danweber
Premium
join:1999-07-09
Pompano Beach, FL
| SB4100 Upgraded and now router don't work
I am in South Florida and yesterday evening my SB4100 modem started to constantly reboot itself, every minute or two.
I looked at the modem status page and realized that the firmware was upgraded. I first realized it when the signal page no longer displayed the modulation type. Checking the version revealed SB4100-1.4.9.4-SCM02-NOSH which was newer than what I had (I had 0.4.xxx something).
So I called Comcast to see if there is some active maintenance that would cause the modem to reboot. They said no and suggested to connect the modem to the PC directly, no router.
Oh wow - That worked. The modem stopped rebooting. Then I connected the router again and the modem started rebooting again. Remove the router and everything was fine again. I looked through my closet and found a different router and connected it. This router works fine now, no more reboot of the modem.
I seem to remember that there was a problem mentioned in this forum about the SB4100 and 10Mbps LAN connections. The router that does not work anymore has a 10Mbps only WAN port whereas the router that does work now has a 10/100Mbps WAN port. Could that indeed be the problem?
Thanks |
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Redhook01
join:2000-12-29
Aurora, CO | Hmmm, I am having the same problem today with my 4100. When I get home from work I will have to try bypassing the router. Thanks for the info! |
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StillLearn
Premium
join:2002-03-21
Streamwood, IL
 ·AT&T Midwest
4 edits | reply to danweber
I am having a rather similar symptom. Reboot is not every minute, but it started last night. At least that is when I turned on ping plotter to account for lags.
Here is a portion of the log
************ 7-Information I510.0 *** BOOTING *** SB4100-1.4.9.4-SCM02-NOSH
050817124358 7-Information H501.2 HFC: Shutting Downstream Down
050817124358 2-Alert T507.0 Received Async Error Range Failed
050817124358 3-Critical R4.0 Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, but no Unicast Maint
050817124358 3-Critical H501.8 HFC: T4 Timer Expired
050817123254 8-Debug M570.2 Motorola CM certificate present Signal strength is good when things are working.
correction: My DI-804V router is 10/100 for the LAN ports, but only 10 for the WAN port to the Modem.
I had noticed different things in the logs than I remembered before, and I had not noticed the lack of modulation type info until you mentioned it. So I think there may well be a shared problem with this firmware.
update: I switched to a different router. No reboot in 20 minutes. That is not definitive, since I had had intervals of over half an hour without reboots since the problem started. But I am already past the average reboot interval.
Update 2:Over an hour and 20 minutes now. I think that indicates success.
I wonder how what is hooked to the Ethernet port would cause the modem to get T4 Timer Expired reboots. Those seem as if they should be independent of each other.
Thank you for posting your experience with this. It has been very useful to me. |
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danweber
Premium
join:1999-07-09
Pompano Beach, FL
| reply to danweber
Since you are in a different area it seems that Comcast has rolled out a new firmware for the SB4100 across different regions. I have noticed different log messages as well, the following ones in particular:
8-Debug M570.2 Motorola CM certificate present
8-Debug M571.7 CM Cert Upgrade Enabled. AutoRun after Reg or via SNMP
8-Debug I503.0 Cable Modem is OPERATIONAL
7-Information B401.0 Authorized
For some reason I seem to remember the 10/100 Ethernet subject but it might have been related to something else. Even if that's not the problem there is something that the new firmware does not like with some routers. Hopefully it is not some new tricky way of Comcast to disable routers.
My old router was a Nexland ISB Pro800 and the new router is a Xincom DP-502.
Maybe a Comcast tech could shed some light on this? |
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xxxSPACExxx
In Deep
Premium
join:2001-09-29
3rd Planet
clubs:
| reply to danweber
"Hopefully it is not some new tricky way of Comcast to disable routers."
I'd be willing to bet that's a least part of it. I had the same problem. I changed my router to a newer version. Seemed fine for a while. But this morning, no connection. Rebooting the took about 2hrs.
--
No matter where you go...There you are. |
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232_SNR_Is_Bullsnot
@comcast.n
| reply to danweber
That modem should work fine with your router, I will tell you a tip though, any time you are changing the MAC address of the device to be plugged into the modem (Router to PC, Etc.), you will need to unplug the modem first as it has a "learned MAC address" from the last device and will not give you an IPA until it's been cleared.
Hope that helps. |
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danweber
Premium
join:1999-07-09
Pompano Beach, FL
| said by 232_SNR_Is_Bullsnot:
That modem should work fine with your router, I will tell you a tip though, any time you are changing the MAC address of the device to be plugged into the modem (Router to PC, Etc.), you will need to unplug the modem first as it has a "learned MAC address" from the last device and will not give you an IPA until it's been cleared.
I was aware of that and I always unplug the modem first but it did not make a difference in this case.
It has been working fine with the new router since last night so I am hopefull it will be ok for now. It still would be interesting though to know what caused the problem. |
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resmopar
Wolf On The Prowl
join:2001-08-25
Morton Grove, IL
| reply to danweber
My brother said his SB4100 was rebooting every couple of minutes around 6am this morning. He also lives here in Morton Grove. It disrupted him enough that he couldn't check email or pull up any websites so he gave up. For the heck of it, I logged into my SB4100 and it's logfile had some events in there I had never seen before. The only thing that jumped out at me was that the firmware was indeed updated, from 0.4.4.2 to 1.4.9.4-SCM02-NOSH. I do have it hooked up to a Linksys WRT54G router, and have not had any problems online. Everything is working as it did before the firmware update. My brother is running a Linksys BEFSR41 v2 router at his house. Below is a snip of the logfile:
050817044449 8-Debug M570.2 Motorola CM certificate present
050817044449 8-Debug M571.7 CM Cert Upgrade Enabled. AutoRun after Reg or via SNMP
050817044449 8-Debug I503.0 Cable Modem is OPERATIONAL
050817044448 7-Information B401.0 Authorized
050817044446 8-Debug F502.1 Bridge Forwarding Enabled.
050817044446 8-Debug F502.3 Bridge Learning Enabled.
050817044446 7-Information B0.0 Baseline Privacy
050817044446 7-Information X518.9 Configuration - MMFMMD - Unit Update Enabled by CVC
050817044446 8-Debug I500.1 DOCSIS 1.0 Registration Completed
050817044446 7-Information I500.4 Attempting DOCSIS 1.0 Registration
050817044446 7-Information D509.0 Retrieved TFTP Config File SUCCESS
050817044446 7-Information D507.0 Retrieved Time....... SUCCESS
************ 7-Information D511.0 Retrieved DHCP .......... SUCCESS
************ 5-Warning D3.0 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response
************ 4-Error D530.8 DHCP - Invalid Log Server IP Address.
************ 5-Warning D520.2 DHCP Attempt# 2 BkOff: 5s Tot DSC:2 OFF:1 REQ:1 ACK:1
************ 3-Critical D1.0 DHCP FAILED - Discover sent, no offer received
************ 7-Information D0.0 DHCP CM Net Configuration download and Time of Day
************ 7-Information T500.0 Acquired Upstream .......... SUCCESS
************ 8-Debug T503.1 Acquire US with status OK, powerLevel 42, tempSid 133
************ 8-Debug T505.0 Acquired Upstream with status OK
************ 3-Critical R2.0 No Ranging Response received - T3 timeout
************ 7-Information T501.0 Acquired Downstream (717000000 Hz)........ SUCCESS
************ 8-Debug T509.0 Acquired DS with status OK, DS Freq 717000000, US Id 4
************ 7-Information I510.0 *** BOOTING *** SB4100-1.4.9.4-SCM02-NOSH
************ 8-Debug M575.3 Embedded DOCSIS Root Key installed
************ 7-Information M567.0 Log cleared because it contained entries in an old format
Speedtests come back fine as well:
Preparing Speedtest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (upload) . . . . . 739.44Kb/s
running 10s inbound test (download) . . . . . . 6.30Mb/s |
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danweber
Premium
join:1999-07-09
Pompano Beach, FL
| Very interesting, there might be a pattern developing that supports my 10/100 Ethernet theory.
Routers that work:
WRT54G 10/100Mbps WAN Port
Xincom DP-502 10/100Mbps WAN Port
Routers that don't seem to work
BEFSR41 10Mbps WAN Port
Nexland Pro 800 10Mbps WAN Port
SillLearn, you are the only one so far that claims a 10/100Mbps router does not work. Are you sure your router has a 10/100Mbs port? What model are you using?
I also noticed that the HFC T4 timeout message does not always shows up. It seems that the modem get's stuck (non-responsive) and then eventually reboots. Sometimes the T4 timeout is noted and sometimes it is not. I suspect that when the modem hangs it does not properly respond to some events on the cable line and that results in the T4 message but the real problem starts before that, when the modem starts to hang. |
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StillLearn
Premium
join:2002-03-21
Streamwood, IL
·AT&T Midwest
1 edit | I was using D-link DI-804V when I had the problem.
revised »www.dlink.com.au/products/routers/di804v/ says the WAN port is only 10 Mbs. My mistake. The other ports are 10/100.
So now the firmware not working with 10 Mbs and working with 100 Mbs does not have an exception on this thread. |
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ghordy
join:2002-06-03
Chicago, IL
| reply to danweber
Same problem here on the north side of Chicago. Got the new config file for my SB4100 last night about 9:00PM and the modem has been rebooting ever since. I've got a Netgear RT311 hooked up to it. I called Comcast and they're sending out a tech with a new modem tomorrow. |
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Phil75070
join:2005-08-17
Mckinney, TX
| reply to danweber
I'm here in North Texas and have been experiencing this problem since last Friday. It is even more problematic for me as I have VoIP! As annoying as the drops are when using the internet, dropping calls is a real pain. I have the WRT54G modem and it is not working! Tech is scheduled to come out this Friday. |
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Qumahlin
Never Enough Time
Premium,MVM
join:2001-10-05
united state | reply to danweber
Quick question, has anyone tried changing their nic's connections settings before just removing the router? For instance changing it from Auto to 10HD or 10FD, etc |
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wgfinley
join:2000-06-13
Round Lake, IL
1 edit | reply to ghordy
I've got a WGR614 and it's been doing the same thing, sometimes it will go for a bit but sometimes the damn thing is rebooting every 5 minutes.
This router would not work with the 4100 at all until I turned the auto WAN speed off, set it to 10M and all has been well until this firmware "upgrade". |
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wgfinley
join:2000-06-13
Round Lake, IL
1 edit | reply to danweber
Regarding the WAN speed setting on a flyer I decided to monkey with it and my results are the same as when I first got the 4100:
AUTO: doesn't work
100M: doesn't work
10M: works
This is a Netgear WGR614 v1 which I think is about to be donated to the soon to be ex wife since she wants wireless.
Oh, and the 4100 just decided to reset itself again. This isn't a problem with the hardware, this modem was working perfectly before last night and the firmware upgrade. |
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danweber
Premium
join:1999-07-09
Pompano Beach, FL
| reply to Qumahlin
My router does not let me change the WAN port setting between 10 and 100 or full duplex and half duplex so I can't test that. I have a Linksys travel router somewhere that I could try but since it is a fairly new router I guess it would work fine. It seems that the problem is mostly with older routers.
I did some more testing with the old router that doesn't work properly anymore. To me it really seems as if there comes a point where the modem gets stuck because it would stop in the middle of a transmission but the modem lights would still be ok. Then it takes a little while longer and the modem reboots, I am guessing that there is an internal "heartbeat" type check and if the modem is stuck it will get rebooted. Now the question why it gets stuck in the first place. Maybe a buffer overflow or handshaking problem. Even though a 10Mbps port is still faster than the cable connection there might not be enough "reserve" bandwidth to handle it. Qumahlin's idea of a FD/HD check would be interesting since HD would certainly make this even worse. |
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danweber
Premium
join:1999-07-09
Pompano Beach, FL
| reply to danweber
Stupid me. I can't change the WAN port speed on the router but I can use my PC and try the different variations. That's what I just did and it substantiates what we had seen before:
10Mbps Half Duplex => Works for a few minutes then modem reboots
10Mbps Full Duplex => Works for a few seconds then modem reboots
100Mbps Half Duplex => No problem
100Mbps Full Duplex => No problem
So it's clear. The SB4100 Firmware upgrade is no longer compatible with a 10Mbps connection. I guess these days most routers have a 10/100Mbps port and this should only affect a handful of people. If you rent the modem you could ask for a replacement but if you own the modem a new router might be cheaper. Although this episode could be a preview of other problems that could show up with upcoming upgrades and maybe it would be better to just replace the modem. |
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Tyler Durden2
join:2005-08-17
Richardson, TX
| reply to danweber
How do I check the SB4100's firmware? I looked around at the webinterface for it, but couldn't find a location for it. I've been having random resets as well with my BEFW11S4 recently, but when I hooked the modem up to my linux router with a 100 Mb/s NIC it works fine. |
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wgfinley
join:2000-06-13
Round Lake, IL
| This is definitely a problem with certain routers. I had my WGR614 hooked up direct to the modem and was getting the random modem resets. Changed places using my Vonage (Linksys) VOIP router as the one connected direct to the modem and haven't had a modem reset since.
Time for a new wireless router, I needed a reason anyway, think that new Belkin will be taking up residency soon! |
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StillLearn
Premium
join:2002-03-21
Streamwood, IL | reply to Tyler Durden2
You could see if there is a line that says
*** BOOTING *** SB4100-1.4.9.4-SCM02-NOSH
in your logs at »192.168.100.1/logs.html |
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