OverviewThis chapter provides the following information:
Installing
the Broadcom Advanced Control Suite
Removing
the Broadcom Advanced Control Suite
Initializing
the Broadcom Advanced Control Suite
Broadcom Advanced Control Suite (BACS) is an integrated graphical user interface application that provides the following functions:
Vital Sign. At-a-glance status reports of all LAN adapters/controllers in your systems
Network Test. The Network Test will confirm network connectivity to a remote station. The Network Test sends ICMP packets to remote systems and waits for a response. If a gateway is configured, it will automatically send to that system. If a gateway is not configured or if the gateway is unreachable, it will prompt the user for a destination IP address.
Diagnostics . A comprehensive diagnostic for Broadcom NetXtreme™ Ethernet controllers
Cable Analysis . An in-depth analysis on CAT5 cable characterization performed by the Broadcom NetXtreme™ Ethernet controller
Statistics . A detailed performance statistics on each selected adapter/controller
The Broadcom Advanced Control Suite is designed to run in one of the following 32-bit Windows operating systems:
Microsoft® Windows® 2000
Microsoft® Windows® XP
To install the Broadcom Advanced Control Suite (BACS) software, do the following:
Insert the Broadcom CD-ROM into your system’s CD-ROM drive.
Control Suite - Check this box to install the Control Suite.
When complete, an information screen as shown below will notify you that the files were successfully installed.
Click OK and reboot to complete the installation.
The Control Suite can be started from the Control Panel by double-clicking the Broadcom Control Suite icon.
NOTE: Silent installation of the BACS is also supported, but cannot be run from the CD. Locate the BACS installation files on the CD, and extract or copy the files to a temporary directory of your hard drive. Open a Command Prompt and navigate to the temporary directory. Type "setup /s" to launch BACS.
To remove the Broadcom Advanced Control Suite (BACS) software, perform the following:
To initialize the Broadcom Advanced Control Suite (BACS) software, do the following:
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NOTE: The Broadcom NetXtreme™ Ethernet Controller must be enabled before initializing the BACS. Refer to "Installing the Driver Software" for the operating system that you are using. |
The Vital Sign screen allows you to view vital adapter information, network status, and network connectivity. Active adapters are listed in the Installed Adapters window. When selected, vital sign information for that adapter is displayed.
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NOTE: Information for non-Broadcom adapters is less comprehensive than information listed for Broadcom adapters. |
Interface components of the BACS Vital Sign window are described below:
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NOTE: The MAC will change when upgraded to Gigabit. |
Example: [0] 14 indicates Broadcom adapter resides in PCI bus 0, device 14.
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NOTE: Only adapters with a 1000-Mbps link will light the Gigabit Receive OK and Gigabit Transmit OK LEDs. |
The Network Test allows you to verify IP network connectivity. This test verifies if the NDIS driver is installed correctly and test connectivity to a gateway or other specified IP address on the same subnet. The Network test supports TCP/IP.
Network Test prompts the end user for a destination IP address if it fails to communicate with the gateway or there is no gateway.
The Diagnostics screen allows you to view information for Broadcom-only adapters. This function is used to test the physical adapter components.
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NOTE: Network connection will be lost when running these tests. |
Interface components of the BACS Diagnostics window are described below:
Control Register Test
- This test verifies the read and write capabilities of the network controller
registers by writing various values to the registers and verifying the
result. The device driver uses these registers to perform network functions
such as sending and receive information. If the test fails, the network
adapter may not work properly.
MII Register Test -
This test verifies the read and write capabilities of the physical layer
chip registers. The physical layer chip is used to control the electrical
signals on the wire and for configuring network speeds such as 1000 Mbps
EEPROM Test - This test
verifies the content of the EEPROM by reading a portion of the EEPROM
and computing the checksum. The test fails if the computed checksum is
different than the checksum stored in the EEPROM. An EEPROM image upgrade
will not require a code change for this test.
Internal Memory Test
- This tests verifies that the network controller internal memory is functioning
properly. The test writes patterned values to the memory and reads back
the results. The test fails if an erroneous value is read back. The network
controller will not function without its internal memory.
On-Chip CPU Test - This
test verifies the operation of the two internal CPUs in the network controller.
Interrupt Test - This
test verifies that the NDIS driver is able to receive interrupts from
the network controller.
MAC and PHY Loopback Test - This test verifies that the NDIS driver is able to send packets to and receive packets from the network controller.
Test LED - This test
blinks all LEDs five times to identify the adapter.
From the Cable Analysis screen, the user can monitor conditions of an Ethernet CAT5 cable connection within a cable plant in an Ethernet network. The software measures the cable quality and compares it against the IEEE 802.3ab for compliance. Given a graphical environment, it can display the frequency-response characteristics of each cable pair. The Cable Analysis screen also allows you to display the "Gain vs. Frequency Characterization" feature.
Note that Cable Analysis is only supported with a 1000-Mbps link. If the connection is to a 10/100-only switch or if the NIC speed is manually set to 10 or 100 Mbps, if the cable is a CAT3 or has a broken CAT5 cable, or if the adapter was not configured for gigabit speed, the following error dialog messages appear:
Clicking OK acknowledges that you cannot run this test.
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NOTE: Cable Diagnostics are applicable to Gigabit adapters only. No screenshots are shown in this manual. |
The Length sub-tab allows you to verify cable length and determine whether your configuration has the appropriate cable, which are calculated by a Return Loss algorithm. This utility allows you to determine whether the problem is with the adapter or in the cable plant.
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NOTE: Network connection will be lost when running this test. |
Interface components for the BACS Cable Analysis/Channel Pairs window are described below:
Distance. This field presents the estimated cable length in meters by averaging all four channels using Return Loss algorithms.
Margin. Margin yields the minimum distance between the measured cable pair and the maximum IEEE 802.3ab limits. The unit is in dB.
Each channel's frequency response is displayed based on the computation by
the cable algorithms. The two graphs represent the values calculated by the
Cable Loss and Return Loss algorithms. The vertical axis represents the gain
in dB and the horizontal axis represents the operating frequency. The blue
graph is the IEEE 802.3ab limit and the red graph is the actual computed values
for a particular twisted pair. The two methods of measurement present the
typical measurement standards to characterize the
cable quality. It is important to take both measurements into consideration,
as one result alone is not indicative of the characterization of the cable
being tested.
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NOTE: Network connection will be lost when running this test. |
From the Cable Analysis/Frequency screen, select the Broadcom adapter and channel to be tested.
Click Initialize, then click Test to display the status of the selected adapter.
The cable loss (red) curve represents the insertion loss of the cable under test as a function of frequency in the frequency range [0 - 62.5 MHz]. The cable loss limit (blue) curve represents the cable loss limit as specified in Section 40.7.2.1 of the IEEE Standard 802.3ab-1999. The cable loss curve (red) on top of the cable loss limit (blue) curve indicates the cable is within the operating limit. If the cable loss (red) curve superimposes the cable loss limit (blue) curve, the cable is marginal to the operating limit. If the cable loss (red) curve is below the cable loss limit (blue) curve, the cable is outside the operating limit of the IEEE 802.3ab-1999 standards. This condition would signify that the cable length is too long and not operational.
The return loss (red) curve represents the return loss of the cable under test as a function of frequency in the frequency range [0,62.5 MHz]. The return limit (blue) curve represents the return loss limit as specified in Section 40.7.2.3 of the IEEE Standard 802.3ab-1999. The return loss (red) curve below of the return limit (blue) curve indicates the cable is within the operating limit. If the return loss (red) curve superimposes the return limit (blue) curve, the cable is marginal to the operating limit. If the return loss (red) curve is above the return limit (blue) curve, the cable is outside the operating limit of the IEEE 802.3ab-1999 standards. This condition would signify that the cable length is too long and not operational.
The Statistics screen allows you to view traffic statistics for both Broadcom and non-Broadcom adapters. Statistical values and coverage is more comprehensive for Broadcom than for non-Broadcom adapters.
Interface components of the BACS Statistics/General tab window are described below:
Frames TX OK: A count
of frames that are successfully transmitted. This counter is incremented
when the TransmitStatus is reported as transmitOK.
Frames Rx OK: A count
of frames that are successfully received (receive OK). This does not include
frames received with frame-too-long, FCS, length or alignment errors,
or frames lost due to internal MAC sublayer error. This counter is incremented
when the Receive Status is reported as receive OK.
Directed Frames TX:
A count of directed data frames that are successfully transmitted.
Multicast Frames TX:
A count of frames that are successfully transmitted, as indicated by the
status value transmit OK, to a group destination address other than broadcast.
Broadcast Frames TX:
A count of the frames that were successfully transmitted as indicated
by the Transmit Status transmit OK, to the broadcast address. Frames transmitted
to multicast addresses are not broadcast frames and are excluded.
Directed Frames Rx:
A count of directed data frames that are successfully received.
Multicast Frames Rx:
A count of frames that are successfully received and are directed to an
active nonbroadcast group address. This does not include frames received
with frame-too-long, FCS, length or alignment errors, or frames lost due
to internal MAC sublayer error. This counter is incremented as indicated
by the receive OK status.
Broadcast Frames Rx:
A count of frames that are successfully received and are directed to the
broadcast group address. This does not include frames received with frame-too-long,
FCS, length or alignment errors, or frames lost due to internal MAC sublayer
error. This counter is incremented as indicated by the receive OK status.
Interface components of the BACS Statistics/IEEE 802.3 tab window are described below:
Frames Rx with Alignment
Error: A count of frames that are not an integral number of octets
in length and do not pass the FCS check. This counter is incremented when
the ReceiveStatus is reported as alignment Error.
Frames TX with one Collision:
A count of frames that are involved in a single collision, and are subsequently
transmitted successfully. This counter is incremented when the result
of a transmission is reported as transmit OK and the attempt value is
2.
Frames TX with more than
one Collision: A count of frames that are involved in more than one
collision and are subsequently transmitted successfully. This counter
is incremented when the Transmit Status is reported as transmit OK and
the value of the attempts variable is greater than 2 and less or equal
to attempt Limit.
Frames TX after Deferral:
A count of frames whose transmission was delayed on its first attempt
because the medium was busy. Frames involved in any collision are not
counted.
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NOTE: The Custom tab will only appear for an enabled Broadcom adapter. |
A complete view of Interface components of the BACS Statistics/Custom tab window are shown below.
Number of Interrupts generated
by this adapter: Number of interrupts generated by NIC.
Number of Interrupts avoided
by this adapter: Number of interrupts avoided by NIC.
TX Max Coalesce Frames Threshold
hit: Number of times Send Max Coalesce Frames Threshold hit.
Rx. Max Coalesce Frames
Threshold hit: Number of times Recv Max Coalesce Frames Threshold
hit.
DMA write Queue was full:
Number of times DMA write queue was full.
DMA write High Priority
Queue was full: Number of times DMA write high priority queue was
full.
DMA Read Queue was full:
Number of times DMA read queue was full.
DMA Read High Priority Queue
was full: Number of times DMA read high priority queue was full.
Send Data Completion FTQ
was full: Number of times send data completion FTQ (Flow Through Queue)
was full.
NIC ran out of the Recv.
Buffer: Number of times NIC ran out of the Recv Buffer Descriptors.
Frames size less than 64-byte
with bad FCS: Frames size less than 64-byte with bad FCS (Frame Checksum).
MAC Rx. w/ Pause Command
and Length = 0: MAC control frames with pause command and length equal
to zero.
MAC Rx. w/ Pause Command
and Length greater than 0: MAC control frames with pause command and
length greater than zero.
MAC Rx. w/ no Pause Command:
MAC control frames with no pause command.
MAC Sent Xon: MAC Transmit
with Xon was on.
This feature, when enabled, allows autonegotiation of the link speed from the slowest speed (10 megabits) to the fastest speed (1 gigabit for Gigabit Adapters and 100 Full for Fast Ethernet Adapters) if the system is running on battery power.
If the system is running on A/C or when this feature is disabled, the network adapter will change to normal power, and, therefore, the autonegotiation of the link will occur from the fastest speed (1 gigabit for Gigabit Adapters and 100 Full for Fast Ethernet Adapters) to the slowest speed (10 megabits).
To achieve the above functionality, highlight the Broadcom adapter that appears in the screen and check the option for NIC Battery Saving Mode, when on battery power.
Please read all restrictions and disclaimers.
