Pics for the scrap book

-Dave

Dave, I have a few thoughts here, then I'll address your questions.

You mentioned that you are not using a level converter, and I know that the LED's can be very sensitive to the voltage applied. I've always built mine using a level shifter as described. I can only wonder if this could be the source of the intermittent behavior.

Another possibility is that the script is setting an error and stopping. However, when this happens, it will leave the LED"s the in the state (colors) that they were in when the error occurred, so if the board is always going dark then it would have to be when the software starts up during reboot and an error occurs before the lights are turned on. You would have to hook a monitor to the board and watch for an error message. If you see one, please take a picture and post it here.

As for the IP and network. If you are not trying to access the web interface, the IP or network is of no consequence. As long as the WiFi credentials have been set up properly, the the software will have access to the FAA weather database. However, if you decide to access the web interface, you will need to know the current IP address.

So let me try your questions;

• Big Q: What / where should I look to further investigate my alleged network issue and why the map goes dark?
  • As mentioned, I believe the lack of a level shifter might be the cause. Otherwise hook a monitor up and look for an error code that gets set.
• Q1) Where do I mod to config for static IP? 
  • No changes to the config.py file are necessary for a Static IP. The router's admin interface must be used to assign a static IP to your board. This will ensure that the web interface will always be available at the same IP address.
• Q2) Can I also set config for multiple networks? My investigating has led me to solutions for these but - My efforts seem not to take on Q1 and Q2. 
  • The config.py does not hold any IP address information, in fact none of the LiveSectional scripts hold any network IP information. Therefore this wouldn't help you.
• Q3) If the network drops and then resumes and the RPi cannot get the same IP as prior, will it self recover - I think yes if SSID and PSK are the same. 
  • Yes. The RPI's operating software handles this. The LiveSectional software simply accesses the available internet. So if the assigned IP address is changed by the router, the internet would still be available and therefore LiveSectional will continue to work. The problem will be that the next time you want to access the web interface, it won't load in the browser, since you are trying to access an old IP address. This is why setting a static IP for the board can be very helpful. But remember this is done by entering the Router's admin interface to set up a static IP and has nothing to do with the LiveSectional software.
• Q4) Are RPi 2,3,4 more stable in any way? Specifically wrt Wireless - I think not.
  • There have been many improvements made as new models have been released, so there may be something to that. But as it relates to the LiveSectional software there shouldn't be much of a difference. As noted before, the Pi Zero is noticeably slower than the newer models, but I have 2 maps currently running on Pi Zero's and both are working.

As a final thought, my current build project is of the United States with 170 airports used, and after running fine for about a month it started malfunctioning where the LED's would turn off. After diagnosis, I found that the wire supplying 5V dc to the RPI became loose which caused the intermittent issue. So it may be worth double checking the wiring as well. If I think of anything else, I'll edit this post and add to it. - Mark

Ok Mark, thank you. You're helping me narrow down areas to investigate. 

All three maps with a complete set of their own hardware have had the same problem at ONLY the airport site, plus a small prototype unit so I'm not suspecting 5vdc wiring or other. I shall however meticulously re-inspect the two I have easy access to so as to ensure I'm not making a wiring error on each and all. I will also add the level shifter to each to rule that out and add redundant 5vdc leads to the other end of led string to reduce voltage drop over the line. 

I understand the RPi will connect to an ssid with perhaps a new ip address if required and will continue to function but the web interface will need to reflect the new ip. I've seen that a couple times. Note: There's a pc program that will sniff out the ip called, Pi Finder or something like that.  Works well,  most of the time. 

I'll hook up a monitor to the problem unit and hope for errors! I may also try a RPi4 to see if anything changes. 

Q: Will the log file be useful in debug mode? 

Fyi: As an experiment tonight I rigged my test bed system and rebooted it several times allowing it to connect to 3 different networks - two routers and my cell phone as hot spot.  Once I cycled through initializing all 3 ssid's via BerryLan on reboot and the RPi had connected to each at least one time,  I then rebooted over and over whilst turning off 2 of the 3 ssid's in random sequence and the RPi did a perfect job of finding the one of the three that was enabled every time.  Obviously there is a config file that "remembers" successful prior connections somewhere in the RPi.  This again makes me wonder why (& if) the RPi lost the municipal ssid connection and never restored operation after multiple reboots-or stayed black for other reasons.  Maybe it has nothing to do with that network? Or could this have something to do with the (maybe)  6 different wireless repeaters in the airport building? Doubtful. They should be operating "transparently" to the RPi. I've also tried hooking up both a Netgear AC 1900 and AC 2200 extender on their network and though I get local connection to the extender there's no pass through to the outside internet connection. Gateway or firewall issues?  Probably unrelated to the RPi issue but another curious problem. (Security is set properly. )

 I'll let you know what I find.

  Thank you. 

- Dave

Did you receive the set of pics sent yesterday?

Is it possible to redirect the screen output to a file on the SD Card? Leaving a monitor set up may not be an easy option at the location and I am concerned that the error message may scroll out of view?