NI-2000 RS232 RX stops after power cycle

dotstyle

I have an NI-2000 connected via RS232 to an Onkyo Amp. Everything works great sending and receiving strings to/from the amp until the master is power cycled (reboot does not cause the issue). RX stops working (no RX LED) until I disconnect the serial port and connect it again. I have also tried connecting a pc instead of the amp and I get the exact same issue, RX only starts working if I plug the serial cable in after powering the master on.

I am tearing my hair out on this one. I have even replaced the capacitor (see this thread), just in case that was the issue, no joy.

This is may data event code.

DATA_EVENT[Rs232Amp]
{
    ONLINE:
    {
         SEND_COMMAND Rs232Amp, 'SET BAUD 9600,N,8,1'
    }

    STRING:
    {
        ...
    }
}

I have also tried countless combinations of XON,XOFF,RXON in the ONLINE handler but to no avail.

Anyone, any ideas?

jjames

Have you tried HSOFF? Maybe it got set by accident at some point?

Are you using a premade cable or just 2,3,5? Have you tried setting device holdoff via telnet, then throwing in the RXON in the ONLINE event?

DHawthorne

Definitely try HSOFF. It sounds like that kind of issue. And the advice about only a 3-wire cable is very good too - AMX uses a non-standard RS-232 jack so it can also support 422 and 485, and the extra pins are both live and can confuse connected equipment.

But if you hadn't mentioned having the same issue with a PC serial port, I'd blame Onkyo. I sent some time developing a module for one of their disc players, and whenever I left it connected to the serial port, it would not only stop working after a period of a few hours, it would lock up the entire master. The RX light would go solid, and nothing would work. Just unplugging the cable freed everything up. After going back and forth with them a few times, and even getting them to admit they had a similar problem with C-tron that turned out to be a non-standard serial chip, they essentially backed off and said, "not our problem, it's got to be AMX." I stuck an emitter on it and told sales not to put them in any AMX jobs anymore.

dotstyle

Thanks for your replies guys. It was the cable. I made up a 2,3,5 cable and it all works as expected even after a power cycle.