I have been using my two Bome boxes now for several gigs, and have had consistent pairing issues.
My rig:
"Rack" bome box is on a POE switch in the FOH rack
"Stage" bome box is on the same POE switch but is placed on stage via a 50' cable
Both boxes are set as standard Ethernet clients
Both boxes are set as WiFI access points
DHCP and routing are handled by a third-party router
"Rack" box is connected to iConnectMidi mio10 via USB
There are currently only three routing rules, basically forwarding the stage DIN and USB devices to specific output ports on the mio.
After every power down, I find I must:
Power up and wait a minute or so for the devices to boot and appear online
Log into the 'stage' bome box and delete the "pending" connection to the 'rack' bome box
Log into the 'rack' bome box and re-initialize the connection to the 'stage' bome box
Log into the 'stage' bome box and confirm the pairing
It seems that if I do not follow this exact process, my bome boxes will not pair. Is there something I can do here to allow the pairing to happen automatically?
I have (as per Steve Caldwell's suggestions) tried daisy-chaining the boxes to ensure that the boxes have exactly the same ground voltage reference. This does not seem to solve the issue. (The boxes do not pair. I have not bothered to try the above processes to confirm whether they fix the issue in this configuration)
I'd like to get this sorted before my next two (!!) bome boxes arrive in the coming week or two, after which any problems will be exacerbated.
I’ll try to reproduce the behavior in my studio. I assume you are running the latest version of firmware on your BomeBoxes.
Also make sure when you are pairing to always initiate the pairing on the same BomeBox. That way they should automatically re-pair themselves after a restart with the same BomeBox as the initiator. I’ve heard of reports when initiating a pairing on both devices, they seem to get in this hung state. Do you have any PC’s or Mac’s on your Bome Network as well? Sometimes I’ve experienced pairing issues again when trying to initiate the pairing on more than one device.
Thanks Steve,
Yes, I did update the firmware when I received the boxes in June.
Since experiencing the issue, I have consistently been initiating from the “Rack” bomebox.
I did originally attempt to pair from both directions, which may be why I’ve found myself in this state.
Yes, my mac is on the Bome network to confirm when the boxes come online. I can remove this connection if that would be helpful, as I’m not (currently) using the mac connection for anything. That said, I will need to re-add my mac once I start developing the system using BMT… so hopefully this isn’t a deal-breaker.
When I exited Bome Network on my Macbook and started up from a powered off state, the Bome boxes seemed to pair on their own.
I’ll keep my eye on this for a bit just to ensure it’s really as simple as that!
Chris
Also, since you BomeBoxes are connected via Ethernet maybe you can turn WiFi off on one of them. Maybe they are confused about whether to connect via WiFi or ethernet.
If you connect to one via WiFi, it should be able to talk to the other via Ethernet.
Just a thought.
Hi, I’m very sorry to hear this problem!
First off, this behavior is not by design, and we’re not aware of any problems like this from other BomeBox owners. Auto-pairing is an important aspect of the ease of use of the BomeBoxes!
As Steve said, make sure that you’re on the most current firmware. It seems you’ve done that.
In general, there is only one single condition that can create a confusion: if a BomeBox is reachable via WiFi and via Ethernet at the same time from one device. E.g. if your Mac is connected to the Rack BomeBox via WiFi, and it’s also connected via Ethernet to the same BomeBox. If that’s the case here, it’s probably a good idea to disconnect one of them on the Mac. At least so that you can find out if that’s the culprit. We may find a solution to fix this in the firmware, but it’s not simple, because we want you to be able to switch from WiFi to Ethernet seamlessly.
Other than that, I cannot see anything in your setup that could cause such a problem.
So, if this problem persists, it might be a problem in the firmware (which we can fix there). To help us with that, could you please send us the log files? Steps:
Make sure both BomeBoxes are paired fine and working
Power off both BomeBoxes
Make sure Bome Network is running on the Mac
Power on one of the BomeBoxes
Go into its web config. Verify that the Network MIDI connection to the other BomeBox is “pending”
Go to the Log page and check the “verbose” checkbox
Now power up the other BomeBox
Wait for some time and make sure that your error condition is reproduced
Then, please send me 3 logs via email:
The first BomeBox: the log (with verbose flag) -- copy/paste
The second BomeBox: the log (without verbose) -- copy/paste
From the computer: on Mac, you’ll find it in /tmp/BomeNet.log (file attached to email)
I have not yet had a chance to grab the log files for you, but I still plan to do so. The issue is still occurring, so there is still reason to pursue a fix.
I also wanted to bring up Steve’s comment from the other thread on this issue… two of my four Bome boxes are being used as WiFi APs; and all are connected via ethernet. Is it possible that the Bome boxes themselves are trying to connect to each other over both WiFi and Ethernet simultaneously?
In my setup, it is important to allow two access points. One is within the Front-Of-House rack, and allows the sound guy to connect to our WiFi for use with a tablet and mixing software. The other is within a stage rack and allows my iPhone to connect over WiFi. (I have often found that neither location is enough to cover the whole venue.)
Just following up here. I’ve found it quite difficult to find troubleshooting time for this. (My rig lives at my rehearsal space, and when I bring it home family life tends to take precedence.) I’ve grown accustomed to logging in to each bome box, disconnecting all BMN connections, logging into the ‘master’ box, requesting new connections from there, and finally logging into each ‘slave’ bbox and confirming the new connections. The system always works flawlessly during shows/rehearsals once I’ve completed this… and it honestly only takes five minutes. Still, I do plan to send the log files if/when I finally have a moment to follow the steps, as every minute of setup time is worth its (figurative) weight in gold.
Update: I have incorporated a standalone WiFi AP into my rig and disabled the WiFi antenna in my BOME boxes. I’ve reviewed the settings and will give it a go to see if this allows for more predictable auto-pairing. If not, I will get you your logs.