Relay messages not working

Support
1

I have a collection of questions. I have been playing with these radios for over a month now. I now have 4 of them. I have them all on the same private channel and confirm I’ve seen them all in the Meshtastic iOS app. However when I spread them around town I can’t seem to send messages to my home node(A) through the mesh. I have a second node(B) on a rooftop building a mile or so from my house. I intend to let it be a relay. I can pick up good signal from the relay node(B) at my house. When I try to be only in range of the relay node(B) I can’t seem to get a message back home to node (A). From the research I’ve done, I don’t need to be doing any special setup to make it relay. It should just work…? The only messages I get to go through were random instances where the node in my truck(C) randomly made a direct connection to my home node (A). Damn the range on these in town is surprisingly good…
Other questions…

  1. Is it possible to tell how a message got routed? Like what nodes it hit?
  2. When I see ‘acknowledge’ in the iOS app after sending a message, what does that really mean? That the destination node received or just that some node in the mesh picked it up?
  3. When a node is “last seen” in the iOS app, that means it was seen directly node-node and not picked up through the mesh? Meaning I didn’t get a ping from node A via node B.
  4. Does it matter if I message to all or to the end point node (home) that I want the message to end up at?

Home(A) ——— relay(B) ———- truck(C)

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2

Oh yeah, one last question. How do I clear the node history? I’m still seeing old nodes from when I first powered up the radio out of the box. I haven’t seen the nodes in over a month since I put them my radios on a private channel. I’d like to wipe out node history and message history with those nodes. Can’t seem to figure out how to do that.

3

It is flood routing so it may not behave exactly as you expect but the mesh log in iOS should show you some of the routing data. You can export config using the flasher, do a factory reset and then re-import your settings. That is the best way to clear nodes right now. Sending DM’s from messaging also will get you more direct ACK responses.

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4

Thanks @garth – I have DM’ed my home node and get an acknowledge, but the message never shows up at home, what does that mean? Does acknowledge just mean it hit some node in my mesh?

5

Also - is there a link on how to do export config ahead of factory reset? I am familiar with the flasher.exe, but don’t see anything in there for export.

6

Click on the advanced options in the upper left corner.

7

flasher
flasher1296×1022 209 KB

This is what my meshtastic flasher program looks like… no advanced tab. There is an advanced Hot Key, but nothing about config. Just to flash or RPK book config (I think). this isn’t verbatim screenshot from my PC, just off google image search.

8

you’re running an outdated version of meshtastic flasher.

9

Thanks - will download latest when I get home.

10

Ok, I’ve updated firmware on all units, reflashed and reconfigured with newest version of Flasher (thanks @AndreK ). I set my relay radio to router mode this time and stuck it on my roof. I put another node on the lowest part of my house with my iPad paired. I still can’t seem to get messages to hop from the relay on the roof to the other tbeam inside the house. The only time messages make it to final device is if I am within range of that node.
Does anyone have any ideas what other settings I should look at? Is stuff just asleep and not getting it? How long will a relay set to router try to push a message to another node? Does that message sit in memory until it’s sent or times out? I can’t seem to get messages to hop. All radios are default hop limit, which I think is 3. I think these things are so cool, but not being able to send messages through a relay node is a big buzz kill.

P.S. has anyone ever seen a radio get so hot that it melts/deforms the 3D printed case?!?

11

hoplimit is not a factor for 3 nodes and sleep is disabled by default on recent firmware. nodes make 3 attempts to retransmit if they don’t hear back an ACK then the packet is cleared.

try to disable is_router and switch devices around. its always best to confirm everything works on default settings then add changes.

12

Ok, I finally got this working and I feel like a dumbass. Also, I found a bug with ACK.

How I got msg hopping to work…
In the iOS app I didn’t realize that you have to send a message to “all” if you want to msg hop to your desired node. I thought you could DM the specific node, even if out of range and one of the nodes in range would forward the msg. Apparently not the case. Once I confirmed I was only within range of my relay and then did msgs “to all” my other node started getting the relayed messages.

Bug I found… ACK bug / acknowledge bug
About the bug I found I started suspecting that the ACK coming back was invalid. If the message actual fails to go through, an ACK is still issued into the logfile in iOS. It always logs an ACK after ~70secs no matter what. I suspected it was a bug so I drove 13 miles away from my closest node - obviously WAY out of range with my setup on flat urban area. It would still get an ACK after 70seconds. No other nodes showing up in my private channels… So no idea what that is all about. Should I post this bug in another topic/thread?

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13

Here is fine.

Could we ask you to detail this a bit more so we can reproduce this? What hardware and firmware versions do you have? What phones and versions? Full steps to reproduce the problem and what we should look for too please. Also any special settings you may have set.

This is really good research. Thanks for hanging in!

14

Hardware and firmwares
Tbeam v1.1 - all running version 1.2.59.d81c1c0
iphone 12 - iOS 15.3.1
ipad mini 5th - iOS 15.3.1

Nodes
Tbeam “iphonejds” node last 4 digits 3532 (paired with iphone 12)

Tbeam “B.radio” node last 4 digits 9964 (relay node)

Tbeam “padjds” node last 4 digits 2344 (paired with ipad)

I am uploading the log file from my phone. I have made edits/comments. Basically any message I sent directly to “padjds” node failed. It was not in range (inside a metal safe). It was getting fake ACK’s back, but no messages actually ever received on the ipad. The only messages truly received went to the all channel and hopped from the relay node on my roof to the ipad node. Notice almost all of the valid ACK’s came back <30 secs. The false ACKs from ipad are usually always right at 60sec.

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15

MESHTASTIC MESH ACTIVITY LOG – from iphone 12

:calling: New messageId 2776347334 sent to All - Broadcast - 3/19/22 11:27:32.2930

:floppy_disk: Saved a new sent message from 4145953532 to 4294967295 - 3/19/22 11:27:32.3020

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:27:32.3890

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR 0.0 and Time from Position App Packet For: 4145953532 - 3/19/22 11:27:32.4790

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:27:46.0380

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR 0.0 and Time from Position App Packet For: 4145953532 - 3/19/22 11:27:46.1060

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:28:32.4180

:floppy_disk: ACK Received and saved for MessageID 2776347334 - 3/19/22 11:28:32.4820

TRUE ACK

:calling: New messageId 195608542 sent to B.radio - 3/19/22 11:28:52.2680

:floppy_disk: Saved a new sent message from 4145953532 to 621049964 - 3/19/22 11:28:52.2760

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:29:05.1180

:floppy_disk: ACK Received and saved for MessageID 195608542 - 3/19/22 11:29:05.1820

TRUE ACK

:calling: New messageId 2781064828 sent to All - Broadcast - 3/19/22 11:29:55.5190

:floppy_disk: Saved a new sent message from 4145953532 to 4294967295 - 3/19/22 11:29:55.5250

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:29:55.6150

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR 0.0 and Time from Position App Packet For: 4145953532 - 3/19/22 11:29:56.0650

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:30:18.6780

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR -16.0 and Time from Position App Packet For: 621049964 - 3/19/22 11:30:18.7450

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:30:27.0490

:floppy_disk: ACK Received and saved for MessageID 2781064828 - 3/19/22 11:30:27.1120

TRUE ACK

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:31:47.0580

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR 0.0 and Time from Position App Packet For: 4145953532 - 3/19/22 11:31:47.1260

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:31:48.8880

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR -15.25 and Time from Position App Packet For: 4145952344 - 3/19/22 11:31:49.0280

:calling: New messageId 834304960 sent to All - Broadcast - 3/19/22 11:34:27.2530

:floppy_disk: Saved a new sent message from 4145953532 to 4294967295 - 3/19/22 11:34:27.2600

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:34:41.8680

:floppy_disk: ACK Received and saved for MessageID 834304960 - 3/19/22 11:34:41.9330
TRUE ACK messages easily reach my node on the roof and get a fast ACK

:calling: New messageId 3366505499 sent to padjds - 3/19/22 11:35:04.4390

:floppy_disk: Saved a new sent message from 4145953532 to 4145952344 - 3/19/22 11:35:04.4470

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:36:09.7470

:floppy_disk: ACK Received and saved for MessageID 3366505499 - 3/19/22 11:36:09.7990

  • FALSE ACK* actually failed because radio was really out of range… inside a metal safe, lol.

:calling: New messageId 3533084551 sent to All - Broadcast - 3/19/22 11:36:48.7680

:floppy_disk: Saved a new sent message from 4145953532 to 4294967295 - 3/19/22 11:36:48.7760

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:36:48.8910

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR 0.0 and Time from Position App Packet For: 4145953532 - 3/19/22 11:36:48.9790

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:37:53.6280

:floppy_disk: ACK Received and saved for MessageID 3533084551 - 3/19/22 11:37:53.6930

TRUE ACK

:calling: New messageId 1036168833 sent to All - Broadcast - 3/19/22 11:38:47.8800

:floppy_disk: Saved a new sent message from 4145953532 to 4294967295 - 3/19/22 11:38:47.8880

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:38:47.9930

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR 0.0 and Time from Position App Packet For: 4145953532 - 3/19/22 11:38:48.0800

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:39:10.6990

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR -4.5 and Time from Position App Packet For: 621049964 - 3/19/22 11:39:10.7660

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:39:17.7490

:floppy_disk: ACK Received and saved for MessageID 1036168833 - 3/19/22 11:39:17.8130

TRUE ACK

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:39:45.2280

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo SNR -8.0 and Time from Node Info App Packet For: 621049964 - 3/19/22 11:39:45.2950

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:40:27.2880

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR -3.5 and Time from Position App Packet For: 621049964 - 3/19/22 11:40:27.3570

:calling: New messageId 1608715816 sent to padjds - 3/19/22 11:40:57.0910

:floppy_disk: Saved a new sent message from 4145953532 to 4145952344 - 3/19/22 11:40:57.0990

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:42:01.9380

:floppy_disk: ACK Received and saved for MessageID 1608715816 - 3/19/22 11:42:02.0040

  • FALSE ACK*

:calling: New messageId 1994262391 sent to All - Broadcast - 3/19/22 11:42:39.5050

:floppy_disk: Saved a new sent message from 4145953532 to 4294967295 - 3/19/22 11:42:39.5140

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:42:39.6480

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR 0.0 and Time from Position App Packet For: 4145953532 - 3/19/22 11:42:39.7100

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:42:46.1280

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR 0.0 and Time from Position App Packet For: 4145953532 - 3/19/22 11:42:46.1980

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:42:53.9290

:floppy_disk: ACK Received and saved for MessageID 1994262391 - 3/19/22 11:42:53.9930

TRUE ACK

:calling: New messageId 2450582534 sent to All - Broadcast - 3/19/22 11:43:48.6370

:floppy_disk: Saved a new sent message from 4145953532 to 4294967295 - 3/19/22 11:43:48.6460

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:43:49.3690

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR 0.0 and Time from Position App Packet For: 4145953532 - 3/19/22 11:43:49.4360

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:44:20.3890

:floppy_disk: ACK Received and saved for MessageID 2450582534 - 3/19/22 11:44:20.4820

TRUE ACK

:calling: New messageId 1815972438 sent to padjds - 3/19/22 11:44:47.3130

:floppy_disk: Saved a new sent message from 4145953532 to 4145952344 - 3/19/22 11:44:47.3210

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:45:51.7980

:floppy_disk: ACK Received and saved for MessageID 1815972438 - 3/19/22 11:45:51.8610

  • FALSE ACK*

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:46:10.4280

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo SNR -5.75 and Time from Node Info App Packet For: 4145952344 - 3/19/22 11:46:10.4920

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:46:49.0330

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR -6.5 and Time from Position App Packet For: 4145952344 - 3/19/22 11:46:49.1060

:calling: New messageId 1304427194 sent to All - Broadcast - 3/19/22 11:47:01.9310

:floppy_disk: Saved a new sent message from 4145953532 to 4294967295 - 3/19/22 11:47:01.9390

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:47:02.0870

:floppy_disk: Updated NodeInfo Position Coordinates, SNR 0.0 and Time from Position App Packet For: 4145953532 - 3/19/22 11:47:02.1500

:rotating_light: Unhandled Characteristic UUID: ED9DA18C-A800-4F66-A670-AA7547E34453 - 3/19/22 11:47:29.5990

:floppy_disk: ACK Received and saved for MessageID 1304427194 - 3/19/22 11:47:29.6640

TRUE ACK

16

Thanks mate. I’m without a laptop this weekend but will follow up on this soon as I can on the device side.

@garth anything standout on iOS?

17

No worries - I just thought I’d point it out while it was fresh. I’m just glad I can get the damn messages to hop now.

1 Like
18

I will add some more detailed logging, looks like there are more error cases.

1 Like
19

I just pushed a new version with some extra logging and a couple of error cases that were being saved as ACK’s fixed

2 Likes
20

Sounds good! I am updating through testflight now and will test out shortly.

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