Network Connection Issue

[Keith]

Almost every day my IceBox shows the Wireless Network Passphrase screen when I turn on the TV. Rebooting the IceBox from the remote re-establishes the connection without entering the passphrase.

I have installed the new SSD but this issue has persisted from the previous SSD and I assume is some sort of internet or wifi dropout. The problem was present even when the Icebox was about 5 metres away from my router in the same room with no physical barrier.

I know I have connection dropouts on WiFi and have no idea whether it's from WiFi or the NBN but assumed the IceBox would simply reconnect as do my various other devices.

Is there something I can do to fix this?

I have FTTP NBN with a Fritzbox 7490 router and IceBox connected on the 5GHz network. I can't connect on the 2.4GHz network as the IceBox won't accept the correctly entered password, which is the same as the 5GHz network.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[MD]

Hi Keith,

Did you run a "Soft Reset" after installing the new SSD.  If not it may solve it as it certainly shouldn't be happening.

To perform a 'soft reset':

1. Go into "Settings" from the home screen, this is the cog at the top of the screen.
2. Go down and select "LibreELEC"
3. On the "System" tab on the left hand side, look for the option on the right hand side of "Reset System Settings to defaults"
4. When prompted if you are sure, select "Yes".

The IceBox will then reboot twice, on the first reboot you will see some text on the screen as the soft reset is actually performed, then it will reboot again and load into a clean IceBox installation.

Upon loading you will get the standard setup wizards, the full steps on how to complete these are and even more handy tips on using the IceBox can be found at IceBox Setup & User Guide

To note when running through the setup again, if you are using a wireless network, please double check that the connection is established and is showing an IP Address before continuing through the setup wizard.

[Keith]

Hi MD,

Thanks for the prompt reply and info, I had not done a soft reset. I've now done this, including confirming an IP address, and I'll see what happens

[Keith]

Further to my original post from a couple of weeks ago, I did a soft reset and the IceBox stayed connected for a few days, then reverted to the Wireless Network Passphrase screen. I have done a soft reset a few times since then with the same result.

The IceBox sometimes goes back to the Wireless Network Passphrase screen after a few hours or overnight. A couple of times the soft reset started then did not progress beyond an icetv logo. I then had to unplug the unit from power to reset it.

I do check that the wireless network is connected and an IP address is showing.

I've gone back to my original "fix" of a reboot from the remote, which re-establishes the network connection, without going through all the hassle of a soft reset.

Is anyone else having this problem and are there any other suggestions to sort this out?

[IanL-S]

I have seen this in the past. At the moment I am not using WIFI as I have a number of absences from home and wish to avoid possible complications such as the one you are having.

On your router, so you have the IP address set to fixed/reserved, which can minimize WIFI related issues. I have reserved IP address for both the WIFI and Ethernet connection to my IceBox and BYOB IceBox.

[Keith]

Thanks for your help IanL-S.

The Fritzbox apparently assigns each device the same IP address as it permanently stores the device MAC address with the IP address first assigned to it. The IP address is only changed if the maximum number of IP addresses in the IP network has been reached.

As the router has an option to always assign the IceBox the same IP address, I have done so.

We'll see how things go from here.

[Keith]

Unfortunately, assigning a fixed IP address for the IceBox on my router has not provided a solution. The Wireless Network Passphrase screen reappeared this morning

[Keith]

Is there a fix for my IceBox losing WiFi connection and then displaying the Wireless Network Passphrase screen? This continues to be an almost daily occurrence and obviously prevents recording updates from IceTV.

Is the IceBox ever going to allow subtitles to be displayed on recordings?

I have hardly used the IceBox in the 10 months since buying the unit, other than the daily ritual of rebooting it to get a network connection and deleting recordings I've watched with subtitles on my Beyonwiz.

As suggested in the IceBox setup and user guide, I looked at the Kodi Wiki and forum, which I don't think are relevent to my problem, and the LiberELEC forum, where a search produced nothing I could understand.

My IceBox is only in warranty for another 2 months and I would hope that the wireless network and subtitles issues will be sorted before the warranty expires.

[raymondjpg]

Is there a fix for my IceBox losing WiFi connection and then displaying the Wireless Network Passphrase screen? This continues to be an almost daily occurrence and obviously prevents recording updates from IceTV.

I suspect (without any evidence) that the issues might be arising from the Fritzbox. While a reputable brand, the 7490 is getting on for 10 years old from what I can see on the internet, and you have said that you experience dropouts which may or may not be router, rather than internet, related.

I don't have any experience with FTTP, my NBN is but a humble FTN, but is it also possible that any dropouts could be down to whatever FTP your ISP installed?

Another issue that I cannot fathom is the apparent inability to connect on the 2.4GHz network. Do you have anything else connected on that network? If not that might also point to issues with the Fritzbox.

Then there is the issue of the IceBox wireless receiver. I only have BYO so no idea if wireless capability is built into the IceBox or if it relies on a USB dongle. In either case, there could be issues with that. Difficult to diagnose, but let's assume none until all other options have been exhausted.

Finally, even if reservation of an IP address in the router has not resolved the issue, you can try assigning a static IP address to the IceBox which you can do through the LibreELEC|Connections settings. Personally I have always preferred this to relying on a router to do the assignments, and it might just fix your issue as IceBox won't have to wait on the router to find an IP address when logging on or after a soft reset.

[MD]

Is your modem/router repeatedly droppings its internet connection, or is the NBN in in your area suffering repeated dropouts, as that would be the primary cause of the frequent requests for the pass phrase?

Regarding subtitles we are somewhat hamstrung by the "TVHeadend" software we use which manages the incoming broadcast digital data stream. It is not of our design but we are looking for ways to modify and enable it, however we have been held up by the various serious issues caused by the manufacturers SSDs, which were not up to the job of handling video replay in the ways PVRs interact with the recordings.

I'm afraid, as a small company, sometimes we simply don't have the resources to fix the various bugs at the speed customers would like and we have to prioritise with respect to those that cause problems for the most people.  Subtitles are on our to-do list but I doubt if we'll solve the design flaw that is preventing them within the next month or so.

[Daniel Hall at IceTV]

While we are looking into it we don't have a solution as yet.

From our testing it does appear to be more centered around an inability to access the internet, the IceBox will reconnect to the local Wifi if it drops out, but if there is an issue with accessing the internet as well then it seems to not reconnect.

There might be something in the Fritzbox logs that would show if the internet connection is dropping out as well?

However as raymonjpg said, that particular model is quite old now and nothing lasts forever. Especially as in most areas FTTP is generally quite stable.

[raymondjpg]

Regarding subtitles we are somewhat hamstrung by the "TVHeadend" software we use which manages the incoming broadcast digital data stream. It is not of our design but we are looking for ways to modify and enable it, however we have been held up by the various serious issues caused by the manufacturers SSDs, which were not up to the job of handling video replay in the ways PVRs interact with the recordings.

I think that the subtitle issue is not one of TVHeadend's doing, but Kodi. Subtitles worked with IceBox in LibreELEC 10 but not 11, and they have never worked with Windows implementations of Kodi Nexus.

I haven't tried older versions of Kodi to determine if and when TV subtitles stopped working, but I did report somewhere else in this forum that Nexus (iirc) had a major revamp of subtitling. There is apparently some difference between closed captions and DVB subtitles (if I have that right) with the former operational in North America and the latter elsewhere including Aus. There is provision in Windows Kodi under the Player menu for parsing of closed captions, which makes no difference at all to display of subtitles in local live TV.

[raymondjpg]

From our testing it does appear to be more centered around an inability to access the internet, the IceBox will reconnect to the local Wifi if it drops out, but if there is an issue with accessing the internet as well then it seems to not reconnect.

I'd be trying a static IP address first up to see if that makes any difference with reconnection after dropouts.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

Regarding subtitles we are somewhat hamstrung by the "TVHeadend" software we use which manages the incoming broadcast digital data stream. It is not of our design but we are looking for ways to modify and enable it, however we have been held up by the various serious issues caused by the manufacturers SSDs, which were not up to the job of handling video replay in the ways PVRs interact with the recordings.

I think that the subtitle issue is not one of TVHeadend's doing, but Kodi. Subtitles worked with IceBox in LibreELEC 10 but not 11, and they have never worked with Windows implementations of Kodi Nexus.

I haven't tried older versions of Kodi to determine if and when TV subtitles stopped working, but I did report somewhere else in this forum that Nexus (iirc) had a major revamp of subtitling. There is apparently some difference between closed captions and DVB subtitles (if I have that right) with the former operational in North America and the latter elsewhere including Aus. There is provision in Windows Kodi under the Player menu for parsing of closed captions, which makes no difference at all to display of subtitles in local live TV.

Discussed here: https://forum.icetv.com.au/iceforum/index.php?topic=7564.0

[Keith]

Thanks for your responses raymondjpg, MD and Daniel Hall.

The Fritzbox 7490 was bought from my ISP less than 3 years ago and my NBN FTTP was installed in 2011 as one of the 5 initial release sites. There is nothing on the Fritzbox that indicates when it was made though.

I have devices connected without problem on both the 2.4 and 5 GHz networks, which have the same wireless network key (the Fritzbox does not allow different keys). The IceBox is currently connected to the 5GHz network and will not allow connection to the 2.4GHz network with the same wireless network key, an invalid key message pops up. The IceBox has wireless built in.

I have assigned a static IP through LibreELEC in the IceBox and will see what happens.

I have checked the Fritzbox logs and have numerous messages "Clearing the internet connection briefly to prevent the internet service provider from disconnecting you in the immediate future" then "Internet connection cleared" then a few seconds later "Internet connection established successfully....". That explains the internet dropouts.

I'll see what happens with the static IP over the next few days and go from there. If it persists, I'll chase up the ISP about the Fritzbox messages and possibly replace the modem.

With regard to the subtitles, I appreciate that the SSD issues were a priority and difficult to troubleshoot. If they are on the to-do list, that's good enough for me :)