Obitalk hangup

VeryBigTiger · January 04, 2012, 01:31:38 PM

Hello All,
I have setup two Obitalk one locally and another overseas. I have tested the one overseas when I was their last month by powering the surge arestor off/on and it came up fine. Now, I'm away and it seem that it hanged up ... need resetting ...I can not access it.
My local Obi hanged up too without any power failer and had to reset it from the local phone attached to it. I wonder if this had to do something with the Obi server it self or if it can be reset from the server as it can see it through the Obi number... "if I'm correct".

I like to know if there is any way I can access the remote unit to reset it please.
when I dial the internationally number its connected to the phone just keep ringing.
any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Joseph

Stewart · January 04, 2012, 07:04:35 PM

The same thing happened to my OBi and I had to get a friend to go in and cycle power.

There have been indications that there is a DHCP-related bug; setting a static IP may help prevent future trouble. Obviously, set that up while someone is there to recover, in case it doesn't work as expected.

If you have remote access to the router, see if the OBi is online. If not, it will clearly need human intervention. Have your friend bring a paper clip, so s/he can do a factory reset, in case cycling power is not enough. If it is online, set up a port forward and try to access the OBi's web interface and reboot it.

If you have dynamic DNS set up in your router, check whether it updated recently. If not, there may be nothing wrong with the OBi, but your Internet connection went down.

For the long haul, consider getting a PDU like this: http://www.opengear.com/product-ip-power.html . You can manually cycle power on any attached device, or program it to automatically reboot a unit that stops responding to pings.

Ostracus · January 04, 2012, 08:24:03 PM

Quote from: Stewart on January 04, 2012, 07:04:35 PM
The same thing happened to my OBi and I had to get a friend to go in and cycle power.

There have been indications that there is a DHCP-related bug; setting a static IP may help prevent future trouble. Obviously, set that up while someone is there to recover, in case it doesn't work as expected.

If you have remote access to the router, see if the OBi is online. If not, it will clearly need human intervention. Have your friend bring a paper clip, so s/he can do a factory reset, in case cycling power is not enough. If it is online, set up a port forward and try to access the OBi's web interface and reboot it.

If you have dynamic DNS set up in your router, check whether it updated recently. If not, there may be nothing wrong with the OBi, but your Internet connection went down.

For the long haul, consider getting a PDU like this: http://www.opengear.com/product-ip-power.html . You can manually cycle power on any attached device, or program it to automatically reboot a unit that stops responding to pings.

WoW! Almost $200.

Stewart · January 04, 2012, 08:50:52 PM

Quote from: Ostracus on January 04, 2012, 08:24:03 PMWoW! Almost $200.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=IP9258

It says out of stock, but they can probably get one, if you order. Call them first, to check.

Stewart · January 04, 2012, 08:53:55 PM

If not at Geeks, try http://www.ebay.com/itm/IP-Power-4-Outlet-Network-AC-Power-Remote-Control-w-Built-in-Web-Server-NEW-/400264530382

VeryBigTiger · January 05, 2012, 10:12:17 PM

Hello All, and thanks for responding to my post!

unfortunatly I asked a neighbour to recycle the power but that did not help. I have asked the internet provider to check the line and it checked ok. I have asked them to give me the dynamic IP address assigned to the DSL router in the moment.. hopefully this can help..if not, then I'm out of luck.

if you can think of any think else to bring it on board that would be great ... not sure if any power recycle will bring it back ....

Joseph

Stewart · January 05, 2012, 11:42:45 PM

If there is a phone attached (or your neighbor is willing to attach one), s/he can do some basic troubleshooting, e.g. is there dial tone, does ***1 give an IP address, does the OBi test number work, can you call out, etc?

Also, see whether the Internet connection is working, if not, try rebooting modem and router. Knowing the states of indicators on modem, router and OBi would be useful.

If needed, a factory reset of the OBi may bring it back to life. This could be initiated by from the phone (if that's working), from the LAN (if that's working) or with a paper clip.

If the neighbor has some technical ability, you could talk him/her through setting up remote management and/or dynamic DNS on router.

VeryBigTiger · January 07, 2012, 08:19:58 PM

unfortunately my neighbour can access the outside of my apartment such the power on/off or the phone line (not the telephone port on the Obi as its inside the apartment) ... would accessing PTSN line itself from outside the apartment would enable me to do any control over the Obi ..such as resetting.
Thanks,

Stewart · January 07, 2012, 08:44:58 PM

I don't believe that there is anything that you can do from the phone line.

However, if your router has Wi-Fi and you trust the neighbor with the password, they should be able to stand outside your appartment and connect (from a laptop, tablet or smartphone). They could see whether your Internet connection is working and whether the OBi is accessible. Depending on the results, they may be able to reset the OBi or provide you with remote access to it.

VeryBigTiger · January 08, 2012, 07:29:51 AM

If the internet is accessible what is the steps that he can do to access/rest the Obi.

VeryBigTiger · January 10, 2012, 07:01:50 AM

I think the power reset and it came back.
is there any thing that I can do to prevent the hang up from happining again.

your advise would be appreciated.

thanks,
Joseph

Stewart · January 10, 2012, 08:43:30 AM

Quote from: VeryBigTiger on January 10, 2012, 07:01:50 AM
I think the power reset and it came back.
is there any thing that I can do to prevent the hang up from happining again.

There is some fairly credible evidence that there is a DHCP-related bug; assigning a static private IP address would presumably avoid it.

However, there is some risk in setting that up (a typo could cause you to lose control altogether), and it's not clear that's the bug that bit you, so I don't recommend doing anything until you or a person you trust is on site and can take recovery action if needed.

In my case, control was lost after a reboot related to a config change; a friend went in and cycled power to bring it back on line. What i'm doing to "prevent it from happening again" is to not mess with the configuration until I get back there

VeryBigTiger · January 10, 2012, 06:51:29 PM

Thanks Stewart, your advise is appreciated!!

VeryBigTiger · January 10, 2012, 06:54:49 PM

I have noticed that there is a firmware update, and wonder if I need it and what is it for. ...

Thanks to you ALL!!

Paulo · January 12, 2012, 04:49:50 AM

I had a sil´milar problem and in my case, the update fixed it.

VeryBigTiger · January 13, 2012, 05:31:15 PM

Hi Paulo,

thanks for your respond.
you saying that with the upgrade the hangup of the device now eliminated on power failure to seek the IP address.

VeryBigTiger · January 28, 2012, 06:51:30 PM

Quote from: Stewart on January 07, 2012, 08:44:58 PM
I don't believe that there is anything that you can do from the phone line.

However, if your router has Wi-Fi and you trust the neighbor with the password, they should be able to stand outside your appartment and connect (from a laptop, tablet or smartphone). They could see whether your Internet connection is working and whether the OBi is accessible. Depending on the results, they may be able to reset the OBi or provide you with remote access to it.

Hi Stewart,
I'm back to halt :-(. My Obi went off line and with no reason at all ... I assumed another power failer but I'm not sure what condition happened that brought it back either. I asked my neighbour to turn power of the apartment off/on, twice and that did not help. I contacted the ISP and they assured me the internet is working. "its their say".

If I can get a neighbour to access my internet from outside my apartment what he can do to get to the OBI to reset it.

thanks!!

Everton · January 28, 2012, 07:30:39 PM

The OBiTALK Service was down on and off during the course of the day. Could that explain why you were unable to make contact and why it showed offline?

VeryBigTiger · January 28, 2012, 08:41:06 PM

if the OBItalk service was down, and they have our OBI phone numbers in, it might have a glitch preventing my second OBI to come on line.

VeryBigTiger · January 31, 2012, 09:16:03 AM

Guys, I'm sure after today server maintenance that the problem layed in the OBI Server. I have updated the obi overseas now and hope that their is no more glitches. I will be getting a static IP address their over the weekend and hope that help for the overseas unit.

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