Omni IIe network repair

[fitch]

Hello all!  I have an old Omni IIe controller and the network interface has stopped working.  I have tried clearing the eeprom and clearing the ram, neither helped.  I have just recently upgraded to 4.0b firmware.  The serial ports work and that is how I have been configuring it.
 
So, it has been years since I connected to the network on this controller.  My computer has been updated (now Windows 10) and the network is busier.  However, I tried connecting a laptop to the controller with a crossover cable and the laptop set to 10M half duplex and get the same behavior.
 
Questions:
1.  Is there a repair service I can get on this board?  I know I can buy a new one, but that is $700...
2.  Is there a power supply that is prone to failure that can cause the network to stop but the board will otherwise continue to operate?
3.  Is there another failure point on the board that can be replaced, ie a chip or transformer?  I have the equipment to do surface mount repair, even the QFPs.
 
Thanks in advance.
 

 

[pete_c]

Welcome to the Cocoontech Forum fitch.

1. Is there a repair service I can get on this board? I know I can buy a new one, but that is $700...
 
Leviton still services this panels (as far as I know)

2. Is there a power supply that is prone to failure that can cause the network to stop but the board will otherwise continue to operate?
 
Power supply / battery issues can cause issues with the serial bus on the board.  I have not seen just networking issues relating to the battery and or power supply.

3. Is there another failure point on the board that can be replaced, ie a chip or transformer? I have the equipment to do surface mount repair, even the QFPs.
 
I have seen the large electrolytic capacitor burst on one OmniPro 2 board in the last 20 years which caused power issues.

I've seen lightning taking out the network port on an Omni Pro 2.
 
There is also a documented intermittent issue with the network port as it is an old design and runs at 1/2 duplex 10Mbs and is overly promiscuous and sees all traffic on the home LAN.  
 
That said you can today still send the board to Leviton for repair at a reasonable price.  I do not know of any 3rd companies that will do this.
 
There are no published schematics on your board that I know of.
 
Give a call to Leviton and ask if they still do repairs.  (I think they do).
 
Energy Management Controls and Automation - New Orleans, LA

(Security and Automation)
865 Fulton Street, Suite 500
New Orleans, LA 70130
Phone: 1-800-229-7256
Hours of Operation
Monday-Friday: 6:00AM - 5:00PM PT

 

[fitch]

Pete_c,
Thanks for the info. I would have thanked you sooner, but the forum would not let me post again.

My network is not totally dead. I have seen responses to ping, but only 1 out of 100 or more. I have tried isolating the network its on, nothing has worked. I think it must have been damaged as it used to work fine.

Bill

 

[pete_c]

Check too to see if the RJ-45 port has cold or bad solder connections.  I have see that the plastic shell gets loose and that could be pulling up on the RJ-45 pins.
 
Another thing is to try installing a router between the OmniPro NIC and the rest of your network.  Any router will do.

 

[fitch]

I pulled the board and inspected the jack. Solder all looks great, still shiny after all these years. I called Leviton and they still repair these boards, so I have requested an RMA. Well see. Wish I could find it exactly what they replace when they fix it. I hate giving up on a problem.

 

[LQtechvn]

almost case their replace by new one if your controller in warranty time

 

[fitch]

Ok, bummer. Leviton is returning my board with “no trouble found”.

Argh, at least they did not charge me anything. Would love to know what their test does.

 

[pete_c]

How many ethernet devices do you have on your home network?
 
Try sticking a router between the Omni Ethernet interface and the rest of your network.  This is what alleviated my network issues with my OmniPro 2 a few years back.

 

[fitch]

Board should be back today, so I can experiment with it on the bench.

My network is pretty busy. But I did read about the network issues, and tried just a laptop direct to the Omni, no other traffic at all. I could ping it and it might respond 1 out of 50 or so. I also briefly tried a router but could not communicate with PCA. Now, if the network gets wedged, and does not un-wedge itself, then that might explain what I saw. I did not power cycle it between experiments. It will be easier to mess with now that I went and pulled it from the box.

By the way, does it care if there is ipv6 traffic on its network? Besides the higher volume of traffic, this is the only other real change since it worked years ago. It is on a switch, so it should only see traffic for it and other broadcast traffic.

Bill

 

[pete_c]

I am using a micro travel router (NEXX) between the OP2 panel ethernet port and the rest of the home LAN.  I have IP6 shut off on the router.
 
Really though the ethernet interface on the Omni panel is promiscuous and sees all traffic whatever it is and that causes the issues with the ethernet interface.
 
So the specs and current firmware version of OpenWRT are:
 
 

BusyBox v1.28.4 () built-in shell (ash)

  _______                     ________        __
 |       |.-----.-----.-----.|  |  |  |.----.|  |_
 |   -   ||  _  |  -__|     ||  |  |  ||   _||   _|
 |_______||   __|_____|__|__||________||__|  |____|
          |__| W I R E L E S S   F R E E D O M
 -----------------------------------------------------
 OpenWrt 18.06.2, r7676-cddd7b4c77
 -----------------------------------------------------
root@ICS-HAI:~#

Relating to traffic hitting the Omni Pro 2 board there is nothing hardly.  Looking at the graph of the LAN side and compare it to the graph on the WAN side of the router here:
 
You can test it with any old router you have around.  Personally I fit my micro router inside of the OmniPro 2 can as it is tiny and simple in function.
 

 

 

 
I shut off the WLAN interface (radio) on mine and originally powered it from the 12VDC on the panel (12VDC ==> 5VDC).
 
The microrouter can be found on Ebay for around $20.  It is only time use to upgrade the firmware to latest OpenWRT firmware.
 
First though you have to test to see if it is the traffic on your LAN that is causing your issues.

 

[fitch]

Well, I got the board reinstalled and it behaves exactly the same. With a factory default configuration, as received from Leviton, I connected my laptop via crossover cable to the Omni. It would respond to about 1 out of 30 or more pings. Not 100% dead, but pretty darn close. I am surprised that it could pass any Leviton factory test of the network if it behaves the way it does here.

At this point I figure maybe there is noise introduced by something in my house, and they would not have that on their bench. I don’t think a router would fix anything if I can’t talk to it from my laptop with no other traffic. However, just in case, I did order a router that I can use to test with.

I also queried Leviton how it could work there and not here. Seems they are interested. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

If I have to live with serial only, so be it. But the network is a lot faster for some things. For me, the biggest hassle is I have to Remote Desktop to a machine close enough for a serial connection to the panel. But only have to do that when I need to change something which is not very often.

Thanks for all your tips. The saga continues...

 

[pete_c]

Try to configure the laptop ethernet port to 10 Mbs 1/2 duplex and try to ping it again or plug the ethernet port to an old 10Mbs hub.

Maybe too install a software network sniffer and watch the pings.

 

[fitch]

I think I have tried this. My laptop only allows me to set the speed, not the duplex. But, I have tried 2 different switches, both allow setting the interfaces to 10M half duplex. No difference.

I put a passive tap on the cable to the Omni and looked at traffic both directions. I could see the ping requests but only the every once in a while reply. I even put a scope on the pair from the Omni, but did not see anything that Wireshark did not.

If I assume that Leviton tested it on their bench and it passed some level of communication test, then what could be in my house wiring that would interfere with Ethernet? Most of the zones are all relatively high impedance so I would not think they would couple sufficient noise into the system. The horns and keypads run off 12v. Maybe AC is getting onto the ground?

By the way, my Omni notifier board works fine even plugged into the main switch with all my traffic.

 

[pete_c]

interfere with Ethernet?
 
Nah I have never seen this before.
 
I recall one Cocoontech user sending his board back and making Leviton put a new network chip in it to fix it a few years back.
 
The network issue when it happened was gradual then it just would quit working.  A cold boot would fix it until it happened again.
 
Send it back to Leviton.

 

[fitch]

OK, looks like I spoke too soon.  I reconnected my tap and wireshark.  Now when I ping the Omni, my computer sends out a series of ARP requests to find the MAC address of the Omni, but the Omni never replies.
 
I haven't figured out how to manually add an ARP table entry for the Omni.  I am on Windows 10 and its not obvious.  Maybe if I could force that, it would respond.
 
Bill