On 1 Jul 2001, Iggy Drougge wrote:

> At our usergroup, we've got amongst others a VAXstation II/GPX. At
> some point in time, someone has installed a very spartan NetBSD 1.1 on
> it. We'd like to upgrade it, or at least run it as a functioning node
> on our network, and this is where our trouble begins.
> The machine is equipped with a DEQNA which is extremely unreliable and
> insists on throwing the system into debug mode. After only minimal
> network traffic, such as pinging or a telnet login, it drops into the
> debugger with the message "Panic: qe (chained packet)".
> Infact, there doesn't even have to be any traffic specifically
> addressed to the DEQNA, the plain presence on the network is sometimes
> enough for the card to crash spontaneously.
> Is this a hardware or a software problem? Could it be solved, or are
> we shopping for a new DEQNA or DELNA?

You might try running a slow periodic ping from the 1.1 box in the
background to some other node when it's sitting on the net.  This is a
trick used to prevent the "ring overrun" errors on some later versions of
NetBSD/vax of the 1.2-1.4 era.  It may not be useful here, but it doesn't
hurt to try.

If that doesn't work, the it'd be worthwhile to attempt a netboot install
of 1.5.1 when it's finally rolled.  If that doesn't work, then start
worrying about getting a new DEQNA or DELQA.

-brian.
--- Brian Chase | bdc@world.std.com | http://world.std.com/~bdc/ -----
      IBM 1130 Club Motto:  "Computer People Are Happy People"