System died, how to resuscitate?

[K9IR]

Apparently my laptop did a reboot while I had the Control unit connected via a network bridge on the laptop and the remote radio was on. After getting nowhere reconnecting the Control box to the network bridge, I tried the following steps to get the system back up, but was unsuccessful:

1. Connected the Control box directly to my home router. I just hear the 3-tone signal from the TS-480 control head.
2. Reset power to the Control box.
3. Reset the Control box via the MicroBit setup manager.
4. Verified I can access the Radio box remotely - it is still running.

I did not yet try a remote reset of the radio box.

Are there other steps I can take to get the system back up and running? Thanks for any help.

Paula k9ir

[dj0qn]

Paula,

The easiest method that takes a few seconds would be to go to the web page of your radio RRC,
then use the "restart device" on the bottom left to restart it.

Not sure why it didn't disconnect, but normally it will not do this if the internet connection to the
control RRC was lost. For some reason, it thinks the connection is still alive.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[K9IR]

Mitch, thank you for the quick reply.

I did click Restart (tried twice) for the Radio unit via the web interface, but the radio still does not turn on. I am hearing the 3 sets of three tones from the control head of the TS-480.

Anything else to try, whether remotely or at the remote site?

When you say "it thinks the connection is still alive," do you mean the radio unit? If the radio unit, is this a situation where a remote switch to cycle power to the TS-480 itself would be helpful to reset the system?

Paula k9ir

[dj0qn]

Hi Paula,

I was assuming that the tones you heard were the busy tone, but now I think it was the "I
can't reach the other RRC" tone. I am tone deaf trying to read this on the Forum 

Look at the radio RRC's status page. If all is showing well, then the problem is on the control side.
Most likely the PC reboot screwed-up the bridge that you had set up. Either way, I would focus there
on finding the problem. Looking at the control RRC's status page when you try a connect would
help verify that.

I also suggest that you get off of the buggy ICS type of bridging and buy an el cheapo WiFi extender
for $20 with an ethernet port. This would allow you to operate the RRC independently of the PC and
still work in hot spot locations after setting it up there.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[K9IR]

Thanks again, Mitch. FYI I went back to using a direct wired ethernet connection to my home router when I couldn't initially re-establish connectivity via the network bridge. So all my earlier t-shooting efforts were done without the network bridge. I do have a cheapo wi-fi extender (IOGear GWU627) that used to work with a blu-ray player; unfortunately, like so many of these extenders, it has failed and no longer works ;-). They all seem to get mediocre reviews but I'll give try another brand and hope for the best.

The tones I hear are the 3 note sequence that repeats 3 times; it is not a busy signal.

For the avoidance of any doubt, here are the status pages for both units (including the Control unit before and after a connect attempt). I admit the details are beyond my current knowledge level, so there could be something below that I didn't recognize as incorrect, or that flags the cause of the problem.

RADIO:
Status

Radio   ON
Connection status   Disconnected
SIP status   Idle
Last SIP error   None
RTP/UDP audio status   Disconnected
UDP cmd status   Disconnected
SIP command timeout   0
Rx Jitter buffer size   12
Rx Jitter delay   10
Dual Rx   0
External IP   206.146.83.22
SIP Out port   13000
SIP In port   13000
Audio Out port   0
Audio In port   0
Command Out port   0
Command In port   13002
External SIP In port   13000
External Audio In port   13001
External Cmd In port   13002
Other party   0.0.0.0
Input 1   High
Input 2   High
Output 0   Low
Output 1   Low
Output 2   Low
Dynamic DNS status
OK
Ping status (watchdog)   Off
DNS status   OK, remoterig.com = 213.180.92.125
Active profile   Default
PTT status   OFF
Antenna-Switch (IP)   not connected
Common network settings   No

CONTROL before connect attempt:
Status

Control panel   ON
Radio   OFF
Connection status   Disconnected
SIP status   Idle
Last SIP error   None
RTP/UDP audio status   Disconnected
UDP cmd status   Disconnected
SIP command timeout   0
Rx Jitter buffer size   12
Rx Jitter delay   10
Dual Rx   0
SIP Out port   13000
SIP In port   13000
Audio Out port   0
Audio In port   0
Command Out port   0
Command In port   13002
External SIP In port   13000
External Audio In port   13001
External Cmd In port   13002
Other party   0.0.0.0
Input 0   High
Input 1   High
Input 2   High
Output 0   Low
Output 1   Low
Output 2   Low
DNS status   OK, rkfe6qsh.ddns.remoterig.com = 206.146.83.22
Active profile:   Default
PTT status:   

CONTROL after start attempt (status page didn't dynamically refresh. I went to another page and then back to Status):
Status

Control panel   ON
Radio   OFF
Connection status   Disconnected
SIP status   Error
Last SIP error   SIP Error
RTP/UDP audio status   Disconnected
UDP cmd status   Disconnected
SIP command timeout   0
Rx Jitter buffer size   12
Rx Jitter delay   10
Dual Rx   0
SIP Out port   13000
SIP In port   13000
Audio Out port   0
Audio In port   0
Command Out port   0
Command In port   13002
External SIP In port   13000
External Audio In port   13001
External Cmd In port   13002
Other party   206.146.83.22
Input 0   High
Input 1   High
Input 2   High
Output 0   Low
Output 1   Low
Output 2   Low
DNS status   OK, rkfe6qsh.ddns.remoterig.com = 206.146.83.22
Active profile:   Default
PTT status:   OFF

[dj0qn]

Paula,

The control RRC is showing its IP address as 206.146.83.22, but that is also the other party. This means
that you are within the same network. Are you using the internal IP number as the SIP contact for these
tests? Any decent router will block a connect attempt using the external IP number (or dynamic DNS address).

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[K9IR]

Mitch, the IP address you noted is the external address for the Radio box only. The two boxes are on totally different networks. The IP address confusion may be from the fact that I sent you 2 Status screens for the Control box. The order of the Status screens I sent is

1. Status for Radio unit
2. Status for Control unit before attempting a connection, and
3. Status of Control unit after the attempt

The Control box is configured for DHCP and receives an IP address assigned by my home network router. On its Radio settings page the DDNS address/own host name is entered for the SIP contact.

The Radio box has a fixed internal IP address consistent with the network it is on.

Hope this clears things up ;-).

73, Paula k9ir

[dj0qn]

Hi Paula,

OK, I thought all three were the control RRC and didn't see the labeling so late at night. It looked as
if the status was showing the same IP address to me.

Either way, the tones you are receiving indicate that there is no internet connection to the radio RRC.
Unfortunately, this can be caused by many things on either side and needs to be found by using the
process of elimination.

The place to start would be to let someone you trust test the radio side from their location. If they get in,
then it is clear that the problem is on the control side. If not, then concentrate on the radio side. I can help
test it for you if you don't have anyone else.

If it is on the control side, then try taking the RRC to another location and see if it works from there. Then you
will know if it is a network issue at your QTH or some setting problem on the RRC.

Once you determine where the problem lies, you will be able to more easily locate and solve it.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[K9IR]

Tnx agn, Mitch. No problem, I realized the multiple screens probably caused the confusion.

What's odd is that I can access the remote radio box over the internet. So there is an internet connection to the radio RRC, but no meaningful communication to make it do anything (other than a reset).

I am going up to the remote site tomorrow. I don't know of anyone in my home area using RR that I could ask to try accessing the remote site. So I may just try a hard power down/up on the remote hardware to see if that clears things up. I may try testing the control unit at another location tonight; assuming I can just plug into an ethernet port on that router, fire up the box and see what happens.

I may post an update if I run out of t-shooting ideas to resolve the problem ;-).

73 Paula k9ir

[dj0qn]

Paula,

If you were to send me the BIN for the control RRC through email, I can test from here. Then you
can save the trip to the radio site if it works.

I suspect it is on your end, but it will only take a minute to find out for sure.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[K9IR]

Thanks very much, Mitch. I just finished packing everything up to go to my brother's and try connecting from there. Once I am set up there, I will export the CONTROL settings and email those for you to try access from your location. I'll also update you on whether I have any success connecting from there.

73 Paula k9ir

[K9IR]

So I tried accessing my remote station from my brother's house -- success!

I returned home and tried the exact same setup (same cables) and -- failure.

I rebooted our router, but no joy once again. The symptoms remain the same, though I think we've narrowed down the issue to something that--just--happened with the home network yesterday.

I have come to the end of next steps I can think of, though I presume I will be rummaging around router settings and such. If there's a thread or doc I should reference, just point me and I'll get on it.

Tnx again for the direction to try access elsewhere; that just saved me a 12 hour round trip ;-).

73 Paula k9ir

[dj0qn]

Glad you narrowed down the problem, Paula.

It is usually not a problem on the control side, but obvious that is the location.  Here are possible places to look:

- A network cable or swich could have gone bad (I have seen that often)
- Make sure SIP ALG is turned off in the router
- Try turning off the router's firewall

Good luck and let me know if I can help.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[K9IR]

I tried all 4 ports on the Xfinity router, including the one that worked just fine for my laptop -- no joy.
I disabled the firewall -- no joy.
I have tried two different ethernet cables that were working before, one of which worked at my brother's location earlier today (he uses AT&T ;-)).
We don't use any switch; everything comes through the wireless router. RR marks one of the few times we've ever needed to use one of the ethernet ports.

I'm researching now whether SIP ALG can be disabled on an Xfinity router. I found no such parameter in any section of the router. Info from 2015 suggests I am SOL, but I'm looking for guidance in more recent info.

If anyone has figured a way to disable SIP ALG on an Xfinity/Comcast router, please let me know what the magic is!

73 Paula k9ir

73 Paula k9ir

[dj0qn]

Paula,

Does your brother also use Xfinity?

I never took their router and pay their rent. I bought a modem and router myself and have always been satisfied.

I am not sure if they even have an SIP ALG setting; not all routers do.

Bottom line is that something changed somewhere, it is most likely in the network or router. If you are using
an ethernet cable directly to the router, than you have bypassed any other possible problem causes.

Now to fix it, I only see two possibilities:
a) Replace the router (or have Xfinity replace theirs)
b) Try changing the ports from 13000-13002 to something else. Could be that there is a port conflict somewhere

What you can also try is something that makes no sense: place the control RRC in the DMZ to see if that makes
a difference. If that makes a difference, which it shouldn't, then you know you have a firewall problem.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX