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Display keeps disconnecting
#1
Hi Rob
Im having problems with the display disconnecting all the time tried new cables cat 5 and cat 6, still the same.
When it disconnects (the red plugs top right) it will go green if I touch the screen and still controls the relays but will not log anything or update the temps or flow meters.
Re booting will connect it and update the screen for a random period, can be for hours or even days.
All the plugs are tight, cables are new (cat 6 is a high quality one) and I have checked the boards aren't loose.
If I unplug the display cable and plug it back in it will also reconnect but within hours it will be red again.
The controller still does what its supposed to be doing when it red.
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#2
Hi Rob, sorry to hear about the issue. Do you have the web features enabled? If so next time this happens can you try logging into the web page while the plug is red to make sure it still loads. Small chance the microSD card is dropping out on controller but not certain that could even cause this. This has been my biggest issue so it'll be good to verify that's not a problem.

A version or two ago I put something in that verifies the display is connected, if 20 seconds goes by without a signal from display saying it's alive the controller will stop sending data to the display. Once this happens the only way to get the controller sending data again is resetting the display. This is why you get no data but can still control the relays, nothing stops the controller from receiving signals when this happens, only the display doesn't receive them.

Because a restart of the display fixes it this is likely the cause but I'm wondering why 20 seconds goes by without a signal. The only thing that can really hang the controller is when it connects to the network, this can take 2 seconds all the way up to a minute or more if it's having issues. If connected to the web the controller is always pinning Google server to make sure it's working, if that fails it disconnects and reconnects to the network and this could be where it's pausing for longer than 20 seconds.

So based on what I hear I don't believe anything is wrong with the hardware but is more of a software issue. As the controller runs without the display, when this happens the controller will continue to work  Needless to say I'm improving all this in v5 and this is also why I want to move all the web to a secondary device. To my surprise I've had little issues with the web but it seems some routers don't connect as smooth as others. Mine as an example will connect in 2 seconds 99% of the time but once and a while it won't connect first time and needs to wait 30 seconds for timeout and then it attempts again with success but yeah during that period the controller is down. It's not that serious because after 3 bad connect attempts it won't attempt again without a manual reset.
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#3
Hi Rob
Thanks for the reply.
That makes sense, I do have to connected to my router and have for a while been having problems with the internet dropping out all the time, that could well be the problem, I have unplugged it now and will see if there is any difference.

Is the log data stored on the display sd card then? I guess it would be asking a lot of the controller to store the data as well as monitoring everything.

The only other issue I have had is a few times when I have fed the fish the heater has failed to turn on and there tank got to 24, the alarm did go off and just had to press resume to get the heater to turn on again.
I think it was when the temperature was very near the on trigger point when feeding and dipped down during the 10 feed cycle.
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#4
That'll definitely be the problem then, if it can't get a response from Google there's a good chance the controller is being paused for more than 20 seconds. That's not too serious is most conditions as after a timeout everything is checked so if a pump was suppose to turn off but internet had controller tied up it would only run an extra minute at the most but yeah obviously not perfect. 

The log data is stored on the display but not because it's too much for controller, only valid data is logged and even if everything was at once it takes less than 100ms. These 32bit microcontrollers are lightning fast, I can't remember exactly but I think everything is checked every 5ms until a web feature is required. If it sends an email it probably stops the monitoring for about 100-500ms. Once the web is gone it's always be real time. 

Sorry about the heater, that is an issue in the software. I assume you have the outlet icon as a heater and using the heater settings? Sounds like it as I and others have experienced it as well. For now maybe add a couple rules to match the settings so one of them catch it. This will be solved in v5 for sure. Back about a year ago or more the controller relied on the display as I had the RTC on the display. I moved it to the controller so it can run without the display but doing that took major changes to the code and left things in a bit of a mess as it was deeply connected to everything, that's one big reason why I'm redoing all the code in v5.

Oh as you unplugged the router make sure to go to settings, system and touch the area that shows the web data so it says "internet disabled" if it doesn't already.
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#5
Hi Rob
Thought we had cured it, for 3 days no red icon but then it started again, internet is disabled but the screen connection is still going red.
Have noticed that network connecting appears at the top of the screen from time to time but the screen was still green after the message went.
It seems to be early hours of the morning that it happens the most but not at the same times.
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#6
Hi Rob, since you've been seeing the "network connecting" at the top of display it means the network isn't actually disabled as it's attempting to connect. Try this, connect to your network so that section shows your IP etc then press that section so it says "disabled' then unplugged the network, for sure it will be disabled and saved. If the controller auto disables it its not actually saved so will try at some point, so it's possible to say disabled but not actually be.
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#7
Hi Rob
Ok done that, will see how it goes, fingers crossed.
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#8
Great that should do it, I'm happy you happened to spot that connecting message as that would still be causing an issue.
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