Xbee Coordinator cannot communicate anymore

XBee & XBee Gateway XBee - 802.15.4
1

Hi:

We have a system that uses Xbee 802.15.4 OEM Module (XB24-AUI) with firmware 10E6. One unit is configured as Coordinator and several units are configured as End Devices. All 804.15.4 is initiated by the End Devices (which wake up every 30 minutes to communicate)

After several hours of running (24-48, not consistently), the Coordinator stops communicating with the End Devices. Basically, the End Devices wake up and try to coordinate, but the Coordinator is not there any longer.

Powering down and up the Coordinator, brings up the communications.

When using the older firmware version (1084), just reconfiguring (by sending AT commands to Xbee Module), would bring back communications, but with new firmware (10E6) it is necessary to power down the complete unit.

Questions:

  1. Has this behavior been observed before?

  2. Is there an incompatibility between firmware 1084 and 10E6 that makes just reconfiguring not enough to reinitiate the Coordinator?

  3. Are Coordinators known for losing configuration or communication?

  4. Is there a workaround to prevent Coordinators to loose communication?

Regards,

Alex R.

2

This is from the product change notification for the 10E6 firmware found near the bottom at this link:
http://www.digi.com/support/productdetl.jsp?pid=3257&osvid=0&s=268&tp=1

Details:

  • In its default state, firmware 10E6 is backward-compatible with previous firmware versions. 10E6 adds bug fixes and new features to 1084; the main new feature
    offered is over-the-air configuration of parameters and settings. If you enable the new features on 10E6, these features will not work in a network of devices with
    older firmware versions. See firmware revision history for details.
3

A good test (if possible) would be to do an ATND command from one of the End Devices to see if it still sees the coordinator module. The same could be attempted from your “coordinator” side. This command will reply with some information of what it sees, so it will be interesting to see if it sees the other modules it’s supposed to.

More details about ND can be found on page 49 of this pdf:
http://ftp1.digi.com/support/documentation/90000982_B.pdf

4

Hi:

Thanks for the idea.

From the Coordinator side, it will be hard to see any end devices, as the end devices are in sleep mode most of the time.

However, from the End Device, it could be useful to verify that the coordinator is still there.

Regards,

Alex

5

xbee cannot communicate with the X-CTU software… so i cant re-program the device… what is the possible problem that im facing??

6

@noorlya:

(You’ve replied to an old thread: better to start a new one.)

Have you read the FAQ? There are some possible answers there. If they don’t help, then perhaps you could tell us:

  1. What firmware version you’re running on the XBee
  2. Which version of X-CTU you’re running
  3. Exactly what error message you’re getting from X-CTU and exactly what you did before you got the error message.
  4. Whether you’re trying to do this through a Digi development board or through some other hardware.

These things will help people to help you.