FarSync Drivers

Trouble Shooting Guide - Installation


Checking Installation

If you are having problems with the software installation, check the following:

Install Script Reports Errors

The most common cause of install errors is that the version of the driver that you are trying to install isn't supported by the Kernel version that you are using.  The install errors in this case are driver compilation errors.  An error will normally terminate the install.

In this situation, please check the FarSite Support Website to see if there are any patches available for the version of the driver that you are installing.  Or if there is a later version of the driver that you could install instead.

If you are using the latest released driver, and there are no patches available for download, then please contact support@farsite.com.

If you are using a very unusual Linux Distribution, and you see messages like:

ln: creating symbolic link '/etc/init.d/rc0.d/K91farsync' to '/etc/init.d/farsync'
No such file or directory

Then it is possible that we have not tested our installation process with that distribution yet.

At this point in the script, we are trying to install System V startup and shutdown scripts for the various run levels. If you have encountered this error, then when the installation completes, the startup/shutdown scripts will be missing, and therefore when you reboot the system the FarSync card will not be loaded with low level driver software or be configured. (This will be indicated by the LED's on the FarSync card near the connector being in an OFF state after you have rebooted the system).

This problem can occur if your distribution uses a BSD like method to boot the system. BSD uses a small number of scripts to configure the system software. In this case you need to place the following command in a startup file (e.g. /etc/rc.d/rc.local, or similar):

farutil hdlc0 load /etc/farsite/downloads/trtbios.cde /etc/farsite/downloads/farsynu2.cde

and

farifup hdlc0

You will need to add one farifup command to the startup file for each port you want to configure.

If you see any other error message while running the install script, please let us know.

Check PCI card detected

Assuming that the mechanical installation is OK you can check whether the system has detected the card by running the lspci command:

# lspci 
<snip>
02:03.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82541EI Gigabit Ethernet Controller
02:04.0 Communication controller: FarSite Communications Ltd FarSync T2U (2 port X.21/V.35/V.24) (rev 03)
02:05.0 Mass storage controller: Silicon Image, Inc. SiI 3114 [SATALink/SATARaid] Serial ATA Controller (rev 02) 02:07.0 Communication controller: FarSite Communications Ltd FarSync TE1 (T1,E1) (rev 03)
02:09.0 Communication controller: FarSite Communications Ltd FarSync TE1 (T1,E1) (rev 03) <snip> #

Check device driver is being run

Watch the startup sequence carefully. When the FarSync device driver is first loaded four lines like this will appear:

Sep 25 12:54:40 zaphod kernel: FarSync OEM driver 2.2.1-00-64bit-b221 (c) 2001-2014 FarSite Communications Ltd. 
Sep 25 12:54:40 zaphod kernel: sync0-sync1: (K4739218) FarSync T2U IRQ193, 2 ports 
Sep 25 12:54:40 zaphod kernel: sync2-sync2: (K5329089) FarSync TE1 IRQ185, 1 ports 
Sep 25 12:54:40 zaphod kernel: sync3-sync3: (K4981054) FarSync TE1 IRQ193, 1 ports 

These messages can also be viewed after startup by using to command:

$ dmesg | more

If the card is installed as indicated by the lspci command yet the device driver message is not apparent the most likely cause is that you are running a kernel without the device driver built in correctly or where the module is not being loaded correctly.

Check module loaded

If the device driver was built as a module then you can check whether it has been loaded by using the lsmod command.

# lsmod 
Module Size Used by 
fsflex 93072 0 
farsync 138792 0 
hdlc 56704 2 fsflex,farsync 
syncppp 49516 1 hdlc 
autofs4 56393 2 
<snip>

This shows the farsync module has been loaded and that in turn it has caused the hdlc and syncppp module to be loaded.

Check card detection and firmware download OK

You can check the status of the firmware using the farutil command, response for a FarSync T2U card shown.

# farutil hdlc0 
Farutil for FarSync version 2.2.2

card:		T2U FarSync WAN/OEM T-Series 
ports:		2 
state: 		Running normally
 
firmware id:	5	firmware vers: 4.00.08 
Card Rev:	0.5A 

Configuration for port 0 
physical: 	V.24 (RS232C) 
  cable status:		Cable presence detected 
  active inputs:	None 
  active outputs:	None 
  clock: External,	Not detected 
  speed: 		9600
protocol:	Unknown generic HDLC code 0x0005 
line mode: 	HDLC 
Buffer configuration: 
no of rx buffers:	8 	size of rx buffers: 8192 
no of tx buffers:	8	size of tx buffers: 8192 
# 

The information that is most important is the state: line which gives the current firmware status. If this is not Running normally then check the system startup messages for possible download error messages. You could also run the system startup script manually to check for errors.

The Kernel is configured OK but the card is not loaded

You have verified that you can manually load the FarSync card, but the card does not seem to load after a reboot.

Verify that the startup script /etc/init.d/farsync is being run at startup. If the problem persists, contact support@farsite.com.

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