Virtual Ethernet problems with IXS and IXA attached servers

For the purposes of this section, the virtual Ethernet point to point LAN and the virtual Ethernet ports 0-9 are all considered virtual Ethernet adapters or virtual Ethernet ports.

There are two kinds of virtual Ethernet device drivers, virtual Ethernet Adapter (VE) and a virtual Ethernet Data Transport (DT).

• The virtual Ethernet Adapter corresponds to the driver that appears as the adapter, called 'virtual' because no NIC hardware is associated with it.
• The virtual Ethernet Data Transport is the driver that provides a connection to the system bus connecting all the virtual Ethernet networks.

When a VE port cannot communicate across the system bus, it reports that the cable for the port is unplugged (cable disconnected). This is an important concept for troubleshooting virtual Ethernet errors.

The virtual Ethernet Ports under Windows are automatically installed and uninstalled by the virtual Ethernet Utility (VEU). The utility receives signaling through a configuration file from the NWSD. For example, when a user creates a Line Description under the NWSD for a given virtual Ethernet Port the VEU installs the corresponding VE port. Rebooting the Windows server configures the VE port address.

The following virtual Ethernet components use the listed driver.

• virtual Ethernet Adapter: qvndvemp.sys
• virtual Ethernet Data Transport: qvndvedt.sys
• virtual Ethernet Install Utility: qvndveu.exe

Troubleshooting virtual Ethernet problems

When the communication between any VE ports is not functioning, you need to perform two general tasks to troubleshoot the problem.

1. Determine the status of the VE ports.
2. Match the observed results to the following troubleshooting cases.

Determine VE port status

To determine the status of the VE ports.

• Use the iSeries console to determine if a line description for the VE port is created under the NWSD.
• Use the Windows console to open the Network and Dial Up Connections folder and determine if the VE port icon is present.

Match port status with troubleshooting cases

Match results of your determination of the status of the VE ports to one of the following troubleshooting cases.

• Both line description and icon are present.
• Line description is present and icon is missing.
• Line description is missing and icon is present.
• Both line description and icon are missing.

In each case, you must first verify the i5/OS side then verify the Windows side. To verify the Windows side, you may need to open the Event Log and the Device Manager.

• To open the Event Log, from the Windows Start menu, select Programs, then Administrative Tools, then Event Viewer.
• To open the Device Manager, from the Windows Start menu, select Settings, then Control Panel, then Administrative Tools, then Computer Management, then Device Manager.