Magix / Asterisk integration 1

[ITDale]

Hope someone here can point me in the right direction.
As several others have mentioned I'm also a PBX newbie, more of a networking / data guy that ended up "owning" the phone system too.
I have 3 older Avaya systems; 2 are Magix R2 and 1 is a Legend (not sure of the revision off hand) These are in 3 separate buildings, have a 3 digit dialing plan and are all in hybrid / PBX mode. I know almost enough about managing them to be dangerous (much rather write VB or SQL any day than launch winSPM...)
Because these systems are aging and our needs are growing I need to do some upgrading but do not have a budget for an IP chassis. I want to at least try Asterisk to see if it is a fit for our needs but vendors I've approached have taken an "our way or highway" attitude and refuse to help. My current need for assistance is simply to configure an unused 100D card in one of the Magix chassis to communicate with a Digium TE110P in an Asterisk based PC. Initially I want to put my IT dept's 3 extensions on Asterisk for evaluation.
Any thoughts / Ideas appreciated
Dale

 

[ITDale]

Project Update:
After searching many forums and talking to a few systems integrators it seemed that a CSU would be necessary to successfully connect an Asterisk T1 to my Magix 100 DS1 port. I now have an Adtran TSU 120 connected between the systems and a solid link between the Adtran and Asterisk boxes. Asterisk is on the network port with a T1 crossover cable. Magix is on the DSX-1 port; straight cable (tried a cross-over there too)

The Magix is configured for a PRI with DS0-24 set to D and 1-23 set as B with a trunk group. The framing and coding formats match (ESF B8ZS) but there's an alarm on the Adtran that the documentation calls a framing error - OOF. The Adtran signaling is set to network but I've also tried both DSX-1 options with the same result.

Can anybody help troubleshoot the Magix / Adtran connection problem?
Dale

 

[kwing112000]

If your equipmeent is in the same room you do not need a CSU. you only need that if you are terminating from the telco. All you should need is a T1 crossover cable between the 2. THe cross over is 1,2 and 4,5. So 1 to 4 and 2 to 5. The csu may be your issue. It needs to be set up for common channel signaling instead of Robbed bit. If they are together in the same room i would not use CSU. it is just another device to cause issues.

 

[dagwoodsystems]

Once you've got that piece solved, may I suggest posting your question over at

http://www.sundance-communications.com/forum/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/forum/f/5.html.

There's a guy by the handle of "Kumba" that's an Asterisk expert. Between him and the Avaya guys in both forums, we should be able to get you going.

Tim Alberstein

http://www.dagwoodsystems.com

 

[ITDale]

Kwing: I've tried every possible combination of cable (straight, T1 cross- normal polarity and T1 cross-reverse polarity) and always had the same red alarm on the Digium T1 card. Some say that's an indication of a wiring error. The connection between the Digium card and CSU is solid now but I still have "issues" between the CSU and the Avaya card. Your message and writing this reply are making me think there might be a problem with the 100D card but I have tried a direct wired connection to another card in a nearly identical chassis with no luck there either.

One of the guys I spoke with mentioned never having seen a 100 DS1 connected to anything other than another 100 DS1 WITHOUT using a CSU, thought it might have something to do with the older systems being less able to manage the channelization of a PRI. I wish I knew for sure what really is required to even get these 2 systems to synch up. I had hoped that the CSU would be able to play interpreter since both systems should be able to communicate with the CSU.

Thanks for making me think to take another close look at the 100 DS1.

dagwoodsystems: Thanks for the heads-up about sundance-communications. Will see if anyone there has been able to make something like this work.

 

[kwing112000]

Have you tried to make a loop-back and see if the equipment will go green. This should make the 100ds1 think the PRI is up and the red light will go out. then take the loop back and put it on the other end of the cable before it goes into the Aterisk and see if it still goes green. Then maybe you can rule out the cabling.

 

[ITDale]

Yes, one of the first things we tried was to loop-back the Digium card. Now, with the CSU in place I also did loop-back testing from it (but now that I think about it, I only did the loop-back towards Asterisk, not to Magix); next attempt, thanks.

Just found this thread today and it comes close to mirroring the situation I have.

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1392833

 

[Telecomboy]

If you are a network tech by nature, you may not know that a cross-over cable from the Asterisk to the Magix is a T1 cross-over which is not the same as in the data world. A T1 cross-over cable swaps pins 1 and 2 for 4 and 5 respectfully. No CSU is required if they are in the same room.

I have just set-up a similar scenerio last week and it worked great. Let me know if your cable is the issue or if the issue still exists.

 

[Telecomboy]

One other issue that you may need to change is the clocking. i couldn't get my T1 to synch until I changed the clocking on the magix to loop.

 

[ITDale]

Thanks for that
Yes, it took quite a while to come to the conclusion that wiring was a likely culprit and make a proper cross-over connector. I found a post somewhere where the person used a double female jack to make a crossover coupler and that is what finally got me a solid connection between Asterisk (Digium TE110P card) and the Adtran TSU 120. I did try the same connector directly between my Magix chassis and the Digium card -- red alarm as usual. I'm now thinking that timing is probably a significant factor. That and the troubles that were experienced in the thread I referenced where they were trying to connect a Partner system to a Cisco router. Can Magix "talk" PRI to a foreign host?

On the timing front I did find out today that theses chassis' can only have one timing source for all T1 cards (per chassis; according to my primary vendor that hates Asterisk...). I have 4 chassis' in 3 locations; 5 T1 cards, (2 chassis' in 1 office that have a backbone interconnect). Only 1 outside T1, 3 others are used for UDP networking and I have 1 to experiment with. Apparently all of the timing is provided by AT&T on the T1 that connects through an Atlas CSU.

So timing is provided by AT&T in chassis AB: Chassis AB is connected to chassis C by a T1 (Magix network PRI) Chassis C also has the T1 card I am trying to connect to this VOIP box. Preferably via PRI but now maybe straight T1 will be necessary. (if any of that makes sense...)

Thanks for your thoughts
Dale

 

[kwing112000]

The only time you should need a crossover is if you are leaving the Adtran out of the mix. If you are using 2 of them to connect then that makes it straight again. . Maybe i misunderstood the post but i just wanted to clear that up.

 

[madwok]

I thought that Magic would not talk to any PRI unless it come from LEC ?

 

[madwok]

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1392833

for discussion on the special flavor PRI on Magic

 

[Telecomboy]

If you are setting the Magix and Asterisk up next to each other, forget the Adtran and just use a T1 cross-over cable between the two. You do not have to program it as a straight T1. Program the Magix as a PRI so you can utilize UDP routes. I think we had to program the Asterisk as NI1 in order for it to talk to the Magix properly (instead of 5ESS or DMS100 or NI2).

 

[SYQUEST]

To properly understand how Legend & Magix do networking and what is needed, you can download the Network Reference from the Avaya website: support.avaya.com

There you will find other useful documents for Legend/Magix that may be helpful to you and your project.

....JIM....

 

[ITDale]

WOW!
Some very good feedback.
I've spent some time on Avaya's site, read the feature and programmer's reference but not the network manual, will get a copy.

Then I also need to find some quality closet time to see if using NI1 works in my situation.
Thanks All!
I'll be sure to post my results.
Dale

 

[dagwoodsystems]

No sir. NI1 will not work; the Magix does not understand North American ISDN...only Custom protocol. Your closest choice on the Asterisk is 5ESS.

I've known several people try this integration and were unsuccessful. If you find code for that Digium that will work with the Magix, you'll be my hero. I've know several people experimenting with Asterisk right now, many of which want it as an adjunct to their existing PBX.

Tim Alberstein

http://www.dagwoodsystems.com

 

[Telecomboy]

Tim,

The Asterisk has a choice of "NI1 Custom". When we chose that option, the connection came right up.

 

[ITDale]

My apologies for turning this discussion totally Asterisk and I'd be happy to take it off-line if requested but could I get one more clarification? The option for NI1 Custom is in zapata.conf, correct? The Asterisk config file?

We had thought that the card and Zaptel config needed to be able to link at the hardware level before that configuration had much significance. In the zaptel.conf their is only one configuration command for "setting the stage" and we have been trying span=1,0,0,d4,b8zs

So I think what you are saying is that both configuration files are equally important right from the start to successfully link the Digium DS1 and Magix 100 DS1 ports with a T1 cross-over.

If this works you'll be a lot of people's hero
Dale

 

[dagwoodsystems]

Don't worry, bro. Until there's a Asterisk forum, you have my support on posting here.

I really want Asterisk to succeed. I'm just torn over a few things; that "NI1 Custom" thing is a glaring example. True NI (North American ISDN) protocol flavors are mutually exclusive of the old AT&T Custom protocol. Saying "NI1 Custom" is a bit like saying "touchtone-rotary". I think the people writing the modules for the Asterisk platform are working very hard. I'm just not sure how many of them come from a true telecom background.

Anyway, now that your link is up it will be interesting to see if it stays up and performs as you expect (regardless of what they call the protocol). What I know is that many times the carrier has their switch set for NI, and the D-Channel on the Magix pops up...even though the Magix only "understands" Custom protocol. Typically, there is only one way communications in these conditons. And in the rare two-way scenarios, the D-Channel regularly falls down.

Please post your detailed findings when you have them. I'm REALLY interested in these experiments.

Tim Alberstein

http://www.dagwoodsystems.com