BCM DOWN!!!!!

[MetroMan]

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.

 

[mrphoneman]

I See a lot of BFT in this but I haven't seen any MSC. If your MSC is not strapped it will crash your system and is not recoverable. This happens with old version 3.0 and was carried onto 3.0 to 3.5 upgrades. I have swapped many a BFT & MSC which both have Nortel service advisory. Good luck!

 

[MetroMan]

True the MSC was fine, and I have always stood behind the Norstar and Meridian products I sell....I was just dissappointed in Nortel's attitude....It's changed since the stock crash....

Trevor Farren
Metrotech Telecom Inc.

 

[thomen00]

dbl8708 is correct. No blue screen means no operating system. The drive probably needs to be re-imaged or replaced. If it is a mirrored hard drive, you can try to swap the primary and secondary.

 

[acewarlock]

If the BFT is bad and the system keeks rebooting, How would you get a blue screen.

 

[thomen00]

Well, it's already been determined that per the Nortel advisory...the BFT needs to be replaced. Although I was agreeing with dbl8708 that in this case, it could be more than just the BFT. If after the BFT replacement you are still unable to load Windows NT (i.e. the blue screen), I would attempt to re-image or replace the hard drive.

To verify a bad hard drive, if you can connect to the BCM via the DB9 serial port using a null modem cable, you can go to system status monitor to verify the status of the hard drive(s).

 

[tech2233]

I tend to agree with you MetroMan. I have also noticed a very changed direction in Nortel's attitude in the last year. I think the techs at the ITAS support level are also becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of the BCM product. The Nortel ITAS support group has some really smart tech guys - stick a dud product like the BCM in front of them, they keep hearing the same complanits over and over again, and they get frustrated. The BCM is probably one of the worst engineered phone systems on the market. Very unstable, difficult and very time consuming to upgrade and back-up.

Try another product !

 

[acewarlock]

I have been working on Nortel System for over 25 years and I like the BCM, it has a few problems just like any phone system. The BFT Cap problem is world wide and not just Nortel. They have been replacing my bad BFT without any problems for the last year. I have replaced about 15 so far. I also had some bad Caps on about 8 BCM 1000 that Nortel replaced.

Just my 2Cents

 

[NARSBARS]

Every bad BFT has been replaced by my vendor with no complaints. As acewarlock said the BCM works very well and will only become better with Linux.
Someone else said "hard to backup". My BCMs back up on a regular schedule with no issues, the process is automated and painless.

I wish I was a supertech, but management supertech is an oxymoron. I can do anything my vendor's techs can do only slower.
My vendor has highly skilled, fast techs and a great relationship with Nortel. It is my responsibility to make sure that I know enough not to break anything.
Since my job and reputation depend on Nortel equipment I would have changed to Avaya if I thought there was a better product.

Know your product, know your vendor and you will have very few problems with the BCM.

NARSBARS

 

[Johnthephoneguy]

I've installed a few BCM's and never had troubles of any kind. I am not sure what has happened to you guys to have such a bad taste about Nortel stuff but I still think it's the best out there. Sure some products do something better than others, but for my money it's Nortel each time!

 

[acewarlock]

Some people would complain if it rained gold on there head.

 

[MetroMan]

I agree, I will always stick with Nortel....there is a lot of less wothy systems out there (anyone install a Ayava Partener or anything NEC lately.....eeek!) I can see how ITAS would get VERY frustrated, but i feel that Linux will be a HUGE push forward for BCM's.



Trevor Farren
Metrotech Telecom Inc.

 

[tech2233]

Well Metroman, sure looks like you are singing a different tune. Your last post says "I will always stick with Nortel". Then, the post before that says "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....", and also "I was just dissappointed in Nortel's attitude....It's changed since the stock crash....". So which one is it MetroMan ?

Some of you people must live in a bubble.

Don’t you realize that a phone system is expected to be up 100% of the time. Why do you accept anything less. Well at least Nortel does come out with patches right away to fix the problems with the software, but why do they have so many bug fixes in the first place. How does a major manufacturer like Nortel release a product like BCM 3.6 and then come out with 80 patches to fix the product. What was so wrong with the product in the first place that they have to keep patching and patching ?

Why is it that if someone is critical of the product that some of you are so enamored with you immediately presume that they would complain if it rained gold on their heads.

Fact is, the BCM has had a lot of hardware problems, especially over the last 2 years. Furthermore, the BCM has had more patches released in the last year than at any other time in its’ product history. I’m not against the revolution in technology. I believe in VoIP and I do know that it will change our industry. What I also suspect is that unless Nortel cleans up their act they will slowly lose market share to the myriad of other products on the market that are better designed.

I know, Nortel will be releasing BCM on Linux. Horray. It's about time. The product is 7 years old !

 

[MetroMan]

It essentially means that I am FAR happier pushing the ASTOUNDINGLY stable MICS and CICS systems, when my client are far away, because they are essentially bulletproof, and should be after almost 20 years of fine tuning the Norstar line.....They do not proform all of the same tasks as the BCM, or any IP PBX for that matter, and I am hoping that Linux makes things much better.

I may sound inexperienced, but I also have the pleasure of programming DMS-100's, and 5 and 4ESS, a couple of which, we haven't ever restarted in all of my years....now I see the ICS KSU's alot closer to CO switches than the BCM, linux will help, and I hope that ITAS will have a better time, and consequently, the support will improve.....

I DO see a future with Nortel, I never doubted that......

Trevor Farren
Metrotech Telecom Inc.

 

[RampageRick]

Quoting tech2233:
"How does a major manufacturer like Nortel release a product like BCM 3.6 and then come out with 80 patches to fix the product. What was so wrong with the product in the first place that they have to keep patching and patching ?"

Two words... Win Doze

Do you realize that Windows NT came out in 1993 and they've been issuing patches until the very end (although Nortel managed to squeeze an extra 6 months of life support)

Have you done an install of Windows XP lately? You've got several hundred patches included with SP2, plus tack on the 90-odd post-SP2 fixes. It's no different than a BCM

I'm pushing off upgrading to a BCM 400 from an 8x24 until a month or so after 4.0 goes mainstream. I want to skip the NT blip and go straight to the good stuff.