Will Poor Signal Cause Radio To Reboot?

Was wondering if a poor / weak signal would cause a 450 900MHz radio to randomly reboot?

This is a PTP configuration.

The SM side reboots randomly.

Currently the SM System Uptime : 2d, 16:47:59

While the AP System Uptime : 333d, 15:21:03

What are things I can look for and test?

No, unless you have a watchdog setup to reboot on signal loss then no it should not.

What can cause reboots is power fluctuations, a bad cable or termination and high heat or extreme cold.

Hello and thanks for the reply.

What should I consider as high heat?

Is there a method to test cables / terminations with multimeter?

Would a CNUT dump of the radio diagnoses falling radio? ie would it show a failed antenna port or other hardware failure?

Cnut does not have anywhere near the features needed to determine a hardware failure. It is part of a logging and firmware management system. Log into the radio and actively watch it or use mrtg to pull information for each radios rssi and snr, radio temperature and ethernet link status, plus have all syslogs sent to a syslog server that you can use to split the data stream so you can watch just that SM and AP separately. Determining a hardware failure is not always easy nor a full fault. Reboot issues fall into a particular issue of power management, a antenna cable shorting out will not usually cause a power problem due to how antenna amplifiers are built but a cable that allows water into a radio via capillary action can cause other shorts that can reboot a radio. Heat of the fpga or crystal oscillator can cause system halts which may reboot the radio and so can a bad cable crimp that heats up and pulls away from the connection.

In short, you need to analyze what circumstances cause the SM to reboot and isolate the causes and find the commonality between those causes. Sorry, but none of us on here can be much more helpful as most of us do this intuitively and have the systems in place to provide the information needed to understand what is going on.
I suggest a simple debian box or vm with apache, rrdtools, mrtg, rsyslogd, rhe smnp dictionary for your radios and routers2.cgi installed and on the same network that this link is on so it can access the management data from both. Point the radios syslog server ip to the ip of your new data collection server and use mrtg to pull statistics from both radios. Remember that you want your radios to show up twice, per chain with snr per chain. Most cacti recipes can be cleaned enough to work or just the important bits copied over to mrtg (cacti is a bit more complicated to setup but it is essentially the same thing as mrtg) so there is a lot of references on a google search and in here.

I will follow your suggestion and setup the data collection services.

A bit of additional information.

My throughput has been cut in half.

On the Link Status Page of the SM.

Receive Fragments Modulation Path H: N/A and the session is in MIMO A.

I’m unsure if this is due to worsening signal or hardware issue. Noise floor is the same as it was prior to drop in throughput and unless the forest service has been dropping Miracle Grow I doubt it’s new obstruction in the path.

The radios are at best difficult to access but if replacing the SM fixes the problem and returns the link to it original level of performance it will be worth it.

Thanks again for your input.

If you look a the SM’s event log it should give you a clue to why it’s resetting. Can you copy/paste what’s in that log?

There may be a problem with an antenna cable that has caused the SM to shut one radio off. Try swapping the cables positions and see what happens. Also at this point turn auto power control off and set your tx power on the sm to what auto power was setting it to. This stops the SM from making adjustments that may be causing the issue. Do not set to max power unless you are 100% sure you are allowed and that the antenna and cables are verified good with no additional shorts or extra load capacitance ( water in a rf cable does this and it doesnt take much!)

The radio log will tell you what has happened since power on/reboot, once you have a syslog server it will tell you what happened before reboot/power loss.

If your using linux for a server, I highly suggest the nano text editor as it is easier than emacs or vi and can be used in their place. You can also use tftpd in windows with the firewall disabled to make a quick and dirty temporary syslog collector, but it does not have persistence of the log after it gets closed.

I will wait for you to collect and post some logs.

CPU Utilization (Cur/Max): (10%/100%)
Total Time : 1979120 us

TASK TASK % RT Tot TASK Tot S T A C K Task PC
NAME PRI RT MAX Cyc Preempt CtxSw (Sz/Cur%/Max%)OV Status Addr
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SYNC 5 ( 0%) 262 1294 0 5 (12284/ 2%/36%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
WDOG 6 ( 0%) 23 115 0 6 (12284/ 2%/12%) Ready 0x79202000
LEDT 7 ( 0%) 508 1308 0 6 (12284/ 2%/13%) Ready 0x2e670
DIAG 10 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/29%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
APMT 11 ( 0%) 16 16 0 1 (12284/ 2%/12%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
trap 14 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/32%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
SESS 15 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/48%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
SOCK 16 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 6%/46%) Suspend 0x2e670
COMM 17 (99%) 329836 1976387 12 12 (12284/ 2%/31%) Ready 0x2e450
EAPP 19 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/15%) Ready 0x2e670
VLAN 20 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/12%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
APPT 22 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/ 9%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
ctic 23 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/13%) Ready 0x2e670
Inet 24 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/27%) Suspend 0x2e670
BDMT 27 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/12%) Ready 0x2e670
BDQT 28 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/14%) Ready 0x2e670
FECT 29 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/ 8%) Suspend 0x2e670
AUTH 31 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 3%/26%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
SNMP 32 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 3%/40%) Suspend 0x2e670
teln 34 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/24%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
TEL1 35 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/ 8%) Suspend 0x2e670
TEL2 36 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/ 8%) Suspend 0x2e670
TEL3 37 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/ 8%) Suspend 0x2e670
TEL4 38 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/ 8%) Suspend 0x2e670
FTPs 39 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/ 9%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
ROOT 46 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/30%) Suspend 0x2e670
UPDM 47 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/11%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
UPDT 48 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/ 9%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
HTTP 50 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/50%) Ready 0x2e670
PROX 51 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 7%/33%) Suspend 0x2e670
nvrm 56 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/ 9%) PendEvFlgGrp 0x2e670
PING 57 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/ 8%) Suspend 0x2e670
LLDT 58 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 (12284/ 2%/34%) Ready 0x2e670
STAT 62 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 ( 8192/ 3%/43%) Ready 0x2e670
IDLE 63 ( 0%) 0 0 0 0 ( 8192/ 3%/42%) Ready 0x2e450
PRI PC ID
----------------
6 0002e670 0
7 0002e670 1
17 0002e450 2
5 0002e670 3
17 0002e450 4
6 0002e670 5
7 0002e670 6
17 0002e450 7
5 0002e670 8
17 0002e450 9
6 0002e670 10
7 0002e670 11
17 0002e450 12
5 0002e670 13
17 0002e450 14
6 0002e670 15
7 0002e670 16
17 0002e450 17
5 0002e670 18
17 0002e450 19
6 0002e670 20
7 0002e670 21
17 0002e450 22
6 0002e670 23
7 0002e670 24
17 0002e450 25
5 0002e670 26
17 0002e450 27
11 0002e670 28
17 0002e450 29
Task COMM - Priority 17
Task Stack Dump:
0x00b9dba4: 0x0002e450 0x00b9dbd8 0x08080de4 0x00000000
0x00b9dbb4: 0x00869334 0x00000000 0x027f0800 0x00869334
0x00b9dbc4: 0x027f0800 0x00000000 0x00b9dd5c 0x00000028
0x00b9dbd4: 0x00000308 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000071
0x00b9dbe4: 0x00010000 0x00000011 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dbf4: 0x00000000 0x00b9dc50 0x0000008c 0x00289650
0x00b9dc04: 0x08002924 0xdeadbeef 0x02885678 0x028854f8
0x00b9dc14: 0x00b30d78 0x02886238 0x027f0800 0x00b9dc9c
0x00b9dc24: 0x0000000c 0x00000000 0x0000000c 0x00000004
0x00b9dc34: 0x0000504a 0x232a4cb8 0x00000001 0xffff7fff
0x00b9dc44: 0x00000001 0x00221358 0x00000000 0x00b30d78
0x00b9dc54: 0x02886238 0x028854f8 0x028854f8 0x00000000
0x00b9dc64: 0x00b9dc68 0x02886238 0x00000000 0x00b9dc78
0x00b9dc74: 0x0028970c 0x02886238 0x00b9dc84 0x00286dbc
0x00b9dc84: 0x00000000 0x0288c520 0x027f0800 0x000001bb
0x00b9dc94: 0x00000000 0x0288c520 0x000001bb 0x00000001
0x00b9dca4: 0x02886238 0x0288c520 0x00000006 0x027f0804
0x00b9dcb4: 0x00000002 0x08080570 0x000da500 0x009ab424
0x00b9dcc4: 0x00000010 0x0004e3d4 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dcd4: 0x00556d20 0x00000028 0x000d8120 0x027b2000
0x00b9dce4: 0x08000770 0x00000001 0x00000000 0x00002d11
0x00b9dcf4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x08080134 0x00869334
0x00b9dd04: 0xfffffffe 0x00000000 0x027f0800 0x00557368
0x00b9dd14: 0x027f0800 0x0004fc64 0x00000000 0x00020fa1
0x00b9dd24: 0x7f000001 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dd34: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dd44: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dd54: 0x00000000 0x002c3be4 0x00000000 0x00b9dfc4
0x00b9dd64: 0x00b9e020 0x00b9e07c 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dd74: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dd84: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00405484
0x00b9dd94: 0x00000001 0x002c41d8 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dda4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9ddb4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9ddc4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9ddd4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dde4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9ddf4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x75db51ff
0x00b9de04: 0x7fcd504b 0x330eabcd 0x1234e66d 0xdeec0005
0x00b9de14: 0x000b0000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9de24: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9de34: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9de44: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9de54: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9de64: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9de74: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9de84: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9de94: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dea4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9deb4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dec4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9ded4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dee4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9def4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9df04: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9df14: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9df24: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9df34: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9df44: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9df54: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9df64: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9df74: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9df84: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9df94: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dfa4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9dfb4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000003 0x00b9dfc4
0x00b9dfc4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00040000
0x00b9dfd4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00b9dfc4
0x00b9dfe4: 0x002c673c 0x002c67ac 0x002c6830 0x002c68a8
0x00b9dff4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9e004: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9e014: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9e024: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x000a0001 0x00000000
0x00b9e034: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00b9e020 0x002c673c
0x00b9e044: 0x002c67ac 0x002c6830 0x002c68a8 0x00000000
0x00b9e054: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9e064: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9e074: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9e084: 0x00000000 0x000a0002 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9e094: 0x00000000 0x00b9e07c 0x002c673c 0x002c67ac
0x00b9e0a4: 0x002c6830 0x002c68a8 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9e0b4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9e0c4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
0x00b9e0d4: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000

01/01/2016 : 00:00:00 UTC : :

01/01/2016 : 00:00:00 UTC : :Time Set
01/01/2016 : 00:00:00 UTC : 
******System Startup****** 
System Reset Exception -- Watchdog Reset 
Software Version : CANOPY 16.0.1 BHUL450
Board Type : P11
Boot Bank : 0
Board Temperature : 52 C / 126 F
Device Setting : 900MHz MIMO OFDM - Backhaul - Timing Slave - xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx
FPGA Version : 020519;
12/31/2015 : 20:00:21 EDT : :Timezone set to EDT;
07/05/2021 : 08:08:09 EDT : :Time Set

Can you please update both ends to at minimum v16.2.3.1 and report back?

Right at the bottom: watchdog reset

First do as Eric has said and update to the latest version 16 firmware on both ends.

Second, clear any watchdogs you may have set. A factory defaulting is a good way to ensure there is nothing being hidden in the config files. But not usually required, if you do plan to re setup from scratch do it after the firmware upgrades.

Was puzzled when I saw the Watchdog Reset.

Have not set up any watchdogs and was assuming that it is an internal watchdog programmed into the firmware.

Will do the firmware update but will do it locally for each radio rather than over the link just in case it decides to go belly up during the transfer.

But that does beg the question is CNUT smart enough to abort the update if the firmware file suffers a transfer error or the file is corrupted.

As for the other log they seemed to show generic (lost connection reconnected) type entries.

Cnut is just a repository and a dedicated ftp (tftp) server that send an snmp command to each radio to download and update. It is the radios themselves that perform the updates by downloading the firmware into memory, then test the integrity and extract the image to burn over the existing nvram image.

Cnut is not smart, thankfully the radios are!

You can also do this from the web interface of each radio too if you dont have the files in cnut yet.

Will be updating this weekend. Looking thru the release notes I did not see anything specific to the 900MHz band radios. Took a look at the v20 release notes as well, same thing.

Are there any improvements / fixes in either of these firmware updates which apply specifically to the 450 900MHz band radio or is just general / across the board fixes and additions for new radios?

Search for “watchdog”.

Thanks. Had a couple of minutes so I updated the firmware as suggested. Will see if that stops the watchdog reboots.

450i CPY-16932 AP software watchdog reset due to “Data Abort exception”

Does this apply to the 450? Was told early on that these 900 MHz radios were based on the 450 and not the 450i hardware.

@Eric_Ozrelic Update firmware on both radios. Unfortunately that did not seem to resolve the issues I was having so I decided to swap out the SM yesterday.

Unfortunately things went from bad to worse.

I started a new thread as it seemed to be a new problem.