Flex 6600 crashing while running 3.5.9

JamesW7EY

I have a brand new 6600 and periodically when I change bands the radio locks up. SmartSDR says the connection to the radio was lost. When I'm in radio selection I can click "disconnect" and it shows my station is connected to the radio but won't let me disconnect it. If I connect it won't let me open a panadapter and says the maximum amount of panadapters are in use even though I only had 1 open in the previous session. The only way to fix the issue is by power cycling the radio. I haven't yet figured out a reliable way to trigger it but it's happened a few times and the radio is only a week old.

My setup:
Flex 6600 running 3.5.9
USB CAT control to ACOM 2000a
USB CAT control to Steppir SDA 100

VE7ATJ_Don

Hi James...are you connecting to your 6600 via Smartlink/Network? Is there a way you can directly connect to the PC to the radio (via ethernet cable) to see if the problem repeats/resolves itself? It's a quick, easy way to see if this is a network problem vs something in the software or radio itself.

Are there any flashing lights on the front panel of the 6600?

KD0RC

Hi James, there is a good possibility that you are having a network issue. Can you describe how all of the LAN connections are being made? Can you post a shot of your Network Diagnostics screen?

For example, I have a 6400 plugged into a Netgear 8 port switch. My computer running SmartSDR is also plugged into the same switch. The switch is plugged into my modem/router.

To bring up the Network Diagnostics screen, right click on the network quality icon:

JamesW7EY

Would a network issue cause the radio to lock up and not allow clients to connect? I will monitor the network connection next time while operating. I have gigabit ethernet running through Ubiquiti switches and routers. The issue happens when connecting locally and not via smartlink.

JamesW7EY

Can you share some symptoms of network issues people have with the Flex radios? That might help me determine if it is a network issue

KD0RC

Hi James, I am not a Flex employee, so I don't have access to other folks' issues. To answer your other question, yes, network issues can prevent or sever connections.

You mention switches (plural). I helped a guy who lives near me with a connection problem. He had his Maestro plugged into a switch which was plugged into another switch. When we put a longer cable in so that the Maestro and FLex 6400 were on the same switch, all the problems cleared up.

If you have one switch plugged into another, that might be something to look at.

I have heard (but have no experience with) that people have had more issues with gigabit Ethernet vs 100 megabit Ethernet. If you don't quickly find a solution, put in a helpdesk ticket. Flex Support will have seen this before and should be able to guide you to a solution.

JamesW7EY

I don't think it's a network issue. If it was network I'd be able to reconnect but the radio is essentially locked up. The network is working fine during the period of time. I did end up downgrading and then upgrading back to 3.5.9 and it hasn't happened since. I'm leaving the network monitor running while operating just in case it happens again

KD0RC

Hi James, hopefully, that is it. Next time, instead of downgrading and upgrading, try doing a factory reset. Be sure to export your profiles first.

To do a factory reset, with the radio off, press and hold the power button until it turns white. Release the button and let it complete the reset and normal power up process. Once the power button shows solid green, you can re-import your profiles and you will be up and running.

Mike-VA3MW

Radio crashes are often related to intermittant network loss. You often don't notice these with normal day to day online work.

However, when using a radio it is real time communications and the network is pretty critical.

You may wish to consider opening a support ticket and get their input if you are 100% sure it isn't the network.

What you may want to do is run ping in constant repeat and see if the radio stops responding. You can do this via the windows command line. Change the box I have to the IP address of your radio. Keep this running for as long as you need it.

If you are not getting a constant number for Time, then you may have a network issue.

73

JamesW7EY

Thankfully It hasn't happened since I reset the radio. However, I did do some network testing and simulated some failure scenarios to see if the symptoms were similar but they were not. The radio reconnected as soon as the connection was restored. With my issue the radio would not reconnect and would not let me kick the existing session off and I had to power cycle the radio. The crash also seemed to only happen sometimes when I changed bands and not random times like a network connection issue might be.