Device Troubleshooting
TVA is a software platform and although it integrates a variety of devices, is unable to directly manage or monitor many types of devices. This troubleshooting guide is general in nature, and seeks to provide some guidance in testing, monitoring, and maintaining devices that feed into the TVA platform.
Below are common issues that individuals may have in configuring and maintaining smart devices, and some testing and debugging steps that may be taken.
Please note, TVA cannot provide direct end-device support and cannot troubleshoot individual devices, reporting gaps, and other issues that may be encountered. Given that devices may have connectivity issues, battery problems, RF-blocking or shielding, and a range of other factors, it is incumbent on the users of smart devices to understand the vendor best practices for configuration, placement, and provisioning for success.
The TVA support team is able to support general device provisioning and setup questions, and to provide references to guides for vendors to aid in the configuration and testing processes. If there are additional questions after reading various guides in this section, please reach out to the TVA support team for assistance.
Problem: Device Reports not being received
Device reports are the general, periodic tranmissions made by a smart device to the TVA platform. Often these transmissions occur over various network mediums, such as cellular, satellite, WiFI, or radio, and must traverse these channels to reach the TVA platform.
This problem may be broken into two parts, the provisioning process and the ongoing sustainment of the devices.
First, when provisioning devices be sure to follow the guides from the manufacturer on power, connectivity, and device placement. A satellite-connected device, for example, will not work well when placed in a position or area obscured from direct line of sky access. Next, follow the TVA provisioning guide for the device to ensure that a secure and reliable channel is created for the devices to send data to TVA. This provisioning configuration should follow the TVA guide for the device type, and during this provisioning process, steps are highlighted to validate the successful receipt of data within TVA from the device itself.
For devices that were properly configured into TVA and are no longer being received by the platform, this is generally a device-centric issue and TVA is unable to support and triage the problem. Device data reports may be impacted by a range of physical and environmental factors beyond the scope of the TVA platform, listed in the following table.
| Issue | Solution |
| Device Power is Low | The device may not transmit due to low power or degraded power over time. Depending on the device, either recharge or replace batteries to return the device to service. Be sure to follow the device manufacturer guidance on power management for the device. |
| Device Connectivity is Poor | Devices have physical requirements in order to connect and transmit data to TVA, and these include placement on an item, within a facility, or operating area. Satellite devices require line of sky access to have full connectivity, while cellular devices require proper connectivity to proper cellular infrastructure compatible with the device. Be sure to select the proper device cellular configuration and SIM card to match the region the device will be used. |
| Device Positions are Latent or Old | Devices may have connectivity but may not report new positions (GPS or Cellular-based Positioning), causing TVA to show an inaccurate position of the device. Often devices that are obscured in some manner (within an enclosure, within a facility) will have a difficult time getting a GPS or cellular fix, and may give up and report the last known position instead. This behavior will vary device to device, however the device should be reoriented and positioned as per the vendor best practices to ensure best position results. It may be beneficial to replace batteries or charge devices exhibiting this behavior as well. |
| Device is Unresponsive | TVA ultimately cannot determine why a device is not reporting to the software platform, however connectivity issues, configuration issues, and of course physical damage may cause a device to cease reporting. A device getting damaged during normal distribution activities is not necessarily uncommon, and a device being damaged by water, excessive heat, or other environmental factors can occur as well. |
Problem: Device Unable to Register
In some cases, when many devices are sourced from a manufacturer or vendor, there will be the situation where some devices are properly connected to TVA, while some small number are not provisioning properly. In this scenario the connection configuration should be validated for the poorly behaving devices (checking/swapping SIM cards, etc.) on the units, and batteries or power checked for each device.
Occasionally vendors will have issues with a "batch" of devices with component failures, loose connectors, or other problems that lead to poor registering or reporting. Reaching out to the device vendor with specifics on working devices and malfunctioning devices may provide enough information for the vendor to help getting the devices replaced or repaired.