PilotAware
British Forum => Technical Support => Topic started by: neilmurg on May 19, 2018, 11:21:55 am
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I have a pilotaware that was working a year ago but now doesn't. The red light comes on and flashes 2 long 3 short, the green light also 's flashes briefly twice. Light flashes then repeat. There is no WiFi broadcast. I suspect the WiFi or dvb-t dongle. I know I need to renew the license and I want to register it to someone else.
I've ordered replacement WiFi /dvb-t.
I've downloaded the latest software (correctly) and put it in, it meats to have loaded (mem card reformatted)
Advice please
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Neil
Can ypuattach a monitor to see any messages ?
Thx
Lee
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I haven't managed to do that, I'll have another go. And try the new dongles on monday, thanks
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When connected to the TV with HDMI I just get a pretty screen with blocks of colour which comes on for a second, goes off and repeats
The bridge is PA019223 and I THINK the mac addr is b8:27:eb:4c:38:7e but I'm waiting for the WiFi to confirm
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That's not good, it sounds like the Pi can't read the card.
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Hi Neil
Check the sd card is seated correctly
If it appears seated correctly, try inserting to a pc to see if it is still readable
Sounds like either a pi or sd problem
Thx
Lee
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trying a new SD card
same result :( poorly Pi then...
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Hi Neil,
Sound very like it, but try booting it without any of the dongles attached (with the HDMI attached to your TV) and see what happens. It is just possible that a dongle fault could be stopping the RPi booting properly. Worth a try to see what happens before replacing the Pi.
Regards
Peter
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Good suggestion, thanks
I tried that, and with different combinations of dongles, the result was
No dongles: a single flashy light sequence as before, then nothing
Different Dongle combo's: as before, same flashy light sequence repeating.
I'm leaving it with no dongles and a fresh SD card to see what happens in 30 min
I've sourced a Pi 2 for £16, so I'm 1/2 way to my 4th PAw, win-win :-)
:Irrelevant side note:- We have a Garmin 345 Audio panel now, so if PAw used the Pi 3, I could get PAw audio on Bluetooth(?), and WiFi is built in! - I know it's not that simple... Carry on, thanks for what you've achieved, it's great stuff
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Hi again Neil,
The new 'Rosetta' runs on a Pi3 B (not the newer B+ !) with built-in Wifi, so upgrade to a Pi3 is now possible, though we don't use the bluetooth as yet. We have already had requests to add Bluetooth functionality for PAW Audio out, so it may happen at some point, but it isn't 'imminent'.
If you want to change over your RPi, remember that you need to drop Lee a PM and ask him to change over your licence, as it's tied to the specific RPi MAC address.
Just a thought, what 'model' is your 'old' PAW? Is it a 'Classic' or 'Homebuilt' - and does it have a 'Bridge' fitted? I just ask because if it's a 'Homebuilt' on an RPi 1 with no 'Bridge' that would explain why the software won't run.
Keep us posted.
Regards
Peter
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Thanks Peter
It's a classic, Pi 2 with a Bridge, I built 3 of them. This one was sold on at cost a year ago... :-\ hey ho :D
thankyou for the realistic assessment of Bluetooth/audio, that's helpful
Wilco on the MAC address, the license needed sorting out anyway so that was always going to be a necessary step
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The replacement Pi 2 B is behaving in exactly the same way.
So either:
a) I bought a cheap Pi with the same fault
b) There's something wrong with the way I'm populating the SD Card
The files on the SD card are:
Directory of D:\
29/04/2018 16:15 17,932 bootcode.bin
29/04/2018 16:15 302 BUILD-DATA
29/04/2018 16:15 8,172 CHANGELOG.txt
29/04/2018 16:15 2,250 INSTRUCTIONS-README.txt
29/04/2018 16:15 2,572,664 recovery.img
29/04/2018 16:15 112 recovery.cmdline
29/04/2018 16:15 633,252 recovery.elf
29/04/2018 16:15 23,388,160 recovery.rfs
29/04/2018 16:15 0 RECOVERY_FILES_DO_NOT_EDIT
29/04/2018 16:15 2,644,576 recovery7.img
29/04/2018 16:15 29 RELEASE.PilotAware.txt
29/04/2018 16:15 9,728 riscos-boot.bin
29/04/2018 16:15 <DIR> defaults
29/04/2018 16:15 <DIR> os
29/04/2018 16:15 <DIR> overlays
29/04/2018 16:15 14,010 bcm2708-rpi-b.dtb
29/04/2018 16:15 14,273 bcm2708-rpi-b-plus.dtb
29/04/2018 16:15 15,356 bcm2709-rpi-2-b.dtb
29/04/2018 16:15 15,992 bcm2710-rpi-3-b.dtb
16 File(s) 29,336,808 bytes
3 Dir(s) 15,763,800,064 bytes free
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What power supply and power cable are you using?
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anker 13000 and an approved cable
I'm just trying a different Anker and cable, standby 10, it's changed behaviour...
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its just too much of a coincidence to have two Pi's fail in the same way
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It's working, thankyou SO MUCH. I need to sort through this guys cables / batteries and find out what's good
Full disclosure - one of my SDs was 2Gb, not big enough; one of my cables has an elbow connector, couldn't use the HDMI with it
Now I only need a bridge and a case, I could build another one.
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erm.. the screen has stopped scrolling
Raspbian GNU Linux 8 ....
Login ...
Oh, no, as you were, it's going again
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Thats correct if all is well - it should end at the login prompt
now go to the WiFi and make sure you can connect
Thx
Lee
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I'm not quite there.
I'm now uncertain of the quality of my power delivery. I've tried powering the Pi from the mains (that I use to recharge my phone). Things have improved, I can see that the SD card is read and reformatted, but it doesn't get past the login prompt, it does go past that point, but I get no wifi.
I'm trying again using the more successful Anker/cable combo, but I thought I'd ask if there are any more words of advice..
Thanks for your help so far, I'm getting there. (embarrassed about the low power/brownout, but, it's always easy looking back)
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Also, while I'm waiting for the PAw to reformat the SD card - again, I'd just like to say:-
I bet you don't even realise properly what you've done. From a standing start you've created an open EC system which can recognise ALL the available EC signals available. And made it from cheap commercially available stuff, apart from the bridge, it's the most cost effective system available. No one else is developing anything like this without trying to make it proprietary (eg FLARM). As far as I'm concerned what you've done is a major contribution to GA aviation safety. Without making pointless comparisons, I rank your contribution worthy of Queens Award recognition.
Thankyou
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Hi Neil,
Glad to hear you’re making progress. Yes it is amazing isn’t it. Three years ago we were all cobbling bits together and having to solder on extra bits. Now you can go online and buy a ready assembled unit all in one box and it’s much more powerful and comprehensive in what it can do - and with audio alerts. Or of course you can still build your own.
Lee got an award a while back from the Royal Aero Club in recognition of his contribution to air safety and Keith got an award from the LAA recognising his contribution in promoting and co-ordinating the rollout of the OGN-Rebroadcast Network, so well on the way!
For some time now, we have recognised the importance of a reliable power supply - especially with PilotAware’s higher power requirements, which is why we always supply a high quality ‘JuicEbitz’ power cable, with 20awg power wires. To be reliable, this MUST be matched to a power source which will supply at least 2amps (2.5 is even better) without the voltage dropping below 5volts. Failing to achieve this probably accounts for more PAW failures than anything else, though thankfully the word is getting out there.
Best Regards
Peter