6.8.1. Comms troubleshooting

!IMPORTANT: This topic covers scenarios where all of the following are true:

• The logger is the USB type (though some of the notes below may be useful for other logger types also);
• There is a complete loss of communication between logger and computer, ie both real-time and archive data cannot be accessed. If the problem is only with archive data (ie real-time or Bulletin data is OK) then see the Archive Download Errors topic;
• This is not a brand new installation – if it is then see the New Installation topic for help;
• All of the ‘First steps for troubleshooting logger issues’ in the No logger communications’ topic have been tried without success. Ensure that the expected number of beeps has been heard when Rebooting the console;
• Obvious checks for cable integrity, loose cable/plug connections etc have already been made;
• This is a one-off issue and not a recurrence of previous similar breaks in communication. If it is a recurrence of a problem that was previously fixed then it might be worth reviewing the notes on USB Dropout and USB interference, which is the most likely cause of recurrent problems;
• If you are using Windows 10 after Build 10240 and attempting to connect in USB mode then you may encounter a temporary bug requiring a USB driver rollback as a fix – please see the Windows compatibility topic.
• Some of the noted below assume that you’re using the Weatherlink (for Windows) program and obviously will not apply if you’re using different software. But other programs may also have comparable error logs or ‘diagnostic’ files.

Check the Error log

*Weatherlink maintains a log of all the communications errors that it encounters. This log is held in a text file called download.log which will be found in the main Weatherlink folder (usually C:\Weatherlink).

This file will log all sorts of routine messages as well and over time can get very large.It’s quite OK to delete this file if it’s become too big and the file will then be automatically recreated with any new error messages.

It’s always worth checking this communications log to see if it provides any clues to potential communications problems. But do be aware that the log will contain a number of routine messages and that it’s common for occasional comms issues to be corrected after an automatic retry, but all such operations are likely to be logged. So the appearance of multiple entries in the comms log doesn’t necessarily indicate any lasting problem.

Error messages

Occasionally Weatherlink may return a numbered Windows-type error in a small message-box. This is typically encountered when setting up a new Weatherlink installation and usually indicates that some step of the set-up hasn’t been followed correctly or that the PC in use may be very locked down and this potentially have permissions issues.

!Numeric error messages are often unreliable as to the exact fault. Certainly it’s worth noting and reporting any specific error, but it’s not uncommon for the underlying problem to be rather different from the text of any reported error.

Error 17 creating directory: This error can be caused if a station is given a name with any spaces included (or indeed any other characters that are not legal for use in a folder name – the station name is used to name the folder in which the station’s data is stored). Station names are best kept relatively short and limited to standard letters and digits.

Check baud rate

Check the baud rate setting on the console – it should be 19200 on standard Vue, VP2 and Envoy consoles. See the console manual if you’re not sure how to do this. (This is only rarely the cause of any communications problems but it’s so simple to check that it’s worth doing at an early stage of troubleshooting.)

NB If you can’t see the Baud Rate setting within the console settings then the logger is not being recognised. Are you sure that you’ve tried rebooting the console, heard the correct number of beeps on reboot and also checked that the logger is firmly in place?

Check the logger mode

The logger mode can be set to either serial/VCP or USB/USBXpress. Problems can arise with a change of main weather software where, for instance, the logger was previously set to USB mode whereas the new software requires serial/VCP mode or, rarely, some external event like a mains spike can cause an uncommanded change of modes or even seemingly to enter an in-between mode where it is neither fully serial nor USB. In such cases it is worth double-checking that the logger is actually in the expected or required mode and, if necessary, forcing the logger into the required mode to check that it will respond correctly to mode changes.

The subject of logger modes is explained in detail in the Setting the Communications Port topic, but in brief:

• The logger mode can be checked most easily by observing whether the VCP or the USBX driver is loaded using Windows Device Manager;
• The logger can be forced into serial/VCP mode by running the ‘CP210X USB to Serial Converter’ utility;
• The logger can be forced into USBX mode by selecting USB as the communication port option and OK’ing the warning messages;

Each of these procedures is explained more fully in the Setting the Communications Port topic.

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