No readings from Netbotz 550 internal sensor pod

Anonymous user · ‎2021-04-16

Hello to everyone!

I would like to, please, have some of your help about the situation that I presently have with my netbotz 550:

Everything was working fine, but we had to move from one building to another, and so the netbotz got relocated too. When it was conected on the new room it still could read info (3 parameters) from the external sensor (conected via A-LINK) but the internal sensor showed up error condition on the three reading parameters (temperature, humidity and dew point).

On the Advanced View software the only option that I had, was to delete the sensor/parameters, so I deleted it, expecting that the connection could be reestablished after a reboot. But unfortunately that did not happened, now I get absolutely nothing, not even an error condition, as you could see on the two images of below: on the external sensor I get readings (3 parameters) but on the internal I get absolutely nothing.

Could the internal sensor be dead? But if he's dead I guess this should trigger some kind of error condition, right? (I don't have any error on my netbotz 550, only the abscence of parameters from the internal pod)

Is there any procedure that could be done to regain readings from the internal sensor?

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

spezialist · ‎2021-04-16

Dear @Anonymous user,

First of all, in such a case, I highly recommend that you unconfig the device without resetting the network settings (can be done remotely): http://your_netbotz_address/unconfig .

This is e.g. described in =SE= FA234703 and I also wrote about it in post NetBotz 4.x: how to remove non-existent sensors from AV, with N/A readings? time ago.

Try it, I hope it helps you.

Regards.

Anonymous user · ‎2021-04-19

Hello @spezialist ,

Firstly let me thank you for your assistance!

I did exactly what you recomended, on saturday night, the device booted up, the problem still occurs, but the netbotz was working. I started check configurations once more, and suddenly the netbotz stopped responding. I was working remotely, so only today I got near the netbotz for further investigations.

Today, I firstly removed power, reconnect the power cable, still nothing...it did not respond...

Tried RESET button on the device, but nothing...it still did not respond when I tried to connect via LAN port.

I removed netbotz from the room where it was, connected it through usb console port, tried to do a full reset (via command line I used the CONFIGRESET command). Apparently the procedure went well, but when netbotz restarts I see on the end of boot procedure, on terminal screen the following error:

Kernel panic - not syncing: Must restart system to assure recovery

After 5 seconds the device reboots and it starts over again, until the same error occurs, and the netbotz is on a infinite loop...

Any further help, please?

spezialist · ‎2021-04-19

Dear @Anonymous user ,

It looks like a hardware malfunction, unfortunately :-(. I can only recommend you to search similar threads here (netbotz loop booting) with a possible solution to the problem. Also look towards =SE= FA176133, e.g. "NetBotz TFTP upgrade/recovery procedure".

I hope this helps you.
With respect.

Anonymous user · ‎2021-04-20

Hello @spezialist , thanks again for your help!

I already made the upload of firmware (tried version 4.6.2 and even 4.6.1) but the problem persists...the Kernel panic message occurs and netbotz reboots...and the endless loop begins...

I've checked all the messages I get on terminal screen during the boot process and I was alerted by the following two:

....

VFS: Mounted root (jffs2 filesystem) readonly.
Freeing unused kernel memory: 100k init
Jan 1 00:15:43 modprobe: FATAL: Could not load /lib/modules/2.6.12/modules.dep: No such file or directory

Jan 1 00:15:43 modprobe: FATAL: Could not load /lib/modules/2.6.12/modules.dep: No such file or directory

INIT: version 2.83 booting
Checking all file systems...
fsck 1.38 (30-Jun-2005)

....

I guess those messages should not occur...what could they mean?

I also opened up the chassis and I have a bulging capacitor on the power supply, could this be the problem? (but I checked the output of power supply and I got 24 Volts)

Any further ideas?

Thanks in advance

spezialist · ‎2021-04-20

Dear @netbotz,

@netbotz wrote:
I also opened up the chassis and I have a bulging capacitor on the power supply, could this be the problem? (but I checked the output of power supply and I got 24 Volts)

Quite right, your NetBotz has been powerd up for a very long time and some of its radio components are now faulty. This is the reason why the device's firmware is corrupted.

Of course you can try to replace the defective radio parts. And only then try to reflash the NetBotz with the latest firmware version. Version 4.6.4 is officially available for download. However, new devices already come with version 4.7.0 (see my post https://community.se.com/t5/EcoStruxure-IT-forum/Where-can-I-download-the-current-version-of-NetBotz...).

Try it and maybe it will work for you. I would do so.

With respect.

Anonymous user · ‎2021-04-20

Hello again @spezialist ,

I already installed the latest firmware that you kindly suggested, but unfortunately the problem still occurs.

On the next few days I will try to buy, and then replace, the bulging capacitor so I could then report here what happened. As soon as I finish this procedure, I will post here a new message.

Thanks again for all your help!

Best regards

Anonymous user · ‎2021-04-22

Hello again @spezialist ,

I changed the capacitor but the problem still occurs the exact same way. As last resort I've been trying some commands, and I used the command "eraseflash all", the procedure was made, and now the device is absolutey dead, no boot at all. Is there any other way to rewrite the firmware again?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards.

spezialist · ‎2021-04-24

Dear @Anonymous user,

Unfortunately, it is difficult for me to recommend anything else in this case: I have never used the "eraseflash all" command in my practice for obvious reasons. I need some time, maybe I will find something really useful for this situation.

With respect.

Anonymous user · ‎2021-04-26

Hello @spezialist ,

Well...thanks a lot for the simple thought that you will think about my problem... and try to find some way to fix it.

Obviously, I will wait...it's the only thing I could wisely do...

Thanks again!

Best regards!