watchpax not found Watchpax Devices Stopped Being Discovered

[fgadmin]

Hi,

I have a 6-projector installation that had been stable for months. Recently Watchout stopped discovering the IP addresses of the Watchpax devices. They are not listed in the Watchout Network Window.

Initially, I could reboot the host machine (Windows 10) and that would resolve the issue. Then it took multiple attempts. And now, restarting the machine has stopped working. 

The Windows computer (Watchout) and the corresponding Watchpax2 and Watchpax4 devices are on a private network. They each have a static IP assigned. The Watchpax devices come up as normal, displaying their IPs with the Watchout logo. On the Watchout machine I can ping the devices and they respond, so I know they are there, and that Windows can see them. There is only 1 unmanaged switch between the Watchout computer and the Watchpax devices.

Gateway (Windows): - 192.168.1.1 
Windows: 10 (Watchout v6.6.5) - 192.168.1.10
Watchpax2 : 192.168.1.51
Watchpax4: 192.168.1.53

Everything looks normal. What am I missing? What else can I test? Should I introduce a router to assign addresses via DHCP?

 

 

[jfk]

23 minutes ago, fgadmin said:

… Should I introduce a router to assign addresses via DHCP?

No

[jfk]

Ping is a TCP transmission, the automatic discovery is accomplished with UDP, so ping tells you little about the issue you are experiencing.

Windows 10 home and pro have a habit of turning their firewall on by themselves.

Brware unmanaged switches that make any kind of security claim. The may block UDP because the continuous UDP transmissions from WATCHOUT may be mistaken for a Denial of service attack.

[fgadmin]

Thanks for the reply.

I've verified Firewall on Windows 10 is still OFF.

Noted about the UDP versus TCP.

The unmanaged switch is a TP-Link SG105. It has no security features and no web interface. This is the datasheet:

https://static.tp-link.com/2021/202101/20210107/TL-SG105(UN)5.0&TL-SG108(UN)6.0&TL-SG116(UN)1.0_Datasheet.pdf

I have lights on the ethernet port connections.

I've tried to keep Windows from updating on this machine, but services get re-enabled automatically. I don't want to upgrade the Watchpax because I read in the release notes that I could invalidate the internal dongle, based on my current version and setup.

[Mike Fahl]

Discovery uses UDP broadcast. My guess is that you have something on your network (such as a managed switch) or a computer that prevents such data communication from getting through.

Mike

 

[RBeddig]

On 3/17/2023 at 5:27 PM, fgadmin said:

I have a 6-projector installation that had been stable for months. Recently Watchout stopped discovering the IP addresses of the Watchpax devices. They are not listed in the Watchout Network Window.

You say, that the WATCHPAX units don't show up in the network window but can you control them through WATCHMAKER. Load a show and play the timeline?

Even if they don't show up in the list, they might still be controllable.

Otherwise, check that your production computer doesn't have more than one open NIC and that the firewall is really off. We had cases, where we first had to turn the firewall on under Win 10, then started a connection between the production computer and the display computers (telling the firewall that it was ok to open the ports) and then we could turn it off again.

[fgadmin]

Thanks for the feedback and help so far!

Currently the Watchpax units are not visible in the network window of Watchout and I cannot control the units at all--show does not run. They remain offline. 

The system includes:

- 1 x Windows 10 PC, running Watchout (the show)
- 1 x Watchpax2
- 1 x Watchpax2

Regarding NICs, I do have 2 NICs on the Windows computer that are connected to different networks. One of the NICs has access to a larger show control network (10.1.1.X) and the other is private to this Watchout system (192.168.1.X). This setup allows for power automation of this exhibit. 

I'm going to do some tests, using a network-isolated windows PC with only one NIC and see if that's the issue. I'll let you know what I learn.

[RBeddig]

WATCHOUT will use the first NIC, Windows reports to WATCHOUT. Therefore the golden rule is to never use more than one NIC on the production computer.

Once the show is loaded on the WATCHPAX units, WATCHOUT only uses a rather small network bandwidth.
If there is no need for "live" control or permanent content changes, I would probably use the two WATCHPAX units as a head-less cluster and start the production computer only when content changes. Then I would use two IP addresses inside the control network instead of a separate network for WATCHOUT.

[jfk]

29 minutes ago, fgadmin said:

… the Watchpax units are not visible in the network window of Watchout and I cannot control the units at all--show does not run. They remain offline. 

How are the WATCHPAX addressed in the computer field of Display settings - IP or WATCHOUT name?

29 minutes ago, fgadmin said:

… Regarding NICs, I do have 2 NICs on the Windows computer that are connected to different networks. One of the NICs has access to a larger show control network (10.1.1.X) and the other is private to this Watchout system (192.168.1.X). …

Two NICs should be ok, but you may need to change the NIC order in Windows. WATCHOUT does not provide an option for choosing a network port, it always defaults to the first NIC in Windows NIC order. (Always restart WATCHOUT after changing NIC order.) Can not imagine why this has changed if this had been running for months.

”… I have a 6-projector installation that had been stable for months …”
Is the show still running triggered from the show control network without WATCHOUT Production?

I do not think you have mentioned version, but you did mention WATCHPAX 4 which require v6.1.5+, that is close enough.

[fgadmin]

Thanks for the insight. I fixed it!

I think having 2 NICs with different subnets was the main issue.

I changed their priority order and then Watchout discovered both devices after a reboot. Specifically I changed the "Interface Metric" in the advanced settings of the network adapter's properties dialog. I set the NIC for Watchout to 5, and the NIC for showcontrol to 10. Wifi is disabled.

I also updated the CIDR block 10.2.1.128/29 and gave each Watchpax a new static ip with setIP in each device's startup script.

Thanks for your help.