Controller troubleshooting


Required tools
  • the RBR-provided debug cable
  • a null modem cable or adapter
  • a computer with an RS-232 serial interface

Connecting

The debug port enables command-line access to the controller for diagnostic purposes. To connect to the debug port, connect the included cable to the port, then connect a null modem cable or adapter between the debug cable and a serial port on your computer. Then use a serial terminal emulator – such as PuTTY on Windows, or GNU screen or Serial on macOS – to open a connection to the serial port at 115200 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (“8-N-1”). Terminal clients which do not have emulation features – like Realterm and CoolTerm – will generally work, but may not behave correctly when viewing multi-page log files.

If you get an error pertaining to permission or access issues, confirm that no other application (such as Ruskin) is using the port.

Logging in

To verify that the connection is set up correctly, hit “<Enter>” in your terminal client: the cervello should respond with a login prompt:

ts4200 login:
To log in, enter the username “debug”. You will be brought to a prompt for the debug interface:
debug>

Setup

To enable logging on the RBRcervello controller you must first set up a debug port connection. 

Usage

Once you have logged in as user 'debug' you will be presented with the main diagnostics menu. Each line shows the command on the left and a description on the right. Some of the commands, for example, diagnostics, will take you to another menu from which you can return by typing the exit command. Details on menus where needed are in other troubleshooting sections on this page.

Setup

To enable logging on the RBRcervello controller you must first set up a debug port connection and review the Using the debug menu section.

Usage

Logging can then be enabled by first entering the logs menu by typing logs into the main menu.

To enable logging for the loggercontroller service, you can type enable loggercontrollerType list to see your logs.

The highlighted section in the screen capture above indicates the address of the log file. This log can be used for sending to RBR for diagnosing issues, the log file can be retrieved by using a USB mass storage to obtain the data from the SDcard.

The log can be viewed by using the show <path> command where '<path>' is the address indicated above. Also, the log can be watched in real-time by going to the main debug menu by typing exit and then using the shell to go the command prompt. Then use command tail -f <path>. Use ctrl-c to return to shell and exit to return to the debug menu.


Setup

To clear the data on either the RBRcervello controller or the connected instrument you must first set up a debug port connection and review the Using the debug menu section.

Usage

Clearing the data is known as 'scrubbing'. Commands are provided for scrubbing the instrument and the controller in the diagnostics sub-menu of the debug interface. The diagnostics menu is entered by typing diagnostics into the root debug menu.

To 'scrub' the instrument type the command scrub-instrument and to 'scrub' the controller type the command scrub-controller.

The RBRcervello should be rebooted after scrubbing the controller and/or instrument. Enter the root level debug menu by pressing exit and type the reboot command.