SmartSDR 3.1.8 not available anymore

N5NHJ

I've noted something strange using SmartSDR 3.1.12 remote but, before writing my findings, I want to investigate deeper. I need SmartSDR 3.1.8 which seems not available anymore from the normal download pages. How can I get it?
Thanks

Mike-VA3MW

Hi Max

Yes, we have pulled it due to SD Card corruption.   If you roll back to 3.1.8 you do run the risk of corrupting the SD Card and we would prefer that you did not do that.

If we can help in any diagnosis the problem you are seeing, we would be happy to.

Mike 

N5NHJ

Hi Michael.
I understand that.

What I see is a very short "disconnection" (the software kind of freezes for few milliseconds and  a black thin line shows up on the waterfall ) exactly every 5 seconds.
I understand this can be a network issue or there could be hundred of reasons why this is happening, but I have never seen it before updating. That is why I wanted to roll back and test.

Mike-VA3MW

Hi Max

I did call over to engineering to confirm this.  Between 3.1.8 and 3.1.12 they did not change a single byte of code in the Networking area of the radio.   There is actually tools that track that sort of thing.

The every 0.5 second?  That is strange.   I would try the same test with a LAN cable from the Client (you don't mention what it is) to the radio (no switch or router involved).  If you see it, then I save your profiles and do a hard reset on the radio and see if it goes away.  If not, then let's drag in our support team to look further.

Let us know how you make out.

Mike

N5NHJ

Mike,
it happens every 5 seconds connecting through SmartLink. I don't see the issue if connected locally. Should be considered that the local computer is different, though.

Please look at the attached image, 

N5NHJ

Hi Mike,
Last night I spent some time investigating the issue and I discovered the system was dropping 2/3 packets every 5 seconds. The issue was present on just one computer, other computers in the same network  where i run SmartSDR were not affected by the problem. It turns out that I eventually rebooted my network's central switch and now the dropped packets are much less than before and definitely the issue is not happening every 5 seconds anymore.
That computer is still dropping few packets, I'll investigate deeper.
 

David Decoons, wo2x

Can you try a different Ethernet cable?
Also check for an updated Ethernet driver for the computer with the issue.


Dave wo2x

N5NHJ

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the suggestion, I did it already.

N5NHJ

Mike,
I've been in touch with the switch's manufacturer. They pushed a firmware update few weeks ago (coincidently almost at the same time 3.1.12 was available) who seems to be responsible for that UDP issue. I'm now running a beta version of the firmware which seems to fix the issue, yesterday I just lost less than 100 packets over a 10 hours connection.
Definitely not a Flex problem!!!
Sorry for the bandwidth. 

Mike-VA3MW

No, not a waste of time at all.  It is good to share your findings so others can learn.

Ken Wells

Would you share the make and model of your switch, just in case I have others with the same problem?  Thanks

N5NHJ

Sure, it is a Mikrotik RouterBoard (the model is not important, they have different hardware running the same firmware) which was running RouterOS 6.46.6.
I'm now running 7.0beta