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10.0;probenet (probe_network), revision 10.0, 88/05/23
probenet (probe_network) -- Probe network and display error statistics.
usage: probenet   [-a | -t pathname | -n node_id...]
                        [-s n] [-r [n]] [-d data_file] [-len n]
                        [-l] [-err] [-mon fail_lim] [-sens threshold]



DESCRIPTION
     This command broadcasts packets to the diagnostic socket in all nodes,
     then requests error counts indicating the status the broadcast was
     received with.  It compiles counts from every node in the topology list
     and reports them to standard output.

OPTIONS
     Use one of the following three options to specify the list of nodes to
     display:

     -a (default)
               Probe all nodes responding to a /com/lcnode command.  If the
               network is completely corrupted so that messages cannot make a
               complete pass, use one of the other two options to specify
               precisely which nodes to test.

     -t pathname
               Probe the nodes listed in the topology file indicated.  The
               file must contain one hexadecimal node ID per line.  Any text
               following a space after the node ID is ignored. You can insert
               comment lines if they are prefixed with a "#" or "{".

     -n node_id ...
               Probe the node(s) specified by the indicated hexadecimal node
               ID(s).  A good choice of nodes to test is a set evenly spaced
               around the network.

     Use the following options to specify which test to run:

     -s n (default)
               Specify the total number of packets to be sent to each node.
               The default number of packets is 10.  If 0 is specified for n,
               no test messages are sent, but statistics from each node are
               collected.

     -r [n]    Repeat the probenet cycle every n seconds. If n is omitted, the
               cycle is repeated every 10 seconds.  When you press <RETURN> at
               the input window, the send cycle is terminated immediately and
               the statistics are gathered and reported.

     Use the following options to specify which packets are sent:

     -d data_file
               Specify that the packets are taken out of the specified data
               file instead of the standard built-in data pattern.

     -len n (default)
               Specify the length (in bytes) of the data portion of the test
               packet, in bytes.  The default length is 1024 bytes.

     Use the following options to control the level of detail in the
     statistics report.

     -l        Print long (detailed) error counts if there were any errors
               (that is, at least one transmit error (xmit errs) or receive
               error (rcv errs).

     -err      Print header for each test, but statistics only for nodes which
               returned errors (xmit and/or rcv errs).

     -mon fail_lim
               Print header for each pass, but statistics only on passes whose
               total failure count equal or exceed the fail_lim value.

     -sens threshold
               Open a window pane and select some output lines to append to
               this pane. The nodes selected are those whose error count
               exceed a five-node running average error count by the specified
               threshold value. Also, all nodes with modem errors are appended
               to this pane. The use of this secondary output is to do some
               data reduction and pick the nodes at or near points of data
               corruption in the network. The window pane is also stored in a
               named pad file called probenet.pane.

EXAMPLES
1. $ /etc/probenet

{Probe entire network once.  No errors detected.}

There are  5 nodes in the test.
Broadcasting 10 1024-byte packets . 85/02/20 21:16:52  # failures =  0
Last Biph hardware failure detected by node 676 on 85/02/20 at 19:15

                                    MODEM
 NODE  NAME          ATTEMPT  ERRS   ERRS   BIPH    ESB  TOKENS= 0
 ----  ------------   ------ ------ ------  ----    ---  ------
  584  *diskless         10      0      0      0      0      0  Self
   21  OS                10      0      0      0      0      0
  AEF  BS                10      0      0      0      0      0
   4A  HUBRIS            10      0      0      0      0      0
 3536  *diskless         10      0      0      0      0      0

2. $ probenet -t node_list -s 14400 -r 3600 -d data_e3

{ Probes network and displays nodes specified in file "node_list".
This node broadcasts 14400 packets in 3600 seconds, that is, four
packets per second. The packet data comes out of file "data_e3".}

There are      5 nodes in the test.
Broadcasting 14400 1024-byte packets (page 0) over 3600 seconds.
    85/02/20 21:58:19  # failures =  100
Last Biph hardware failure detected by node 506 on 85/02/20 at 21:50

                                    MODEM
 NODE  NAME          ATTEMPT  ERRS   ERRS   BIPH    ESB  TOKENS= 3
 ----  ------------   ------ ------ ------  ----    ---  ------
 1967  GTX            14386      0      0      0      0      1  Self
 15F5  SWI            14386      0      0      0      0      0
 2255  BIRDIE         14384      0      0      0      0      1
  3FD  FLASH          14386      3      3      3      0      0
 2B69  STANG          14385      3      0      0      0      1

Broadcasting 14400 1024-byte packets (page 0) over 3600 seconds.
    85/02/20 21:58:41  # failures =  100
Last Biph hardware failure detected by node 506 on 85/02/20 at 21:50

                                    MODEM
 NODE  NAME          ATTEMPT  ERRS   ERRS   BIPH    ESB  TOKENS= 3
 ----  ------------   ------ ------ ------  ----    ---  ------
 1967  GTX            14383      0      0      0      0      1  Self
 15F5  SWI            14383      0      0      0      0      0
 2255  BIRDIE         14381      0      0      0      0      1
  3FD  FLASH          14383      4      4      4      0      0
 2B69  STANG          14382      4      0      0      0      1

{ Above example shows a problem between node 3FD and its predecessor
  in the network. }



SEE ALSO
     More information is available.  Type

     help  lcnode   For details about determining which nodes are currently
                    connected to the network

Typewritten Software • bear@typewritten.org • Edmonds, WA 98026