6400 No Longer On Network

W0AMT

May 6400 has been working great since buying it several years ago.

I connected my coax this evening and turned on the radio as usual but the Smart SDR software could not find the radio. I checked the client list in the router and sure enough the radio was not on the network.

I turned off the radio and the power supply for a couple minutes then turned them back on again with no improvement. I did the hold the power button for 5 second reset with no improvement. I plugged and unplugged the power and ethernet connections a few times with no improvement.

I am using Smart SDR 2.9.1

Any ideas on what else I can do to troubleshoot this?

Jeff Schwartz

Try booting it up without the network cable installed. Once it boots up disable the Auto Connect to Radio feature. Shut it down, plug in the network cable and boot it up. In the select version screen boot it up to the current SDR version you have installed. It will most likely boot up okay but it may get hung up trying to hook up to the network again. I used mine in this manner for a couple of weeks before all sorts of issues developed and it is now in Austin getting the OS reinstalled on the front panel. This may work temporarily so you can use it but you will likely need to send in a help ticket. It appears to me this is a problem showing up on some of the older rigs like yours and mine. They sent me a new SD card to put in but that did not fix the issues. I may be wrong but give it a try.

Jeff Schwartz

I believe you are having the same degradation of performance as I experienced. If Tim Ellison from the Flex Help Desk is correct it’s related to the Operating System in the front panel They suggested they would be reinstalling it on mine. We worked on a variety of things sorting it out over a good two week stretch. In the end it became difficult to even boot it up with network via the Select Version screen with all sorts of odd windows warning showing up on the Flex screen I’d recommend you put in a Help Desk Ticket since this issue is now known to them as a problem with some rigs, not sure if it’s just the older rigs but mine was a very early release from when they first came out. Fortunately I have a 6400M backup which is working just fine

Jeff Schwartz

Additionally , if it is a front panel issue alone you should be able to boot up and run it normally from the desktop SDR with no problems.

W0AMT

Thanks Jeff, I did the procedure you described and was able to connect to the radio. What is weird is the IP address is 192.254.245.****, not the usual 192.168.1.**** and there is no MAC address. This might be related to resetting the radio and clearing the static IP address.

Pete La

Jeff,

Did they perform a front panel "reimaging"? How much did the charge? They want me to send mine in for a similar issue.

Pete K1OYQ

Jeff Schwartz

Pete,

they just got my radio the end of last week just before the holiday. The note of receipt stated there was a $125/hr service rate I would be responsible for since it’s well out of warranty. What that will translate into and what they will actually do to the rig is not yet known to me.

W0AMT

Jeff,

Just wanted to say thanks for the help. After resetting everything on the network tab of the radio setup it appears to be working properly. I will submit a ticket to let Flex know what I experienced and what fixed it. By the way, I have a 6400, not a 6400M.

Jeff Schwartz

Always nice to have a backup I always say. Good luck and maybe your issues will just “go away”. These rigs are as much a computer as they are a radio. The never ending mysteries of the Zeros and Ones.

73 Jeff / KI0KB

AB9UU

Having a similar issue. I have a 6500 which was working fine. I did not use it for a couple of months and when I went to use it, I get the no radio available notation. I reset the thing multiple times to no avail. I also changed the connect options on DAX, CAT and SDR to ignore previous connections. I logged into my router and the radio is not there. The flashing lights below the Ethernet port blink mostly orange and slow occasionally showing green. I plugged it directly into the Ethernet port of my PC but it is the same issue. It seems pretty clear it is the radio. Do I need to send it in?

KD0RC

It might just be the ethernet cable. Can you try a different cable?

If that is not it, can you try a different PC?

Another thing to try is a factory reset of the radio. Be sure to export your profiles first.

Mike-VA3MW

Here are the places that have an impact not finding the radio on the network, in no particular order. Often, something changed in the network or was changed in the network and this impacted communications.

• Windows firewall is blocking network communications
• A new 'Mesh' was installed and not in Bridge mode - this prevents the radio network broadcast from making it to the computer
• The radio and the computer are on different networks in the same house. Different Subnets is the problem. This happens with a Mesh network or a 2nd router was added downstream from the first router
• The radio doesn't get an IP address from the DHCP server in the router - this can happen with a bad LAN cable. I have actually seen this happen in my own house.

The simple test to see if it is the radio. This is the Link Local test which creates a 1 cable working network.

1. Turn off the radio
2. Turn off the PC
3. Connect a LAN cable from the PC to the Radio (no other hardware)
4. Turn on the Radio
5. Turn on the PC
6. Turn Off the firewall on the PC

If you can see the radio, then there is another problem in your work you need to find.

@AB9UU I would try one more time and make sure you do all the steps (1-6) and see if you can see the radio. If not, then open a support ticket.

73

AB9UU

It was ESET. The last update or so must have begun blocking Flex DAX, SDR and CAT. Once I allowed bidirectional communication via the ESET firewall, poof it worked normal. The help desk tipped me off when they noted others have begun to have ESET virus software issues.

Larry , W8LO

I just ran into the same problem. It definitely is ESET

Can you tell me when to find the "Bidirectional Communication" setting?

I have had to pause the system to get Flex Thru. Is a pain...

Larry, W8LO

Mike-VA3MW

Moving to the networking area since this is a firewall issue.

73