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“Through the use of Asentria’s SNMP-Link, we can now remotely survey our entire network, including our security, power and alarm equipment. Their products are seamlessly integrated into our network, and help us avoid expensive labor and installation costs.”
Jim Wemette, Manager of Systems Engineer at Burlington Telecom


Remote Monitoring Frequently Asked Questions:


 


Note: These are generic questions, which are common to most Asentria products. For more specific information, or if the information here does not resolve your problem, please contact Tech Support at (206) 344-8800 or by email.



1 - My Asentria Data Collection hardware is not storing data.

Box indications:
A) RXD is out or kind of white. This usually means that there is no signal going to the Receive pin on the RS-232 connection. Usually the user just needs a Null Modem to solve this problem.
B) RXD is Green and not flashing RED. This one is uncommon, but does occur occasionally. It can mean a few different things.


1. No calls are occurring. Ask someone on site to make a long distance call through the phone system and have someone watch to see if RXD flashes red. If it still doesn’t flash RED and it is a Data-Link you can be pretty sure that they need to set up the port in the Switch. If it is a PS680 it probably means the same thing but it could mean #2.


2. It could mean that DTR is too low. What does that mean? Well on the PS680 we have an LED hooked to the DTR pin. This LED pulls the voltage down on the DTR pin from +5.0 to something slightly less than +5.0V. Some switches have hardware that is very sensitive to this and the switch will think that DTR handshaking was low and not send data. The cure for this is to pull off the front panel of the PS680 and remove the jumper next to the LED. This unhooks the LED and brings the voltage back up to +5.0V.


C) RXD is Green and flashing Red. This means that the box is receiving the signal.


1. Probably has an incorrect baud rate. Adjust baud rate either via dipswitches or via software. Zero the box to clear old records.


2. Make sure the Character mask is not on. A restrictive Character mask can cause this problem. (Uncommon.)


D) Instructions specific to the Call-Safe 531


1. When hooking up connection from PBX switch to CS531, you need a cable with a 25 pin RS 232 connector and you may also need a null modem, and a gender changer. Plug the connector into the input port on the back of the CS531. The RX Led will be green if connected correctly, if it is out you may need a null modem. 


When the RX LED is flashing red that means the switch is sending data to the unit. If the RX LED is not flashing it could be that the switch is not programmed to send CDR or that no CDR is being created because there haven't been any phone calls.


2. When hooking up the computer that will collect the CDR, you need a cable with a 25 pin RS 232 connector. You plug it into the output port of the CS531 and the com port of the PC. If connected correctly, the DTR LED will be green or red. If the light is out there could be a problem with the cable or with port on the PC or possibly with the port on the CS531.


3. If the computer collecting the data is handshaking correctly with the CS531, then the TX LED will be flashing red whenever it has data to send to the computer. 


4. If the data received from the switch is garbled, ensure that the Input port is set to have the Baud Rate and parity equal to the baud and parity on the PBX. Also ensure that the Output port and the Com Port on the collecting Computer are also the same. You can set these via the Dip switches on the bottom of the unit. There is a Chart on the bottom of the unit to help with the switch settings. Double check the baud and parity setting because almost all garbage record problems are due to bad baud rate and parity settings. back to top


2 - My Asentria Data Collection unit is storing data, but the data in the unit is illegible nonsense.

Possible remedies:
A) See C1 above.
B) Ensure COMPRESS function is off, otherwise, data will look all scrunched up with small letters in lieu of spaces.
C) Ensure you are using LINE release mode. If it's in CBB mode, it will be indecipherable. back to top


3 - The modem on my pollable Asentria buffer is not answering.

Possible remedies:
A) Make sure the phone line is good. Stick a phone on it, try to dial it up and see if it answers.
B) Ensure RJ11 jack is securely plugged in.
C) Reset buffer and watch to see if the unit recognizes the modem - watch to see if the CD/MDM light flashes. If so, try dialing in again.
D) Ensure you don't have the dip switch for external modem turned on. Check your manual to verify which switch this is on your particular product.
E) Ensure you don't have other dip switches turned on that may interfere with modem operation, such as the INLINE Xon/Xoff release mode. back to top


4 - The modem is answering, but not responding appropriately.

Possible remedies:
A) Ensure the word-parity settings of the communications program you are using match those of the internal modem of the buffer.
B) Always wait for the appropriate answer string from the buffer before trying to type in a password or command. For example, the Pollsafe PS680 has default answer string of POLLSAFE PS680.
C) Ensure you type the password first (if they are turned on in the unit) and get a READY prompt before sending commands to the buffer.
D) Check to see if you are using a modem with error-correction turned on or off. If it is off and you connect to the buffer across a "dirty" phone line, garbage characters will be generated which may cause the unit to interpret them as commands. Or you won't be able to give the password or commands to the buffer, as the "line noise" will overpower commands that you type. The solution is to enable the error-correction in your modem, or get a new clean phone line into the unit. back to top


5 - Unable to Poll Data?

Possible remedies:
A) Ensure there is data in unit and that is not garbage. For units that have modems, dial into the buffer, set the PARTITION and the release mode to LINE, then release some data and verify that it looks right.
B) Ensure the correct release mode is being used for your polling method. For example, if the software you are employing is polling the buffer by Xmodem protocol, then the release mode in the unit should be set for Xmodem as well.
C) Some polling software requires that Passwords be turned on in the unit while others don't. Ensure this is set up correctly for your software. Likewise, some polling software requires other settings in the buffer to be set up in a certain way for polling. Ensure these are set accordingly as well.
D) See 4d above. This can also cause polling to be aborted. back to top


6 - Something keeps beeping at me.

Possible remedies:
A) If the unit is receiving data and the data looks fine, but it is beeping, check to see if it is beeping on data input. If it is, this is due to some functionality entered in to help debug incorrect baud rates or parities. This should only occur on 680s, 635s and/or 531s.
B) The box beeps any time there is a framing error. (That means any time a byte is received and it isn't perfect.) This was meant to help people figure out if they have the wrong baud rate setup. If they have the wrong baud rate you get lots of framing errors. The problem is that sometimes you get framing errors even when the data is being received perfectly fine. So you need to turn off this function. On the 680s you simply upgrade to the latest version and the problem is handled, or you can turn off beeping by either correcting to exactly the correct baud rate and parity or turn it off using the commands provided to turn it off. Contact Tech Support to determine the correct command for your unit.
C) If you still have problems contact Tech Support and they can help you correct this. back to top


7- FTP push not working.

Possible remedies:
A) Make sure that the Data-Link can see the server? Get server IP address from setup menu and ping that IP address. If you can’t ping the server address debug that.
B) The Data-Link can see the server, then issue the pushtest command. Debug any problems that appear at this point. The problems that can appear are as follows:


pushtest
INVALID CODE


--This means that FTP push has not been enabled.


pushtest
FTP Push Testing 0.0.0.0
INVALID CODE --This means you have not entered a valid IP address in the “FTP Server Address []” field. If you check this and determine that you have a valid IP address here, but it still isn’t working, call tech support, we can correct it for you.


pushtest
FTP Push Testing 192.168.100.65
COMPLETE


--This means that the FTP server is not running on the server. Try connecting via a PC and you will see the similar error.


pushtest
FTP Push Testing 192.168.100.65
220-This site is running the FTP server product
USER jesse
530 User name unrecognized - Not logged in
COMPLETE


--This means that the username is an invalid username.


pushtest
FTP Push Testing 192.168.100.65
220-This site is running the FTP server product
USER jesse
331 User name OK - need password.
PASS password
530 Incorrect password - Not logged in.
COMPLETE


--This means that the password is incorrect.


pushtest
FTP Push Testing 192.168.100.21
220-This site is running the FTP server product.
USER anonymous
331 User name OK - need password.
PASS a@a.a
230 User logged in OK - Proceed
CWD garbage
550 No access to change directories
COMPLETE


-- This means that the directory the person is trying to cd is incorrect. Different network tools operate differently. Contact your network administrator to determine exactly what address you need to enter here.


PUSHTEST
FTP Push Testing 192.168.100.21
220-This site is running the FTP server product
USER anonymous
331 User name OK - need password.
PASS a@a.a
230 User logged in OK - Proceed
PORT 192,168,100,121,61,87
200 PORT Command Accepted
APPE STATUS
550 No access to upload files
PORT 192,168,100,121,61,88
200 PORT Command Accepted
APPE STATUS
550 No access to upload files
PORT 192,168,100,121,61,89
200 PORT Command Accepted
APPE STATUS
550 No access to upload files
PORT 192,168,100,121,61,90
200 PORT Command Accepted
APPE STATUS
550 No access to upload files
PORT 192,168,100,121,61,91
200 PORT Command Accepted
APPE STATUS
550 No access to upload files
PORT 192,168,100,121,61,92 200 PORT Command Accepted ETC.


-- This means that you do not have permission to upload files to this directory. Get the network administrator to grant write permission to this directory via FTP. If your network administrator doesn’t believe you go to a PC and try the same commands from a PC i.e. log into the FTP server using the same username and password, CD to the correct directory and try to do a put of a file to the FTP server this will invariably fail.


pushtest
FTP Push Testing 192.168.100.21
220-This site is running the FTP server product
USER anonymous
331 User name OK - need password.
PASS a@a.a
230 User logged in OK - Proceed
PORT 192,168,100,121,62,7
200 PORT Command Accepted
APPE STATUS
150 Ready for transfer
226 Transfer complete.
PORT 192,168,100,121,62,8
200 PORT Command Accepted
APPE STATUS
150 Ready for transfer
226 Transfer complete.
QUIT
COMPLETE


-- This is a successful push of the status file. If this works you are all set.


If you are still having problems Contact Asentria Technical Support and we will be glad to help you solve this. In particular if you are getting a zero byte file on your FTP server please call us. We can fix that for you, but we need to ask you a few questions first. back to top