Nic Failed Status

Hi guys,
Another problem here and I appreciate the help,
the interface in the solaris v440 is showing as "FAILED"

ce0: flags=19040803<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,DEPRECATED,IPv4,NOFAILOVER,FAILED> mtu 1500 index 2
        inet 192.168.1.30 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
        groupname MNIC

The IP cant be ping from outside, and the switch configurations mention that it is connected and working fine.
the prtdiag -v shows no errors with that instance.
Is the hardware failing? Any Ideas?

Thanks

Check

grep ce0 /var/adm/messages

/var/adm/messages:Jul 19 12:38:09 localhost pcd: [ID 526245 kern.notice] PCD: Starting capture 0x3000d232be8 session 0x300
0d4e29d8 ppaname ce0: BufSize 0x400000
/var/adm/messages:Jul 19 12:38:09 localhost pcd: [ID 600874 kern.notice] PCD: Closing capture 0x3000d232be8 session 0x3000
d4e29d8 ppaname ce0, captured: 0, lost: 0
/var/adm/messages:Jul 19 12:38:09 localhost ISS[714]: [ID 984656 user.error] (localhost ) - InitializePacketDriver for ce0 interface failed: No IPs configured for this adapter.

What kind of software are you running on that server? Was this NIC ever functioning properly?

I believe this NIC was running before.
I am not sure I am just now noticing the problem..
It's a v440 system running solaris 9.

I mean what kind of applications are running there. The last message is coming from an application and not Solaris.

VCS cluster, oracle that's all I know as of now

Well, quick google search for that last message showed this: IBM How to Configure Unix Server Sensor to Not Monitor Interface - United States Which then leads to this: IBM Documentation which might explain the "ISS" process name. It is possible that this application is messing with the network interfaces.

I have a quick question.
Is that even possible for the NIC to have a failed Status?
I mean the NIC card as WHOLE which has 4 Ethernet Ports and only 1 failing.
If it was a hardware problem then there are ways to look into it right?

prtdiag -v?

More likely it looks like an application problem?

Well, I've only seen status "FAILED" on a NICs that were part of an IPMP group and there was some problem with communication (for example wrong VLAN configured on a switch side). I don't know how NIC's hardware failure would manifest, but in your case I'd say it is an application problem.

A normal interface may not be DEPRECATED!?
This is part of IPMP group MNIC; how do the other group members look?

Ce0 and Ce3 are part of the IPMP group.

ce0: flags=19040803<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,DEPRECATED,IPv4,NOFAILOVER,FAILED> mtu 1500 index 2
        inet 192.168.1.30 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
        groupname MNIC
ce3: flags=9040843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,DEPRECATED,IPv4,NOFAILOVER> mtu 1500 index 3
        inet 192.168.1.31 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
        groupname MNIC
ce3:1: flags=1000843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 3
        inet 192.168.1.51 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255

DEPRECATED means that outgoing IP traffic should not go to that interface.
I suggest to delete deprecated from /etc/hostname.ce0 and /etc/hostname.ce3.
Immediately applying it can result in an application failure (and even in a kernel panic):

ifconfig ce0 -deprecated
ifconfig ce3 -deprecated

But this is not related to the FAILED status. Perhaps it's caused by a bad cable or a bad LAN switch configuration?
Another recommendation: have the latest GigaSwift driver patch (118777-18) installed.

ce0 was at a failed status because the patch cable was bad.
Once we switched it, it was back up and running.

Those interface are having -deprecated because I want the virtual interface to take control of the in/out going traffic. Applications rely on that virtual IP. In any case the now that ce0 is back up. If ce3 fails, ce0's virtual interface should come up.

Can you re-install the network driver ..........