| Sunday,
December 10, 2000 Yesterday I ran into a situation that
seems insane, but I can make no sense of it.
I have a Belkin KVM switch in the cable room. The Windows 2000 Server,
which controls my domain, worked with that for weeks. Eventually its hard
disk died. The motherboard is a Slot 1 Intel board with integrated video,
I'll find out the exact number when I reboot, but it's definitely Intel,
definitely integrated video, PCI LAN NIC (not integrated Ethernet). For
weeks that worked with the Belkin 8-port KVM. Then the hard disk died. We
replaced the hard disk and reinstalled Windows 2000 server. It ran. All
was well.
Yesterday morning the network was down: no primary domain controller.
Went into the cable room. The server was sitting there with its power
light blinking at about 1 second intervals. Blink on. Blink off. Distinct
click each time. Select its channel with the Belkin KVA and that channel
light blinks. OK, bad channel? Put the cables into an unused channel. Same
result, and it happens as soon as the power cable is plugged in. Holding
down the power button does NOTHING, not a thing, even if I hold it until
my finger is tired.
OK, that's the domain controller and I am dead without it, so carry it
to a work bench, plug it in, turn it on. Comes up. Works just fine. All is
well. Can be turned on and off with the power switch.
I leave it there but it will at some point have to be moved. There
isn't really room for it to have a separate monitor and keyboard in the
cable room but it will have to have one since it sure won't work with that
Belkin. That one was 550 MHz Pentium II.
Now I have a second Windows 2000 machine destined to be a backup server
(well second peer server the way Windows 2000 works). This one has a 1
gigahertz Pentium III on a D815EEAL Intel motherboard. That works with a 2
port Belkin KVM; it just happened I set it up at that workbench station.
It works fine. Hmm. So I thought I would take it into the cable room and
attach it to the Belkin. Did. And the instant that the power cable was
plugged in, it began to blink, just as its mate had done. Cables? I got
out a fresh set of keyboard, mouse, and video cables and connected it up
to a different port. Same thing. Took it back to its original station,
which as I said goes through a 2 port Belkin KVM. Hooked it up. Worked
fine. Went into the BIOS and disable power management, so that now when I
push the button it turns off NOW. With that set that way took it back to
the cable room. Same result: the instant the power cable is applied,
things begin to blink, and the power button will not turn it off.
For the moment the backup system is disconnected and the primary is
connected through a workstation that I will need when Robert comes over to
help Roberta with her program. And I am perplexed.
I don't need guesses, because I can guess as well as anyone, and I can
make a long list of guesses. But does anyone KNOW why this will work with
a two port Belkin KVM but not an 8, and why it worked for a long time and
ceased to? Both systems have Antec power supplies, the first 250 Watts the
second 300 Watts. Normally I would use PC Power and Cooling for primary
systems and this is an accident of construction and what was available. I
am about to build yet one more server, destined to be the primary, with
mirrored drives, with a PC COOL case and power supply; but I intend to
build it on an Intel motherboard, and now I am concerned that it won't go
into the cable room and will need its own workstation.
I will buy a good KVM that will work with Intel motherboards and be
reliable for a server farm. Advice sought. I thought Belkin was good; up
to now it had no real problems; but this is pretty grim.
SO I TOOK A NAP AND:
A few minutes ago I came upstairs and the UPS that was powering the
power line that goes to the computer in question (and was used in all the
tests) was screaming. It's dead although it seemed to be passing power
through all right. What was connected to that was only the monitor and the
power cord leading to where I had the Domain Controllers connected.
I will now in a bit try my experiment one more time; it could be that
the particular power line was giving out low voltage or something. Doesn't
seem reasonable but you never know.
Sigh. Everything is going wrong at the same time.
AND I KNOW WHY.
It turns out that the monitor, and ONE
computer, and ONE hard drive, were running on an older UPS. Quite an old
UPS. And it died a few minutes ago. But apparently, without any signal
that there was something wrong, it was dying for a week, and was putting
out either low voltage or low current or both. That UPS powered the power
chord that was used for Channel 3 of the Belkin KVM -- and of course for
all the subsequent tests. And apparently, with a failing UPS, a computer
can run well enough to look like it it working, but not put out enough
signal strength to pass through a KVM.
Ugh.
I make no doubt now that this is what killed the Western Digital hard
drive in that machine; and is what killed an aging but formerly working
Micropolis AV drive (old Spirit D) which I found dead at the same time
that the Domain Controller was blinking.
All this will be in the column, but the warning is clear: if you have
older UPS, do not rely on them telling you they are about to die. This
turns out to be the source of many of my problems I think. Sigh. More in
the column.
And I consider this important enough to put up
today and Monday:
My hands shake in fear and fury at this bit of
current events...
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_lamb/20001209_xchla_new_un_tre.shtml
It is a sad day for America and the principles of
freedom as outlined by our Founding Fathers.
Ken Paul
Whatever your view of the treaty, this is NOT the
way to make international Law. The Senate minds too much of our business
to mind its own business; and treaties are very much its business. This is
horrible.
Pay close attention now:
Got it?
Thanks to Ed Hume.
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