Author Topic: control unit locks up when powering it on.  (Read 14352 times)

n5oya

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control unit locks up when powering it on.
« on: 2012-08-04, 01:12:58 »
hello all. have several slight problems but lets take care of one at a time. on my Control rrc, when i plug in the power cord with or without cables connected to the unit it will freezes up and the 2 lights on the mic/aux jack stays lit. I am unable to log into the unit at all. i cant turn on the radio..i cant do anything when waiting 1, 2 etc minutes it just doesnt do anything but, if i disconnect the power cord and plug in the usb cable connected to the computer the unit recycles normally and then i plug in the power cord and will recycle once more like normal and wont lock up. now i thought there was a glitch in the firmware so i installed several times and ever switched to a lower firmware but does the same.

this is the problem...when i leave home and i dont have a laptop and i plug the power to the unit it will lock up and im out of luck so i need to fix this problem. thanks for help.
« Last Edit: 2012-08-05, 07:56:23 by n5oya »

sm2o

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #1 on: 2012-08-04, 09:27:07 »
Hi

If both the red and yellow LED is on the unit do not boot up. This can happen if the power supply is not delivering power enough. When you connect the USB cable the unit will be powered from the PC thats why it work then. If the unit has been hit by a llightning strike this can also happen if the DC input components are hurt. Also try without the panel connected.

73 de mike.

n5oya

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #2 on: 2012-08-04, 17:19:01 »
i have just changed power supplies to my station power supply and still locks up on power up. thanks

WA4LV

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #3 on: 2012-08-05, 03:18:12 »
Mine started doing this to as soon as I flashed the latest firmware ... I can usually get it to boot by unplugging all the cables - it seems like unplugging the Ethernet cable will allow it to power on ... I will try it again after while ... But it doesn't happen to mine every time, but most often it does not boot  ...

g4swx

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #4 on: 2012-08-06, 20:42:14 »
This is not uncommon. I first reported it a number of months ago on this forum.
http://www.remoterig.com/forum/index.php?topic=1072.msg4384#msg4384

It is not the PSU - I have seen lock-up with both large and plugtop supplies. it certainly is a failure to boot as both the Ethernet and USB ports are dead.
The only cure seems to be to remove all power for >10 mins and then try again.

73
John G4SWX

KP4TR

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #5 on: 2012-08-22, 03:29:05 »
N5OYA received a new remoterig and problem solved. Seems to have been a bad unit. Works great when I tested it.

kt7az

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #6 on: 2012-09-02, 22:30:14 »
I have a brand new Remote Head unit s/n 5022.  I have found pretty much the same problem as first post.

red and yellow light stay on and no conncetivity when powered by 12v power cube.
(I have tried a couple of cubes with 2 amp spec)
My unit is consistent with this issue.

The Work Around is -- If you unplug all power and then plug USB in first it will boot and go to green blink light.  If you then plug in 12v power cube, green light will go steady and all will work properly.  YOu can then unplug USB cable and all will be fine (until next power cycle)

I also noticed you can do a restart through web page and unit will reboot properly.  It appears to only fail when power is completely removed and rebooted.

I have the latest firmware build Aug 15 2012 15:15:57, software 2.61.

Please let me know if you have any other ideas.

Thanks,

Gary KT7AZ



sm2o

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #7 on: 2012-09-02, 23:06:53 »
Thank you for a good description of the problem we will look at it tomorrow

73 de mike

AE7I

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #8 on: 2012-09-04, 01:27:55 »
I have discovered the same issue on my setup with the Kenwood TS-480 and 2.61 software version.  As with the others, I have connected all of the cables to the control unit, applied power, and waited until the power light stopped blinking and became solid (confirming Ethernet connection).   When I power the rig the first time, there is an immediate beep, the screen reads "Hello" indefinitely, and the AUXMIC lights both light up.  If I then remove the power plug, wait 5 seconds, and reapply power and await connection, the following is noted when I turn on the control head: immediate beep, "Hello" screen about 3 seconds later, then full radio functionality at about 4 seconds.  I am hopeful that the solution will be found.

73, Craig (AE7I)

sm2o

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #9 on: 2012-09-04, 08:14:32 »
This is not the same thing, what you are describing is a normal loss of internet connection. Yellow  means that hte connection has once been established, and the red that the incomming audio stream is missing (probably data also, but there is no LED for that). If the Internet connection is back within 60 s you do not need to do anything. If it's not you have to push the PWR button OFF and ON again.

73 de mike

AE7I

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #10 on: 2012-09-05, 05:06:56 »
I suspect more is going on than simply a loss of internet connection as this is a new behavior.  The FIRST time I turn on the TS-480, the head display has "HELLO", the two lights on either side of the AUXMIC are illuminated, and nothing happens.  About 45-60 seconds later, the red light goes out and the green light remains illuminated.  However, the rig still displays "HELLO" and there is no audio or control functions available.  Even holding the power off button for several seconds does nothing.  The only remedy is to remove power temporarily and once the steady power light is evident (plus a bit of time beyond that presumably for additional information exchange), I can successfully turn on the rig.

Here is what I see when the rig is clearly locked up (note all looks good from the standpoint of the RRC):

Name   Value
Control panel   ON
Radio   ON
Connection status   OK
SIP status   Connected/transfering
Last SIP error   None
RTP status   Excellent(60)
UDP cmd status   OK(45)
SIP command timeout   0
Rx Jitter buffer size   4
Rx Jitter delay   3
Dual Rx   0
Current audio packet size   20
Current audio quality   2 - Linear 16 bits 8 kHz
SIP Out port   5080
SIP In port   5080
Audio Out port   11000
Audio In port   11000
Command Out port   12000
Command In port   12000
External SIP In port   5080
External Audio In port   11000
External Cmd In port   12000
Other party   ***.***.***.** (intentionally blanked)
Input 0   High
Input 1   High
Input 2   High
Output 0   High
Output 1   Low
Output 2   Low
DNS status   OK, remoterig.com = ***.***.***.** (intentionally blanked)
Active profile:   Default
PTT status:   OFF

In conclusion, I think there is something else I am  missing since this appears to be new behavior.

Thanks, Craig AE7I

dj0qn

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #11 on: 2012-09-08, 10:48:06 »
Craig,

I have seen this problem a lot where there were bandwidth or latency issues, especially when
trying to use the system over a 3G link. You didn't mention what your line was, but I think
this may be your problem and not RemoteRig.

Try reducing your bandwidth to a minimum and changing some parameters to compensate
for a poor line. Here are some tips:

1) These two are important:
- audio quality to 0 (half the bandwidth of codec 2 and more than adequate for SSB & CW)
- turn continuous RTP on or set RTP to continuous (depending upon firmware version)

2) Play around with these 3 until you are satisfied:
- increase rx jitter buffer to min 10
- increase rx jitter delay to min 12
- audio packet size 20 or 40

3) Also, make sure that serial ports COM1 and COM2 are turned off if not used,
or that either being used is set to the minimum bps necessary to handle the serial
communication. For example, use 4800 for CAT on a rig like the TS-480 and not
a high speed like 57600, since the higher speed is completely unnecessary.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX


AE7I

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #12 on: 2012-09-24, 02:20:21 »
I am connected to a communications port located on a mountain top communication site.  When I ping the IP address, I get a reply turnaround of 39-43 ms, average 40 ms. 

I have tried setting audio quality to 0, RTP to continuous, jitter buffer to 12, jitter delay to 10, audio packet 20 .  All COM ports are off and not utilized.  I used a friend's RemoteRig units and had the same phenomenon.  All units had already been upgraded to 2.62 firmware.

This problem seems very reproducible.  The first time I try to turn on the control head after the RemoteRig has had a chance to fully boot up and connect (solid green power light), I get the "Hello" screen on the TS-480 immediately and then the green light to the right side of the AUX/MIC jack lights followed a few seconds later by the red light.  If I remove and reinsert the power cord, wait until the green power light is solid, then turn on the control head, there are several seconds before the "Hello" screen appears and a few seconds later I have full function of the rig.  If I turn the rig off, wait 30 seconds, then try to turn it back on, the same lock up occurs.  Once again, I need to remove power from the RemoteRig, wait until boot up is complete, and then power up the rig.

Any other ideas to try?

Craig, AE7I

dj0qn

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #13 on: 2012-09-24, 09:48:12 »
It is hard to say what exactly the problem is, however I would focus on the radio location's
router and internet connection. Since you have the same problem from more than one control
location, the problem is clearly there. I am positive that it is not a RemoteRig problem, but is related
to that line or router.

I would probably swap out the router as my first step, since this is the likely culprit if the line has
a good quality as you appear to indicate.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

sm2o

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Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.
« Reply #14 on: 2012-09-24, 15:25:35 »
I agreed with Mitch. The Red LED always indicate that no RTP-packages are comming in = a break in the connection, so I agree that something happens in the routers.

73 de mike