NetLinx DMS Keypads dropping Offline

Brent Simpson

Hi all,
does anybody know if there is a way to view any polling statistics for DMS's attached to a NI-4000.

I have an interrmittant problem where the NI-4000 drops all 13 DMS's but I can't see what is causing the problem......

Also can anyone tell me exactly what the resend count and latency means - (in terms of what the ICSHub LAN is doing)?

Sample of errors:

(0000037346) Resending to 10007 resend count = 4 (latency=1765)
(0000053314) Resend count exceeded for system 1 device 10007
(0000053342) CIpEvent::OffLine 10007:1:1

Cheers
Brent Simpson
New Zealand

paradigmpaul

DMS dropping

I had a system with 1 ni-2000 and 8 dms
it was installed , everything was fine then 5 months later the keypads were nonresponsive.
i verified each keypad manually into an ISCNET port and they were fine., introduce the ISCNEt HUB via the ICSNet HUB OUT on the NI and they fell offline. SWAP NI 2000 controller, and everything was fine.

The ICSNet HUB OUT port on the back of the NI was duff/intermittant.


What sort of application is the controller supporting? is it data intensive like a media server?

Brent Simpson

DMS's Offline

Trouble with intermittant faults - you do one thing and it comes right, and then falls over again at the least convienient time (like now when the owners are arriving home).

The controller is an NI-4000, running a house with about 40 rooms. I like to use variables to display what the state of each associated room is doing. Using variables also allows the menus to be context sensitive so there can be quite a bit of ICSNet traffic. Generally it is Ok but just recently the fault just appears with no warning.

Maybe I have a dud ICSHub Port, as the same software runs my house perfectly using a NI-2000 (and 10 DMS keypads). I did plug one DMS keypad into the ICS Net Port there isn't a problem.

It would still be useful to be able to view some net work statistics.

Thanks Paul - I thought I was going nuts!

[Deleted User]

Brent,

Did you home run each DMS or daisy chain multiple DMS? Did you terminate the unused ICSNet jack? Be careful of the cable length and voltage drop on long runs, especially if powering multiple panels on the same cat5.

40 panels on a master is quite a few. Perhaps you need to include the Queue and Threshold code in your program. See tech note 737 http://www.amx.com/techsupport/PDNTechNote.asp?id=737 for details.

Good luck.

Brent Simpson

Hey there Brian,
Thanks for the tips,
To clarify things, there are actually 13 DMS keypads, all home run back to two PHAST Mic Hubs. The system manages 40 rooms automatically, and the keypads are only there to make parameter changes, the occasional manual lighting control function and AV selection.

The cable runs are Cat5e between 5 and 25mtrs in length (tested and correct).

The other ICSNet ports are not terminated, but will try that.

I discovered yesterday that it is most probably the ICSHub port, because after the keypads went offline, I swapped the NI-4000 with the System 2 NXI and all the keypads responded immediately with 'Master found wire is good' Page.

I then changed the connection back to the NI-4000 and the keypads just sat there displaying 'Waiting for Master' (even after a power cycle).

Only time will tell if I have nailed the problem......Just my luck to get a faulty unit!

Cheers and have a good Christmas!

smithda9

Brent,
I don't know if this will help but, I recently had a similar problem with ICSNet being intermittent. It turned out I had 0.2Amps more draw on the port then could be reliably sustained. I went with seperate power supplies and the problem disappeared. BTW: The devices reported status and I was able to change device addresses but, when I tried to access information provided by the cards it wasn't there or was bogus.
You also mentioned using CAT 5e for 25 meters (approx 80 feet). CAT 5e is 24 AWG. According to the AXpower calculator 24 AWG has a maximum of 25.1 feet using 2 conductors. (Hypothetical system with a NI-4000 and an NXC-NH).
I'm still new to AMX systems so treat this as a guess.
Dana

Brent Simpson

Thanks

Hi Dana,
Thanks for that, good point. I connected the System 2 unit (NXI) and it communicated with the keypads Ok, so I 'assumed' the cable run lengths are Ok .......

I reconfigured the management software and installed my NI-2000 from home, and the problem went away. Keypads haven't droped out since, thats almost a week - a record! Unfortunately the owners wife arrived back before I could install the NI-2000 so my name is mud at present - not my fault but I suppose when you spend all that money on an automation system, they expect it to work.

See you in the soup

Brent