Crio network light does not light when camera plugged in

[Bongle]

When we plug our axis camera into the cRio, the network light does not light up.

-We are using WindRiver for development (we don't have Labview installed. Should we?)
-We can successfully upload programs to the cRio
-All our IPs are set correctly

-The camera is connected using a crossover cable on port two
-The camera has the FRC/FRC account set
-The camera powers up fine (it turns orange for about 10 seconds, then green).
-We have successfully viewed camera output in our browser when the camera is directly connected to the PC

We have no idea why the camera doesn't even seem to attempt to communicate with the cRio when we plug it in. We know that the cRio's port works because we can plug our tether into it and it works, and we know the camera's ethernet port works because we can view it and modify settings if we plug it directly into our PC.

Did we miss a step in instructions? Has anyone else had this problem? I searched extensively and couldn't find anyone talking about the network light not even lighting.

[ICELETTUCE]

You should have both LabView and CRio installed at this point. Be sure that you have the most up to date version also.

[Bongle]

Originally Posted by ICELETTUCE

You should have both LabView and CRio installed at this point. Be sure that you have the most up to date version also.

We flashed the crio and driver station last night with _v2. Now that you say that, I realize that I think I've seen a _v7 out, and old firmware would definitely explain why the cRio doesn't talk to the camera. Is this right?

[whitetiger0990]

Originally Posted by Bongle

we know the camera's ethernet port works because we can view it and modify settings if we plug it directly into our PC.

The cable between the cRIO and the PC, and the Camera and the PC is a standard cable.

The cable between the cRIO and the Camera must be a crossover cable. This cable is the orange one that comes with the kit.

[Bongle]

Originally Posted by whitetiger0990

The cable between the cRIO and the PC, and the Camera and the PC is a standard cable.

The cable between the cRIO and the Camera must be a crossover cable. This cable is the orange one that comes with the kit.

Yep, we've been doing that. What's been weird about this problem is that we've done everything in the instructions multiple times, checked and double-checked, and it still wasn't working. That's why the reflash solution seems correct.

What there needs to be is a BIG checklist of stuff that must be done in order to get the programming suite working perfectly. IPs, cables, software installations, patches, flashes, etc.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Bongle

When we plug our axis camera into the cRio, the network light does not light up...We know that the cRio's port works because we can plug our tether into it and it works,...

I've never tried connecting a tether to the cRIO's ethernet port #2. What do you see that tells you "it works" when you do it?

[Bongle]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

I've never tried connecting a tether to the cRIO's ethernet port #2. What do you see that tells you "it works" when you do it?

1) The port 2 network lights (signal and data) turn on and flicker when the cord is in port 2
2) We can drive and program the robot through port 2
3) The manual says that although port 1 is the recommended tether port, port 2 would work just as well.

[Alan Anderson]

Have you ever gotten any connection to work using the crossover cable? It might be faulty. Try a different one. You might be able to check the one you have by using it to replace a straight-through cable on a device that does automatic crossover, as some laptop computers do. (Or you could attempt to do a continuity check between the pins at each end, though you'd need very sharp probes and very steady hands.)

[Bongle]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Have you ever gotten any connection to work using the crossover cable? It might be faulty. Try a different one. You might be able to check the one you have by using it to replace a straight-through cable on a device that does automatic crossover, as some laptop computers do. (Or you could attempt to do a continuity check between the pins at each end, though you'd need very sharp probes and very steady hands.)

The cable works fine, it's the one we've used to connect direct to the robot as well as direct to the camera from our PC.

We just updated the cRio to V7, and it still is not communicating. Now we're going to try to get some serial communication going to maybe get a hint about what is going wrong.

[Bongle]

So the resolution of this was EITHER:
1) The crossover cable we were using was wrecked (unlikely, because we used it to set up all our network devices)
or
2) We were supposed to be using a patch cable the whole time.

We switched from the generic crossover cable we had been using to the orange cable that came in the kit (which is marked as a patch cable), and the lights went on. Whether the camera actually works in the code is another question that will be answered tomorrow. Hopefully this fulfills our quota of snags for getting the camera working though.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by whitetiger0990

The cable between the cRIO and the Camera must be a crossover cable. This cable is the orange one that comes with the kit.

Originally Posted by Bongle

So the resolution of this was EITHER:
1) The crossover cable we were using was wrecked (unlikely, because we used it to set up all our network devices)

We switched from the generic crossover cable we had been using to the orange cable that came in the kit (which is marked as a patch cable), and the lights went on.

There's no way you set up your network devices with a crossover cable; it wouldn't work.

EDIT: I stand corrected; modern ethernet devices are indeed smarter than they used to be. Like me. Thanks Alan.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Bongle

So the resolution of this was EITHER:
1) The crossover cable we were using was wrecked (unlikely, because we used it to set up all our network devices)
or
2) We were supposed to be using a patch cable the whole time.

We switched from the generic crossover cable we had been using to the orange cable that came in the kit (which is marked as a patch cable), and the lights went on.

Someone has misled you about the kind of cables you are using. The orange cable is labeled as "Cable Assembly, Ethernet crossover". It is the only crossover cable that came in the kit. Generic cables are almost always standard Ethernet cables, not crossover cables.

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

There's no way you set up your network devices with a crossover cable; it wouldn't work.

In most cases, it would work just fine, because almost every device involved will automatically switch its "polarity" to deal with either a straight-through or a crossover cable. The Driver Station does this, for example. Neither the cRIO nor camera will, though, which is why the orange cable is required to go between them.

[Bongle]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Someone has misled you about the kind of cables you are using. The orange cable is labeled as "Cable Assembly, Ethernet crossover". It is the only crossover cable that came in the kit. Generic cables are almost always standard Ethernet cables, not crossover cables.

Ah, we had read "patch" off the side of the cable and assumed it was a straight-through, and so had never bothered trying it.

Your theory about the auto-configuring ethernet ports is probably correct, too: all the KoP network stuff is very new, and the students' laptops we were using for configuration can't be older than a year either.

[pollyproof12]

we connected the camera and reset the password but when we hook it into the cRIO and try to reach the ip address through the browser there is no connection.

[TPrice107]

For some reason we do not have any communication with cRIO port number 2. In trying to ping the port we got no response. Any ideas?