Why can’t I edit that field?

If you encounter an editing problem that can not explained by one of the following, please email us at [email protected].

Web interface displays the field in a non-editable way:

    • The field is never editable (e.g. a device’s connector types or serial number)
    • The field is normally editable, but currently can’t be edited because the device’s ConfigMode is hardware(2) (i.e. the device is jumpered to reject SNMP configuration changes).
    • You entered the “public” community name as a password, which results in a read-only view of the system.
    • The Management Module you are connected to is not the Primary. Standby Mangement Modules have a read-only view of the system regardless of the password entered.
  • The field is normally read-write, but contains a value that indicates that the field is not applicable to this particular piece of hardware. For example, “notSupported” is such a value.

I got a “badValue” error:

    • You entered a poorly formed value. This implementation accepts IP address information in “dotted quad” notation only – i.e. it does not accept DNS names. All integers must be entered in decimal notation. Binary, hex, octal, scientific notation, and so on are not accepted. Strings must consist entirely of printable characters.
    • You entered a value that was too large for the available space. For example, a “Groups” value longer than 63 characters. (Note: the SNMP error code “tooBig” reports oversized PDUs, not oversized values.)
    • You entered a value that was out of range.
    • You tried to make an illogical or impossible configuration change. For example, you cannot use SNMP or the Web interface to cause a particular piece of hardware to benotInstalled, because this value indicates that the hardware is physically absent.Note that in versions of Management Module firmware released before September, 2002, all drop-down menus allow you to see all of the possible values for the variable being managed. Some, like notInstalled, are status indications that cannot be set by the user.
    • You tried to use a feature that is supported on some models, but not on the particular piece of hardware that you are managing. For example, you tried to change the role of a power supply from shared(3) to master(1), or change a value from notSupported to enabled.As in the previous point, the drop down menu may show all values available for all configurations of this device. It is frequently the case that not all values are available in all configurations of the product.

I got a “genError” error:

    • The device’s ConfigMode is hardware(2) (i.e. the device is jumpered to reject SNMP configuration changes).
    • The device is a SMACF100 and autocasting of “MIB Packets” has been disabled or blocked via VLAN rules.
    • Between the time you displayed the Device Details screen and the time you clicked “save,” the Management Module went from being the Primary to being a Standby. You cannot make configuration changes on a Standby Management Module.
    • The Management Module received a malformed or corrupted request from an NMS.
    • The Management Module ran out of memory while trying to process a message.
    • An error occurred for which SNMP has no error code. Usually this involves the specifics of the MIB variable you are working with. See the documentation for the device.

I got a “noSuchName” error:

    • The Variable you are trying to change does not exist. This would happen if you displayed a Device Details Screen, then removed the device, then clicked “Save.”
    • The Variable you are trying to change is read-only. (Note that the SNMP error code “readOnly” has been obsoleted – see RFC1157, Section 4.1.5(1).)
    • A security violation has occurred. e.g. The “public” community string was used in a SET request, or SNMPLOCK blocked the request.

I changed a field and it changed right back:

    • You tried to make an illogical or impossible configuration change. For example, you cannot change the interface speed or duplex setting when autonegotiation is enabled.
    • Some changes take a little while to be confirmed, and you didn’t wait long enough. Each Details screen will contain an estimate of how long it will take for all changes to be processed. Click here for more information.
  • The device was unable to process the change for a reason that is unknown to the Management Module.With versions of Mangement Module firmware released before January, 2003, the most common reason for a device to reject changes is that its ConfigMode is hardware(2). So, you could encounter this symptom if you put a device in Software mode, displayed its Device Details screen, switched the device to Hardware mode, then tried to save. (Firmware versions after January, 2003 will return a “genError” code when this occurs.)
Questions?