Ethernet PCI Interface firmware

I had an issue today where something was connecting to the PCI and I was not sure what it was. I would power off and on and straight away it would connect.

In the past you could point a browser at the lantronics IP address and you could connect to the web interface and you could see the current connections.

I have not done this for a while but I found that no modern browser can get the web interface to work. Chrome and Firefox just get ERROR 0

IE 11 with compatibility mode starts to load and then stops.

In the end old laptop with XP and IE 8 worked fine..

Question. What is the lantronics module in the PCI and is there new firmware that can be uploaded to make it work with modern browsers. Is the Clipsal firmware a custom version ?

Charles

 

Be aware that the device firmware, and the internal web site are 2 different things and are loaded separately.

You also need to know what slot to load the web site into, so it fits and also so it's found by default.

Having said that I think you will be wasting your time as the latest firmware is dated 2004 and I have used much later firmware on other Lantronix CoBox hardware and still have the same problem you are experiencing.

Rohan

 

Thanks. The version in the PCI is 5.2 Current version is 5.8
the Lantronics device installer pick the device up as a USD-10/CoBox5.x
But can only see 1 serial port. After reading the readme of the Mini-100 it supports the USD-10/Cobox 5.x hardware. The upgrade is not straight forward for the unexperienced in lantronics COB files and partitions.

Upgraded the ROM (Mini-100) and loaded the Genic web manager for Embedded device Server in partition 1 after erasing it.

All works now with modern browsers. (you have to into java setting and allow unsigned applets)

I suggest people don't do it unless they know what they are doing. Not required for toolkit to connect just to change the settings and look at statistics

Charles

 

New product suggestion.

Ethernet PCI with two PCI connections.

Same hardware but the second serial port connected to a another PCI in the same box.

to cbus it would have 2 cbus ID's

This way you can connect to ports 10001 and 10002 and have to totally separate PCI connections.

one for Homegate to connect to and one for remote programming etc.

for an extra $40 - $50 I would always buy the 2 port version.

no software redesign... just a simple internal hardware addition.

Charles

 

Remote access option

Hello Charlie.
I'm curious as to why you would need two ports on a CNI (well I can think of a few third party control options), but if you are using HomeGate, wouldn't a better option for remote programming be to connect to the local instance of c-gate HomeGate is connected to? This would keep databases synced. Granted, remote access to a CNI only requires one port to be forwarded, whereas remote access to c-gate needs three. The main 'gotcha' is ensuring Toolkit and HomeGate are running on the same version of c-gate.
I've found maintaining a number of remote sites easier this way and you can still backup projects remotely. More than one way to skin a cat..

Not really related, but we tested c-gate running on a Pi, with 2 instances of HomeGate connected locally, one remotely and three custom iPad control solutions while making changes on another PC with Toolkit with no issues. We were looking at a worst case scenario.

 

Hi Charlie Crackle

Since a single CBus RS232 interface lists at $400-$500, I find it hard to imagine your wish for two in one device for $50 extra is likely.

What you can do right now and is probably cheaper and better than 2 x CNI's would be to use 2 x CBus RS232 interfaces and one 2 port serial device server.

Something like this.
http://www.moxa.com/product/NPort_5200A.htm

Another benefit of this device is that it does not use Java in the web configuration page.

One more thing I feel compelled to mention.
Not directed at you but for everyone else thinking of installing a CNI.
While the CBus RS232 interface can be safely installed in an electrical switchboard, I do not think this is a good location for an Ethernet interface due to cable segregation issues.

 

Very nice work Mark.

 

The documentation for Homegate says not to use it and toolkit at the same time, as they use C-Gate in different ways.

I don't know what the problem actually is, and I have run Homegate and Toolkit in a take it in turns arrangement and it seemed to work ok.

Rohan

 

I had an issue with connecting to the CNI web page. It was running the most recent LANTRONIX firmware. (mine was routed via a DIN rail interface rather than the actual integrated CNI).

When I update Java I had no more issues.