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Broadcom Advanced Control Suite: Broadcom 440X Fast Ethernet Controller User's Guide

This chapter provides the following information:

Overview

Installing the BACS

Removing the BACS

Initializing the BACS

Vital Sign

Diagnostics

Cable Analysis

Statistics

Overview

The Broadcom Advanced Control Suite (BACS) is an integrated graphical user interface (GUI) application that provides the following functions:

Vital Sign: At-a-glance status reports of all LAN adapters/controllers in your systems

Diagnostics: A comprehensive diagnostic for Broadcom 440X Fast Ethernet Controller

Statistics: A detailed performance statistics on each selected adapter/controller

The BACS is designed to run in one of the following 32-bit Windows operating systems:

NOTE – The BACS Help files require Internet Explorer 5.0 or later to work properly.

 

 

Installing the BACS

To install the BACS software, complete the following steps.

NOTE – The BACS is only for Desktop OSs, and should not be used for Windows 200 Advanced Server.

 

 

  1. Insert the Broadcom CD-ROM into your system’s CD-ROM drive.

  2. Click Install Products, and the Management Applications window appears.

  3. Click Advanced Control Suite, and the License Agreement appears.

  4. Read the agreement and click Yes. The Broadcom Management Programs Setup window appears.

 

  1. Choose the Control Suite option and click Next to install the Control Suite. When complete, an information window display notifying you that the files were successfully installed.

  2. Click OK and reboot to complete the installation.
  3. To start the Control Suite, either:

    - Click Start and select Programs, then Broadcom 440X Fast Ethernet Controller from the menu.
    - Open the Control Panel:

In the Control Panel, double-click the Broadcom 440X Fast Ethernet Controller icon.

Removing the BACS

To remove the BACS software, complete the following steps.

  1. In the Windows Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.

  2. In the Currently Installed Programs list, select Broadcom Management Programs and click Change/Remove. The Install Shield Wizard window appears.

  3. Choose the Remove option and click Next. The Confirm File Deletion window appears.

  4. Click OK, and an information window appears confirming the update.

  5. Click OK to reboot the system and complete the removal.

Initializing the BACS

To initialize the BACS software, do the following:

NOTE – The Broadcom 440x Fast Ethernet Controller must be enabled before initializing the BACS. Refer to "Installing the Driver Software" for the operating system that you are using.

 

 

To start the Control Suite, either:

In the Control Panel, double-click the Broadcom 440X Fast Ethernet Controller icon.

Vital Sign

The Vital Sign window 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 displays.

NOTE – Information for Non-Broadcom adapters is less comprehensive than information listed for Broadcom adapters.

The following describes the BACS Vital Sign window's interface components.

Component Description
IP Address The network address that is associated with the selected adapter. The all zeroed value of this parameter indicates the associated driver has not been bounded with Internet Protocol (IP).
Physical Address The physical Media Access Control (MAC) that is assigned to the selected adapter by the adapter's vendor. This parameter will never be zeroed.
Driver Status

Indicates the status of the driver that is associated with the selected adapter. The possible values for this parameter are:

  • Driver Loaded. Normal operating mode: The associated driver with the selected adapter was loaded by the windows operating system and is functioning.
  • Driver Not Loaded: The associated driver with the selected adapter has not been loaded by the windows operating system.
  • Information Not Available: This indicates the value is not obtainable from the driver that is associated with the selected adapter.
Driver Version Indicates the current version of the software driver that is associated with the selected adapter.
[Bus] Device Number

Indicates the PCI bus number and the device number for the selected adapter.

Example: [0] 14 indicates Broadcom adapter resides in PCI bus 0, device 14.
Operating Mode

Indicates the current operating mode of the adapter. The possible values are:

  • 10 Mbps half-duplex
  • 10 Mbps full-duplex
  • 100 Mbps half-duplex
  • 100 Mbps full-duplex
Interrupt Indicates the interrupt line number that is associated with the selected adapter. The valid number is ranged from (2–25).
Memory Address Indicates the memory-mapped address that is assigned to the selected adapter. This value can never be zero.
PCI Bus Mode

Indicates the type and mode of PCI bus slot that is occupied by the selected adapter. The possible values of this parameter are:

  • PCI 33 MHz 32-bit Bus
  • PCI 33 MHz 64-bit Bus
  • PCI 66 MHz 64-bit Bus
  • Unknown clock speed
ASIC/Firmware Version Displays the Chip and Firmware versions of the selected Broadcom adapter.
Network Status

Provides an overall status. Link Status OK: is green when there is a link established at 10 or 100 Mbps. Red indicates that a link is not established.

NOTES –

  • Only adapters with a 1000 Mbps link light the Gigabit Receive OK and Gigabit Transmit OK LEDs.
  • Parameters (3 through 10) are not applicable on other vendor's adapters and these values are displayed as: Information Not Available.
Enable Tray Icon Displays or removes the Control Suite icon in the system tray.


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Diagnostics

The Diagnostics window allows you to view information for Broadcom-only adapters. This function is used to test the physical adapter components.

 

NOTE – The network connection will be lost when running these tests.

The following describes the BACS Diagnostics window's interface components.

This test... ...verifies the:
Control Register 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 receiving information. If the test fails, the network adapter may not work properly.
MII Register 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 100 Mbps).
EEPROM 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 does not require a code change for this test.
Internal Memory 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 does not function without its internal memory.
On Chip CPU Operation of the two internal CPUs in the network controller.
Interrupt NDIS driver is able to receive interrupts from the network controller.
MAC and PHY Loopback NDIS driver is able to send and receive packets from the network controller.
Test LED Blinks all LEDs five times to identify the adapter.

 

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Cable Analysis

The 440X Fast Ethernet Controller does not support Cable Analysis, it is only applicable for the Broadcom Gigabit Controller.

Statistics

The Statistics window 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.

NOTE – If a Broadcom adapter is disabled, its team does not display in the Statistics window.

General Tab

The following describes the BACS Statistics/General window's interface components.

This component... ...is the count of:
Frames TX OK Frames that are successfully transmitted. This counter is incremented when the TransmitStatus is reported as transmitOK.
Frames Rx OK Frames that are successfully received (receiveOK). 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 ReceiveStatus is reported as receive OK.
Directed Frames TX Directed data frames that are successfully transmitted.

Multicast Frames TX

 Frames that are successfully transmitted to a group destination address other than broadcast, as indicated by the status value transmitOK.

Broadcast Frames TX

 Frames that were successfully transmitted as indicated by the TransmitStatus transmitOK, to the broadcast address. Frames transmitted to multicast addresses are not broadcast frames and are excluded.
Directed Frames Rx Directed data frames that are successfully received.
Multicast Frames Rx Frames that are successfully received and directed to an active non-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 receiveOK status.

Broadcast Frames Rx

 Frames that are successfully received and 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 receiveOK status.

 

IEEE 802.3 Tab

The following describes the BACS Statistics/IEEE 802.3 window's interface components.

This component... ...is the count of frames:
Frames Rx with Alignment Error 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 alignmentError.
Frames TX with One Collision That are involved in a single collision, and subsequently transmitted successfully. This counter is incremented when the result of a transmission is reported as transmitOK and the attempt value is 2.
Frames TX with More Than One Collision That are involved in more than one collision, and subsequently transmitted successfully. This counter is incremented when the TransmitStatus is reported as transmitOK, and the value of the attempts variable is greater than 2 and less or equal to attemptLimit.
Frames TX after Deferral Whose transmission was delayed on its first attempt because the medium was busy. Frames involved in any collision are not counted.


Custom Tab

NOTE – The Custom tab only appears for an enabled Broadcom adapter.

The following shows a complete view of the BACS Statistics/Custom window, and a table describing each of the interface components.


Component Description
Number of Interrupts Generated by this Adapter Number of interrupts generated by the NIC.
Number of Interrupts Avoided by this Adapter Number of interrupts avoided by the NIC.
TX Max Coalesce Frames Threshold Hit Number of times the Send Max Coalesce Frames Threshold hit.

Rx. Max Coalesce Frames Threshold Hit

 Number of times the Recv Max Coalesce Frames Threshold hit.
DMA Write Queue was Full Number of times the DMA write queue was full.
DMA Write High Priority Queue was Full Number of times the DMA write high priority queue was full.
DMA Read Queue was Full Number of times the DMA read queue was full.

DMA Read High Priority Queue was Full

 Number of times the DMA read high priority queue was full.
Send Data Completion FTQ was Full Number of times the send data completion Flow Through Queue (FTQ) was full.
NIC Ran Out of the Recv. Buffer Number of times the NIC ran out of the Recv Buffer Descriptors.

Frames Size Less Than 64-byte with Bad FCS

 Frames size is less than 64-bytes with bad Frame Checksum (FCS).
MAC Rx. w/ Pause Command and Length = 0 MAC control frames with pause command and length is equal to zero.

MAC Rx. w/ Pause Command and Length Greater Than 0

 MAC control frames with pause command and length is 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.
MAC Sent Xoff MAC Transmit with Xon was off.


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