AM.R208C firmware crashes after start

Technical Support
1

Hiya,

my shake crashed while I was out of town. Reboot leads to new crash. I created a new boot disk (assuming memory was full or something), and that booted … and then crashed. I’m attaching the logs in the off chance this is something fixable.

RSH.R208C.2024-11-24T11_24_52.logs.tar (5.5 MB)

I have a plan B. I bought a backup device in 2022, booted it to allow the firmware to update to the latest then, and then have been waiting for R208C to die (It’s technology. It dies.). Because I couldn’t get R208C back today, I ripped-and-replaced it with R96B3.

But I can’t get R96B3 to save any configuration information, and it won’t start uploading data. It’s running .18 if that is a hint to what I’m seeing.

Is there a script on the device that I can use to set the configuration (ssh myshake@… works)? Or, is there a text file that I can edit that is sourced on boot?

Any suggestions?

I’ma untar the logs and see if there is anything in there that points to a local solution.

(edit 1) There are log files that say “no dns server found”, that was because I was not connected to the network with I put in the new microsd card. Can probably safely ignore those.

(edit 2) Plan: Patience, grasshopper. I’m going to let it update to .20 and see what happens.

Thank you,
r

1 Like
2

Hello rip, and welcome back to the community!

Thank you for the logs from your Shake. I see that the booting procedure (except for those “no dns” messages) appears to be fine. Do you know if the crash was power-related (power cut, or similar), or if something else was involved?

Could you check if, when the Shake boots, its LEDs behave as described here Technical Specifications? Or, if there is any discrepancy, where/when it happens?

My first thought would be to check and see if the current power supply you are using is continuing to deliver a stable voltage between 5.0 and 5.2V and a current of at least 2.5A at all times, as a decrease in power could lead to data services interruption. Also, if you have another Pi power supply you know is in working condition, please try to exchange the current one with that and see if the Shake now correctly works for extended periods.

A second check that you can do is to see if all the connections between the sensor, the blue Shake board, and the Pi board are still solid and free from dirt or any other element that could compromise transmission. As you have recently reassembled the instrument, you should find this process quick and easy (but guidance is always available if required). And, as usual, if you decide to disassemble the Shake when doing this, please ensure you are using proper ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) protection (such as gloves, etc.).

As a last resort, and if all these checks come out as positive, then I would recommend re-burning the microSD card again (or using a different microSD) after formatting and erasing all its data/partitions first (you can use DISKPART for this as it is very efficient), and see how the Shake behaves with the newly installed system, removing potential issues derived from corrupted files. I will leave the burning instructions link here for your convenience: microSD card topics

Also, if you haven’t already done this, I would recommend trying a new microSD card, as the one you are using could be corrupted beyond simple files and programs not working correctly.

Thank you very much for your collaboration.

3

Hi,
Thank you for looking over the logs.

I don’t know what caused it. The first thing I noticed was that it was offline almost immediately after rebooting it. I could boot it, and get access to rs.local/config – and then get “Shake is offline” overlay. Usually within 30 seconds.

The LED behavior is as expected during after boot, ie solid red/flashing green/blue + orange/green on traffic, until the crash, then the motherboard green is out and the green-on-traffic is also not blinking. This is in line with my assumption that it boots, then crashes.

The power supply is the one that came with R208C, ie nominal [email protected]. When I use it with R96B3, R96B3 works fine.

When I cleaned it out, it did look like a series of spiders had used the inside of the case for their own private hunting ground. Disassembly did not include removal of the Shake hat or similar. I will look at that next, to see if this was a CSP (cooked spider problem) (heh, a literal ‘bug’ in the system) or similar.

I did burn a new microSD (see first paragraph of original post) and ran that in R208C, and it had the same behavior (launch, run, bork). I guess a good test would be to swap the microSD cards between R208C and R96B3, and see how they react…

B3 has updated to .20. I entered my config data, got the ‘confirm using password’, then it goes to the “Attempting restart…” but never comes back.

When I reload the page, it still says “Off” for the data forwarding, and Not Connected for Server Connection. Stand Alone is also Off. After loading settings, coming back to the Settings dialogs shows none of the data I entered.

Best,
Richard

2 Likes
4

Thanks for all the additional information rip!

Yes, the microSD card swap would be a good test to have, just to exclude that factor from the issues equation. It could be caused by the spiders, we had a couple of such instances in the past where the Pi board had to be replaced.

And, on this, it would also be interesting to test an entirely different Pi board (if you have one) that is not one used by the two Shakes. The Shake code will change, but it will give us an unbiased view on the situation.

Different testing combinations could be:

  • new microSD + old Pi board(s)
  • new microSD + new Pi board
  • old microSD + new Pi board

Regarding the fact that the Shake doesn’t retain the new data you input in the configuration… could you manage to download the logs from R96B3 and send them? I would like to take a look at them and see what they say.

Thank you.

5

Here are the logs from R96B3:

RSH.R96B3.2024-12-10T14_54_42.logs.tar (546.5 KB)

The MD-info.json file is populated, but when I look at the config page at rs.local, it does not populate with the information in the json file.

I’ll fiddle with the microSD boards later today…

1 Like
6

Hello rip, thank you for the new logs.

Yes, I can see that, in fact, the Shake appears as new, without any previous configuration. Everything else looks fine so I have asked our software team what could be the reason why the software is not retaining the information you input.

I’ll let you know as soon as I get a reply.

7

Hello again rip,

Our software team confirmed that while this is an unusual situation, the fact that the microSD card is not retaining any new data shows some kind of card corruption. That is also why I advised the tests in my previous message.

A full microSD card wipe (that you have probably already done) with DISKPART or a similar tool can help, but if the card is internally damaged, then the only option is to get a new one.

Whenever you are done with the tests, no hurry, just let me know and we’ll take that from there. We are always available to see things through.

8

A Project! Sweet!

Thank you for working with the sw folks.

Three microSD cards are available, “8C” (R208C), “B3” (R96B3), and “NW” (new card, newly flashed).

8C B3 NW
R208C
R93B3

will work that, but will probably be on the Weekend.

2 Likes
9

After much swapping, I ended up with 3 different microSD cards and 2 working devices.

The original card from R208C was corrupted somehow,
The original card from R93B3 didn’t work in R93B3 but worked in R208C,
The newly flashed card works in both.

R208C has R93B3’s card, R93B3 has the new card. Yes… strange.

R93B3 is back on the shelf, and R208C should be talking to your servers again…

Thank you for your guidance!

Best,
r

1 Like
10

Hello rip,

Great to hear that your Shake is back online!

Not 100% sure why a microSD would work in one instrument and not in another, but something similar happened to me while swapping cards on my not-Shake Pis.

No trouble at all, you’re more than welcome.