Topic: VWS INTERNET EDITION V14.00 P 103 CRASHING

[Midnight Star 1]

Hello Everyone, been a while since I have had time to get on the forum but…I need help with an issue I am having with VWS Internet Edition V14.00 P103, Weather LinkIP, running Windows XP Home Edition 32 bit, on a Dell Dimension 8200, 2gb ram, no other programs running. This computer is dedicated to running 24/7 for VWS.  For well over a year VWS began to stop transmitting on & off or I guess it “Crashed”. Numbers or data becomes dash marks. This became worse & worse as time went by. Constant “Shut Downs” just to restart the program. Happens every day now but it does run for around 18hrs . I have had VSW for a little over 2 years. I am now getting error msgs. Here are the two error msgs: “Virtual Weather Station Has Encountered a Problem and Needs to Close. We are sorry for the inconvenience. If you were in the middle of something the information you were working on might be lost. Please tell Microsoft about the Problem.” Then I send an error report. Right after I send the error report this error msg appears: “Communication Error: Could not communicate to Vantage Pro. Check Com Port, Baud Rate, or Cable. If the problem Persists Reboot the Computer.” I own a Vantage Vue not a Vantage Pro. Does this matter? Haven't touched any settings. Forgot how to check baud rate or what it should be & how to check the com port & what would I look for. I know there are many posts abot VWS crashing but I didn't find a situation like mine.
Any ideas out there?

[SoMDWx]

Are you using a USB to serial adapter? If so, try getting the latest drivers..

Jim

[Weather Display]

the info provided in the post shows its a IP data logger

[SoMDWx]

Sorry, not familiar with the Davis stuff.... 

[JACK10562]

Baud rate and COM port only pertains to serial (or USB) connections. Yours is using TCP/IP.
Have you assigned a static IP address to your WeatherLink IP data logger in your router?

You could have a bad Ethernet cable or RJ45 connector, or the router port itself could be flaky.

Try uninstalling and reinstalling the VWS software. Or upgrade to the latest version.

[Garth Bock]

One other thing to check is the Event Viewer to see if there are any error codes and what they are pointing at. Next step is to download and run Dell diag on the 8200. The Dimension 8200 is pretty solid but since you have run it for several years, have you cleaned out the fans, shroud, heatsink, etc ? Next rotate/reseat the 2 memory simms just to be sure. Then go to www.dell.com and download the latest drivers for chipset, network port, etc. In all my years of running VWS on my various Optiplexes I have never had the symptoms you describe. Losing connection to the WeatherLinkIP shouldn't crash VWS. If you are still having problems, then upgrading to the latest version is a good idea.

[Midnight Star 1]

Hey this is good  stuff so now I have some more diagnostics to do. I did change two settings though. One in the PC & one on VWS. I  went into devise manager under the Universal Serial Bus controllers then USB ROOT HUB then right clicking on it, choosing properties, then power management & uncheck the box for "ALLOW THE COMPUTER TO TURN OFF THIS DEVICE TO SAVE POWER" With this checked any minor surge will crash a running program but not necessarily shut down the PC. Gotta make sure PC is plugged into my UPS too. I also changed a setting in VWS...I went into "Settings", then "Program Settings", & unchecked "Restart program if communication lost for 5 minutes" & I changed the VWS CPU Resources to High. My machine & VWS have been running since about 4:00pm EST yesterday. That's a first in a long time. I would not do this without remembering where things were set prior to your changing them should anyone with a crashing issue try this. I could come home later this evening & find it crashed again so this is only a test. I have checked all cables, sockets, dimms, removed all dust. If what I did works I'll be good but if it crashes again it's reinstall time & change the ethernet cable too. Will look into WeatherLinkIP too. Driver update maybe as well. I will post again after she has run for a week without a crash. That will be 1/17/2012 after 4:00pm EST. I thank all on the forum for the input. I can never go wrong with this forum. Great people & info here. Thx again, Midnight Star 1 

[SoMDWx]

Good Job!    Hope that fixes it for you...

Jim

[Midnight Star 1]

Me too. 28hrs up & running so far. Past the 12-24hrs typical crash time for all that have this issue
All I can do is wait & watch...

[Midnight Star 1]

THIS COULD PROVE FUNNY. VWS CRASHED AT ABOUT 30hrs. I ENABLED THE OPTION THAT RE-STARTS VWS IF OFF FOR MORE THEN 5 MINUTES. AFTER THAT AT ABOUT THE 30.5 HOUR VWS RUNS WITH INCIDENT TO DATE........BUT, I FOUND OUT THAT MY WIFE DECIDED TO PLACE THE PC MOUSE OUT OF TOUCH FROM TWO MISCHIEVOUS CATS. I CANT SAY IF THIS IS WHAT WAS GOING ON ALL THE TIME BUT IT IS POSSIBLE. ONLY THING IS I HAD THE SCREEN SAVER ON & LOCKED WITH A PASSWORD. CAN THE PRESSING OF A MOUSE DURING A LOCKED SCREEN SAVER CRASH VWS 

[Garth Bock]

Cats were messing with the mouse ? Shouldn't affect VWS at all. One thing, what about power settings ? Are you having it power down the HD ? I have heard of screen savers locking up computers in the past as well. Also you didnt say what O/S you were using.

[racenet]

Get rid of the screen saver. Chances are good that is the cause of your problems.


Bob

[Midnight Star 1]

OS IS WINDOWS XP HOME EDITION. I SUSPECTED THE SCREEN SAVER BUT COULD NOT FIGURE OUT WHY THIS WOULD AFFECT VWS PLUS THE SCREEN SAVER WAS TO KEEP THE CATS FROM HITTING THE MOUSE & POUNCING ON THE KEYBOARD.  I STILL HAVE THE SCREENSAVER RUNNING & SINCE WE REMOVED ACCESS OF THE MOUSE VWS HAS NOT CRASHED IN 7days aside for once on the 10th. Sounds unlikely to me too but I really haven't done anything that kept it from crashing except put the mouse out of touch from the cats. Remember, VWS was crashing everyday sometimes multiple times a day. Now it runs like a charm. I did go into Device Manager & under USB Root Hub I right clicked to disable the "ALLOW THE COMPUTER TO TURN OFF THIS DEVICE TO SAVE POWER".....BUT, that did not stop the crashing neither did going into VWS  "Settings", then "Program Settings", & unchecked "Restart program if communication is lost for 5 minutes" & I changed the VWS CPU Resources to High...BUT, these setting changes did not stop VWS from crashing. So, I have read the new advice & I will get rid of the screen saver if VWS starts crashing again. About the hard drive power down-"NEVER TURN OFF HARD DRIVE, NEVER SLEEP, HIBERNATE, NEVER TURN OFF DISPLAY, ETC.. NOTHING. POWER SETTINGS ALL SET TO NEVER TURN OFF ANYTHING. I AM GOING TO TRY SOMETHING THOUGH JUST TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS. I AM GOING TO MAKE SURE THE SCREEN SAVER IS ON, MAKE SURE ITS SET TO "ON RESUME, DISPLAY LOGON SCREEN. THEN I'LL REPEATEDLY CLICK THE MOUSE, PRETEND I CAN TYPE LIKE A PRO & SEE IF VWS CRASHES. IF IT DOES NOT WE HAVE A BIT OF A MYSTERY. SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS. KEEP HITTING IT. AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST...THX FOR ALL THE HELP. I WILL REPLY AFTER MY TEST.

[Garth Bock]

Sounds odd that a screen saver would cause this. At least it is not a CATtastrophe but is in a very strange CATegory.

[Midnight Star 1]

 
Good one

[Midnight Star 1]

VWS HAS BEEN RUNNING PERFECT FOR 16 DAYS 24/7
ONLY TWO THINGS I CAN THINK OF THAT CHANGED A LONG TERM PROMBLEM LIKE MINE...RESETTING VWS UNDER SETTINGS, THEN PROGRAM SETINGS, & PUT THE CHECK MARK BACK IN THE BOX FOR "Restart program if communication is lost for 5 minutes" OR, CATS WERE MESSING WITH MOUSE, KEYBOARD OR BOTH. SCREEN SAVER HAS BEEN ON BUT VWS STILL GOING.
THING IS, I FIND NOT ONE INTERUPTION IN COMMUNICATION AT ALL. MAYBE I DID SOMETHING I CAN'T REMEMBER THAT FIXED IT. IF YOUR VWS IS CRASHING TRY THE "Restart program if communication is lost for 5 minutes". I THINK ITS MORE LIKLEY THAT RESETTING THIS OPTION MUST HAVE RESOLVED THE CRASHING ISSUE.
ALSO, DO EVERYTHING MENTIONED IN ALL POSTINGS