Cisco Unity Troubleshooting Guide (With Microsoft Exchange), Release 4.0(3)
Hardware

Table Of Contents

Hardware

About Problems with Hardware

Network Interface Card Problems

Cisco Unity Plays System Prompts but Does Not Transmit Voice

Exchange Fails to Deliver Messages

CreateUser Errors Occur During a False Network Disconnect

Configuring Dual NICs

Voice Cards Incorrectly Reported As New Hardware or Missing Drivers


Hardware


About Problems with Hardware

Problems with the Cisco Unity server itself, or with required or optional third-party hardware can include:


Network Interface Card Problems

There are several possible reasons that problems can arise when using a Network Interface Card (NIC) on a Cisco Unity server. See the following topics to troubleshoot problems related to NIC configuration:

Cisco Unity Plays System Prompts but Does Not Transmit Voice

Exchange Fails to Deliver Messages

CreateUser Errors Occur During a False Network Disconnect

Cisco Unity Plays System Prompts but Does Not Transmit Voice

If callers can hear Cisco Unity prompts, but Cisco Unity does not transmit any audio when a caller speaks, Cisco Unity may have a dual NIC misconfiguration.

When dual NICs in a Cisco Unity system are configured with separate interface IP addresses, this may prevent correct receipt of RTP packets for voice transmissions. You can find this problem recorded in the log and trace files as silence detection filtering because Cisco Unity is not receiving any audio, and the wave driver is reporting silence detection on all recordings. This problem may also occur when a second NIC is installed in the Cisco Unity server but is not configured or connected to the network.

When dual NICs are installed on a Cisco Unity server, both NICs must be configured to share the same IP address.

To confirm or change NIC configuration settings, do the procedure in the "Configuring Dual NICs" section.

Exchange Fails to Deliver Messages

When Cisco Unity is recording messages properly, but Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003 fails to deliver the messages, the Cisco Unity server may have dual NICs with each NIC configured for different network segments. This problem occurs only on Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003 systems, and does not occur with Exchange 5.5.

When dual NICs are installed on a Cisco Unity server, both NICs must be connected to the same network segment in order for Exchange to deliver messages.

To confirm or change NIC configuration settings, do the procedure in the "Configuring Dual NICs" section.

CreateUser Errors Occur During a False Network Disconnect

When doing a bulk addition of a large number of Cisco Unity subscribers, random CreateUser errors may be generated. In a test situation, the error message "ERROR 800406ba: CreateUser()" was received for approximately 4 out of every 1000 subscribers successfully added.

The error messages refer to losing the network connection. However, it can be verified that the network connections are not actually disconnected. The cause can instead be traced to dual NICs on the Cisco Unity server, where the server was randomly trying to access one or the other card, and subsequently reported a network disconnect.

To resolve this problem, dual NICs on a Cisco Unity server must be configured with one NIC designated as the primary, and the other as secondary. The NICs must be configured in adapter fault tolerant mode (AFT) or network fault tolerant (NFT) mode only. Virtual adapter configuration mode is not supported with dual NICs on a Cisco Unity server.

To confirm or change NIC configuration settings, do the procedure in the "Configuring Dual NICs" section.

Configuring Dual NICs

When dual NICs are installed on a Cisco Unity server, they must be properly configured or a variety of problems can occur.

If the Cisco Unity server is using dual NICs, we recommend that they be configured in AFT or NFT mode. One NIC is designated as the primary and the other NIC as the secondary for active-passive fault tolerance. In this configuration, the primary (active) NIC handles 100 percent of the traffic. Only in the event that the primary NIC becomes unavailable does the secondary NIC then become active and handle 100 percent of the traffic.

Alternatively, if you do not want to configure AFT or NFT, or do not have a second LAN port available, the following configurations are supported, though not recommended:

Disable TCP/IP for the second NIC, which allows you to re-enable the second NIC remotely if the first NIC fails. (Use the Network and Dial-up Connections Control Panel to disable TCP/IP for the second NIC.)

Disable the second NIC in the BIOS.


Caution Note that it is not sufficient simply to refrain from plugging a network cable into the second NIC. The NIC must be disabled in the BIOS, or Cisco Unity may not work properly.

To confirm or change NIC configuration settings, do the following procedure.

To Confirm or Change Dual NIC Configuration on a Cisco Unity Server


Step 1 Confirm that the NICs are configured correctly:

Both are connected to the same network segment.

Both share the same IP address.

Both are set up for AFT when using a Dell or IBM server, or for NFT when using a Hewlett-Packard server. (Refer to the documentation provided by the NIC manufacturer or server vendor. If you are configuring an MCS-7825H, MCS-7835H, or MCS-7845H server, configure NFT teaming by using the network teams property sheet of the Compaq Network Teaming and Configuration Utility (CPQNTAC). If you are configuring an MCS-7815I, MCS-7855I, or MCS-7865I server, configure AFT teaming by using the Advanced Control Suite of the Broadcom NetXtreme Ethernet utilities. For the MCS-7835I and MCS-7845I servers, configure AFT teaming by using the teaming wizard on the Advanced tab of the Intel PROSet II Ethernet utilities.)

Step 2 Restart the Cisco Unity server for any changes to take effect.


Voice Cards Incorrectly Reported As New Hardware or Missing Drivers

In the following cases, the Found New Hardware wizard may appear each time the Cisco Unity server is restarted and report that the voice cards are new hardware, even though the cards are properly installed and configured:

The operating system was installed by using the Platform Configuration discs.

The operating system was installed by using the manufacturer's guided system-setup utility before the voice cards were installed.

New voice cards were added to an existing Cisco Unity server.

Do the procedure in this section to prevent the Found New Hardware wizard from reporting the voice cards as new hardware. The procedure will not prevent the Found New Hardware wizard from finding and reporting other new hardware.

We recommend disabling virus-scanning services, if applicable, for the duration of the procedure, because running the services slows the Found New Hardware wizard. Re-enable the services when you are finished.

To Disable the Found New Hardware Wizard for the Voice Cards


Step 1 On the Found New Hardware wizard Welcome page, click Next. (After the Cisco Unity server is restarted, the Found New Hardware wizard Welcome page is displayed along with the PCI Device Installing dialog.)

Step 2 On the Install Hardware Device Drivers page, click Search for a Suitable Driver for My Device (Recommended), and click Next.

Step 3 On the Locate Driver Files page, check the Floppy Disk Drives and CD-ROM Drives check boxes, and click Next.

Step 4 On the Driver Files Search Result page, click Disable the Device, and click Finish. Do not choose to skip driver installation of this device, or the Found New Hardware wizard will continue to appear each time the Cisco Unity server is restarted.

Step 5 Repeat Step 2 through Step 4 for each instance of the Found New Hardware wizard (for each voice card, as applicable).

Note that doing this procedure does not prevent a voice card from being displayed as an unknown PCI device when viewed in the Windows 2000 Device Manager. The warning that the device drivers are not installed also will continue to be displayed. This is expected behavior, and does not indicate a problem with the card or with the Cisco Unity server.