BCS-462 does not work after power sag/brownout

[mavantix]

This has been happening ever since I got my BCS-462. Each time it loses power, particularly a power sag/brownout but no loss, it goes offline and I cannot access it. In some cases, it will come back online if I unplug it and wait, then plug back in. In one case I couldn't get it to come online no matter how much I tried, and I had to completely reset it with the reset hole. That time I lost all my programming and had no backup (that was right when I got it a couple months ago). I have the unit on a huge APC 1500 battery backup, so it can stay running for an eternity without power, but we didn't even lose power during Sandy and it's offline right now. We just had minor sags that the battery backup should have taken care of. Is it way to sensitive to brownouts? It seems to be effected at voltages the APC considers OK. Is there anything that can be done about this issue? Thanks.

[JonW]

You may want to try it with another power supply.

[mavantix]

Power flickered out a few times the other day and again the BCS is completely offline...

[JonW]

Power cycle doesn't fix it?

[mavantix]

Power cycle doesn't fix it?

Define "fix". Once I had to rebuild the whole I config. Usually it will come back of I power cycle it a couple of times. But shouldn't it just turn on properly anytime power goes out or low?

[mavantix]

I just had one of those ah-ha moments. What if the BCS is coming online so quick that the router which does DHCP isn't online in time, and therefor its not getting its IP? (I have it statically assigned via DHCP so if I factor reset the BCS it will still get an IP I want it at). Does the BCS never retry DHCP after it boots? Maybe its on right now but at a default IP?

[MaxOut]

I just had one of those ah-ha moments. What if the BCS is coming online so quick that the router which does DHCP isn't online in time, and therefor its not getting its IP? (I have it statically assigned via DHCP so if I factor reset the BCS it will still get an IP I want it at). Does the BCS never retry DHCP after it boots? Maybe its on right now but at a default IP?

Does any running process continue to run? Connect your router to the UPS and problem should be solved. I have my BCS connected to a UPS and it has never crashed. I access it directly via a crossover network cable so there is no router. I like the KISS method when it comes to automation and never had a desire to access the BCS remotely.

[cscade]

This is very likely. The BCS "boot up" process is nearly instant, whereas most routers take a while. If the router isn't connected to the UPS, you'll gain stability by setting the IP right in the device rather than by DHCP.

Keep in mind that you can leave the static lease assignment set the way it is in the router and also set the address in the BCS. That way the BCS will assign itself the correct address whether the router is available or not, and if you do a factory reset while connected to the router it will still get the same IP via DHCP.

I just had one of those ah-ha moments. What if the BCS is coming online so quick that the router which does DHCP isn't online in time, and therefor its not getting its IP? (I have it statically assigned via DHCP so if I factor reset the BCS it will still get an IP I want it at). Does the BCS never retry DHCP after it boots? Maybe its on right now but at a default IP?

[brahn]

I just had one of those ah-ha moments. What if the BCS is coming online so quick that the router which does DHCP isn't online in time, and therefor its not getting its IP? (I have it statically assigned via DHCP so if I factor reset the BCS it will still get an IP I want it at). Does the BCS never retry DHCP after it boots? Maybe its on right now but at a default IP?

It will keep polling for a time, but it does time out eventually. It looks like that timeout is set for 30 seconds, at which point it will revert to the default static IP address. I just checked the RFC and it suggests a 60 second timeout for DHCP. We'll talk about changing this, although it's probably too late to make it into the 3.7.0 release that we're planning on doing very soon.

[mavantix]

I power cycled the BCS and it grabbed an IP, so I do think that was the issue here. I set it static and left the DHCP static assignment as well, so that should help if I have to reset it to defaults. Thanks all for the help!