Overview

A general guide to assisting technicians and diagnosing problems during Genflow Installation.

Logging phone call

You are required to record the following information:

Site Info (Outlet/Site code, Pub name, Postcode
Controller serial number
SIM type: (Note, this will only be available if the controller can connect to the server)
Connector Firmware Version
Engineer name
Company

General Steps: Using the Toolkit

Ask the technician to provide you with the name of the site and its location (Installers are often unaware of the specific outlet code for the sites they visit)
On the genflow toolkit (https://toolkit.gen-flow.co.uk/jobs), filter the Site Name and search for the information provided to you.
If there are multiple sites with the same name (this is a common occurrence), match the site with the name of the installer you're speaking to. (If the installer has been assigned the job on their account, there will be an entry on the toolkit.)
If the installer has not been assigned the job, assign it to them via the Update Jobs tab on the Toolkit (see /wiki/spaces/GEN/pages/366116888)
Click the 3-vertical-dots (image below) and select Device Info

From this page (image below) you can see general information about the controller and the connectors it is communicating with (if any).
You can also send Hello Requests to the controller by hitting the "Check Connection" button.
Check under the "Recent Packets", within 5 seconds of pushing the "Check Connection" button, you will receive a Hello
Response packet if the controller is connected to the server.

What to do if you don't receive a 'Hello Response':

First, inquire with the technician about the data signal strength in the area. You can corroborate this information by entering the postcode of the site into the Ofcom Checker tool. https://checker.ofcom.org.uk/mobile-coverage and selecting "Indoor" and "Data" when prompted.
Confirm with the technician that the aerial (white cable) is securely housed to the carrier board. It should be clipped on to a brass/gold contact next to the modem. (See image opposite)
With one eye on the toolkit, ask the installer to take the controller into a high-visibility area (above the bar or outside in the carpark) and power-cycle it. (Refer to power cycle guide - Power-Cycling Controllers)
1-2 minutes after power cycling, if the controller has connected, the Recent Packets on the Toolkit will display a number of packets like "Modem Startup Event" and "Software Start-up Event" and possibly a few others, depending on if it automatically detects the connectors or not.

If this doesn't work, wait 5 minutes and power cycle again, as it may be trying to access a different provider's network.

If this still doesn't work, it may be the case that the Controller is using an outdated SIM Type that we no longer use, see below.

Replacing Telenor SIMs:

Ask the Technician to: completely power down the Controller (Battery included)
Once the Controller is completely off, open the SIM port on the lower board inside the controller.
If the SIM doesn't have "K" followed by a 3 digit number written at the bottom, it's a Telenor SIM and will need to be replaced with an M2M SIM (which does have "K" followed by a 3 digit number at the bottom). Alternatively, with the chamfer/angled corner at the top left, the Telenor number will be written horizontally and the M2M Intelligence SIM will be written vertically.
Remove the old SIM and replace it, then power up the controller

If this doesn't work, there are a number of non-standard temporary methods that can be used to connect for the sake of getting calibration data, although they will not allow for sustained, permanent live data from the site therefore should only be considered a last resort.

USB Mobile Tethering
Ethernet to Router

If the mobile signal strength in the area is good, and/or the technician reports high data connectivity on their phones, go to USB Mobile Tethering.

If the mobile signal strength in the area is poor, and/or the technician reports low data connectivity on their phones, go to Ethernet to Router.

Telenor SIM

M2M Intelligence SIM

Reprovisioning Controllers using the Toolkit:

If you have to swap an SD card, replace a controller or you encounter the Provisioning Loop Bug you may need to reprovision the controller.
Copy the controller serial from its page on the toolkit and navigate to the Gencloud Management Portal (http://management.gencloud.co.uk/assets/devices)
Filter for the controller serial and click the three-vertical-dot icon on the far left of the field
Click 'Reprovision'
You can track the progress of the reprovision command on the Provisioning Server using WINSCP if you have access to it. (If you don't know what this means, refer here Support Book - Diagnosing Looping Controllers using the Provisioning Server

Ethernet to Router:

Ask the technician to request to the publican temporary use of their broadband router. (The publican may deny this request)
With permission, ask the technician to use an ethernet cable to connect the router to the controller via the ethernet port on the uppermost board of the controller.
Power-cycle the controller (Power-Cycling Controllers)

USB Mobile Tethering:

Get the technician to connect their phone via Micro-USB/USB cable to one of the four USB ports on the uppermost board of the controller.
Ask them to navigate to Network Settings (This will vary phone by phone, so ask the installer what they use and then google "Samsung Mobile Tethering" for example.)
Ask them to enable USB Tethering (will usually appear in a list of other tethering options)
Power-cycle the controller (Power-Cycling Controllers)

What to do once you have received a 'Hello Response':

Refresh the toolkit device information page, if the controller is communicating with the connectors, connector information will be visible on the right-hand side of the screen.
If no connector information is visible, sign into the installer's gen-flow.com account, select the job and open the Verify Communications stage.
Click the "A" at the top of the screen to begin from the very first step (This is essential).
Deselect and re-select the controller (it will have been automatically detected when the installer input the serial number before calling you)
Advance to the next step to see if the connectors have been successfully detected.

What to do if your connectors aren't being detected:

Now that you've confirmed controller connectivity, ask the technician to power-cycle the connectors (the installer may need to hang up to do this, as it requires opening each connector individually)
Once the technician has confirmed that they have been power-cycled, refresh the page on the gen-flow website and, if they are working, the connectors should appear.
If they still don't appear, they may be too far from the controller or (and this is unlikely) the controller's RF chip has been damaged - in which case the controller will need to be replaced.
Ask the technician to move the controller as close to the connectors as possible. (This may cause the controller to lose connection to the server.)
Repeat the above steps once the controller is as close as possible without losing connection to the server.
If there is no position where the controller can maintain connection to the server AND successfully discover the connectors via RF, then:

What to do if your connectors have been detected:

If the connectors appear on this step of the Verify Communications stage and can be submitted, the installer should now be fine to continue with the installation as normal.
At this stage, you can also remotely skip ahead to Stage 7 and check the strength of the RF signal between each connector and the controller, if you wish. This can inform any issues with calibration the technician may encounter later and will be pertinent to your notes for the activity log.

Calibration Issues:

If your technician reports that during calibration, the sensors are not detecting active flow or are otherwise behaving strangely: first verify that the controller is still responding and that it is still communicating with its connectors.
If the controller and connectors are still behaving as expected, check the sensors are working by asking the technician to physically tap them while you watch the toolkit. You will see Pour Start/Stop events whenever they physically agitate the sensor if the sensor is working.
(This is a great way to diagnose faulty sensors without wasting beer)
If you see no new data packets when they tap a sensor, the cable attaching the sensor to the connector may be damaged or improperly housed.
In which case, instruct the technician to remove the cable and replace it with a fresh one. (The new cable MUST be inserted into the same port on the connector board as the cable it was replacing)
Tap the sensor again and watch the toolkit to confirm you have received a pour start/stop event.