Chief Delphi - Connection issues at regionals

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Re: Connection issues at regionals

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cecil (Post 1568300)

Static IP addresses WILL work on the field

Right, we just normally don't do it that way.

Re: Connection issues at regionals

Quote:

Originally Posted by rtfgnow (Post 1568307)

The recommendation is to use DHCP unless you have a reason not to, most of the time being an additional ip based device. If that is the case than CSAs are told to use static IPs and they will work fine with the field if the last octet is less than 20 and not 1 or 4. As a rule of thumb I use 2 for the roboRIO and 5 for the DS.

The robot should not have a DHCP server when in the pits. Edit: An external router can act as a DHCP server in the pits if not wifi enabled.

This is true. It's much more simple to use DHCP. Additional IP devices aren't usually an issue if the IP on that device is set correctly. (Should be under 20 on the last octet.) FMS begins assigning the DS at 20, reserving lower addresses for these cases.

Re: Connection issues at regionals

Wes, if/when this happens, did you happen to notice if the link lights on the RoboRIO were on?

This is one of the indications that the radio and roboRIO link didn't come up and one of the devices needs to be rebooted -- we generally reboot the roboRIO because it is faster. This is likely caused by power saving features on one or both devices, and we are hoping to fix this for good, but it happens quite rarely, so didn't get enough instances during beta. The general guideline is to swap to the other radio port. It appears the the one near the power does this less frequently, but there are only two, so it is a quick experiment.

FIRST does have much more control over the firmware, but things like this are rare, and there are many configuration options. Why would they fiddle with POE and power settings away from the factory settings unless they see an issue? I think there are already far fewer gremlins in the system than the end-of-life Dlink, but with a season and another beta period, we will really know how beneficial the open image is.

As for static and dynamic IPs. The majority of teams are configured for dynamic, or the CSAs and FTAs do it for them. Occasionally, a team wants to be static, which is compatible with the field DHCP, so we ensure that they stay out of the range of the dynamic server and have the recommended values. As long as you are consistent, both work fine. I prefer DHCP in almost all instances, but let the team decide after I explain why their current settings were not working.

Greg McKaskle

Re: Connection issues at regionals

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wes2443 (Post 1568316)

If it helps we have the ethernet to the roboRIO connected through the port furthest away from the power.

Note that it was specifically noted in Update 8 that you should plug into the other port. I think that would be worth a try.

Quote:

Control System Note:We have heard sporadic reports of link failure between the roboRIO and the radio after a cold boot, characterized by the amber and green link LEDs on the roboRIO Ethernet port remaining off (and a roboRIO reset resolving the issue). We have located a set of hardware that reproduces the issue and are currently investigating the root cause. In the meantime, teams experiencing this issue can connect the roboRIO Ethernet to the radio port labeled “18-24v POE” (next to the power connector) as a temporary workaround (the issue only affects the port labeled “802.3af POE”).

Re: Connection issues at regionals

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg McKaskle (Post 1568389)

I believe the COMMS light was on on the roboRIO, didn't notice the link light. Now I'm starting to think whether disconnecting the ethernet and reconnecting it on the DS would help. We only used static IPs on the rio and camera components because we were testing it with the ethernet switch which wouldnt work on DHCP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MamaSpoldi (Post 1568660)

Note that it was specifically noted in Update 8 that you should plug into the other port. I think that would be worth a try.

We will try switching the ethernet port on the radio. We also noticed long startup times on the radio. On the typical startup, the radio would boot and light would come on normally, then the lights would go off then start acting like it is rebooting which confused many of us.