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BCM DOWN!!!!!

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MetroMan

Technical User
Aug 29, 2002
223
CA
Hi everyone,
my clients BCM 400 is down...the RAM has been checked and changed, the Hard Drive was tested, read ,scandisked on a PC, so that's fine.....no go on it though...the lights just keep flashing on the front of the unit.....What should I do next???? The MSC and DTI are still running fine but no callPilot....HELP!


Much appeciated (I'm frightened and alone!!!!)
T

Trevor Farren
Metrotech Telecom Inc.
 
Did you check the capacitors on the base function tray (CPU board)? If they're green, check to see if they are leaking/bulging. If so, contact Nortel for a replacement BFT.
 
Nope, they look fine... Itried hooking a serial null cable to the serial port on the front to a hyperterminal session, 8-bit hardware, 9600, 1 bit stop....no go....do you use a straight serial?

What else am I missing?

thx

Trevor Farren
Metrotech Telecom Inc.
 
It's a NT7B10AADH -- Ao898618 Rel 02...manufactured 2003/01/30....

That should be it....

Trevor Farren
Metrotech Telecom Inc.
 
SoI just added a monitor keyboard and mouse, and the boot up screen comes up for a second then the video goes off....I can get into the bios occasionally but it seems to reboot itself then go dead... I checked the capacitors again...the tops of them are supposed to be flat? they are rounded and one has some crud comming out of the top.... @What part would i order to replace it?

Thanks!

Trevor Farren
Metrotech Telecom Inc.
 
It's a NT7B10AADH -- Ao898618 Rel 02...manufactured 2003/01/30....

It's on the Nortel List of bad BFT's.

Clarify Bulletin 2005006002
RMA Program Valid to 12/06

Contact your vendor and they can order you a free replacement BFT.
 
Acewarlock, you are a life saver, and thank you everyone for the prompt responses...I just took the service contract over from the ILEC who sold my client the system....I can't figure out who Nortel will ship it to then...any thoughts?? How should I go about this???

Thanks again!

Trevor Farren
Metrotech Telecom Inc.
 
We are running on

Product Version BCM400
Motherboard SH815
BIOS Version 02.03.03

NNTMRAA39828
NT7B10AADH (2003/7/25)
A0898618 REL 07


Does this system also comes under bad BFT?
Where can I find the list of BAD BFT?

 
If your not a Nortel Partner, then you will need to get the Orig seller to open a case with Nortel and then send a fax P.O. for the BFT to 615-882-0218 with the shipping address you want it sent to.
 
Did you mean Software Release? We are running on 3.0.1

Has nortel published the list of bad BFT on their website?
or Is it available anywhere anywhere else?
 
Note: This capacitor issue is one that affects the computer motherboard industry globally.
ANALYSIS
The scope of this Product Advisory Bulletin applies to a small percentage of BCM 3.0 and 3.5
systems.
Nortel is anticipating a small failure rate of motherboards due to this issue. We are monitoring
performance of electrolytic capacitors used in the SH815 motherboard to validate this estimate.
Note: BCM200/400 platforms that have more recent software versions may have been initially
shipped as BCM 3.0 or BCM 3.5 base systems. Please review the BCM 3.0 and BCM 3.5
product codes below to ensure the system under investigation has been correctly identified.
Existing studies of the suspect electrolytic capacitor used in the majority of BCM 3.5 systems
indicate that modifications in chemical formulation of the capacitors, initiated by capacitor vendor,
have improved their reliability and extended their Life Cycle to accepted industry standard levels.
Nortel will continue to monitor BCM 3.5 systems with the improved formulations for any abnormal
behaviors.
Finally, motherboards used in BCM 3.6 and later are manufactured with a capacitor from a
supplier different than those used in pre BCM 3.6 systems, so this issue does not exist for BCM
3.6 and later systems.
The BCM 3.0 product codes affected by this issue are:
BCM Product Description PEC CPC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NA BCM 3.0 on BCM400, Standard NT7B10AADH A0898618
NA BCM 3.0 on BCM400, Redundancy NT7B10AADJ A0898620
Int'l BCM 3.0 on BCM400, Standard NT7B10AADP A0899811
Int'l BCM 3.0 on BCM400, Redundancy NT7B10AADQ A0899812
NA BCM 3.0 on BCM200, Standard NT7B10AADT A0990913
Int'l BCM 3.0 on BCM200, Standard NT7B10AADU A0990914
The BCM 3.5 product codes affected by this issue are:
BCM Product Description PEC CPC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NA BCM 3.5 BCM400 Standard NT7B10AAED A0510880
NA BCM 3.5 BCM400 Redundancy NT7B10AAEE A0510881
Int'l BCM 3.5 BCM400 Standard NT7B10AAEF A0511056
Int'l BCM 3.5 BCM400 Redundancy NT7B10AAEG A0511057
NA BCM 3.5 BCM200 Standard NT7B10AAEH A0510882
Int'l BCM 3.5 BCM200 Standard NT7B10AAEJ A0510883
RECOMMENDATIONS
The solution for this issue is the replacement of the SH815 motherboard. The SH815
motherboard is part of the assembly within the Base Function Tray (BFT) of both the BCM400
and BCM200 platforms. Base Function Trays are a removable item in the field so replacements
can be made on site. Typical Base Function Tray replacement time is about 30 minutes,
documentation describing replacement procedures can be found in the FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION section of this advisory.
PAGE 2 OF 6 TECHNICAL | DOCUMENT ID 2005006321
 
Hey Guys,
again, thanks for all of the invaluable help. The local ILEC, The one that start with "B", and ends in "ell Canada", told my client fairly directly that they would in no way come and take care of this issue, even though they sold it to them, so we are having to pay Bell to come and change it.....lesson learned.....I am much more weary of Nortel, as they have not helped in anyway possible, I am very distrubed by this, as an indepandant channel resller, who left Nortel's authorized program behind due to their financial inflexebility....oh well....

Thanks again!

Trevor Farren
Metrotech Telecom Inc.
 
Well the root cause of the bad capacitors can't be blamed on Nortel. Lots of OEMs got hurt by bad capacitors resulting from faulty industrial espionage...


That being said, the manufacturer or the vendor shouldn't leave you high and dry with a product that was flawed at birth.
 
I would agree that the green capacitors IE BFT needs to be replaced...but I am a little leary of the hard drive too. Even if the BFT fits a PAA the monitor should return a blue screen with a series of dots on bootup. The fact that you are not getting those dots make me believe that the hard drive may have been corrupted at some point. I have replaced many BFT's only to find out that we had a bad hard drive too. Just something to think about.
 
I didn't have a hard drive in my BCM and the blue screen came up fine, it embedded in the CMOS.
 
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