LSI fibre channel card and fibre channel utility

this isnt about XSAN specifically, but i have an LSI logic FC card in a G4 mac with OS 10.4.11 server. the card seems to show physical connection, as does either a cisco or avid mediaswitch when connected, but the fibre channel utility claims the port link is down. any ideas why? seems the speed and topology should be ok, since on auto.