Troubleshooting your device

The main reasons a DM device is not performing correctly often come down to one of the following reasons

1. Flat batteries
2. Cellular reception or network coverage
3. Platform setup
4. SIM card issues
5. Device issue

This article covers how to troubleshoot issues, by checking and eliminating each of these items to isolate the root cause of the issue. If you are unsure, contact your local support team. We will generally walk you through this process. 

To help speed up issue resolution, be sure to provide as much detail as possible about the device and issue, and complete as many steps below as possible.

Check Power

Hard Wired Devices

Check the External Voltage reading, either in Device Manager or the end tracking platform. For most vehicle-powered devices, it must be above 8V.

If it is below this (or 0) - the device may operate for some time on it's internal battery if it has one. Internal batteries are generally fully charged at 4.2V, and flat at around 3.5-3.7V for most devices. If these are the values you see, power is the issue. 

For earlier warnings in future, set up an External Power Removed alert in TG or your tracking platform.

Battery Powered Devices

Check Battery Voltage 

The majority of DM devices use 3 x AA or AAA Lithium batteries. The devices have a variety of firmware smarts to be able to effectively monitor the battery level - see Battery Level Monitoring. However, there are some quick and easy indicators that device batteries are flat/very low and the reason a device isn't connecting. 

If your device battery voltage is around the empty level - and it hasn't connected for a while - this is likely the reason.

Check for any Under-voltage lock-out (UVLO resets)

• If the device ever browns out, the device will log an Under Voltage Lockout Reset. 
• This is will be indicated in the logs as Reset =2 or Reset =6 for most current-generation devices. 
• It appears as Reset = 0x14 for older devices. 
• See Commonly Seen Device Logs/Errors for the full list. 

To check the logs in Device Manager - View the Device Logs, and if you see this log appear, it means the batteries are at a critically low level and must be replaced. 

(By default, the start date on the view is 1 day ago - you may want to increase the range to view a month or two of logs) 
 

Check SIM Card

If this is the first time provisioning the device, or the first time we've used this particular SIM, there is a good chance the issue is to do with the SIM card and/or network configuration applied to the device.

If the device is in the field and in good coverage, then the SIM/config is likely not the culprit as this is unchanged - however the SIM could have been inadvertently disabled or a setting changed OTA. 

Check correct installation

Sometimes, the SIM just hasn't been inserted the right way up, or pushed all the way into the slot. Double check the orientation and installation is as per the image shown. (Gold pads facing down, keyed corner into the slot first)

If you find the SIM is not correctly installed - install it properly and remove/reinsert batteries to reboot the device.

Check the SIM Card is active

• See A Guide to SIM Cards, ICCIDs and Reports to see how to determine the ICCID of a SIM card installed in a particular device
• The SIM card may have been deactivated mistakenly, or was never active in the first place. 
• Ensure that the SIM card is the correct type for your device (i.e. will get on the relevant networks such as LTE-M/NB-IoT) and that you have coverage from one of these networks in the region. 
• If you have the device on you, try a different SIM card. This might reveal that the SIM card you are trying to use is a dud. 

Check APN and Admin Parameters

• A new device will be set to Auto-APN unless your distributor has made special arrangements.
• An in-service device may have been configured with a specific APN in the past, so if you're installing a new SIM it may be trying to use an incorrect APN
• You can check the current settings in Device Manager Admin Parameters.

• If there is a currently pending Admin parameter update in the Device Manager Pending Updates column, that would be evidence that perhaps somebody has applied an incorrect setting, meaning the current SIM will not get online. 
• You can also see if anyone has previously played with the APN by checking out the User Activity Log in Device Manager. For any device, click the Details link in the device grid, and view the user activity tab. You will see SetDeviceAdminParameters
  

Resolving APN/Parameter issue

• If Admin Parameters have been applied recently, and the previous set were working, the device will automatically revert to the working set after 3 days thanks to the Connectivity Settings Fallback feature. In the meantime, set the correct parameters via Device Manager for the device to pick up when it connects back in.
• If this is not the case, parameters cannot be changed OTA if the device isn't connecting in. You will need to retrieve the device and use a DMLink Cable to set the correct parameters or debug further.

Check Upload Timeouts and Registration Strategy

The Upload Parameters may have been set too aggressively, such that the device now has trouble connecting.

Restore these parameters to defaults (shown above) if they have been changed and reboot the device.
If it is in the field, you may have to wait a few days. There is a fail-safe in the device firmware, where if it is unable to connect for 3 days continuously, it will attempt to upload with a 10-minute registration timeout (regardless of parameters applied) - just in case these settings were misconfigured the device can eventually get back online.

Check Cellular Coverage + Reception

We need to determine if the device is in coverage (i.e. there is network the SIM can get onto in the area) - and the signal is not being blocked from getting to the device (i.e. the device is inside a metal box). 

Check Coverage Maps

Check coverage maps on your Telco's website to see if the device may be out of/on the edge of coverage. 

Check Device Logs for Evidence of Signal Issues

We can check device logs and data to see if the device not connecting appears to be a one-off, or persistent issue. If we can find evidence that the device has been having trouble connecting in the past - it may just mean the unit goes in/out of coverage - and it's not connecting now just because it's out of coverage. In this case, all we can do is wait until it comes back to coverage.

• Check the Device Manager Device Logs, set the start date range back far enough to view a few months' worth
• Abortingoneshot reg indicates the device couldn't register on the network. If you see a number of these logs it might indicate the device travels in/out of coverage and can't connect.
• Aborting oneshot data indicates the device registered, but the connection dropped or was closed during the data upload.
• Check the Device Counters and compare the number of successful to the number of failed uploads
• Check Analogue 4 (CSQ - Signal Strength) This ranges from 0-31
  • 0-3 - very poor (hard to connect)
  • 3-10 - poor (but enough to connect)
  • 10-15 - OK
  • 15-20 - Good
  • 20+ Excellent
• If the signal is sometimes excellent, and at other times poor, it means we may just be going in and out of coverage. 
• If it never really gets above 15, it might mean where the device is installed is blocking some signal. In which case we should try an alternative device placement and retest. 

Check Platform Setup

Devices not appearing in Telematics Guru

A device first appears on the map Telematics Guru when it gets it's first valid GPS fix. You can see in Assets > Manage Assets whether a device has received a GPS position, this is shown with a red GPS icon.

So this means that the reason we might not be seeing the device on the map is it's unable to get a GPS fix. Generally, we just need to take the device outside and trigger another fix - see Sending Test Data for instructions on how you can trigger another fix.

Device committing to Device Manager but not Telematics Guru (or 3rd party )

If your device is showing in Telematics Guru as 'Never connected' (see below) but is connecting into Device Manager, the connector might not be set.

Set the Connector to the correct TG server and trigger another upload and the device will connect. 

Device not appearing on 3rd Party Platform

• Check Device Manager, if the device is Connecting, but not Committing - we have an issue with the 3rd party server setup. Follow steps here Since Committed/Since Connected and Troubleshooting

Device Issue

If we have checked the above items, there are no further troubleshooting steps that can be taken remotely. The device needs to be retrieved from the field to be inspected. Once retrieved:

1. If you have a DM-Link cable, follow the steps in the guide to pull the debug logs from your device, and send the CSV file to your local support team. This can help speed up the troubleshooting process. (if not go to next step)
   1. DM Link Guide
   2. Contact Support
2. Send through the following information to your support team,
   1. Device serial
   2. Device type
   3. Description of the issue

They will assist further. It may need to be returned for inspection If the device is within our 2 year warranty period, they will provide and RMA reference number and address for return.

Forcing a Connection

If you have the unit in your hands, you can force a connection by either removing the batteries or toggling the external power (for wired devices). This change will trigger an upload. Ensure the external power change is long enough to trigger the external power debounce period – 2 seconds by default.

You can also change any of the inputs set to trigger an upload. Usually ignition will trigger an upload. This depends on the system parameter configuration.

Debugging with Device Manager

The Device Manager Admin Interface is a powerful tool for understanding what your device is doing. See the Device Manager guide for detailed instructions. The following notes may help:

1. Check when it last connected and if it committed records successfully.(All data displayed is from last committed time)
2. Check to see if the connector is set to your correct endpoint
3. Check external power and internal battery level.
4. Enable the data log capture. Normally the Device Manager forwards logs to the 3rd party software platform. You can View the logs in the Device Details->Logs tab.

Enable debugging for a module. View the logs in the Device Details->Logs tab