Pm5 Firmware Version

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Athenasby Regalado

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Aug 5, 2024, 10:17:35 AM8/5/24

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Thelittle information available about picking a firmware version is indeed a bit hidden: "It is recommended that you upgrade the firmware of your target when you upgrade your driver version" (quoted from Upgrading Firmware on my NI Linux Real-Time Device).

Please note that downgrading the firmware is also possible, it is basically the same process as upgrading, except for picking an older version of the firmware (of course) and confirming a dialog that warns about the downgrade. In case you want to be able to roll back quickly, make sure you have the older version of the firmware already on your PC. cRIO firmwares are copied to your computer when installing NI CompactRIO Driver.

I am sure this question was meant regarding the firmware version number, however I want to mention for everyone reading along that NI's firmwares are device-specific. If you e.g. want to update your cRIO-9038, then you need to pick a cRIO-9038 firmware. Some old firmwares do not check if the new firmware is compatible, so picking an incompatible firmware can brick your cRIO in some cases. NI support often can help.

Firmware upgrades are mainly improving/including compatibility with modules, new LabVIEW versions, modifying hardware configuration to meet new regulations (like WiFi power levels). NI MAX or LabVIEW will tell you in case a firmware upgrade is needed to meet compatibility. I could not find any information about incompatibilities to older LabVIEW versions after an upgrade. This is of course no guarantee that there is no incompatibility between any cRIO and very old LabVIEW versions (I am thinking of e.g. 8.x and earlier).

Remembering one of the forum posts, I decided I was going to try enabling IPv6 with my own DNS servers for IPv6 - so I picked Google servers, thinking they are worldwide and pretty stable most likely. So I enabled IPv6, then I rebooted (did not power cycle) the router. It came up fine. Memory is at 452MB, which seems lower - but it may sneak back up to 530MB or so in the next few hours. I did nothing to the RBSs, rebooting the router did not affect the RBSs' uptime, so they did not reboot. After about 6-7 minutes the 3rd floor RBS shows hop count of 1. The 1st floor RBS? Yep you guessed it, Hop Count is blank still after 16 minutes, it was never 1. It;'s like the system can't handle 2 ETH backhauls in some situations. I am going to power cycle the 1st floor RBS now.

One last update as things are working now - 1st floor RBS 960 has Hop Count 1 again. After I power cycled the 1st floor RBS, Hop Count was still blank. So I remembered before what works - I take the RBS downstairs next to the RBR, and power it up to sync wirelessly. Once I get the Blue LED light, and power it down, put it back in its place with ETH backhaul, and power it up. All is fine now. So rebooting or power cycling the router requires that one of the RBSs be power cycled with Wireless backhaul, then Ethernet backhaul (Note I remember reading this from the Netgear forum admins a long time ago). Note this happened with my 850 series Orbi too.

I have had IPV6 enabled since as long as I can remember - never did anything special, just let it set itself up. And it always passed that IPV6 test website. And I have mostly always used wired backhaul - have not had to do anything special to get that working either.

No, I had problems with the prior release. I also saw it on the Orbi 850 series. Things started going awry in around Feb 2023, when allegedly Comcast changed something in IPv6 around here. IPv6 didn't work at all for a while. There's really multiple issues here, possibly firmware, maybe boot loader, maybe both:

What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?

Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6A STP is recommended.

How many RBS are deployed?

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?

@reddavin @FURRYe38 It could be related - losing connectivity could be Hop Count gone to blank. When that happens, devices won't connect to that Satellite, and they could easily be too far away from anything else to connect - hence the disconnected state.If you notice sometimes it's connected sometimes it's not, it could be 1 satellite and the router are fine - so moving within range of them establishes a connection again. Maybe it's reconnecting via 5 GHz or 2.4GH from somewhere else too.

My procedure now, if I have a reason to power cycle or reboot the router, is power cycle the RBSs once the router is up. Go to 192.168.1.1/debug.htm and monitor Hop Count, make sure it says 1. If it does not say 1 after say 20 minutes, power down that RBS, take it next to the router, power it up, let it sync wirelessly (wait for the Blue LED). The power it down, place it in its normal position, connect the Ethernet cable, and power it up. It should sync fine and Hop Count should stay 1.

What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too? "No idea. Verizon GIGabit. ethernet cable from that is connected to RBR. goes thru APC backups Pro 500."

Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6A STP is recommended. "It's all CAT6 24AWG UTP"

How many RBS are deployed? "2 RBS"

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? "2600 sq ft. split level, 3 levels. router on L1, RBS on L2, L3"

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s) "Diff levels of house. at least 30 ft."

How is RBS ethernet connected to the RBR? Directly or is there a LAN switch in between? Brand and model of LAN switch in between? "1 RBS - WIFI, 1 RBS - Wired. DLink switch inline"

What CAT# LAN cable is being used between the RBR and RBS? "Cat6"

How was the FW applied? Orbi app? Auto Update? Manually with a PC and web browser? "Web Browser/PC"

Was RBS updated first then RBR lastly? "Netgear support had me update RBR first, then hardwire to each RBS and update manually"

rookie mistake...today, Orbi automatically applied the .31 release. doh. the above log is with .31 installed. iphone has already been dropping wifi randomly throughout the day. i suspect it is having issues connecting to different end points as i move around. but even then, while working throughout the day, it goes to 5g randomly. i'm going to follow the (helpful) instructions linked above to flash back to .21. AND turn off automatic updated. seems like a better version in my case.

previous 850 system was good for many years. the 960 hasn't been good (for the month i had it on .31.) I got the impression from NetGear support that they are aware of this issue with .31 and are trying to address. (whatever that issue is...?)

Don't look at logs, go to the debug.htm page off your satellite's IP address. You will have to get that from your "Attached Devices" link under Basic, when you log in to the Routers Web page (like for me, 192.168.1.1). Find the IP address of the RBSs - check them both - type 192.168.1.yyy/debug.htm (where 192.168.1.yyy is the address of each RBS from the Attached Devices list), log in with your admin log in to the router, and you'll see a page like the one I show below - you can see Hop Count.

Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6A STP is recommended. "It's all CAT6 24AWG UTP" CAT6A STP would be recommended since the WAN port on the RBR is 10Gb. There is a diffence.

How many RBS are deployed? "2 RBS"

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? "2600 sq ft. split level, 3 levels. router on L1, RBS on L2, L3"

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s) "Diff levels of house. at least 30 ft."

How is RBS ethernet connected to the RBR? Directly or is there a LAN switch in between? Brand and model of LAN switch in between? "1 RBS - WIFI, 1 RBS - Wired. DLink switch inline"

How was the FW applied? Orbi app? Auto Update? Manually with a PC and web browser? "Web Browser/PC"

Was RBS updated first then RBR lastly? "Netgear support had me update RBR first, then hardwire to each RBS and update manually"

No - You will have to get to the debug pages of the satellites by first getting their IP address from your "Attached Devices" link under Basic, when you log in to the Routers Web page (like for me, 192.168.1.1). Find the IP address of the RBSs - check them both - type 192.168.1.yyy/debug.htm (where 192.168.1.yyy is the address of each RBS from the Attached Devices list), log in with your admin log in to the router, and you'll see a page like the one I showed above - you can see Hop Count.