Repeatable Problem with OnniRig and SmartCat

Patrick

When starting Log4om which engages OmniRig to connect to SmartCat registered com port, Communications is lost on the next band change. Log4om will loose contact and not display current frequency. Frequency/Band changes are done via profiles. This issue is cured by stoping SmartCat and restarting SmartCat. After which all communications over OmniRig and SmartCat is restored until the next shut down of computer/radio. Problem repeats on the next computer and application startup. Equipment - Computer i5 NUC, WINDOWS 7, Flex 6500 Software - Log4om latest version, running Communicator/OmniRig 2.0, SmartSDR. 2.5.1, WSJT-x 2.1.0 This is a bug report.

Mike-VA3MW

Patrick

Planning to do so..... just extra background. Had this happening in versions 1.16, 1.19 and 2.0 of OmniRig. To best recollection was not a problem prior to SmartSDR 2.5 and 2.5.1. I will post logs next. Thanks for your quick reply.

K3DCW

Patrick

That was part of my upgrade to OmniRig v2... thanks for he sujestion.

EA4GLI

Make sure you match the port speeds.

Patrick

Ok, “A Funny thing Happened on the way to the Forum”. Well in the process of trying to capture the logs to show the com disconnection problem, it got fixed. Did not do anything specific, just did one more flush of the Registry..... then all was happy, so far. I wish Microsoft would fix the comport registry. Comport config s don’t seem be cleared or maintained by Windows. So for now all is happy, thanks to all that made suggestions. Much appreciated.

Patrick

I believe that SmartCAT auto syncs the port speed. I have on occasion, changed the app ‘s port speed and SmartCAT remained in communication, with no problems.

EA4GLI

Excellent news.

Patrick

This only happened during this activity period, problem has come back. But have screen shots now. Need to process pictures to make data better. Will convey that soon.

Patrick

I captured the log to show the frequency that was transferred by Smart CAT to OmniRig on startup. When I attempt to change frequency via my profile in SmartSDR, The log does not change. And Log4om does not receive the new frequency. Restarting SmartCAT fixes the problem.


The second log image shows the change after restart and a profile frequency change. And will now work until the radio is turned off.

Mike-VA3MW

Pat, can you highlight in the screen shots where you changed bands so that we can see where it failed?  

You may want to give Greenshot a try as a screen shotting tool as it makes it easy to draw on the picture you captured.   https://getgreenshot.org/

I use it so much, I purchased it for my work computer. 

Mike

Patrick

Log does not change,. The first log is after band change from 14 meg to 7 meg. Second log shown is after reset of SmartCAT. Hard to show something that does not happen. One needs to see the code execution to see what is going on. I have no way to do that. When the problem happens the log is updating but shows no change when commanded to change bands.

Patrick

Ok, the swquance: OmniRig. Sends. PT Reply is. 600 from SmartSDR/SmartCAT OmniRig. Sends. ZZIF AND ZZFA Reply is ZZIF000070740001.... and ZZFA00007074000; This will repeat even though I am changing frequency in SmartSDR PROFILES.

Patrick

ZZFI AND ZZFA only change AFTER RESTART of SmartCAT. And will continue to work correctly after the restart of CAT.

Patrick

I have proper definitions.

Patrick

Or is there a default port speed on startup?

Patrick

Update note: On occasion, SmartCAT will not start properly. CAT window comes up but indicates not connected. In this case all connected apps are not connected. Only solution is restart of SmartCAT.

Patrick

Has Flex lost interest in this problem?

Mike-VA3MW

Hi Pat

Not at all.  However, before I can involve engineering I do need to be able to recreate it in a Lab environment and I have not been able to do so.  

In parallel, you may want to open a support case for this as well.  It is best that you do it so that you are directly involved in the diagnostics.

I  did see that you had mentioned that CAT did not start correctly at times.  Can you determine when it does work and when it does not?  Can you relate it to something in your PC that might be impacting it?

Mike

Patrick

Hi Mike, there are a couple of problems that only occur randomly, the CAT start fail, and the occasional freezing of SmartSDR, which I find happens if the radio is kept running with out use for long periods of time. Problem does not require a computer restart. In the order of 4 or more hours. My computer runs Windows 7, and had run very reliably. I used to have com port selection problems, with phantom Ports . But clearing out the unused CAT ports from SmartCAT, cloned that up. I also clean the registry on a regular basis. Only com port related problem is the one we are currently working on. Once I get SmartCAT restarted, all is fine. I have tried changing the order of startup of Log4om and SmartSDR, with no change in the startup com failure on first requested band change. Again corrected by SmartCAT restart. SmartCAT Autostarts with SmartSDR. It almost seems like SmartCAT wants to be started last. List of apps: SmartSDR, CAT, DAX (auto started), Log4om using communicator and OmniRig. wsjt-x, JTAlert, Pstrotator . SmartCAT: TCP port for wsjt-x. And. Com port com5 All other apps Pstrotator, JTAlert, wsjt-x. Use local host port addressing. So. SmartSDR communicants directly with wsjt-x and Log4om I will open a trouble ticket.... Thanks, Pat

Patrick

Equipment: Intel® Core™ i5-4250U computer. 8K RAM, Windows 7 w/ all th most recent updates. Connected via Ethernet via IP switch.

Patrick

Update on CAT connection problem: With the advent of v2.6, I did a complete delete of of the old version of SmartSDR including all DAX and CAT. Since the new install with reloaded drivers, the CAT connection issues have gone away. Unfortunately there is no indication of what the exact problem may have been. Corruption of my previous drivers could have been a problem, new driver updates based on the new SmartSDR, fixes such as the Autostart could also have played a part. This problem was a minor problem and was most likely limited to my own system. So in conclusion the odds point to some form of driver problem, related to the SW that I use.

Patrick

CAT seems very stable now, So far so good. .....issue resolved.

Patrick

Still going strong.....

Patrick

Since my last update, I updated to V 3.1.12 and it is all running very well. But, my new 6700 broke, and now waiting on my radio to return.