Cannot connect to the radio

KC0EM

Everything was working when I turned off things last night. Now says it cannot connect to the radio. The radio and computer are connected by a CAT 6 patch cable. I tried restarting both the radio and the computer. I even tried a different CAT 6 cable as well. Any ideas?

Jim Gilliam

Have you made a restore point on your computer? If all else fails, you might try restoring to an earlier restore point in the event something got corrupted that is easily restorable.

AH0U

Did you disconnect power to the radio and wait a few seconds or did you just turn it off and then on.... disconnecting power is the only real retry

George KF2T

Make sure you let the computer boot fully before turning on the radio if you’re directly connected.

Ted VE3TRQ

Since you are using link local IP addresses between your radio and your PC, once both are turned on, you will need to give the PC and the radio a bit of time to decide there is no DHCP server available and self-assign themselves a “169.” address. This could take a minute or so, so give it five minutes before trying to connect after both the radio and the PC are booted.

WX7Y

temporally shut down any and all computer firewall 's and see if that is what is blocking the radio

Bret
WX7Y

Bill -VA3WTB

I sounds like lost ip Add. reset your router, then start the radio, ans comp   hopfully they will find each other again.

Ted VE3TRQ

Bill, I believe his radio is not going through a router, and is directly connected to the PC. The PC is connected via WiFi, so to get Internet access to his radio, he would need bridging or network sharing enabled in the PC. Of course once he has the latest software on the radio, and as long as he is not wanting to use SmartLink (he is not as far as I know), it should all work. Bret’s suggestion is a good one. I have no idea whether he is using bridging and getting an IP address via the WiFi and router, or is getting a link local address via PC network sharing. I believe Eric set it up for him.

Bill -VA3WTB

Ok I'm sorry, why did I think there was a router involed? getting old!!!

Ted VE3TRQ

No need to apologize, Bill - it’s still possible the router was involved, but it’s not a given. If the direct connection to the PC from the Flex went through the PC as a bridged connection, it could have been set up to get its address from the router, although that would be a bad idea - fixed IP would be better. In the case of a shared network connection in the PC, the two interfaces would each have assigned themselves a link local (“169.”) address with no participation from the router.

KC0EM

Hi,

Unfortunately, ham radio a hobby and I am very busy. I did do a restore before I ran out of time. It didn't help. I think I'll uninstall all of the Flex software when I get a chance. The only router in this house is a defunct in the closet and one I should toss. With this new system the Internet provider is using, I only have a Wi-Fi hotspot. The house is wired with outlets in every room from the modem in the garage. That's what my problem is when I wanted to upgrade. Eric solved that one for me.

Roger_W6VZV

I am wondering if it is your network.  Have you re-booted your router?  In the past when I have had problems with my Flex connecting it has turned out to be my router needing attention.
de Roger W6VZV

KC0EM

Roger,

There is no router in this house. There is a modem in the garage and a Wi-Fi hotspot provided by the cable company. Don't tell them, but I opened the box to look at it. It has Wi-Fi on a chip and the maker I don't know because I cannot understand the code on the chip. It has a UART chip and an oscillator chip that must also contain a divider network. There are only two connections to their black box – the wall wart connection and the line from the modem in the garage. The whole house is wired with outlets to that modem in every room as a very recent build. I think my best bet is when I get a chance to get back to my station is to remove the current Flex software and reinstall it. I installed it using a professional install/uninstall program that tracks everything installed and when I need to remove something, it uninstalls everything it's saw installed. There is absolutely nothing left. Oh, I think more Internet companies will go to the Wi-Fi hotspot idea.  1 Gb service is common here. My cable company told me they had a lot of problems with people who didn't know how to use their routers. After looking at the contents of that box, I did some back of the envelope type calculations and I would guess at production levels its cost would be less than $25/unit. Thanks for thinking of me and I'd better get back to work!

VC

Ted VE3TRQ

What are the outlets in every room? If they are connected to the “modem”, what do they do? If the WiFi hotspot is connected to the “modem” as well, in the same way as the other wires (to outlets), it sounds more like the “modem” is a combined modem and router. I think we (I, at least) are still not clear on the installed network gear.

Steve K9ZW

With Eric being the person who has a decent idea of how your network is configured perhaps ask him for help, or at least for his notes on what the last working configuration was with network topography?  

Once you are reestablished again perhaps making some notes/screenshots will be a nice reference if things change again in the future.

Back in 2008 I reposted an ealier post on suggestions to build your "get it going and keep it going shack references" https://k9zw.wordpress.com/2008/12/14/repost-making-a-list-checking-it-twice-checklists-screen-shots-for-amateur-radio/  and https://k9zw.wordpress.com/2007/03/11/making-a-list-checking-it-twice-checklists-screen-shots-for-amateur-radio/

(I see that over time some of the artwork became unlinked - I'll see if I can restore it soon).

Personally I shoot screenshot which get saved to a folder that includes note and is named to reflect the date, along with an old moleskin notebook where I do notes by hand.

It has saved me much time when things change or go wrong.

73

Steve
K9ZW

http://k9zw.wordpress.com 

KC0EM

Ted,

I was reminded by my wife that she knows of only three outlets. One is in the area of the TV set and that's where the cable TV signal comes in she also tells me it has two different looking connections. There is a similar set in the kitchen that I've seen, but I know we never had those "activated." The only other set is in the office/ham shack. That one for the Internet is active, but I have never used the television side of things. There is a black box on the wall in the garage mounted on a piece of MDF board. Since I am disabled, I can only view it from a distance. I know there is at least one direct connection to the Internet on it as we used it trying to do the upgrade. That black box could be anything! Apparently, the wiring is all there and cable company just has to activate it. You can get no cell phone service at our house, so the house is also wired for multiple telephones – kitchen, living room, the bedrooms, and even the garage. The telephone comes along with Internet service. We can't get cell phone service but we have fiber-optic cable right up to the house!

VC

KC0EM

Steve,

I am taking a coffee break. I will try your suggestion along with reloading the software from Flex in my downtime. I may be disabled, but I still must eat – grin. I work in electronics/programming. My electronic's design days go back to vacuum tubes and coming forward in time to today. My programming days actually started with binary coding, octal coding, and then hexadecimal. Besides machine language programming, I do not remember how many higher languages I have worked with along the way, but I still use C and even occasionally dip into things like Python. I stay as far away from possible from Microsoft's operating systems. I have seen some of it decompiled. I know they are working to reconcile some of the oddities such as patches made to patches to other patches. So many crazy things were done that there is almost no one who can understand the whole system and they corrected a lot of those problems in system 10, but many still remain. Coffee time is over and thanks for your help.

VC

KC0EM

Hi,

I was able to uninstall and reload the Flex software last night. That didn't correct the problem. If you remember, I have a CAT 6 patch cable running from the radio to the computer. I assumed the problem had to be with the computer after the software fix didn't work. The first thing I checked was the ethernet port. I plugged in my functioning hi-speed cable directly into the ethernet port. The computer was not recognizing it. It always had in the past. I thought at first that my protection program, Norton, might have turned off they ethernet port – I guess I should say blocked it. I fiddled a bit with Norton and then I was so tired I gave up. At least, the problem is been narrowed down to the ethernet connection now. Does anyone have any suggestions? I was so tired last night I couldn't even figure out how to turn off Norton. Since the computer is connected to nothing but the radio because I turned off the Wi-Fi, there is no danger in turning Norton off. I'd appreciate any help. I am off to a meeting and I am not sure when I will be back to answer any questions.

VC

Lawrence Libsch

VC,

     I have had your problem multiple times when working "linked local" i.e. CAT cable radio direct to computer. I, too, thought the problem must be bad cable or software problems.The solution is to connect the radio directly by CAT cable to a router. The "linked local" connection will work much of the time but will eventually fail without warning or apparent cause. I learned the solution from the FLEX help ticket support person. A CAT cable connection direct from a router to your Flex is the solution. Insist your ISP provide you a router with a wired port, then run CAT from that port to your radio and your problem will be solved. Some fiber installers are using wifi only connections inside the house claiming they have fewer maintenance problems. Locally a friend has insisted on and gotten a router with some ports for CAT cable. I bet you can get it, too. GL
     Larry, K4KGG

Roger_W6VZV

Connecting the radio direct to the router worked best for me too.
de Roger W6VZV

KC0EM

Larry,

I hear a similar thing from my Internet provider. They absolutely detest routers because they are providing all sorts of problems for them. That is the reason they provide a Wi-Fi hotspot without extra cost. As I explained before, I am disabled and there is nowhere for me to get close enough to look at the "modem" they installed in the garage. I do know that there are three places wired into this house that are directly connected to the modem. One we didn't "activate" because it's in the kitchen. One is in the entertainment area which is active and one is in my office/ham space. We did temporarily solve the problems of updating when I still had an old functioning router. I would just plug it into the "modem outlet" in the office and do the update. The frustrating thing about this event is as far as I can see is the only thing I did is turn off the radio. The computer just stays on and goes to sleep after a while. I didn't see any updates when I checked from Microsoft or from Norton. Both of them in the past have provided problems at times. I don't want to go buy a router and plug it in in the office/ham space because I use that direct high-speed connection in my work all the time. Unfortunately, if it is going to be a choice between my work and my hobby, my work will have to win. I appreciate the time and effort you took to help me. For me, it's frustrating because ever since version 3.x came out, I haven't had a radio most of the time. Eric spent a long time getting the update to work and I appreciate that and then virtually the next day the radio stops functioning again. Oh well!

"VC"

Ted VE3TRQ

If you have a single wired Ethernet connection, it is trivial to put in a little, inexpensive, and high quality 4-port switch on that Ethernet connection - you do not need a router. It will have zero effect on your computer connection, and provides that extra wired Ethernet connection your radio needs! $30 and two Cat6 patch cords (you already have one to connect your cmputer) will fix your problem. Your modem obviously already has the required router functionality and built-in switch because you have multiple Ethernet connections and DHCP functionality.

dlwarnberg

Who is your ISP?  Second What OS are you running on your PC?  Is there a red exclamation point on the NIC in your Device Manager (Network Adapters)?   I would suggest you go purchase a cheap router (not a switch), this will provide you some valuable info... 1) most routers you can login to and see what IP's are assigned to what.  2) you can quickly tell what devices are NOT connected

There may be a few things at play here.  First the NIC in your PC may have gone south (it happens), second any anti virus or firewall software may be blocking connections but in order to really be able to tell is thought a router, it does NOT have to be connected to the LAN to work but will give you some insight as to what might be wrong.

keep in mind, Routers assign IP's, switches do not and if your PC is attempting to assign an IP to a NIC that is bad there is where the problem is.

good luck

Ted VE3TRQ

Holy conflicting advice!

dlwarnberg

it's temporary to help troubleshoot the issue, a switch will not help him, borrow a router, if necessary.  20 plus years in the IT field...

KC0EM

Hi everyone,

I was able to borrow a brand-new Asus AC2900 router. My daughter-in-law manages an OfficeMax store. I brought it home and set it up here in the office/ham station. I unplugged the power from the central Wi-Fi hotspot. And powered up the Asus router. I checked the Wi-Fi signal just to be sure that the router was working before connecting the computer. I was even able to get on my Kindle Fire and look for a book for this evening. I then made direct connections from the router to both the radio and the computer. It did not solve the problem. I am headed out to take the Asus router back because I have someone who will be able to take it into the store for me. My disability strikes again.

dlwarnberg

Were you able to verify the router assigned a IP to both the Computer and Radio?

Eric-KE5DTO

If the radio is showing up in the radio selection list, but it won't allow you connect, it is likely a networking issue where the radio and the computer being used to access it are not on the same subnet.  So the logical thing to check would be the radio's IP address and the PC's IP address and compare them.

KC0EM

Hi,

While I went to return the router, Tim down at Flex fix the problem. I came home and found everything working. I am sure the problem was related to the Windows operating system, but I want to thank everyone for their advice. I'll end here with a little story about a past computer that provided problems after problems, so I bought a new one. However, I didn't trash the old computer but loaded Linux into it. It continued to perform well until it just got too old and too slow but it was still functioning when I recycled. Again everyone – thanks!

Sergey KN7K

I wonder what was the fix as I could not start 7QP contest today with exactly the same problem.

I see the radio name with IP address, my call sign as Station to connect , but cannot connect to SSDR. Everything was working last night and tested, 5min before contest start, SSDR crashed and i cannot connect now. VERY FRUSTRATED

Steven Lott Smith

You will probably need to roll back from version 3.2.31 to fix it

That is what I had to do

Steve

kg5vk