TN464 and 120A3 install nightmare - please help 3

[mhshane]

It has been years since I installed a DS1 card but I do not remember ever having this much trouble.

My Equipment:
Definity Prologix (3 cabinets on the wall)
Version R011i.02.0.110.4 (Communications Mgr 2.0 I think)
Installing a TN464F DS1 card for PRI trunk on 01B10
Telco installed a smartjack at the DMARC

I installed the TN464F and a 120A3 CSU in my Prologix. The 120A3 did not come with a loopback jack and I was told it did not need one. This has proven true since I can run tests even thought Avaya insists I need one.

The card shows solid red on the top most LED. According to the Avaya docs on the 120A CSU module solid on this LED only indicates a bad DS1 board. But LED#1 of the 4 Status LEDs is flashing red which means faulty DS1 board, wiring between the DS1 and the 120A or faulty 120A module.

I have added the DS1 with the correct parameters and created the signaling group.

I ran the “test ds1-loop 01b10 ds1/csu-loopback-tests” (busy out the board first) and
1209 PASS (Loopback to the edge of the DS1 card)
1210 FAIL (Loopback to the port on the 120A module)
1211 FAIL (Loopback to the smartjack)

Disp err:
1281 and 1322 error. Both indicate Signal loss and there is something wrong with the physical equipment.

This led me to think it was a bad 120A so I had the vendor send me another one.

Other Tests Run while waiting on the new 120A mod:
Tested the TN464F in another cabinet - same errors
Swapped the TN464F in the place of a TN464G I use with my UCC server. It worked to some degree but the "Reach Me" function did not work. Seemed like the card did have issues.
Tested the line between the telco smartjack and the switch and it looks fine.

When the new 120A3 arrived the TN464G (my UCC card) was still out of the cabinet becasue I was testing the TN464F so I installed it with the new 120A3 module. It came up right away. Just for grins I swapped the good 120A3 CSU with the one that I suspected of being bad to “prove my point”. The TN464G did show errors at that point so I replaced the 120A3 again with the 2nd CSU I knew was good. The problem is the TN464G now continued to show the same errors the TN464F had.
Both cards now act the same way. I get the same errors with either card and either 120A3 module and they both behave the same when tested with the UCC server.

Is it possible for a 120A3 CSU to break a DS1 card?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for the help.

 

[wildcard100001]

I would say, if you reset everything (hard). Chances are it did cause problems with your board. The 120A3's have had many problems. Never install them unless you have no other choice. Use the 120A4.

Thanks,

Wildcard

 

[mhshane]

Thanks. After posting I found somone having similar problems and even found someone posted the range of serial numbers of the 120A3 that were bad. Not sure how he got that info since Avaya Maintenance said they did not know. They did admit that there were 120A3s that were bad but said there was no documentation on which ones were bad. No more 120A3s for me.

My experience in the past with DS1 cards has always been good. So good that it was always install the CSU mod, slide the card in and watch the green light come on. On problem I have ever had was with getting the right parameters set with telco.

Any general don't you care to pass on when dealing with DS1 cards would be greatly appreciated.

 

[phonesrus]

There was a PCN (QPPCN)posted on Avaya support for a time listing the serial numbers of the bad A3"s and A4's also, but they pulled it and it disappeared. The replacement that works and will not fry the board is the A3A version, otherwise use A2's. I printed the PCN but apparently misplaced it because it is not in my book.

 

[Redder]

QUALITY PROTECTION PLAN

QPPCN Release Date: 09-17-2002
Expiration Date: 03-31-2003


CHANGE NOTICE: 1359B


PRODUCT SUMMARY: DEFINITYÒ SYSTEMS and Multi Conferencing Units (MCU)

U.S. AND NON-U.S.

CLASS H1 CHANGE (HARDWARE)

TECHNICIAN INSTALLED
NON-SERVICE INTERUPTING

120A3 Integrated Channel Service Unit (ICSU)


APPLICATION


This Change Notice is being issued to replace certain 120A3 ICSUs with serial numbers between 01DR09XXXXXX and 02DR04XXXXXX (where ?01? is the two-digit year and ?DR? signifies the manufacturing facility) in Factory Stores, SSL stocks, EDC stocks and other stocking locations. These units should be replaced with 120A2 ICSUs, 120A3 ICSUs with serial numbers of 01DR08XXXXXX or less, 120A3A ICSUs (?A? suffix denotes remanufactured units) with any serial number, or 120A4 ICSUs.


REASON FOR CHANGE


This change is being issued to replace incorrectly manufactured 120A3 ICSUs which can fail, resulting in an open +5 volt ICSU fuse on the DS1 board. This failure will cause a T1 span loss of signal and failure of DS1-BD test 138.


In the case of a failed ICSU, replacing the DS1 board without first replacing the ICSU will result in another defective DS1 board. Only the +5 volt supply to the ICSU fails, so the DS1 board will function on a T1 span that does not use an ICSU, i.e. no CSU or external CSU. To verify that this problem is present, the DS1 boards +5 volt fuse can be checked for an open circuit across F1.



D
"When in doubt Mikee did it, when it goes right I did it

 

[mhshane]

Thanks for the info!! This is very helpful.

 

[DJPlaZma]

Do you currently have other DS1 boards working correctly on this system?

 

[mhshane]

I have 2 others working properly.
I had three working properly till I used a non-business critical DS1 card to test with and blew the fuse on it as well. It was definately the 120A3 module that caused the problem.