Operating system name and version: Crunch Bang 2.6.28-19-generic (Ubuntu) x86_64
Version of smsd: 3.1.14
Smsd installed from: Package (if i remember correctly)
Name and model of a modem / phone: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. E620 USB Modem (Vodaphone)
Interface: USB


Hello I keep getting this error :

Checking device for incoming SMS 2011-01-16 22:19:48,6, GSM8: Checking if modem is ready 2011-01-16 22:19:49,3, GSM8: Unexpected input: OK 2011-01-16 22:19:49,7, GSM8: -> AT 2011-01-16 22:19:49,7, GSM8: Command is sent 2011-01-16 22:19:53,5, GSM8: Everything ok now. 2011-01-16 22:26:55,7, GSM8: -> AT 2011-01-16 22:26:55,7, GSM8: Command is sent, waiting for the answer 2011-01-16 22:27:10,7, GSM8: put_command expected (OK)|(ERROR), timeout occurred. 1. 2011-01-16 22:27:10,7, GSM8: <- 2011-01-16 22:27:10,7, GSM8: -> . 2011-01-16 22:27:10,7, GSM8: Command is sent, waiting for the answer 2011-01-16 22:27:25,7, GSM8: put_command expected (OK)|(ERROR), timeout occurred. 2. 2011-01-16 22:27:25,7, GSM8: <- 2011-01-16 22:27:25,7, GSM8: -> AT 2011-01-16 22:27:25,7, GSM8: Command is sent, waiting for the answer 2011-01-16 22:27:40,7, GSM8: put_command expected (OK)|(ERROR), timeout occurred. 3. 2011-01-16 22:27:40,7, GSM8: <- 2011-01-16 22:27:41,7, GSM8: -> . 2011-01-16 22:27:41,7, GSM8: Command is sent, waiting for the answer 2011-01-16 22:27:56,7, GSM8: put_command expected (OK)|(ERROR), timeout occurred. 4. 2011-01-16 22:27:56,7, GSM8: <- 2011-01-16 22:27:56,7, GSM8: -> AT 2011-01-16 22:27:56,7, GSM8: Command is sent, waiting for the answer 2011-01-16 22:28:11,7, GSM8: put_command expected (OK)|(ERROR), timeout occurred. 5. 2011-01-16 22:28:11,7, GSM8: <- 2011-01-16 22:28:11,7, GSM8: -> . 2011-01-16 22:28:11,7, GSM8: Command is sent, waiting for the answer 2011-01-16 22:28:26,7, GSM8: put_command expected (OK)|(ERROR), timeout occurred. 6. 2011-01-16 22:28:26,7, GSM8: <- 2011-01-16 22:28:26,7, GSM8: -> AT 2011-01-16 22:28:26,7, GSM8: Command is sent, waiting for the answer 2011-01-16 22:28:41,7, GSM8: put_command expected (OK)|(ERROR), timeout occurred. 7. 2011-01-16 22:28:41,7, GSM8: <- 2011-01-16 22:28:41,7, GSM8: -> . 2011-01-16 22:28:41,7, GSM8: Command is sent, waiting for the answer 2011-01-16 22:28:56,7, GSM8: put_command expected (OK)|(ERROR), timeout occurred. 8. 2011-01-16 22:28:56,7, GSM8: <- 2011-01-16 22:28:57,7, GSM8: -> AT 2011-01-16 22:28:57,7, GSM8: Command is sent, waiting for the answer 2011-01-16 22:29:12,7, GSM8: put_command expected (OK)|(ERROR), timeout occurred. 9. 2011-01-16 22:29:12,7, GSM8: <- 2011-01-16 22:29:12,7, GSM8: -> . 2011-01-16 22:29:12,7, GSM8: Command is sent, waiting for the answer 2011-01-16 22:29:27,7, GSM8: put_command expected (OK)|(ERROR), timeout occurred. 10. 2011-01-16 22:29:27,7, GSM8: <- 2011-01-16 22:29:28,3, GSM8: Unexpected input: OK 2011-01-16 22:29:28,7, GSM8: -> AT 2011-01-16 22:29:28,7, GSM8: Command is sent, waiting for the answer 2011-01-16 22:29:43,7, GSM8: put_command expected (OK)|(ERROR), timeout occurred. 1. 2011-01-16 22:29:43,7, GSM8: <- 2011-01-16 22:29:44,7, GSM8: -> . 2011-01-16 22:29:44,7, GSM8: Command is sent, waiting for the answer 2011-01-16 22:29:59,7, GSM8: put_command expected (OK)|(ERROR), timeout occurred. 2. 2011-01-16 22:29:59,7, GSM8: <- 2011-01-16 22:30:02,5, GSM8: Everything ok now.

Copy of the config:



read_timeout was added lately in a desperate measure to solve this issue.
Other wise every things works fine, the modems keep on receiving sms but I am bothered with this random error on different modems (Not all of them)

Thank you for your help.

Best regards

A modem stops answering, but there is also "unexpected input: OK" presented once.

As you are running multiple USB modems, this may be a problem with power. Have you connected those modems using USB hub with an external power supply which has enough capacity? Also some cheap and thin extension cable may cause this kind of troubles.

If you run your system with less modems, do you still have those errors?

Hello keke,

Well I have been trying to solve this issue since a while ago.
I have tried multiple combination.
In brief, the application ran with 7 modems, for 72 straight hours once with absolutely no issues. It may run longer but I have never tested it.
The external hub is self powered.
Usb cables came with the modems (original vodaphone).
I have tried to switch the keys, 4 x 2 different hub, but I guess one on the hub had problem any way I did not work plenty of error and smsd stopped functioning.
Since I would like to run 32 modems later on, I am wondering what should I do?

Once you told me that my configuration is ok..is it still the case, I just made some minor changes since (while trying to solve the current issue)?
Would it be the PC (A new acquired Acer desktop, only for this server purpose) ?
Is it the Vodaphone USB modems?
Or is it the self powered hub (10xUSB input) ?

In each case what different alternative do I have?

please advise.

Thank you again.

Best regards.

Are you sure that any modem is not defected this time?

I cannot guess what causes the problem. If your system with 7 modems runs without any errors for three days, there may be some interferences which cause failures. Probably you should create some supervisor system, which detects failures and creates an alarm.

When the failure happens, what do you do get the modem working again? Do you need to disconnect and re-connect it?

Hello and sorry for the late reply

After thorough testing I came up with the following results:

All modems are individually working though under heavy load I get the error.
If the application in under heavy stress (200+ sms/day) smsd stop working and I have to restart it.
Under normal working condition I keep receiving the error randomly but smsd keep working.
So I guess it is a problem of power consumption (maybe)
It might be the hub, or the PC USB outputs.

Can any one suggest some professional hubs make or models I can use?

Thank you again for your support.

Cheers

madf78 wrote

If the application in under heavy stress (200+ sms/day) smsd stop working and I have to restart it.

200+ is not a heavy stress, it's something about 40 minutes of sending, or about 8 SMS per hour. But "smsd stop working" ??? Do you really mean that smsd stops, or is the issue the same as before when modem stops answering? And restarting smsd helps, without needing to do anything to the modem?

no smsd stop
in fact when I enter the following command :

ps -ef | grep smsd

some instances of smsd are "Defunct" sometime all of them and I get some errors in smsd.log (but do no remember what)

Then I have to reboot the machine, remove all modems, re-insert them in a certain order, then restart the daemon.

madf78 wrote

some instances of smsd are "Defunct" sometime all of them and I get some errors in smsd.log (but do no remember what)

The log would be usefull, but...

I think that the modem(s) stop responding, and after several retries smsd tries to close the port and re-open it. Opening fails, probably because there is no port anymore, and retrying stops. Next time when smsd will check if the port is open / can be opened, opening fails again and smsd stops because this is a permanent failure. When a modem process stops, it is shown as "defunct" in the process list. This is meant to be like that, because from the process list it can be seen if some device is broken.

As your system loses sometimes all ports, you really need a new hardware. But I cannot recommend anything...

Hmm, ok
by hardware what you mean? modems? hubs? PC...
Which of them you think needs to be replaced?

I got the problem again
Here is the log:
I will install Ubuntu unless you got a different OS to suggest.

GSM log
, GSM1: Checking device for incoming SMS 2011-01-22 09:37:33,6, GSM1: Checking if modem is ready 2011-01-22 09:37:33,7, GSM1: -> AT 2011-01-22 09:37:33,3, GSM1: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error 2011-01-22 09:37:44,7, GSM1: -> AT 2011-01-22 09:37:44,3, GSM1: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error 2011-01-22 09:37:54,7, GSM1: -> . 2011-01-22 09:37:54,3, GSM1: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error 2011-01-22 09:38:04,7, GSM1: -> AT 2011-01-22 09:38:04,3, GSM1: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error 2011-01-22 09:38:14,7, GSM1: -> . 2011-01-22 09:38:14,3, GSM1: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error 2011-01-22 09:38:25,7, GSM1: -> AT 2011-01-22 09:38:25,3, GSM1: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error 2011-01-22 09:38:35,7, GSM1: -> . 2011-01-22 09:38:35,3, GSM1: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error 2011-01-22 09:38:45,7, GSM1: -> AT 2011-01-22 09:38:45,3, GSM1: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error 2011-01-22 09:38:55,7, GSM1: -> . 2011-01-22 09:38:55,3, GSM1: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error 2011-01-22 09:39:05,7, GSM1: -> AT 2011-01-22 09:39:05,3, GSM1: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error 2011-01-22 09:39:16,7, GSM1: -> . 2011-01-22 09:39:16,3, GSM1: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error 2011-01-22 09:39:27,3, GSM1: Couldn't open serial port /dev/ttyUSB0, error: No such file or directory, waiting 30 sec. 2011-01-22 09:39:57,6, GSM1: Couldn't open serial port /dev/ttyUSB0, error: No such file or directory, waiting 30 sec. 2011-01-22 09:40:27,6, GSM1: Couldn't open serial port /dev/ttyUSB0, error: No such file or directory, waiting 30 sec. 2011-01-22 09:40:57,6, GSM1: Couldn't open serial port /dev/ttyUSB0, error: No such file or directory, waiting 30 sec. ..... 2011-01-22 18:21:40,3, GSM1: Cannot open serial port /dev/ttyUSB0, error: No such file or directory 2011-01-22 18:21:40,3, GSM1: Modem is not ready to answer commands (Timeouts: 0) 2011-01-22 18:21:40,5, GSM1: Everything ok now.

smsd log
2011-01-17 17:50:27,2, smsd: Smsd v3.1.14 started. 2011-01-17 17:50:27,2, smsd: Running as root:root. 2011-01-17 17:50:28,4, smsd: File mode creation mask: 06 (0660, rw-rw----). 2011-01-17 17:50:28,5, smsd: Outgoing file checker has started. PID: 9738. 2011-01-22 18:21:40,2, smsd: Smsd mainprocess is awaiting the termination of all modem handlers. PID: 9738. 2011-01-22 18:21:40,2, smsd: Smsd mainprocess terminated. PID 9738, was started 11-01-17 17:50:28.

Please advise

an example under ubuntu:

2011-01-26 00:20:32,3, GSM3: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error 2011-01-26 00:20:43,3, GSM3: Couldn't open serial port /dev/ttyUSB6, error: No such file or directory, waiting 30 sec. 2011-01-26 00:21:13,3, GSM3: Unexpected input: ^BOOT:37089464,0,0,0,77 ^RSSI:11 ^SMMEMFULL:"SM" ^MODE:3,2 2011-01-26 00:21:16,3, GSM3: Unexpected input: ^RSSI:16 2011-01-26 00:21:16,5, GSM3: SMS received, From:... ... 2011-01-26 00:21:19,3, GSM3: Unexpected input: ^RSSI:12 2011-01-26 00:21:39,5, GSM3: SMS received, From: .... 2011-01-26 00:21:40,3, GSM3: Unexpected input: ^RSSI:9 .... 2011-01-26 00:23:01,3, GSM3: Unexpected input: ^RSSI:10 2011-01-26 00:23:12,3, GSM3: Modem did not accept the pre-init string 2011-01-26 00:23:12,3, GSM3: write_to_modem: error 5: Input/output error

madf78 wrote

by hardware what you mean? modems? hubs? PC...
Which of them you think needs to be replaced?

Bad to say anything for sure....

Ports are lost during the communication, this can be seen from the log. You may have bad cables in the noisy environment, or anything...

OK I will install smstools under windows and try it.

Will keep you updated.