Question

Dear all,

We have deployed 40 RUT240 units in the field using RUT2_R-00.07.03 firmware.

After an initial successful rollout, we noticed that we stopped receiving telemetry from our microcontrollers, connected to RUT240 with Wi-Fi.

Curiously, most transmission stopped shortly before midnight of a Monday.

This matches the reboot rule we set up in the Reboot schedule, where it is set up to reboot the router every Monday at midnight.

When we enquired those RUT240 with SMS commands, the units replied with messages like "Router name - RUT240; WAN IP - 10.5.45.211; Data Connection state - Connected; Connection type - LTE; Signal Strength - -46; New FW available - No;"

The data connection reports is connected, but no data is exchanged and RMS is offline.

We tried and succesfully replicated the issue with a test unit.

Unfortunately, powering off and on the router DOES NOT restablish internet connection. The router connectivity appears to be permanently inhibited.

The 4G connection is indicated as "Connected" however no data is exchanged. The internal ping utility says "Operation not permitted". Teltonika RMS reports a "Failure (other error)" connection state.

We have captured several screenshots. We can provide privately the configuration backup file we applied to all RUT240 units, and troubleshooting file of the test unit not working.

We applied the same configuration backup file to the test unit, and the connectivity is restored. We also downloaded a troubleshooting file of this unit in working state so you can compare and find any differences.

This appears to be a severe firmware bug, as it leads to loss of connectivity and loss of control through RMS.

As the units in the field are 1000 km away from our location, we kindly ask to pinpoint the root cause, in order to have a working solution to restore connectivity.

With regards

Niccolo Gallarati

Answer 1

Hello,

There are some know WiFi issues in the v7.3 firmware. I will ask you to update a few units to RUT2_R_00.07.04.2 and check if the behavior reappears.

Let me know how it goes!

Best regards,
DaumantasG

Comments

Hi Daumantas,

Here is an update on my fleet of 40 RUT240 devices.

Of 40 units, I was able to upgrade to 7.04.02 to 8 units. These units are not experiencing any connectivity issues.

Of the remaining 32 units, I was able to perform a remote factory reset on 31 units on May 2nd.

18 units stopped transmitting since then.

Please notice that after factory reset I haven't used any configuration backup, nor auto reboot rules. Just configured Wi-Fi network and set up network operator lock.

I conclude that FW 7.03 is fatally flawed and should be recalled.

I'm spending dozens of hours trying to rectifying the issue remotely as the units are 1000 km away and as such I'm rather disappointed.

I'm trying to factory reset unresponsive units and update them to latest firmware, however the process is unreliable.

I opened another ticket on this specific issue

https://community.teltonika-networks.com/65427/rut240-unresponsive-while-uploading-7-04-firmware

Please let me know if you want to try to update some of my units remotely, I can provide all the necessary details.

With regards

Nick

---

Hi,

I just found that the test unit I left powered on stopped sending data on Monday at midnight, after the weekly reboot.

Please have a look at "troubleshoot-Teltonika-RUT240.com-2023-05-17.tar.gz" file I uploaded.

This time ping auto reboot rule was disabled, hopefully it should be clearer to determine what causes the loss of connectivity with firmware 7.03.

With regards,

Nick

---

Hello,

  

Indeed, I can see that my colleague is helping you out with the firmware update.

Now regarding the mobile data issue, from the logs, the disconnection is caused either by the operator or by miscommunication between the carrier and the RUT240. In this case, it would be best to update all of the devices as soon as possible. However, this issue has not been noticed on any other operator, so it's hard to say what could be causing this sort of behavior. The firmware refusing to update may also be caused by something going wrong when downloading the firmware.

On RMS, you can schedule the update on all devices, and even if they are offline, they will be updated as soon as they come online.

As for the units that do not respond after a factory reset, have you tried sending an SMS message to check their status? If yes, what was it? Perhaps the APN has to be set?

  

Best regards,
DaumantasG

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Hi Daumantas,

This morning I'm having a low success rate, and was able to update just 1 unit out of 10.

I'm initiating uploads from RMS as the WebUI doesn't appear to be more reliable, and it takes more steps.

I'm also racking up a sizable bill as the SIM cards have a 0.10€/MB plan and each failed update costs 1 euro.

When an update is initiated and fails, the unit become offline and will stay in this way unless it is rebooted or restored via SMS.

Do you confirm that firmware update disable some services and thus require a reboot in case it is not completed?

Perhaps is there a way to download the update and apply it from CLI?

Therefore if download fails I could quickly retry it, providing RMS connection is not lost.

Regarding your question "As for the units that do not respond after a factory reset, have you tried sending an SMS message to check their status? If yes, what was it? Perhaps the APN has to be set?", all units become online after a factory reset, fortunately Auto APN works with these SIM cards.

Nick

---

Hello,

  

It is possible to update the device via CLI. However, you will first need to upload the .bin file to the router itself.

This can be done by connecting to it using RMS Remote Access, by choosing SFTP as the protocol to use. Upload the .bin file into the /tmp (RAM) folder on the router.

Then login to the CLI of the router, and run the command sysupgrade /tmp/RUT2_R_00.07.04.2_WEBUI.bin

This will start the update procedure. To keep all of the configuration files, please add -c argument to the command.

Generally, the update procedure should kill the network connection only once the router has to reboot. I'm not sure why the devices might not connect. 

Let me know if this procedure works any better.

  

Best regards,
DaumantasG