CNI, problem with connection

Discussion in 'C-Bus Wired Hardware' started by saspa, Jan 19, 2010.

  1. saspa

    saspa Guest

    can somebody please help, I'm trying to program up a CNI, but i can't get it to talk at all, it's got all the right colour lights in it, i've tried everthing in the installation instructions manual, also got a router set up as well and connected, throught the router, i get a ip address but it is only leased out for about 1 min, then it expirers. is there some kind of trick to accessing it, i've also tried "DeviceInstaller" still no help.
     
    saspa, Jan 19, 2010
    #1
  2. saspa

    boganbill

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    So you've tried adding the cni to your ARP cache via the units MAC? Then telnet to it and try inital setup from there? If it doesn't respond to a telnet request after giving it an ARP entry then the CNI must be faulty. I've found that lantronix software is much easier and does it all for you but I have come across CNI's that had to be done the hard way.

    It won't DCHP an ip address until you initally set it up, thats what that lantronix software is supposed to do for you.
     
    boganbill, Jan 21, 2010
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  3. saspa

    Newman

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    Clipsal now has it's own configuration utility called the "C-Bus IP Utility", which you can download from the website.

    Give that a shot and see if you have any more success.
     
    Newman, Jan 21, 2010
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  4. saspa

    saspa Guest

    thank guys, i used the lantronix software, but took me about a dozen time to try to connect to the cni, i think it was about every 2 min it make it self become avalible to the network, and then was avalible for 30 sec to actually connect to it, but made all the changers i needed :)
     
    saspa, Feb 14, 2010
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  5. saspa

    brodricj

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    Rather than start a new thread I thought I'd jump in here.

    1. I have borrowed a CNI and plugged it into my network (I ultimately intend on using it to connect CBUS to my Pronto network). I logged into my router (the DHCP server for my network) to see if I could find a new MAC address there, and thus discover the IP of the CNI. No luck. I then logged into Toolkit and did a find network interfaces and it found the CNI at 169.254.12.45, which has come as a surprise because this is outside the range of the DHCP server (my router is at 10.1.1.1 and assigns IP in the range up to 10.1.1.200 I think). Anyway, Toolkit is connecting to CBUS via the CNI at this IP which I just don't understand. If the CNI is outside the range of the subnet how is it communicating with Toolkit?

    2. So it's working, I thought I'd install the CBUS IP Utility and see if that could shed any light on the subject. I have downloaded and unzipped the utility, but when I go to instal it I get the error message:
    "Unable to execute file
    CreateProcess failed; Code 740
    The requested operation requires elevation"

    So I have 2 issues: trying to understand what the CNI is doing, and why the IP Utility will not install.
     
    brodricj, Mar 5, 2010
    #5
  6. saspa

    NickD Moderator

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    I've seen something like this before, which I think this is just the installer failing to run the program once it's finished, due to the UAC in Vista or Win7. In the cases I''ve seen it, the installation worked fine, it's just failed to run the program afterwards.

    Can you see it under the "Clipsal" section in your Start menu?

    Nick
     
    NickD, Mar 5, 2010
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  7. saspa

    Newman

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    The C-Bus IP utility is bundled with the Toolkit 1.11.0 installer. If Toolkit 1.11.0 installed correctly, and the option was set to install the IP Utility, it may already be correctly installed.
     
    Newman, Mar 5, 2010
    #7
  8. saspa

    brodricj

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    Sure enough it is, and it was already (unknowingly) installed on the PC with my Toolkit update. So now I have the IP Utility up and running, and sure enough it has found the CNI at 169.254.12.45. I don't know how it's found it because this is outside the subnet range of my network, but it has.

    Anyway, when I select the CNI in the list, down the bottom of the UP Utility window it says "found 1, selected 1, interface 10.1.1.13" So I might conclude that the CNI has been assigned 10.1.1.13 by the DHCP server??? I login to my router and 10.1.1.13 is not allocated to anything in the DHCP client list.

    I can't see anywhere in the IP Utility how the CNI can be set to "get IP automatically" from the DHCP server? Can you only assign a CNI a static IP with the IP Utility??? My router can only accept five static IP's and these are all allocated to important stuff on my network which needs a static IP. I want the CNI to be given a dynamic IP address by the DHCP server, is this possible?
     
    brodricj, Mar 7, 2010
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  9. saspa

    brodricj

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    Bump. Anyone?
     
    brodricj, Mar 23, 2010
    #9
  10. saspa

    NickD Moderator

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    It uses UDP.

    No, it means it found it via the network interface 10.1.1.13 - this is the address of your PC.

    The CNI doesn't support DHCP - it doesn't really make sense to have a fixed part of your network infrastructure potentially changing its address.

    The five "static IPs" that your router supports are probably "Static DHCP" - this where the DHCP server in your router assigns a specified IP to certain devices (based on their MAC address). You should be able to configure the range of IP addresses that the DHCP server will use (say, 10.1.1.1 - 10.1.1.50), and then everything else in your subnet range can be freely assigned static IPs and will work. Just pick an IP outside of the range of addresses used by the DHCP server (but within the same subnet) and use this for the CNI.

    Nick

    Nick
     
    NickD, Mar 24, 2010
    #10
  11. saspa

    saspa Guest

    ok, another CNI related problem, i can view the CNI via explorer, switchautomation can comunicate with the CNI, but i can't get it to talk to toolkit, even "find c-bus networks" with in toolkit can't see it.
    everthing in the CNI is set to disable, local port is 10001, "incomming connection" is "accept unconditional", "response" is set to "nothing", "setup" is set to "no active connection setup" and "disconnect mode" is set to "ignore dtr".
    should there be any settings set? or set differently?
     
    saspa, May 9, 2010
    #11
  12. saspa

    Audiossis

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    Well, that's not quite right.

    1> DHCP reservations allow one to configure the DHCP server to assign the same IP to a specific device every time it issues a DHCP request. This significantly reduces the management burden when one wants to reassign the IP addresses of one or more devices on a given network, as all IP configuration is done in one central location. This means that one does not need to physically visit each device or log into each individual device remotely when IP reconfiguration is required. Especially useful when a particular network might contain thousands of devices.

    2> The manual for my brand new 5500CN2 CNI explicitly states that this device does support DHCP configuration, but sadly neglects to describe how to configure this option.

    I have tried the telnet option at ports 1, 9999 and 10001, but no prompt appears despite me hitting enter within 3 seconds of log in , as described in various places (when I could actually login instead of the session being simply closed). Every character or string typed into the telnet session is simply echoed back ad nausea and no configuration options are presented.

    I have also tried the IPUtility but that was also a complete bust. Even tried setting the IP address of the CNI to 0.0.0.0 which in many other types of embedded device is synonymous with enabling DHCP configuration, still no go.

    The Lantronix Device Installer, as has been suggested by some, couldn't even see my CNI, much less configure it.

    So the question still remains. How does one configure a CNI for DHCP addressing?

    My google fu isn't strong enough......
     
    Audiossis, Apr 21, 2012
    #12
  13. saspa

    DarylMc

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    Hello Audiossis

    I think you just confirmed that NickD is right and the manual is wrong.
    Regardless what the manual says I couldn't get the CNI to get an address from my router either.
    I am quite sure the manual is wrong and I suggest you don't waste any more time on DHCP.
    Ring tech support to confirm if you like.

    For mine I set a fixed address on the CNI and reserve the mac address in the router.
    Can you live with that?

    If not, you could use a serial device server to plug into a 5500PC RS232 interface.
    This one works fine with DHCP for me.
    http://www.moxa.com/product/nport_5110.htm
     
    DarylMc, Apr 21, 2012
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  14. saspa

    Audiossis

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    Hi DarylMc

    I was hoping that you wouldn't say that. I really wanted the CNI configured by DHCP. But if it's not to be then.....C'est la vie :(

    I'd still like to know why I can't get the telnet console to work properly. I'm sure there are many more configuration options available that just those presented in the IPUtility, even if DHCP isn't one of them.

    BTW, thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into that at a later date, right now I'm really just interested in learning enough to get my demo stand ready for the trade show we are attending in Brisy next week.

    I've got everything working with static IP ATM which will suffice for the time being.

    Thanks again for your help.
     
    Audiossis, Apr 22, 2012
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  15. saspa

    DarylMc

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    What are you wanting to do with telnet?
     
    DarylMc, Apr 22, 2012
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  16. saspa

    tobex

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    http://www.cbusforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7430&highlight=$100
     
    tobex, Apr 22, 2012
    #16
  17. saspa

    Audiossis

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    I am the systems engineer at Emersive Technologies in Melbourne.
    We are importers and distributors of Savant home automation equipment and over the course of it's life, this CBUS equipment will be moved across numerous networks in both my testing lab and in the demo stand that we take to trade shows. If I can use telnet to reassign the IP address, then I can write a Unix shell script that will semi-automate the IP address change every time I move the CNI into a new network.

    As we are primarily Mac users at the office, I find it a real pain to have to start my Windoze VM, just to change the IP on the CNI (it hogs a LOT of memory on my Mac). I'd just like to do as much as possible, natively on Mac OS and/or Linux. I know that there is a version of CGATE that runs natively on Mac, but I haven't fully explored it's features yet. I wonder if it provides a user friendly command interface for this sort of thing.......

    <edit>

    I should also mention that this is why I really wanted DHCP configuration. I would then have been able to configure each of the routers/DHCP servers I use in the various situations we encounter to provide the desired address automatically, making the whole thing a no-brainer.

    </edit>
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 22, 2012
    Audiossis, Apr 22, 2012
    #17
  18. saspa

    DarylMc

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    I foolishly spent some more time having another look at the DHCP on the CNI.
    As far as I can tell the only way you can set DHCP on the CNI is with the Lantronix Device Installer.
    This is what I did 2 years ago but had forgotten.
    With device installer you can set DHCP on the CNI but with my Netcomm router at least and my particular CNI it will not pick up an address and defaults to 169.254.5.XXX.

    The CNI is not so hard to configure if you use Windows and follow the instructions but if you really think that you need DHCP I would still recommend the Moxa connected to a serial PCI.
    DHCP works and since it doesn't use Java for the browser config page you can configure or reboot it from for example an iPhone/iPad.
    Or telnet.

    Best wishes at Cedia
     
    DarylMc, Apr 24, 2012
    #18
  19. saspa

    TimB C-Bus Systems Engineer

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    Gentlemen,

    The 5500CN2 and 5100CN2 are based on a completely new platform, not Lantronix like the old 5500CN. It does not support DHCP, nor the Lantronix DeviceInstaller software. You must use the IP Utility to configure it.
     
    TimB, Apr 26, 2012
    #19
  20. saspa

    TimB C-Bus Systems Engineer

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    Audiossis,

    I have checked the manual for the 5500CN2 and it does not mention DHCP at all. Can you please tell me exactly which document you are referring to? Was it the printed manual that came with the product, or did you download it from our website? The 5500CN2 does not appear on the website yet so you may have been looking at the manual for the old 5500CN.
     
    TimB, Apr 26, 2012
    #20
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