reef-pi :: An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi.

[Ranjib]

Objections if I contribute a driver to do the reset in the reef-pi software? I’ll add support for the SMC while I’m at it

I am not sure I understand what you are saying, but you know I wont object to things that are useful :0)

 

[theatrus]

I am not sure I understand what you are saying, but you know I wont object to things that are useful :0)

Right now the watchdog is being reset by the watchdog daemon. Ideally we probably reset it inside reef-pi, as we care if the system enters some state where that refuses to run with the caveat that you need to disable it if you shut down reef-pi or else your system reboots

 

[Ranjib]

Right now the watchdog is being reset by the watchdog daemon. Ideally we probably reset it inside reef-pi, as we care if the system enters some state where that refuses to run with the caveat that you need to disable it if you shut down reef-pi or else your system reboots

Ah.. got it, you mean instead of watchdog userspace daemon , reef-pi should update the counter. And as a side effect, we have to always run reef-pi.
I dont think this is a good idea, there are many cases where reef-pi will not run on pi, and thats as expected (upgrade/reloads etc). On the other hand I am not seeing the benefit (other than being easy, and less user configuration) of doing this work on reef-pi end.

 

[stefanm]

I was trying to complete my build yesterday, I touched the stereo jack for the temperature probes and got shocks, at first I thought it was a pokey piece of solder.

Then I used an electrical tester, every point on the relay module and the l293d including the grounds showed voltage.

Is this normal or do I have a problem?
Everything is more or less working properly.

 

[theatrus]

Ah.. got it, you mean instead of watchdog userspace daemon , reef-pi should update the counter. And as a side effect, we have to always run reef-pi.
I dont think this is a good idea, there are many cases where reef-pi will not run on pi, and thats as expected (upgrade/reloads etc). On the other hand I am not seeing the benefit (other than being easy, and less user configuration) of doing this work on reef-pi end.

Correct, you can’t use a 1s watchdog realistically. But it’s a single purpose device, the reset loop should be done by the highest supervisory level if at all possible.

 

[Ranjib]

I was trying to complete my build yesterday, I touched the stereo jack for the temperature probes and got shocks, at first I thought it was a pokey piece of solder.

Then I used an electrical tester, every point on the relay module and the l293d including the grounds showed voltage.

Is this normal or do I have a problem?
Everything is more or less working properly.

not sure . This is an AC tester? I have not used this on any of my circuits. Whats multimeter reading, if you have one.

 

[stefanm]

not sure . This is an AC tester? I have not used this on any of my circuits. Whats multimeter reading, if you have one.

Yes its An AC tester, multimeter reads 0,5 or 12 volts plus whatever the pwm or signal voltages are, all working fine except 1 doser and 1 relay. The shocks were minor, just irritating. Though I was under the impression that these low voltage circuits wouldn't give a noticeable electric shock, the PSU's are 5 volt 2 amp to the pi, 5 volt also 2 amp to the 5v on the l293d modules and the relay module, 12volt 6.3 amps to the l293d module, total of 3 PSU's.

 

[Ranjib]

Yes its An AC tester, multimeter reads 0,5 or 12 volts plus whatever the pwm or signal voltages are, all working fine except 1 doser and 1 relay. The shocks were minor, just irritating. Though I was under the impression that these low voltage circuits wouldn't give a noticeable electric shock, the PSU's are 5 volt 2 amp to the pi, 5 volt also 2 amp to the 5v on the l293d modules and the relay module, 12volt 6.3 amps to the l293d module, total of 3 PSU's.

You should not experience any shocks :-/ . I touch 12v power chords with bare hands and with no issues. May be there is a short or something else I’m missing

 

[Ranjib]

Has anyone extended the length of the Photoelectric Water Sensor cord? The sensor looks really interesting but its cord is super short. I am hoping to extend it up to 4-6 feet but am unsure on the best parts to do it with. My initial thought are to cut the cord between the sensor and its board and install some sort of 4 pin jack. Thoughts?

I have used this with success https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00Z...vel+sensor&dpPl=1&dpID=51YQweu7MmL&ref=plSrch There May be other vendors as well

 

[stefanm]

You should not experience any shocks :-/ . I touch 12v power chords with bare hands and with no issues. May be there is a short or something else I’m missing

I get the feeling one or two of the PSU's maybe faulty, I'll swap them out, maybe get a single 5 volt 2.5 amp to power the pi and the other 5 volt boards, I already have a brand new 12 volt PSU.

 

[4dtough]

Has anyone extended the length of the Photoelectric Water Sensor cord? The sensor looks really interesting but its cord is super short. I am hoping to extend it up to 4-6 feet but am unsure on the best parts to do it with. My initial thought are to cut the cord between the sensor and its board and install some sort of 4 pin jack. Thoughts?

I extended mine between the plug and sensor with telephone wire, soldered and heatshrink. I've had no problems

 

[Zekth]

Any chance you could share what did get written for documentation of API v2? I'm seeing some API v1 endpoints returning 404 though the module is enabled (and running).
Thanks

Interesting note. I'll push an enhancement about this. Maybe add some swagger spec to the project.

 

[pickupman66]

@Tom Bishop

Here is the memory this am.

From reading though the logs, I simply cannot see what went wrong. the system just stopped logging at Feb 3 17:46:38 when it went to run the scheduled temperature check. after that, the log shows the hard reboot that I did. im sort of at a loss here because the GPIO that control each outlet just maintained their states. Temp and water level was within spec so after this point, they just stayed off. However the GPIO that were signaling the other power devices stayed on. if Rasbian was down, these normally cut off (at lease when i reboot via the gui), so it appears it just went into a state of crash whereas i believe Rasbian had just completely locked up.

 

[Bigtrout]

I get the feeling one or two of the PSU's maybe faulty, I'll swap them out, maybe get a single 5 volt 2.5 amp to power the pi and the other 5 volt boards, I already have a brand new 12 volt PSU.

There is no way 12v and 5 volts should shock you. Be careful you may have 120v floating around somehow.
Check your power supply wiring. Are they wall warts or enclosed supplies?
Check that your 120v hot and neutral are not swapped, which could bring your entire case to 120v if the hot is grounded by mistake. Do you have a wiring picture we can look at?

 

[bishoptf]

@Tom Bishop

Here is the memory this am.

From reading though the logs, I simply cannot see what went wrong. the system just stopped logging at Feb 3 17:46:38 when it went to run the scheduled temperature check. after that, the log shows the hard reboot that I did. im sort of at a loss here because the GPIO that control each outlet just maintained their states. Temp and water level was within spec so after this point, they just stayed off. However the GPIO that were signaling the other power devices stayed on. if Rasbian was down, these normally cut off (at lease when i reboot via the gui), so it appears it just went into a state of crash whereas i believe Rasbian had just completely locked up.

Disk space looks fine, it did lock up I believe at the OS level, Ranjib mentioned watchdog, and I agree need to enable something that if the OS hangs you are notified. Will think about this and see what the easiest yet reliable solution.

Let's get someore data points, what Linux raspbian version do you have installed and when was the last time you did OS updates?

Do a uname -a at the command prompt and report back.

 

[Ranjib]

I extended mine between the plug and sensor with telephone wire, soldered and heatshrink. I've had no problems

you have a reef-pi build ? or its related to something else, just curious

 

[pickupman66]

Disk space looks fine, it did lock up I believe at the OS level, Ranjib mentioned watchdog, and I agree need to enable something that if the OS hangs you are notified. Will think about this and see what the easiest yet reliable solution.

Let's get someore data points, what Linux raspbian version do you have installed and when was the last time you did OS updates?

Do a uname -a at the command prompt and report back.

Linux raspberrypi 4.14.62-v7+ #1134 SMP Tue Aug 14 17:10:10 BST 2018 armv7l GNU/ Linux


NO, I have not updated Raspbian since initial install. @Ranjib would you prefer I move this over to my build thread?

 

[stefanm]

There is no way 12v and 5 volts should shock you. Be careful you may have 120v floating around somehow.
Check your power supply wiring. Are they wall warts or enclosed supplies?
Check that your 120v hot and neutral are not swapped, which could bring your entire case to 120v if the hot is grounded by mistake. Do you have a wiring picture we can look at?

I'm not in the US and we have 220~240 volts on mains, on a good day, the potentially offending PSU's are 2 pin, so should work either way, I'll swap them out and see if the problem persists. I did gander though some of the RPI forums and others had experienced similar, fingers crossed I'll get this sorted this week.

 

[Ranjib]

Linux raspberrypi 4.14.62-v7+ #1134 SMP Tue Aug 14 17:10:10 BST 2018 armv7l GNU/ Linux


NO, I have not updated Raspbian since initial install. @Ranjib would you prefer I move this over to my build thread?

It’s ok, this is a very serious thing. I do like if it’s in your thread, as it sets some realistic expectations and we can see some timeline of build start to first serious issue happening etc,,,

 

[pickupman66]

OK. I will go cross post what I have done there.

Link to build thread