NETWORK Troubleshooting Guide for K-POS

The first step in troubleshooting a K-Pos network problem is to analyse alarms (Alarm View button
on ALC panel) and network status (SYSTEM>EQUIPMENT from menu bar, then select the Network
tab). From this information, try to determine what most likely caused the alarm. Keep in mind that
all network adapters within K-Pos have activity LEDs. Look for these on the RCU’s, Network Switches,
and OS’s.

If you are unable to determine the cause of a network problem from Alarm View or Network Status,
more information can be attained by performing the ping command from an Operator Station to
components within the network. This is a direct way to determine communication over the network
that is independent of the DP software, because we are using Windows utilities. DP Network alarms
may take several minutes to clear, making it difficult to determine if an action taken to correct the
problem had any effect. By performing ping, you can quickly verify the results of your corrective
actions.

Before we begin, we need to know the system IP addresses. Standard IP addresses are listed below
but can be verified in hosts_sbc and ethers files located within C:\DPxxxxxx\Run\Config\Topology\.

Standard settings on K-POS systems

OS1 NET A 172.21.101.1 OS2 NET A 172.21.101.2

DpPS 01 NET A 172.21.1.1 DpPS 11 NET A 172.21.1.11

PING
Perform the command ping in a command window.

This is done by pressing <Ctrl><Alt><Delete> keys at the same time. You must then select Start Task
Manager. A Windows Task Manager box should appear. Make sure the Applications tab is selected
and press the button labelled New Task.

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A Create New Task dialog box should appear. Open the command window by typing cmd into the
Open dialog input box and press OK.

This will start a program called cmd.exe. You should have a flashing cursor after the text
C:\WINDOWS\system32>_. This is where you type in the command ping 172.aa.bbb.cc, where aa is
the network identifier, bbb is the component type, and cc is position.

Example 1: DpOs1 on network A is 172.21.101.1. The command would be ping 172.21.101.1.

We can see that we ran the command ping 172.21.101.1 and returned favourable results with zero
packet loss.

Example 2: DpPs01 network B is 172.22.1.1. The command would be ping 172.22.1.1.

The results from example 2 reveal that we do not have a network B connection from the OS to the
DpPs01. If the ping172.21.1.1 command for network A for DpPs01 yields favourable results, we
know that the Hexadecimal switch settings on the RCU are correct. Therefore, the network problem
is more than likely a cable connection or hardware. In this example, we find that the network B
connection to DpPs01 is disconnected.

Example 3: DpPs01 network B after reconnecting network B cable at the RCU.

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We see in example 3 that the repair of the connection to controller A network B has resolved the
problem. The ping command quickly verifies that the discrepancy has been fixed, although it may
take several minutes for a network alarm to clear in the Alarm View.

Operator Station Network Checks

This is done by pressing <Ctrl><Alt><Delete> keys at the same time. You must then select Start Task
Manager. A Windows Task Manager box should appear. Make sure the Applications tab is selected
and press the button labelled New Task.

A Create New Task dialog box should appear. Open the command window by typing cmd into the
Open dialog input box and press OK.

This will start a program called cmd.exe. You should have a flashing cursor after the text
C:\WINDOWS\system32>_. This is where you type in the command ipconfig/all.

Give the ipconfig/all command by typing in ipconfig/all followed by pressing the <Enter> key.

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The results of ipconfig/all will list each network adaptor that is enabled on the OS. In the example
above, NET_C is disabled and therefore not listed. We see that the process networks for DP are
Net_A and Net_B. The KM virtual network is listed as Net_AB and has no physical hardware
components. Ensure that the network adaptors have the correct ip addresses in accordance with
your delivery sbc_hosts file. This should be located within C:\DPxxxxxx\Run\Confog\Topology\.
Software versions 6 and above have standard IP addresses.

If the Operator Station OS IP addresses are incorrect, changes must be made under Windows
Control panel. You can get to the Windows Control panel by creating a new task in Task Manager
and type in control. Double-click on Network Connections and select the network adaptor that
needs changed and right click on it and select Properties. Under the properties dialog box, select
Internet Protocal (TCP/IP) and press the Properties button.

This will open a dialog box that allows you to change the network adaptor settings to manually
configure the IP address. Save your changes and verify that the changes are accepted by running
ipconfig/all again.

The command ipconfig/all only list network adaptors for the OS that runs the command. You may
need to check network adaptors at other OS. This process does not check IP addresses at Process
Stations.

Process Stations
Process Station (DpPs01, DpPs11, etc…) IP addresses are assigned by setting the correct MAC
address on the Hexadecimal wheels located on the controller - RCU 501 or RCU 502. The last three
alphanumeric characters of the MAC address are used to set the three HEX wheels. This information
is listed by process station in the ethers file located within C:\DPxxxxxx\Run\Confog\Topology\.

Example: DpPs11 taken from ethers file.

02:41:4c:42:11:0b 172.21.1.11 #DpPs11NetA

02:41:4c:42:21:0b 172.22.1.11 #DpPs11NetB

The Hexadecimal switch settings on the RCU should be 1 0 b in order for the RCU to have an IP
address of 172.21.1.11 for network A and 172.22.1.11 for network B.

The RCU has a fourth Hexadecimal switch used to determine the operational mode of the RCU. For
DP Operational purposes, this should be set to 0.