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Troubleshooting Direct Serial Connections
By Chris Bryant
Expert Author
Article Date: 2006-08-31
A prime topic of your CCNA and CCNP CIT exams will be connecting Cisco routers directly via their Serial interfaces, and while the configuration is straightforward, there are some vital details and show commands you must know in order to pass the exams and configure this successfully in production and home lab networks.
Letīs take a look at a sample configuration.
Connecting Cisco routers directly via their Serial interfaces works really well once you get it running - and getting such a connection up and running is easy enough. You can use show controller serial x to find out which endpoint is acting as the DCE, and itīs the DCE that must be configured with the clockrate command.
R3#show controller serial 1
HD unit 1, idb = 0x11B4DC, driver structure at 0x121868
buffer size 1524 HD unit 1, V.35 DCE cable
R3(config)#int serial1
R3(config-if)#ip address 172.12.13.3 255.255.255.0
R3(config-if)#clockrate 56000
R3(config-if)#no shut
Failure to configure the clockrate has some interesting effects regarding the physical and logical state of the interfaces. Letīs remove the clockrate from R3 and see what happens.
R3(config)#int s1
R3(config-if)#no clockrate 56000
R3(config-if)#
18:02:19: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Serial1, changed state to down
The line protocol doesnīt drop immediately, but it does drop. Letīs run show interface serial1 to compare the physical and logical interface states.
R3#show int serial1
Serial1 is up, line protocol is down
Physically, the interface is fine, so the physical interface is up. Itīs only the logical part of the interface - the line protocol - that is down. Itīs the same situation on R1.
R1#show inter serial1
Serial1 is up, line protocol is down
While a router misconfiguration is the most likely cause of a serial connection issue, thatīs not the only reason for clocking issues. Ciscoīs website documentation mentions CSU/DSU misconfiguration, out-of-spec cables, bad patch panel connections, and connecting too many cables together as other reasons for clocking problems. Still, the number one reason for clocking problems in my experience is simply forgetting to configure the clockrate command!
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About the Author:
Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of FREE CCNA and CCNP tutorials and daily exam questions, as well as The Ultimate CCNA and CCNP Study Packages.
For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, "How To Pass The CCNA" or "How To Pass The CCNP", and for free daily exam question, visit the website and download your copies!
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