Well, this is getting a bit old, but here is round 3

[Fletch1373]

Do you have any 3rd party applications installed that manage network connections? Most major retail brands install something similar to this (including ASUS, Lenovo, Dell, etc).

[abigailthefox]

We've had quite a few weird RoboRIO problems last season/this season, so I thought I'd just offer this quick checklist.

Step 0: Update your bridge firmware. If you are using the 2017 bridge that shipped with your KOP, your firmware needs to be updated if you have not already. Also, if you're using the 2016 bridge ( or anything older than that), you should update it as well.
Step 1: Reimage your RoboRIO. The WPI screen steps has an excellent set of instructions on how to do this.
Step 2: Reinstall the JRE on your robot (you stated you are a Java team). When you image the RoboRIO, the current JRE will be lost. Our team was getting some pretty ambiguous error messages, and it turns out we just forgot to reinstall the JRE after imaging.
Step 3: Try to connect to the RoboRIO in your browser. By typing in "roboRIO-####-FRC.local" (where #### is your team number with no leading zeroes, you should be able to get to the browser RoboRIO utility (this can also be used to ping the RoboRIO to test the connection. I recommend you try both).
Step 4: Use a different bridge. If you have access to a different model than the one you're using (i.e. if you've been using 2017, switch to 2016, and vice versa. You will also need to update the new bridge, if you haven't yet)
Step 5: Use a different RoboRIO (if you have one. These are expensive, and I know a lot of teams only have one. If this is the case, just skip this step. If you've tried absolutely everything and it's still not working, consider investing in a second RoboRIO. I would save this for when you're really desperate however, because it's not fun to be out $400 and then find that it didn't even solve your problem.)

Some other users have mentioned techniques for wrangling with the IP and firewall configurations. These are great steps to take, and I recommend taking them with someone who has experience with doing similar things, ideally a mentor or veteran student. Most of the things FIRST expects you to do (somewhat) routinely (such as imaging your RoboRIO or installing software) have great tutorials and documentation that help walk you through what you're doing. Messing with network configurations on a computer does not come with a nice made-for-FIRST guide, and it's easy to accidentally mess something important up. If you don't have a mentor who has IT experience, or a veteran student who knows about IP and network issues, then this is a great opportunity to tap your community for someone who can help you! Especially because once you make a partnership with a company/person who's willing to donate time and effort to help, you can go back to them as a resource in the future (because we all know that once one error gets resolved, it's only a matter of time before the next one rears it's ugly head).

[MikePerreman]

ok, i discovered intel proset/wireless wifi software, so im uninstalling that, next step is to uninstall and reinstall my wifi driver, i guess

[Poseidon5817]

Originally Posted by frodobaggins05

Do you have a roborio on your robot?

This is my new favorite post on CD.

[MikePerreman]

AHA! it was the intel proset/wireless $@#$@#$@#$@#$@#$@#$@#$@# software! thank you all! now the mdns is working a-ok. thanks for the help guys!

[ayeckley]

Originally Posted by MikePerreman

AHA! it was the intel proset/wireless $@#$@#$@#$@#$@#$@#$@#$@# software! thank you all! now the mdns is working a-ok. thanks for the help guys!

Discussion somewhere in FIRST back in 2008-2009:

Person 1: Hey, let's ditch this proprietary IFI protocol and switch to TCP/IP!
Person 2: That's a great idea. Millions of devices can't be wrong!
Person 1: I don't see any potential downside!
Person 2: Me neither. Everything is plug-n-play! Teams won't have to waste valuable time and money trying to make stuff work anymore! It'll just happen.
Person 3: Someone in 2017 will probably complain though. There's always a complainer.
Person 1: We'll just point out to them that TCP/IP will make vision target tracking trivial! Participants will be more inspired and less frustrated!
Person 2: Hey, that's a great justification!
Person 3: <Nods in agreement> What could possibly go wrong?

Edit: I'm feeling frustrated/snarky today. All in all it was probably the right call, but certainly not without unintended consequences.

[TylerHarmon]

This is probably a stupid question, but is the router plugged into the roboRIO? If you can tether fine but can't find the roboRIO when you're not tethered, the RIO and router may not be communicating.

This is my complete list of things to try that I think will fix the problem if done.

1. Re image the roboRIO
2. Re download java to the roboRIO
3. Re image the router
4. Make sure that your firewall is disabled (or allows the connection)
5. Click on the wifi icon in the bottom right of your screen, click "Network Settings" > "Change adapter options" > Right click on wireless connection > Properties > IPv4 > Properties > Make sure that your IP and DNS server are both obtained automatically.
6. Double check that the roboRIO is plugged in to the router via ethernet (It sounds silly but double check)

Good luck!

-Tyler

[virtuald]

Originally Posted by ayeckley

Discussion somewhere in FIRST back in 2008-2009:

Person 1: Hey, let's ditch this proprietary IFI protocol and switch to TCP/IP!
Person 2: That's a great idea. Millions of devices can't be wrong!
Person 1: I don't see any potential downside!
Person 2: Me neither. Everything is plug-n-play! Teams won't have to waste valuable time and money trying to make stuff work anymore! It'll just happen.
Person 3: Someone in 2017 will probably complain though. There's always a complainer.
Person 1: We'll just point out to them that TCP/IP will make vision target tracking trivial! Participants will be more inspired and less frustrated!
Person 2: Hey, that's a great justification!
Person 3: <Nods in agreement> What could possibly go wrong?

Edit: I'm feeling frustrated/snarky today. All in all it was probably the right call, but certainly not without unintended consequences.

It was absolutely the right call. Switching to Wifi+TCP/IP has enabled SO MUCH INNOVATION by teams in the last 6 years, and I'd bet has resulted in significant cost savings as well.

[MikePerreman]

Originally Posted by TylerHarmon

This is probably a stupid question, but is the router plugged into the roboRIO? If you can tether fine but can't find the roboRIO when you're not tethered, the RIO and router may not be communicating.

This is my complete list of things to try that I think will fix the problem if done.

1. Re image the roboRIO
2. Re download java to the roboRIO
3. Re image the router
4. Make sure that your firewall is disabled (or allows the connection)
5. Click on the wifi icon in the bottom right of your screen, click "Network Settings" > "Change adapter options" > Right click on wireless connection > Properties > IPv4 > Properties > Make sure that your IP and DNS server are both obtained automatically.
6. Double check that the roboRIO is plugged in to the router via ethernet (It sounds silly but double check)

Good luck!

-Tyler

lol, i found the problem was intel's proset/wireless software, its some kind of network manager. it didn't like mDNS, so that was the source of the problem, thanks for the help though!

[David Lame]

Originally Posted by virtuald

It was absolutely the right call. Switching to Wifi+TCP/IP has enabled SO MUCH INNOVATION by teams in the last 6 years, and I'd bet has resulted in significant cost savings as well.

I've been around four years now, and I'm the programming mentor Mike referred to.

Wifi+TCP/IP seems like a really good idea.

MDNS?......I'm not so sure. It just seems like ever since we went to that, an awful lot of laptops don't "just work" anymore. My connection wasn't working after reinstalling the 2017 suite, although the symptoms weren't exactly the same as Mike's. He suggested I turn off IPV6, and suddenly it started working. He said he had read it in a Chief Delphi post at some point.

I have absolutely no clue why it would have made a difference, but it did.

[virtuald]

Originally Posted by David Lame

MDNS?......I'm not so sure.

Yeah, I would agree on that point, I always use static IPs.

[Abrakadabra]

But if you uninstall the Intel PROSet/Wireless software, doesn't that disable your wireless adapter altogether? (Which is normally NOT a good thing?)

See this page from Intel:

"Caution!
Uninstalling Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software also removes the Intel® WiFi adapter driver. You will not be able to use the wireless adapter on your computer. We only recommend uninstalling the driver as a final troubleshooting option. You shouldn't uninstall unless directed by an Intel technical support agent."

[MikePerreman]

Originally Posted by Abrakadabra

But if you uninstall the Intel PROSet/Wireless software, doesn't that disable your wireless adapter altogether? (Which is normally NOT a good thing?)

See this page from Intel:

"Caution!
Uninstalling Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software also removes the Intel® WiFi adapter driver. You will not be able to use the wireless adapter on your computer. We only recommend uninstalling the driver as a final troubleshooting option. You shouldn't uninstall unless directed by an Intel technical support agent."

not at all, the proset/wireless software seems to do nothing but get in the way of mDNS. ive removed it for a few weeks now and there seems to be no difference. if this was true, wouldnt that mean that my wireless adapter wouldnt work on Ubuntu? so, i think that the proset/wireless software only serves to save wireless settings after you disconnect. like how a DNS lease is still valid after the client disconnects.

TL;DR: proset/wireless seems to be non-essential