Incoming Emails not triggering API on some modems

Incoming Emails not triggering API on some modems SearchSearch
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Rick Jewson
New member
Username: Freom

Post Number: 1
Registered: 10-2018
Posted on Monday, October 22, 2018 - 08:57 am:   

I have just noticed that incoming messages to two of my modems (Freom03 and Freom04) are not coming through the API.

The software increments the incoming counter, but the message never makes it to your system, nor to the eventual API call.

The other 3 modems are working perfectly, and outbound works on all 5 modems.

Can you please look into this with some urgency?

Your NowSMS Cloud Server has been provisioned as https://freom.smshosts.com
Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Bryce

Post Number: 8289
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Monday, October 22, 2018 - 02:26 pm:   

Hi Rick,

We are actively investigating, but have no theories or explanations. Both of the devices in question have 2 active connections...one is used for sending and one for receiving. The connection for processing received messages is usually only active if the device has received messages to deliver.

The server never sees them, and it is likely they are queued on the device.

We are looking at adding debug info to an update of the Android app to try to identify what is happening.

What version of the app are you running? (I do not think this matters, as no changes have been made in this area.)

What difference in Android versions and phone models between working and non-working?

Does restarting the phone have any effect?

-bn

Bryce Norwood
Now SMS/MMS Support
Rick Jewson
New member
Username: Freom

Post Number: 2
Registered: 10-2018
Posted on Monday, October 22, 2018 - 02:44 pm:   

All 5 phones are Nokia 1 handsets, with exactly the same config, updates, versions, everything. The only thing running on all 5 is NowSMS software V2017.06.06

I have rebooted the two phones in question, and that seems to have cleared the blockage.

Seems all of the messages that were queued were sent through.

Do you think maybe a weekly reboot of all the phones may be prudent?

Thanks for your help!
Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Bryce

Post Number: 8290
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Monday, October 22, 2018 - 07:14 pm:   

Hi Rick,

I think I have an explanation for the problem.

I said the version of the app did not matter, but I remembered a change logged for version 2017.07.04:

* Android App: Fix for a handle leak which could cause the app to restart.

This "handle leak" was directly related to the processing of received messages. Different devices and different Android versions reacted differently to the problem. Mostly we observed that the app was restarting itself, which had no real operational impact. But we did find several devices that would report errors, where they were unable to re-connect unless the phone was restarted or the app forcibly closed.

I suspect you are experiencing a variation on this problem. The code that was causing the problem is responsible for processing the queue of received messages and delivering them to the server.

The current version in the Google Play Store is 2018.09.05. This further update addresses a variety of MMS sending and retrieval issues due to various operator configuration differences and Android API changes in various releases.

You can download either version 2017.07.04 or 2018.09.05 from our download page: https://www.nowsms.com/download-free-trial

Or here are direct links:

2017.07.04 : https://www.nowsms.com/download/2017/NowSMSModem.apk

2018.09.05 : https://www.nowsms.com/apk

Why am I mentioning both versions?

Well, 2017.07.04 is very close to the version that you are running, so operationally, there should be less chance of any unexpected changes.

Not that I would expect problems with the other, but if you do upgrade to 2018, Android will not let you downgrade without deleting and reinstalling the app (a minor issue).

Regarding a weekly phone reboot...it shouldn't be necessary, but I do think that is a good idea.

-bn

Bryce Norwood
Now SMS/MMS Support
Rick Jewson
New member
Username: Freom

Post Number: 3
Registered: 10-2018
Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2018 - 01:38 am:   

Hi Bryce,

Thank you for the feedback, I have upgraded all of the phones to 2018.09.05 so hopefully all should be good!

Love your work.

Rick
Rick Jewson
New member
Username: Freom

Post Number: 4
Registered: 10-2018
Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2018 - 01:34 pm:   

Hi Bryce,

Well, that worked for a day, and at least one of the phones stopped processing inbound sms again.

Again a reboot fixed it, but I think we need a better solution to the problem.

Let me know if you need any more information.

Over to you.

Rick
Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Bryce

Post Number: 8291
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2018 - 02:27 pm:   

Hi Rick,

We'll do some more investigating...and pursue an app update that displays debug information on the receive process.

-bn
Rick Jewson
New member
Username: Freom

Post Number: 5
Registered: 10-2018
Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2018 - 10:48 pm:   

Hi Bryce,

It happened again overnight, and only on the same phone as yesterday, but I have discovered that pressing "stop" and then "start" on the app is enough to clear the backlog, and send through all the rec'd messaged. No reboot required.

Not sure if that helps, but maybe there's a clue in there.

I have setup a system that sends a message to each phone every hour, so we can track any patterns, and I can have a warning system if there is a problem.

Regards,
Rick
Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Bryce

Post Number: 8292
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2018 - 03:20 am:   

Hi Rick,

That is interesting. Whatever is happening is different.

There is an updated app at https://www.nowsms.com/apkdev

There is one small change that has a slight chance of fixing the problem, but more importantly there is some debug text in yellow that reports what is happening with received messages. Under normal operation, the text will flash quicker than you can read it, but we expect something to display if receiving is stuck.

If it does get stuck again, please send another message and confirm the receive count continues to increment.

-bn
Rick Jewson
New member
Username: Freom

Post Number: 6
Registered: 10-2018
Posted on Friday, October 26, 2018 - 07:08 am:   

Hi Bryce,

I installed the dev app on all 5 phones yesterday, and now over a day later, all seems well with no more issues. All phones receiving happily without intervention.

I will keep monitoring, but so far so good!

Thank you once again for the stellar support,

Rick
Rick Jewson
New member
Username: Freom

Post Number: 7
Registered: 10-2018
Posted on Monday, November 05, 2018 - 05:26 pm:   

Just a quick follow up, I have sent an SMS to each phone hourly since my last post, and all is well, so that change seems to have fixed the issue.

Thanks again.

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