Problems that can be solved with _hp_lanadmin_args

When a kernel first boots (this is true even of a normal kernel that is not used for installation) all of the 100bt and Gigabit LAN interfaces attempt to autonegotiate the LAN speed and duplex settings.

In this example, an rp8400 is connected to an HP Procurve 9315m routing switch. When the switch point to which port the system is connected is set to autonegotiate, the switch, and the

system both autonegotiate the speed and duplex. When the switch is set to a speed and duplex value, autonegotiation fails between the system and the switch. This causes the system to revert to 100HD (half-duplex) and the switch continues using its hard-set speed (100FD or full-duplex, for example). Duplex mismatches that can occur in these circumstances can cause extreme throughput problems

and Ignite-UX can appear hung or take a significantly longer time to complete tasks.

During a normal system startup, the system does not experience these problems because the system startup scripts have ideally been modified to set the speed and duplex values correctly for the LAN interface, assuming it is not going to autonegotiate. When using Ignite-UX, startup scripts cannot be used to set the speed and duplex values for your LAN interfaces.

To match the speed and duplex values, you must use the _hp_lanadmin_args variable to set these values correctly in the installation file system. This variable should only be set using instl_adm. For example, you could add the following configuration:

( lan[].driver == "btlan" )

{

_hp_lanadmin_args="-X 100FD"

}

This sets all LAN interfaces controlled by the LAN driver btlan to 100 full duplex in the installation file system by obtaining the current settings from the installation file system using the following command:

# instl_adm -d > /tmp/installfs.config

Next, you update the file to contain the extra configuration. If a similar configuration exists already, you may need to consider it when you add a new configuration. The updated configuration must be placed back into the installation file system using the following command:

# instl_adm –f /tmp/installfs.config

The instl_adm command attempts to keep the installation file systems synchronized. If you want only to apply a configuration to specific file systems, do not use the –foption; only use the –F

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