W7MOT DStar Status July 2016
W7MOT DStar Users,
The following is to inform and update the AZ DStar community on our activity to restore normal service to the W7MOT DStar system on White Tank.
Some time about the 14th of July 2016, during that high summer heat period, we received reports of W7MOT experiencing "Linking" issues.
Upon examination, the problem has been isolated to the Gateway server and more specifically a couple of Linux services appear to have stopped running or are running improperly. Ahhh, you linux guys would just restart the services. Well, no, this is a bit more complicated. Errors suggest it could also be a hard drive that will not allow services to restart or there is a HD failure that reloads corrupted services. These services also hamper remote diagnosis. A "remote" full system reboot may cause a total system shutdown with no ability to recover remotely.
What's not working: all functions related to Linking, which includes DVAP. Repeater B is not actually linked to REF009C. DStar uses linux services that are not running.
What's Working: The repeaters are working in standalone configuration only. The Gateway Dashboard is working and does indicate Last Heard call signs on each of the repeaters (its capturing headers when a user radio is keyed); the B repeater is shown as Linked to REF009C but does not appear to be working, since "users" that connect to B repeater are not being routed (due to service not running).
A site visit is required to continue restoration. Sounds simple, but wouldn't you know, it happens at a time when our dstar team is out of town or not available for a longer time than normal. Scheduling is in progress as well as assembling spare HD and server.....etc. Activity on site could be simple as a manual restart from system terminal (local), or as complex as replacing HD in cluster to replacing server. Time on site could be a couple of hours to multiple site visits....
I'll try to keep this thread updated as things progress.
Norm Johnson, aa7oo
W7MOT DStar Admin