPN for their own security reasons. I also have a relatively current backup of the customer file on my older laptop that I use for programming BCM.

My co-worker in the distant city tells me he has a Windows 11 laptop and I've read about the difficulties loading Element Manager on new laptops on the Tek-Tips forum. My co-worker also has no experience on Nortel. He's actually an an alarm system technician! In addition, I'm not sure I could help him if he ran into problems loading BEM.
For these reasons I thought maybe stepping him through disabling and re-enabling the module in telset programming would be worth a try first. This I can do with a fair amount of ease. I don't mind traveling to the site with my laptop if disaster strikes and we lose programming.
 
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Thanks telcodog. Words of wisdom. Sometimes while troubleshooting it's easy to miss the forest for the trees. At least for me :)
I had my co-worker swap power supplies and ethernet patch cords between the two cabinets the other day to no avail.
 
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I'm using Windows 11 and BCM Element Manager 62.0.5.

The trick is to install Java, but not to automatically update it. It can be done but the security.java file needs to be amended each time to remove a few entries of MD5 and I think TLS 1.1 but there should be information on line about how to do it.

Firebird Scrambler

Nortel & Avaya Meridian 1 / Succession & BCM / Norstar Programmer

Website = linkedin
 
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Many thanks for the inside tips and secrets gentlemen. Duly noted. I'm guessing a considerable amount of effort was necessary to procure them.
 
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Hello, hope everyone is doing well.

Good news, we disabled and re-enabled the module that wouldn't sync up but it was being stubborn so we rebooted the BCM and Voila! all phones back in service.

Star for Firebird Scrambler and curlycord. Thanks also to telcodog for good troubleshooting advice.

And thanks again for the advanced info on loading BEM. Will come in handy in the future.
 
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