Pi replacement

Technical Support
1

Hi.
I have been troubled with periodic unstable RS. NIC stop flashing and go low light, and connection is lost. Some times a reboot worked, but definitive not stable. Power supply changed, no fix.
OK. Then i have swapped/replaced the motherboard with a Pi Version B1,2.
The original board was a B+ and the unit seem to run now.
BUT, Data is written to disk with dropouts/pauses in data stream., unit connected to server, but dont show up in station view. Name of shake is changed. I guess the motherboard is naming the unit. But the connection is not working. Cant see unit in station view.

I have attached log file!

Best regards.
Lasse

RSH.R87D0.2025-06-02T08_16_44.logs.tar (2.0 MB)

1 Like
2

Hello Luffe,

Thank you very much for the logs and the detailed explanation of what you’ve done.

Your Shake is now active on StationView, and, as you correctly surmised, its name has changed as you have changed the Raspberry Pi board. You can find more information on the Shake naming convention here.

Let’s now go to the issues you’re seeing: as reported, there are many gaps, both in the local and server-side data (on StationView and DataView).

These issues are usually caused by various factors, ranging from power supply problems to incorrect NTP acquisition to microSD card corruption. Could I ask you to SSH into the Shake (if needed, instructions can be found here), and execute the following command?

ntpq -p

Then, could you please reboot the Shake, wait for about one hour, and then execute the same command again?

Once done, can you post both outputs here in your reply?

Additionally, since you have already tried changing your power supply with no effect, could you try plugging it into a different wall socket? Or, if you are using a multi-plug or extension cord, remove them, and see if this improves the situation?

Thank you!

3

Thank you for reply.
I have now a brand new SD card in use. and the following NTP request copied in this post. I hope that was what you look for!
Our power supply here in denmark is extreme stable, and i use new
psu´s at 5V-3A. I dont think that should cause the problem.

Im curious to hear what you can extract from this NTP request? :slight_smile:
Regards
Lasse

STATION: AM.R87D0.00
IP-ADDR: 192.168.1.129

Last login: Mon May 15 17:37:19 2023 from 192.168.0.11
myshake@raspberryshake:/opt $ ntpq -p
remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter

SHM(0) .GPS. 0 l - 16 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
SHM(1) .PPS. 0 l - 16 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
+ns2.eushells.co 192.38.7.240 2 u 17 64 37 6.379 -0.051 0.180
+88.83.68.3 192.38.7.240 2 u 19 64 37 4.818 -0.574 0.382
*80.209.87.103 ( .PPS. 1 u 14 64 37 4.907 0.169 0.253
myshake@raspberryshake:/opt $ Connection to rs.local closed by remote host.
Connection to rs.local closed.

C:\Users\lasse>ssh [email protected]
[email protected]’s password:
Linux raspberryshake 4.14.79-v7+ #1159 SMP Sun Nov 4 17:50:20 GMT 2018 armv7l

WELCOME TO RASPBERRY SHAKE!

Developed by:
Raspberry Shake: https://raspberryshake.org
Boaz Consultancy: https://sqlx.science

STATION: AM.R87D0.00
IP-ADDR: 192.168.1.129

Last login: Tue Jun 3 07:27:42 2025 from 192.168.1.168
myshake@raspberryshake:/opt $ ntpq -p
remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter

SHM(0) .GPS. 0 l - 16 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
SHM(1) .PPS. 0 l - 16 0 0.000 0.000 0.000
*n1.taur.dk .PPS0. 1 u 45 128 377 10.155 -0.850 0.344
+n3.taur.dk 217.198.219.102 2 u 123 128 377 8.400 -0.672 0.204
+212.99.225.86 .PPS.

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4

Hi again.
I discovered that data producer do not start up after reboot. I check that the service is activated, but its not starting?
I did uncheck and check the arrow and save. then it started.
But system status says that Pi is in “booting state” after 24 minutes. is that normal?
see here!

Shake Model : RSnB
Raspberry Pi Model : 3 Model B
System Status : BOOTING
System Version : 0.20
Ethernet Local IPv4 : 192.168.1.129
Ethernet MAC : b8:27:eb:af:87:d0
Data Producer : ON
Data Consumer : ON
Off-line Mode : OFF
Data Forwarding : ON
Server Connection : Connected
Latitude : 54.9280
Longitude : 12.1850
Elevation : 7 m
System Time : 2025-06-03 09:12:17 UTC
Disk Usage : 22% Used – 11.4 Gb Available
CPU Temp : 49 C / 120 F
Uptime : 0 Days 0 Hours 25 Minutes
1 Like
5

Hello Luffe,

Thank you very much for the ntpd outputs and the last message. Indeed, the Shake should not still be in a BOOTING phase after all that time.

Would it be possible for you to download the logs while the Shake is still booting and send them to me? They may reveal additional details.

6

Yep, i just forgot!
I do suspect that this shake has been dropped at the floor or something.
Could it be a hardware failure?

RSH.R87D0.2025-06-03T10_10_13.logs.tar (735 KB)

7

Hello Luffe, thank you for the new logs.

The ntpq outputs show that the Shake manages to find primary and secondary NTP servers, but always connects to different ones. However, in this case, the Shake is not booting because the Pi board doesn’t see the blue Shake board above it:

2025 154 08:48:13: Unable to read Firmware version number off of Serial Port /dev/serial0 after trying for 15 seconds, cannot continue!
2025 154 08:48:13: Is the Pi computer connected to the Raspberry Shake Board?  Please confirm and try again.

This, together with buffer overflow/gibberish errors seen also in previous logs:

2025 154 09:52:41>>	No Data has been received from the MCU in 12 read attempts.It appears the MCU is not transmitting data.  This is a fatal condition and should be investigated if this condition persists!
2025 154 09:52:41>>	Data has been successfully received, fatal condition resolved.
2025 154 09:52:41>>	internal error: buffer overflow!  cannot process read data...
2025 154 09:52:41>>	buf: Ok¨M¸²„Q'TI I]ª'”E'AA
2025 154 09:52:41>>	X „EœJ]ŠäL]ª
2025 154 09:52:41>>	AAºEBaƒaÀ…[ AUTEáE‹UñDIÀՁEáÈ‹U]FIÀħÔEÁE

Indicate that something may not be quite right on the hardware side. Let’s do this, following a slightly altered version of our standard troubleshooting path:

Please turn off the Shake and then check 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 already disassembled and reassembled the Shake, this should be a quick operation. However, if you require them, you can find recommended ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) guidelines and assembly/disassembly video guides here.

Once done, and if this check confirmed that all connections are good, then I would check if the current power supply is continuing to deliver a stable voltage between 5.0 and 5.2V and a current of at least 2.5A at all times (3.0A if the Raspberry Pi board that is being used is a RPi4), as a decrease in power could lead to data services interruption. And, if you have another Pi power supply that you know is in working condition, please try exchanging the current one (even if you already exchanged it once) with that and see if the Shake now works correctly for extended periods.

Lastly, 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

And, when you start the Shake again after all the above, please check if the LED lights on it are behaving as expected.

Thank you very much for your collaboration.