BCM 400 v.4.0+ DSM32 UNEQUIPPED ports

[crabashng]

Hi. Having a challenging time attempting to troubleshoot both T7316E and T7100 DN's that are showing up as UNEQUIPPED via Element Manager.

We've thus far been able to rule-out the phone and line cord, as they'll work fine on other ports. The problem is when it comes time to dispatch a wiring-tech --- multiple times they've been finding the problem isolates back to the DSM32 card --- line itself tests fine from the 66 block.

The problem is how to prevent incurring the cost of dispatching a line tech to diagnose a problem that we 'should' be able to isolate from Element Mangager itself. The given DN will show up as UNEQUIPPED - we've attempted to reset the port, but doesn't help. The other ports on the card continue functioning fine.

Anyone aware of how to determine, from Element Manager, whether a given port on a DSM32 is bad? Or better yet, fix it? Is there a loopback test that can be used to isolate?

Thanks in advance.

 

[senk1s]

assuming that port is actually equipped with a telephone, and the connectivity between the phone and dsm32 is 'good' and the port is enabled,
you got a bad phone or bad dsm32

is the phone working?

 

[crabashng]

assuming that port is actually equipped with a telephone, and the connectivity between the phone and dsm32 is 'good' and the port is enabled, you got a bad phone or bad dsm32

is the phone working?

negative. phone is dead when associated with that DN only.

Our problem is how to determine bad port on the DSM32 before dispatching a line tech. every now and again the tech will find a wiring issue, bad cross-connect, etc. - and that's all well and good. We'd like to avoid having to dispatch a line-tech only to discover we have a bad DSM32, however.

For ex - on a Cisco router you can run loopback tests on a card to see if it's generating errors. It'd be nice if the BCM400/Element Manager had a similar function.

I'm gathering it doesn't, however.

 

[cook1082]

Get a 66 modular connector that you can plug directly onto the block, plug the line cord in with phone to eleminate crossconnects and wiring to see if it works there..

 

[MagnaRGP]

A DSM 32 is not like a router and never will be. If you have a set go down on a port and the same set is fine on another port, it's either wiring or port.

This is one of those physical things that has to be checked.

 

[jimnaisium]

What crabashng and I are trying to do is figure out a way to find out if a port is bad WITHOUT having to send someone to test it. Whether this is an error log buried in the BCM somewhere, or an unknown/undocumented test that can be run on a port from the BCM's own software.

What it comes down to is our telecom guy is tired of throwing money out the window for things he doesn't need or want to spend it on, if a test could tell us that the port is ok then he would be fine with sending someone to check the wiring out.

 

[NARSBARS]

Try going back to basics. Disable the module and enable the module, or shut down and reboot. All can be done remotely and the old methods will sometimes show the problem.

NARSBARS

 

[nooop]

I would like to know how old the telco amphenol connector is? Those tiny copper connections at the station card could be corroded, or damaged? I would agree to buy a short telco cable for 12 bucks, and a set of aligator clips connected to a biscuit, and use a good set and test them 1 by 1. If it is good there, then you know what direction to continue trouble shooting.

You are not testing target lines, you are testing hardware, so forget about element manager for now.

 

[jimnaisium]

Again, what we DON'T want to do is have someone physically show up and start testing things, we want the card to be able to tell us if the port is bad, that test is free, sending a tech to the site is not free.

 

[acewarlock]

What everyone is trying to say but not saying, is there is no test. I use an AMP cable connected to a RJ11 strip and plug a phone in each one to see if it works on each port. I have never found a bad port on a DSM 32, but I have had bad AMP connectors on the cable.

 

[jimnaisium]

Ok, thank you.

That is what I/we needed to know, telecom guy is just going to have to put a crowbar in his budget or start billing for his services.