Restricted Networks and Ethernet-Only Machines
Connect a 22 IDEX V4 without a WiFi module or on a locked-down network - SD card recovery via NetworkMode.g, M552 commands, and a checklist for your IT department.
This guide is for two overlapping situations:
- Ethernet-only machines - units ordered without a WiFi module (common for government and defense customers, and for facilities that prohibit wireless devices).
- Restricted networks - corporate or government LANs where DHCP is disabled, unknown devices are blocked at the switch port, and multicast DNS is filtered.
On a standard machine, a failed Ethernet connection falls back to WiFi Access Point mode, so you can always reach the Web Interface wirelessly and fix the configuration. An Ethernet-only machine has no such fallback: if the wired link fails, the only ways in are the touchscreen and the SD card. This guide covers both.
Before you begin - safety and risk
Read the Safety - Before You Begin article to understand the hazards involved in working on the Vision Miner 22IDEX V4, including electrical, thermal, mechanical, and chemical risks. All procedures in this wiki are provided as recommendations only. By choosing to follow any procedure, you do so at your own risk.
Tools and Materials
- Vision Miner 22IDEX V4
- Ethernet patch cable (Cat5e or better)
- A computer with an SD card reader (for the SD card recovery method)
- A plain-text editor (Notepad, TextEdit, VS Code)
How an Ethernet-only machine behaves
The startup network test is the same as on a standard machine: after power-on, the firmware tests the wired link for about 60 seconds and reports the result on the chamber LEDs. The difference is what happens on failure:
| Event | Standard machine | Ethernet-only machine |
|---|---|---|
| Ethernet test succeeds | 🟡 Yellow (DHCP) or 🔵 Blue (Ethernet to PC) | Same |
| Ethernet test fails | 🔴 Red, falls back to WiFi Access Point | All LEDs off, touchscreen shows a Network Connection Failed dialog |
If you see all LEDs off and the failure dialog, do not look for the printer's WiFi access point - there is none. Continue with the SD card method below, or work through the wired-side checks in Network Troubleshooting first.
Setting the network mode from the SD card
The printer reads its saved network mode at every boot from one file on the SD card:
0:/sys/user/actions/NetworkMode.gconfig.g runs this file during startup. Normally it is written for you by the touchscreen macros (Enable Ethernet Mode, Assign Static IP, and so on). When the machine is unreachable over the network, you can edit it directly:
- Power off the printer and remove the SD card from the mainboard.
- Insert the card into a computer and navigate to the
sys/user/actions/folder. - Open
NetworkMode.gin a plain-text editor. If the file or folder does not exist (for example, after a lostuser/folder), create it with exactly this path and name. - Replace the entire content with one of the configurations below.
- Save the file, safely eject the card, insert it back into the printer, and power on.
- Wait the full 60 seconds and read the chamber LEDs as described in Network Troubleshooting.
Ethernet with DHCP
M552 I0 S1 ; Enable Ethernet modeThe router or switch assigns the address automatically. To find out which address was assigned, check 0:/IP_address.txt on the SD card after the next boot, or ask your IT department to look up the printer's MAC address in the DHCP lease table.
Ethernet with a static IP
M553 P255.255.255.0
M554 P192.168.1.1
M552 P192.168.1.101 I0 S1Replace the three values with what your IT department assigns you:
M553 P...- subnet maskM554 P...- gatewayM552 P...- the printer's IP address. It must be inside your network's range, unused by any other device, and preferably outside the DHCP pool.
Interface numbers matter
On the 22IDEX V4, I0 is the Ethernet interface and I1 is the WiFi interface. A line such as M552 I1 S1 enables WiFi, not Ethernet, and on an Ethernet-only machine it does nothing useful. Always use I0 in this file for wired configurations.
Touchscreen macros overwrite this file
Any later use of the network macros (Enable Ethernet Mode, Assign Static IP, Reset Network Settings) rewrites NetworkMode.g. That is expected: the SD card edit is a recovery method, and once the machine is reachable again you can manage the mode from the Web Interface or touchscreen as usual.
Checklist for your IT department
Restricted networks usually block unknown devices by default. Handing this list to your network administrator up front avoids most failed-connection loops:
- A switch port that does not require device authentication. If the port enforces network access control, the printer cannot authenticate itself and the link will fail even with correct settings.
- Approval for the printer's MAC address, if the network filters by MAC. To read the MAC address, open the Web Interface Console and send
M540with no parameters, or ask IT to read it from the switch after connecting the cable. - An address plan: either DHCP is allowed for this device (a DHCP reservation tied to the MAC address is the most robust option, see Static IP Setup), or IT assigns you a static IP, subnet mask, and gateway for the SD card method above.
- Multicast DNS (mDNS) availability. If mDNS is filtered, the
machine-name.localaddress will not work; connect by IP address instead (see Machine Name).
When the printer cannot join the LAN at all
If policy does not allow the printer on the facility network, connect it directly to a single workstation instead. Ethernet to PC mode gives the printer a fixed address (192.168.1.50) on an isolated two-device link with no DHCP, no switch, and no route to the rest of the network. See the Ethernet Connection article for setup and Network Troubleshooting for the step-by-step checks.
FAQ
Support
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