Duet 3 Wifi module firmware 2.1b4 - random disconnects

NeoDue

One more thing I tried: in that disconnected state, the Wifi module

still has its green LED active and
does not react to M552 commands.

Edit: the issue also seems to be something that happens after a longer period of the Duet running. Up to now, it never happened right after a boot, only after several hours of the printer being powered on.

jens55

@NeoDue, I had a similar issue where only a power cycle would bring the connection back. I reverted to an older wifi firmware because the problem started to happen after a firmware upgrade. I haven't seen the issue since. Due to the random nature of the fault I can't say if my reverting back to an older firmware fixed anything or not .... but it might be worthwhile for you to try that.

NeoDue

@jens55 thanks, but I would rather prefer that v.3.5.0 gets this issue solved - that firmware revision has some features I am quite happy about

Therefore I am rather living with this issue and try to help where I can to find its cause.

jens55

@NeoDue, I fully agree that the right thing to do is to get the issue resolved. Reverting to an older version of firmware is part of the process of discovering where the error showed up.
Note that you are mixing up firmware for the Duet boards (V3.5.0) and the wifi module firmware (2.1). In my case I still run duet 3.5.0 firmware and just reverted to an older wifi module firmware. I am not aware what the changes are between the two versions of wifi firmware so maybe there is a good reason to stay with 2.1 but that doesn't negate the fact that tracing the issue requires determining when the issue first crept up and what has changed between having a board that works and having a board that hangs intermittently.
In your case, if you were to revert to an older version of the wifi firmware, you would confirm my suspicion that the issue showed up with the new wifi firmware which in turn would help the developers.
As I get older, I am making more and more 'old fart' mistakes and I can't trust that my reverting to older wifi firmware fixed the issue - if you were to revert and the issue would go away then this would confirm my observations.

NeoDue

@jens55 ah, you were talking about the Wifi module firmware. Sorry, then I misunderstood you. The issue in my case is that I have the new wifi module for the Duet 3 6HC - where the Duet team states that at least firmware 2.1b3 must be used (https://docs.duet3d.com/en/Duet3D_hardware/Duet_3_family/Duet_3_Mainboard_6HC_Hardware_Overview#wifi-v102 ). Currently I am running 2.1b4 which also the version that is shipped with RRF3.5.0rc1.

Thus, I fear my options regarding downgrading only involve going back to 2.1b3 - but that is indeed something I will try, thanks!

tas

@NeoDue
Some 'external to Duet' things to try:

Someone else on this forum noticed that a wireless phone in the vicinity of the Duet could cause this. I had a Vtech phone in my printer room and removing it did indeed resolve most of my issues.

A second issue was with my router, not the Duet. There was a switchover frequency set in the router where if the 2.4ghz signal strength dropped below a certain level the router would autoswitch the Duet connection to 5ghz. To fix that I just had to change the switchover limit in the router to a level that would never happen like -70db. My signal strength is never lower than -57db.

jens55

@NeoDue I was not aware of requirement to run wifi firmware 2.1x x for the 6hc board. My issue was with a Duet2wifi board. The 6HC board I have is only capable of ethernet.

jens55

@tas, interesting to hear that the newer wifi modules support 5 GHz - did not know that.

jay_s_uk

@jens55 it doesn't support 5Ghz

tas

@jens55 Sorry to confuse the issue.

Duets do not support 5ghz. I was trying to point out that when my router switched to 5ghz the Duet lost connection as a result.

NeoDue

@jens55 Yes, my Duet 2 Wifi delivers a rock solid performance since day one which was about six years ago - I did not upgrade it since firmware 3.4.3 though since I pretty much focused on my new printer then.

Compared to that, I have to admit the experience with the Duet 3 so far leaves a bit to desire:

the random lockups of the Wifi module,
then there are rather frequent hiccups when the Wifi module connects after a boot (some seconds up to some minutes of recurring "authentication failed" messages on the PanelDue - and suddenly the thing connects anyway),
and every now and then the Duet 3 rebooting unexpectedly with a "StuckInSpinLoop" error in M122. The latter is likely triggered by the web server somehow since you can severely improve that issue by disabling the Object Model Browser - but a unlucky hang of the web browser on the computer still seems to be capable of killing the Duet...

Anyway, I am confident the Duet team will sort these issues out eventually.

NeoDue

@tas thanks a lot, but I think I can rule these out:
there is no wireless phone (or anything else that disturbs Wifi) anywhere near the printer or in the same room. And the access point the printer connects to only has 2.4GHz - I never cared to upgrade that, since the Wifi frequencies are not that full here and I frankly do not care about the additional speed.

It might be worth noting that my old printer who runs on a Duet 2 Wifi was placed at exactly the same spot - and never had (or has, when I count the infrequent times when I turn it in at its current place under the table) any connection issues.

NeoDue

Just in case someone else follows this: I just saw a new Wifi module firmware (2.1beta6) has been released that addresses some Wifi connection issues if I understand the release notes correctly. I am currently giving it a try and will report what happens here.

NeoDue

Update: not a single disconnect or "does-not-connect-on-boot" issue with 2.1b6 for the last week, even after I removed the G4 command in config.g which before had reliably led to very long fruitless connection attempts.

I will mark this solved therefore.

dc42

@NeoDue I'm glad the new version fixed it for you. Thanks for reporting.