Meridian, Help with software revision 1.1

[sramelyk]

I actually work for a CLEC. We have a customer who owns a Nortel Norstar key system, I believe a meridian. It has software revision v1.1 We are having intermitant dropped calles coming in.. We have done way to many things to list here to try and find the problem.

My question is this, how old is v1.1? Are there any known bugs with that version? Can I find this information somewhere? Anyone seen this problem before?

 

[luv2ski]

r1t1 was released 1994/95..as for bugs of course there are bugs....mics 1.1 was soon after most t1 bugs were fixed on 4.1 and pri issues on 5.0 we are at 6.1 awaiting release of 7.0

ONLY 21 WEEKS TILL SKI SEASON STARTS

 

[Arr]

Randomly dropped calls could be early processor failure. My company keeps a spare KSU for testing and emergency purposes. To prove the problem, first change out the power supply in the KSU. If no go; do a back up of the R1T1 using Norstar Manager and a FastRad, then put in a good Rls 2.0 and use the upgrade tool if you have one. Otherwise if it is a simple system use a higher level of software and handbomb it in. This will prove the NVram cartrige. Then if the problem continues change out the cabinet. If the problem goes away, sell the new system to the customer and turf the old one.

There are really only three parts to fuss with in an R1T1 system. Four in a 4.0 or higher.

Good luck
PhM

 

[sramelyk]

Actually.. Now that I have done some more testing.. It appears that the phantom calls are due to a disconnect failure. Occasionally, and I mean maybe a couple of times a day, after a call completes and the calling party hangs up the line doesn't disconnect. This seems to be in association with the phantom calls.. We have spoke with the vendor about changing to Ground Start and they appear to act like they don't even know if the system can do it.. Needless to say, I sure would think that upgrading the software would still be a good idea.. For me in my business thats the first thing I do to any piece of equipment I work on. I find the latest software revision and upgrade.. And we are getting the obvious, this problem never happened until we switch to your company..

Thanks for all of the responses!

 

[luv2ski]

i have had a system where this was an issue...make sure you are both on same page for span and channels...also the verbage on the norstar is nowhere close to what the carrier uses as in your talking apples hes talking oranges but its still fruit...hope i made the point

ONLY 21 WEEKS TILL SKI SEASON STARTS

 

[Arr]

Norstar will not recognise ground start analog trunking. External adapters are required to interface for this. If your company is supplying loop start DS trunks then check that the following is set up:

Loss Package should be set correctly for the wire length from your CO; ie if they are quite far away ensure the loss package isn't set for short CO; thus increasing the attenuation by 4db;

DS timer should be set for 460 or above your DS time; and

ensure lines are set to 'Supervised'.

The randomness of the stated complaint would indicate to me that one or two trunks, say in the middle of the overline/hunt group have a DS problem from the Telco side.
Norstar rarely does goofy stuff like dumping programming. It is so solid a machine, that the Telco is usually the first point of failure.

Cheers
PhM

 

[sramelyk]

Ok.. I am going to try and understand some theory here.. I have been trapping calls all day and have some interesting results.. Only problem is that I don't know how the Meridian should be responding, maybe you guys could help.. Here is what is going on.

A call is placed to this customer (THE NORTEL SWITCH). The customer goes off hook and the call takes place. When the call is over I see a on hook condition and thats it.. Now.. On occasion, I get a normal off hook, and then an on hook when the call is over.. Then, a strange series of on hooks and off hooks take place.. This I believe is causing my problem.

Any thoughts?

 

[phonebiz]

I had this issue a few months ago and I'm trying to remember what I did to correct it. I'll see if I have it in my notes and post back unless someone beats me to it. I had to do a lot of hunting to find the problem. This was on a 6.1 software release.

By the way. Ground Start lines are available on the Norstar as of at least 6.0 through a T1. I try to avoid Loop Start lines on a T1 especially since PRI is the same cost in Atlanta. There used to be a problem with hung lines on Loop Start T1s. It was a Nortel issue. Since most of my customers are no longer on Loop Start Ts I'm not sure if the problem went away with one of the later software releases or not.

Your customer should be able to get a new NVRAM Card and Software for a few hundred dollars, plus technician time. Its worth the investment, a drop in the bucket to what they are spending monthly for service. Too many folks are penny wise and pound foolish.

 

[BerettaMan]

Possible bad trunk card.

 

[Arr]

sr,

Check your loop voltages. Barretta might be right about the bad card but what made it go down? I had a 6/16 go that route because the voltage was really high from the CO.

Can you post the EXACT version and make of the system and it configuration?

What line did the bad results come from?

PhM