Incoming calls don't work with monitor off after last update

premudriy · Post by **premudriy** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:47 am

Hello everyone,

first of all, I run MJ on a laptop and Windows XP pro 32-bit.

So, we all know about an update to MJ in the past that prevented screensaver from starting and monitor to go to sleep mode. JM since released another update (2.0.3 I guess) and it is possible now to have our monitors turned off or screensavers turned on after a preset time.

Now, however, I'm seeing another problem: The day before yesterday I have noticed that all incoming calls go directly to the voice mail. I first thought that something is with my network/firewall/router. I have turned off all firewalls, forwarded ports 5060 & 6070. I even reinstalled windows completely: all without success, same problem.

Then I have noticed that initially, when I just start my system with MJ, it works and incoming calls go though, but when my monitor goes off (after 1 minute) incoming calls go straight to the voice mail and phone/MJ doesn't ring at all.

And no, I'm not talking about laptop going to sleep, but only the monitor to turn off after a certain time.

I decided to check my suspicions and disabled power saving for my laptop's LCD. Suspicions confirmed: without LCD turned off incoming calls go though just fine.

So, I don't understand at all how power saving for monitor/lcd can affect the work of other programs (i.e. MJ). It is important for me to turn off LCD because it's a laptop and there's no other way to turn off the screen other than power saving options.

Did anyone else notice the same behavior?

P.S.: lol. That's ironic. MJ first disabled powersaving for monitors. Now it's enabled, but if you use it, MJ doesn't work.

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:11 am

I just called my MJ with my monitor in powersave mode and my phone rang just fine..
If you are using the short extension cord which came with your MJ, don't as it can cause weird problems. Also try to use a rear USB port if possible as it DOES make a difference.
If all else fails a POWERED usb hub may help.

Joe Sica

premudriy · Post by **premudriy** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:52 pm

Thank you for replying, Bitstopjoe. I actually discovered now (after all night testing, lol) that this problem goes away after I set MJ to run in high priority. So, apparently when incoming calls arrive, MJ can't respond on time and MJ server "thinks" that my device is unplugged and routs incoming calls to voicemail.

So, ok, I will use Prio to assing high priority to MJ, but it is still strange that this issue started to happen only now. I've had MJ for 7 months and always ran it at normal priority without issues. This makes me think that update 2.0.3 somehow increased system requirements or became more demanding than previous MJ software. My laptop is quite old (700MHz P3), but up until now could handle MJ at normal priority just fine.

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:58 pm

premudriy wrote:Thank you for replying, Bitstopjoe. I actually discovered now (after all night testing, lol) that this problem goes away after I set MJ to run in high priority. So, apparently when incoming calls arrive, MJ can't respond on time and MJ server "thinks" that my device is unplugged and routs incoming calls to voicemail.

So, ok, I will use Prio to assing high priority to MJ, but it is still strange that this issue started to happen only now. I've had MJ for 7 months and always ran it at normal priority without issues. This makes me think that update 2.0.3 somehow increased system requirements or became more demanding than previous MJ software. My laptop is quite old (700MHz P3), but up until now could handle MJ at normal priority just fine.

That is because the NEW MJ update ( 2.03) requires more resources ( ram and CPU). Your laptop was doing ok prior to the update. In fact there are a lot of thin client users who were getting by on 256k of ram, they now need 512k since the update...

Joe Sica

premudriy · Post by **premudriy** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 4:09 pm

Oh no, maybe one day MJ will be so demanding that I will have to throw away my old trusty P3 laptop and get another one.

Bitstopjoe, you have also mentioned that small extension cord should not be used. I have used it up until now because my laptop gets hot/warm in the area around USB and any device that I plug directly into USB gets warm. I mainly used USB extension to prevent MJ from overheating.

So, when you've said that I shouldn't use that usb cord, did you mean the specific one that comes with MJ or any extension? Can I just use another USB extension cord?

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 4:22 pm

premudriy wrote:Oh no, maybe one day MJ will be so demanding that I will have to throw away my old trusty P3 laptop and get another one.

Bitstopjoe, you have also mentioned that small extension cord should not be used. I have used it up until now because my laptop gets hot/warm in the area around USB and any device that I plug directly into USB gets warm. I mainly used USB extension to prevent MJ from overheating.

So, when you've said that I shouldn't use that usb cord, did you mean the specific one that comes with MJ or any extension? Can I just use another USB extension cord?

The one which comes with the MJ is of very poor quality. There have been some people who's MJ has worked just fine and then all of a sudden weird things start happening and it turns out to be that extension cord. One would think since it is a non moving part, what can go bad. Yet a cold solder or bad crimp seems to go bad over time.
I have heard others say they have bought a better quality extension cord. If it were me I would rather spend a few $ more and get a POWERED usb hub instead... Not only is is better for your MJ but you get a few extra ports to boot.

Joe Sica

premudriy · Post by **premudriy** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 4:26 pm

I actually have a spare powered usb hub, so I will replace that MJ cord with a hub. Again, thank you for all your help, Bitstopjoe!

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 4:30 pm

premudriy wrote:I actually have a spare powered usb hub, so I will replace that MJ cord with a hub. Again, thank you for all your help, Bitstopjoe!

You are very welcome and glad to have been of help, and please call me Joe.

Joe Sica

premudriy · Post by **premudriy** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:53 pm

bitstopjoe wrote:...and please call me Joe.

Joe Sica

Ok, Joe.

I have two more questions:

1) I have setup "magicJack.exe" process to run at high priority using Prio utility. I also see "mjsetup.exe" in the task manager. So, should I give mjsetup.exe high priority as well?

2) Do you know of any utility/program that will force programs to stay in RAM only, i.e. prevent it from going to swap file? I would like to make MJ stay in the main memory.

KMNugent52 · Post by **KMNugent52** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 6:12 pm

premudriy,
mjsetup.exe will close after a few minutes. I wouldn't change it's priority.
HTH -Kevin N.

premudriy · Post by **premudriy** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 6:34 pm

KMNugent52 wrote:premudriy,
mjsetup.exe will close after a few minutes. I wouldn't change it's priority.
HTH -Kevin N.

I see, thanks Kevin.

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 6:57 pm

Yep Kevin is right as that program clears on its own. So no need to set it to high..
As far as ram goes ALL programs reside in ram and only use the swap file when enough ram is not there for it. Of course many programs are poorly written and dont always behave well ( like releasing it's ram when closed or using to much, etc...)
There are some "ram cleaners" which "free" up ram but I have never seen any of them work well..
If that is not what you meant, sorry I have no answers for you..

Joe Sica

premudriy · Post by **premudriy** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:00 pm

bitstopjoe wrote:Yep Kevin is right as that program clears on its own. So no need to set it to high..
As far as ram goes ALL programs reside in ram and only use the swap file when enough ram is not there for it. Of course many programs are poorly written and dont always behave well ( like releasing it's ram when closed or using to much, etc...)
There are some "ram cleaners" which "free" up ram but I have never seen any of them work well..
If that is not what you meant, sorry I have no answers for you..

Joe Sica

I asked the question about swap because O&O MemoryCache (I think that's how it's called) had an option "prevent kernel from being moved to swap" or something like that. So, I was wondering if there's some utility to do it for other programs.

I personally never heard/seen such utilities for other programs, so I kind of expected the answer. Still, I'm very thankful for all your help. This forum is a great community!

premudriy · Post by **premudriy** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:28 pm

I thought that my problem with incoming calls was gone, but after a day of testing I found that it still persists. This time, however, I know for sure what the problem is:

I'm using Tomato RAF firmware on my router and recently flashed the latest version 1.28 onto my router. I had to jump though hoops and spent hours before I determined the cause of this problem. Here's the problem in short: Turns out that developers significantly lowered timeouts for TCP and UDP (especially UDP which MJ needs) in Tomato 1.28 release. The "UDP unreplied" and "UDP assured" timouts were only 10 seconds, so MJ was loosing connection to proxy every 10 sec.

I used wireshark and logs from router to determine how often MJ contacts proxy. MJ sends packets on port 5070 using UDP precisely every 20 seconds. Therefore, I decided that 40 seconds for both UDP unreplied and assured should be a safe bet.

//=====================================================
So, for everyone who uses the latest Tomato 1.28 and has problems
with MJ incoming calls:

1) Login to your router and go to "Advanced -> Conntrack/Netfilter"
2) In the "UPD timeouts" section put "40" for "Unreplied" and "Assured".
3) Don't forget to click the "Save" button at the bottom of the page.
4) Just to be safe reboot the router and then the PC running your MagicJack.
//=====================================================

I hope this will save a hassle for someone else...

P.S.: I also think that moderators might want to change the title of this thread because the problem is not the latest MJ update, but running it with Tomato 1.28. Also, mark it as "Solved", please. Thank you!