ProScan: ProScan display going dark at times

[TGuelker]

I have been trying to figure this out for some time and ran out of things to check.

ProScan version 21.2

Windows 10 Home

Problem : now and then the ProScan display goes dark and the server stops. I have to turn the scanner off and back on and everything works again.

The SDS200 is connected to a PC via USB and is connected to the Internet via an Iogear WiFi dongle.

When the ProScan display is blank, nothing I do with ProScan changes anything. Rebooting the PC does not correct the issue. I HAVE to power the scanner off and back on. That is all it takes.

When the fault is present, at the ‘URL Audio Setup & Monitor’ page if I select ‘Reconnect’ nothing happens. If I select ‘Restart Scanner Now’ an error box pops up and states ‘Scanner Must Be Communicating For The Scanner Restart To Work’

When I select ‘Auto Detect IP Scanners’ and select ‘Refresh’ nothing appears in the dialog box. The ‘URL Setup’ box is flashing orange.

The Input Sound Device is set to URL.
Any ideas where to start looking?

 

[ProScan]

I have been trying to figure this out for some time and ran out of things to check.

ProScan version 21.2

Windows 10 Home

Problem : now and then the ProScan display goes dark and the server stops. I have to turn the scanner off and back on and everything works again.

The SDS200 is connected to a PC via USB and is connected to the Internet via an Iogear WiFi dongle.

When the ProScan display is blank, nothing I do with ProScan changes anything. Rebooting the PC does not correct the issue. I HAVE to power the scanner off and back on. That is all it takes.

When the fault is present, at the ‘URL Audio Setup & Monitor’ page if I select ‘Reconnect’ nothing happens. If I select ‘Restart Scanner Now’ an error box pops up and states ‘Scanner Must Be Communicating For The Scanner Restart To Work’

When I select ‘Auto Detect IP Scanners’ and select ‘Refresh’ nothing appears in the dialog box. The ‘URL Setup’ box is flashing orange.

The Input Sound Device is set to URL.
Any ideas where to start looking?

You are using the scanner LAN connection. Is that correct?
When it happens again, can you go to the scanner LAN settings and see if the scanner IP Address shows and doesn't show 0.0.0.0
Perhaps swap out the Ethernet cable.
Is the computer hooked up to your network via Ethernet cable or WiFi?

 

[TGuelker]

The scanner LAN connects to an Iogear WiFi dongle.
The computer does not have WiFi so it also is connected with an Iogear WiFi dongle.
Will check the IP when the fault occurs again. It has not happened since my post.
Will swap Ethernet cables also.
Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[ProScan]

The scanner LAN connects to an Iogear WiFi dongle.
The computer does not have WiFi so it also is connected with an Iogear WiFi dongle.
Will check the IP when the fault occurs again. It has not happened since my post.
Will swap Ethernet cables also.
Thanks for the suggestions.

Wi-Fi interference and Wi-Fi RSSI is also a possibility.

 

[KevinC]

The scanner LAN connects to an Iogear WiFi dongle.
The computer does not have WiFi so it also is connected with an Iogear WiFi dongle.
Will check the IP when the fault occurs again. It has not happened since my post.
Will swap Ethernet cables also.
Thanks for the suggestions.

Is your WiFI dongle pingable? If so start a continuous ping to both the SDS and dongle and see if you are losing connectivity to the dongle or just the SDS.

 

[TGuelker]

Of course it hasn’t happened again. All good suggestions to try.

 

[TGuelker]

This stuff is above my skill set, so please bear with me.

When the issue is present, the scanner /Settings/LAN settings/Set IP Assignment/Manual/Set IP Address shows the IP as 192.168.0.168 and the average ping to this IP is 20ms.

The IP address of the PC dongle is 192.168.0.106 and the average ping is 18ms. This is the IP the server is linked to.

For some reason the MAC address of the scanner dongle does not show up in my router table, even when everything is working properly.

Again, it takes several hours for the fault to present itself. I verified the router is not set to auto reboot.

The Ethernet cables from the scanner to the dongle and from the dongle to the PC have not been swapped yet.
Don’t want to change too many things at once.

 

[KevinC]

This stuff is above my skill set, so please bear with me.

When the issue is present, the scanner /Settings/LAN settings/Set IP Assignment/Manual/Set IP Address shows the IP as 192.168.0.168 and the average ping to this IP is 20ms.

The IP address of the PC dongle is 192.168.0.106 and the average ping is 18ms. This is the IP the server is linked to.

For some reason the MAC address of the scanner dongle does not show up in my router table, even when everything is working properly.

Again, it takes several hours for the fault to present itself. I verified the router is not set to auto reboot.

The Ethernet cables from the scanner to the dongle and from the dongle to the PC have not been swapped yet.
Don’t want to change too many things at once.

Did you do a continuous ping (-t)? Do this until (or while) the issue happens to see which one, if any, loses connectivity.

 

[TGuelker]

continuous

No. The ping was good even when the fault was present.

 

[KevinC]

No. The ping was good even when the fault was present.

Hmm…I’d think that would rule out a connectivity issue then.

 

[TGuelker]

I am going to ping each IP continuously so something might show up there. Too many variables like the PC LAN port, both dongles, Ethernet cables are suspect.

 

[KevinC]

I am going to ping each IP continuously so something might show up there. Too many variables like the PC LAN port, both dongles, Ethernet cables are suspect.

That’s why I suggested that earlier.

 

[TGuelker]

Solved by formatting the hard drive and installing Windows 11. Must have been something with the Windows 10 install. Been up for over 24 hours with no issues.

Correction . 5 minutes after posting this the display went blank. Back to the ping..

 

[TGuelker]

Update. Swapped both Ethernet cables to the WiFi dongles and the issue has not happened in a week. 👍

New problem is more of an annoyance than anything. I listen to the SDS200 with Bluetooth earbuds. I only use one earbud at a time. When I put the discharged earbud in the case, and take out the other, the audio does not continue. I have to uncheck ‘Loopback’ and then check it again.

If I take the charged earbud out of the case before putting the discharged earbud in the case, the audio continues.

Again, this is trivial, but I am curious as to why this happens.

Putting both earbuds in the case while playing a video from YouTube does not stop the stream.

 

[jtwalker]

When both earbuds are in case, I’d imagine the Bluetooth disconnects. Seems kind of obvious to me.

 

[TGuelker]

Bluetooth disconnects.

Every other program automatically reconnects but ProScan requires me to stop loopback and restart it.

I have been removing the charged earbud from the case before I put the discharged earbud in the case.

Again, not a big deal.

 

[ProScan]

Every other program automatically reconnects but ProScan requires me to stop loopback and restart it.

Please advise on the other programs I can look at it

 

[TGuelker]

other programs

Two that I know of are VLC Media Player and YouTube. I can put the earbuds back in the case and the video/audio pauses. When I take them out of the case, the video and audio resume.

Again, this is not a big deal for me to uncheck and recheck the loopback box.

 

[TGuelker]

Something else I noticed trying to figure this out. Since I have owned the SDS200, I have used a static IP. I switched to DHCP and the display on ProScan is blank. I rebooted the PC and the scanner and the display is still blank. I switched back to static IP and the display in ProScan comes back.

Should I be using DHCP or a static IP?

 

[ProScan]

Something else I noticed trying to figure this out. Since I have owned the SDS200, I have used a static IP. I switched to DHCP and the display on ProScan is blank. I rebooted the PC and the scanner and the display is still blank. I switched back to static IP and the display in ProScan comes back.

Should I be using DHCP or a static IP?

If the scanner display goes blank then I would among other things is to check that the scanner IP Address matches the IP Address set in ProScan. I'll let the network gurus chime in on dynamic vs static IP Address.
{edit} Both Auto and Manual should work.