10 Network Peripheral Problems If devices such as modems, printers, or fax boards are connected to a ring station or a file server, they are not actually considered network peripherals because they do not contain their own NICs. If the peripheral you are troubleshooting does not contain its own internal NIC, go to the applicable page. (For example, suppose a modem or printer is connected to a ring station or file server, and the ring station or file server contains the NIC. In this instance, you would go to either the modem or printer problem page.) But if the device does contain its own internal NIC, this page is applicable. Did you arrive at this page because of NIC failure indications from running a protocol analysis session? Go to page 10.1. Did you arrive at this page because you have identified a failure symptom that appears to be directly related to a problem with a specific network peripheral? Go to page 10.2. A network peripheral failure symptom is usually different from that of a standard ring station. But because both a network peripheral and a standard ring station contain an NIC and both access the ring through the 802.5 rules, they both can be assumed to have the same logical network area of fault components, which is the respective network peripheral's lobe area specifically the network peripheral, NIC, lobe cable, and MAU or hub port. Some of the network peripherals access the Token Ring network with NIC and hardware/software components; others just use NIC hardware with firmware contained within PROM chips. Both configurations allow the assigned network peripheral to access the ring through standard ring insertion, and they both operate according to the Token Ring architecture operating-mode principles. This procedure is generic as to the network peripheral manufacturer. For some of the troubleshooting steps mentioned on this page, you should also reference the network peripheral manufacturer's documentation for any special predefined methods for checking network peripheral configuration and for network peripheral testing. November 15, 1996 Print This Page E-mail this URL