"Defective" Asante hub power supplies can cause AppleTalk errors

Joel Harris reports on "an issue with Asante's FriendlyNet 5- and 8-port Dual-Speed hubs. Apparently a certain manufactured lot of power supplies for these two models of hubs are defective, according to Asante. The power supplies are manufactured by Kentex, and the lot number is stamped in black ink on black plastic (great idea), under the label. I'm not sure how many lots have this problem, but my number is 9939 14, and is confirmed by Asante as one of them. This was discovered after I began having problems with AppleTalk (A dialog box told me "AppleTalk could not be used, because no available address could be found"), and no networking was therefore possible. The cause turned out to be the hub, which would blink all its "LINK/ACT" lights rapidly for no reason - which Asante told me was a symptom. Asante is replacing the power supply free of charge, and told me that there should be nothing wrong with the hub itself, just the power supply."

Update: Steve Elman writes: "This is another lot number of the Asante power supply problem that has been confirmed. The date code on mine that they are replacing as of yesterday is 9947 15."

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