Setting up first Gateway - Packet Forwarder not starting

LPWAN Developer Gateways / Concentrators RAK2245 / RAK2243
#1

Issue: Packet Forwarder not working - Gateway to connect to TTN

Setup: RAK2245 on Rpi4, GPS & LoRa antennas

Server: TTN

Details: Software loaded on SD card - ok; Accessed in AP mode and switched to WiFi - ok; Shows up on my router - ok; setup gateway for US_902_928; Gateway ID (EUI) is correct in TTN; Server is gateway is TTN; I never get “Connected” status.

Connection troubleshooting I’ve done:

  • Does the Gateway EUI in the console match with the EUI of the gateway? - Yes
  • Does the Frequency Plan selected match with the configuration in the gateway? - Yes,
    set US_902_928 on Gateway and US_902_928_FSB_2 in TTN.
  • Did you select Require authenticated connection in gateway settings? - No
  • Do you see any warnings/errors in the Gateway live data section? - No

Doing a “ps -a” in CLI shows that there is no packet forwarder running. RAKL instructions suggest that I select the “I’m using the legacy packet forwarder” option, but that does not exist any longer in TTN setup.

Any ideas why packet forwarder not starting?

#2

Issues in interaction with the server could possibly cause the packet forwarder to give up and quit, but issues starting at all would be local - either configuration or electrical.

See if you can find anything in the journalctl log

#3

Here’s what I find in the Journalctl log. Everything seems ok, and I think the packet forwarder is working, but I still show “disconnected” on TTN.

Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: JSON up: {"stat":{"time":"2022-02-07 20:35:28 GMT","rxnb":1,"rxok":0,
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: INFO: [up] PUSH_ACK received in 13 ms
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: INFO: [down] PULL_ACK received in 15 ms
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: INFO: [down] PULL_ACK received in 13 ms
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: INFO: [down] PULL_ACK received in 12 ms
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: INFO: Disabling GPS mode for concentrator's counter...
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: INFO: host/sx1301 time offset=(1644265495s:922964µs) - drift=759µs
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: INFO: Enabling GPS mode for concentrator's counter.
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: ##### 2022-02-07 20:35:58 GMT #####
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: ### [UPSTREAM] ###
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # RF packets received by concentrator: 0
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # CRC_OK: 0.00%, CRC_FAIL: 0.00%, NO_CRC: 0.00%
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # RF packets forwarded: 0 (0 bytes)
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # PUSH_DATA datagrams sent: 1 (113 bytes)
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # PUSH_DATA acknowledged: 100.00%
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: ### [DOWNSTREAM] ###
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # PULL_DATA sent: 3 (100.00% acknowledged)
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # PULL_RESP(onse) datagrams received: 0 (0 bytes)
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # RF packets sent to concentrator: 0 (0 bytes)
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # TX errors: 0
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # BEACON queued: 0
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # BEACON sent so far: 0
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # BEACON rejected: 0
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: ### [JIT] ###
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # SX1301 time (PPS): 662804107
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: src/jitqueue.c:448:jit_print_queue(): INFO: [jit] queue is empty
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: ### [GPS] ###
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # Valid time reference (age: 0 sec)
Feb 07 20:36:28 rak-gateway ttn-gateway[579]: # no valid GPS coordinates available yet
#4

The push/pull acks show that your gateway is connected to a server, but we don’t know if that’s TTN’s server, and in your log slice, the gateway hasn’t received any packets to report to it.

See what happens when your gateway reports (and shows in journalctl) actual uplink packets from nodes registered with TTN.

Does the status show online then?

Does the gateway live traffic page in TTN - if opened before the packet was sent - show it when it arrives?

#5

Here’s what TTN has to say about the problem:

“As suspected its an old RAK image that is pointing to what would have been the old V2 NS. Change settings to reflect the V3 nam1 instance and you should see progress.”

Is there a newer image to download for V3?

#6

Why not just follow the suggestion and update the server settings as suggested?

Though I still expect you’re not going to get wonderfully meaningful results until you’re reporting in actual uplink packets from actual TTN nodes.

#7

Unfortunately, they are not using the V2 servers anymore. When I change server settings I get:

“This gateway is connected to an external Gateway Server that is not handling messages for this cluster. You will hence not be able to see any activity from this gateway.”

Right now I’m just trying to the gateway to connect to the server. Then I know I’ll be able to get the nodes to work.

Are there any plans to update RAK2245 firmware for TTN V3?

#8

You need to change the server address that the gateway is pointed to, to whatever address is currently correct.

#9

Ahh… in the packet-forwarder config? Goyt it, it’s working.
Thanks!