3.13 USB interface

The IO-FEP2 provides an USB socket for an external USB stick / storage device. The IO-FEP2 comes with a miniature USB stick which protrudes only a few millimeters from the IO-FEP2's housing.

The main purpose for the USB interface is the permanent storage of the IO-FEP2's event log. If an USB stick is plugged into the IO-FEP2 and the setup parameter 'Use USB Stick' is set to YES, the software permanently stores the event log on this stick. Otherwise the software stores the event log in volatile memory, the log files are lost when powered off in this case.

For more information about the IO-FEP2 event log, see chapter '3.6 Event Log'

USB stick monitoring

While 'Use USB Stick' is set to YES, the IO-FEP2 permanently monitors the presence of the USB stick. If the IO-FEP2 misses the stick, it shows a fault message at the bottom of the main status page.

Please note: You never should remove the USB stick while the IO-FEP2 is running with 'Use USB Stick' set to YES. First set 'Use USB Stick' to NO, then remove the USB stick. This unmounts the USB Stick allowing its safe removal. Otherwise you risk damaging the USB stick if it is written while removing.

After you have plugged the USB Stick back to the IO-FEP2, set the 'Use USB Stick' setting back to YES. The IO-FEP will add the events stored in the volatile memory to the data on the USB stick.

Other USB stick functions

You can use the USB stick to evaluate the IO-FEP2's IP address when it is switched off and to set / initialize the device's IP settings. See chapter '2.2 Setting the IP address' for more detail on this.

If you store a IO-FEP2 setup file on the USB stick, you can make the IO-FEP2 read this setup on power up. This can be used to easily copy the setup of one IO-FEP2 to another device:

1. Download the setup from the first IO-FEP2 as described in chapter 3.4.1 General Setup -- File Upload/Download
2. Rename the file to SETUPRESCUE.TXT if you want the second IO-FEP2 to skip the IP address when reading the file or to SETUPIPRESCUE.TXT if you want all parameter to be taken from the file, including the IP address.
3. Power down the second IO-FEP2
4. Copy the renamed setup file to the IO-FEP2's USB stick.
5. Plug the USB stick into the IO-FEP2 again and power ist on.

The IO-FEP3 will update its setup from the file found on the USB stick. The file will be deleted automatically after it has been read in order to make this happen only once and not with every reboot.

You should use only one of the power on initializazion files IPRESCUE.TXT, SETUPRESCUE.TXT or SETUPIPRESCUE.TXT at a time. Having them together on the USB stick may give confusing results if these files contain different settings.