Shake Dead on Arrival?

Technical Support
1

Hello Raspberry Shake Team,

I’m having persistent issues with my RS1D.
After a fresh SD image installation and even trying a different Raspberry Pi 3B, the system still shows no data on the web interface (rs.local is blank).

Here are the key details:

  • Model: RS1D
  • Station Code: R4998
  • Raspberry Pi: 3 Model B+
  • Image version: 0.20 (freshly installed)
  • Power supply: 5 V / 2.5 A verified stable
  • Network: Ethernet connected and stable

From the logs:
RSH.R4998.2025-10-23T17_58_39.logs.tar (3.8 MB)

  • odf_SL_plugin.err repeatedly shows:
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...
Data has been successfully received, fatal condition resolved.
  • seedlink.log repeatedly reports [odf] terminated on signal 8 and restarts.
  • rsh-data-producer.log indicates /opt/seedlink/acquisition/seedlink/R4998 not found, confirming no live data stream.

This behavior persists after full power cycles, reseating the Shake board, and using a known-good SD card and Pi.
It seems the MCU on the RS1D board is intermittently failing.

Could you please confirm if this points to a hardware fault with the digitizer module, and advise on repair or replacement options?

Regards,
Charlie

2

Hello kitesurfercharlie, and welcome to our community.

I’m sorry to read about the issues with your freshly installed Shake, and thank you very much for your super-detailed post, and for attaching the logs from the Shake. Let’s see what we can do.

From them, it appears that the very first boot was somewhat successful

2025 296 15:41:10: Discovered Instrument: RSHAKE.1DV6
2025 296 15:41:10: Ethernet is ON and WiFi interface is disabled. To enable, see file /opt/settings/user/enable-wifi.conf
2025 296 15:41:11: Retrieving IP Address of interface eth0: 192.168.1.230
2025 296 15:41:12: Retrieving MAC Address of interface eth0: b8:27:eb:43:49:98
2025 296 15:41:12: Defining Station Name: R4998

but then, a short time later, (as you also have seen), a lot of “gibberish” pops out:

2025 296 17:41:17>>	$QLE!H‹W%S…‘EQâE!‰E
2025 296 17:41:17>>	YªQ
2025 296 17:41:17>>		16235	267
2025 296 17:41:17>>	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 296 17:41:17>>	Data has been successfully received, fatal condition resolved.

These are usually associated with a lack of power supply and/or possible microSD card corruption (which, in turn, can be caused by the same insufficient power arriving at the Shake).

I would recommend a second check to the current power supply to see if it continues 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.
If you haven’t already tried this too, test with another Pi power supply that you know is in working condition, please try exchanging the current one with that and see if the Shake now appears more stable. Also, try changing the socket the power supply is connected to.

A second check that you can do is to see what is the behavior of all the Shake’s LEDs during booth. Does it follow what is listed here, or does it deviate before/after some point?

As a last test, you try the following procedure?

  • turn off your Shake
  • disconnect all cables from it
  • restart your router (if possible) and wait for it to regain internet connection
  • now reconnect LAN and power cable to the Shake in this order
  • turn on the Shake again

Then, wait for about 30-60 minutes and, when you can, download the new logs from both instruments and send them to me. I would like to see if there are any differences compared with the current log set, and also what the logs show after a full, fresh, restart.

Thank you very much for your collaboration.

3

Hello Stormchaser,

the good news is that my I have got it working. Unfortunately I changed a number of variables simultaneously, so I do not know exactly what fixed my issues.

-I bought a new charger rated at 65W (13A)
-I tried various brands of micro SD cards.

It took something in the region of 10 attempts with different boards, micro SD cards and chargers to reach this milestone. Since it is working now I don’t want to experiment further to find out why it works in fear of breaking it. Here is the log file from the working setup though:
RSH.R4998.2025-10-25T19_04_25.logs.tar (862.5 KB)

Many thanks and kind regards,
Charlie

1 Like
4

Hello Charlie,

You’re more than welcome, and great news! Really happy to hear this.

It’s definitely on the higher side of the average curve, but we had some users that had to go through quite a bit of different microSD cards/power supply units to get everything up and running.

It is possible that, in the end, both elements you listed contributed to their part of the job.

From the working logs I’m seeing a good booting procedure, seeing the Shake board, assigning an IP address, and such. So everything should be OK there.

Two things also emerge:

  1. The time difference between the internal Pi clock and the atomic time is quite high. When the Pi is in this situation, it is recommended you update the internal clock manually to “help” NTP (the time synchronization service) do its work. You can find all instructions in the 1/2/3 numbered list here. Once done, reboot the Shake with sudo reboot and you’re good to go.

  2. I am still seeing some data-related errors in other log files. Could I ask you to SSH into the Shake and check for any undervoltage events by executing this from the command line?

sudo zgrep -a -i voltage /var/log/syslog*

It will provide all the lines in the log files where voltage issues have occurred. This will help to understand more about what’s going on “under the hood” of the Shake.

Thank you!

5

Hello Stormchaser,

I have tried out your suggestions. It looks like a low voltage is detected regularly.

myshake@raspberryshake:/opt $ sudo zgrep -a -i Under-voltage /var/log/syslog*
/var/log/syslog:Oct 26 00:01:49 raspberryshake kernel: [16561.034376] Under-voltage detected! (0x00050005)
/var/log/syslog:Oct 26 00:02:00 raspberryshake kernel: [16571.434434] Under-voltage detected! (0x00050005)
/var/log/syslog:Oct 26 00:02:19 raspberryshake kernel: [16590.154547] Under-voltage detected! (0x00050005)
/var/log/syslog:Oct 26 00:07:08 raspberryshake kernel: [16879.275996] Under-voltage detected! (0x00050005)
/var/log/syslog:Oct 26 00:07:37 raspberryshake kernel: [16908.396127] Under-voltage detected! (0x00050005)
/var/log/syslog:Oct 26 00:08:10 raspberryshake kernel: [16941.676319] Under-voltage detected! (0x00050005)
/var/log/syslog:Oct 26 00:12:20 raspberryshake kernel: [17191.277556] Under-voltage detected! (0x00050005)
/var/log/syslog:Oct 26 00:12:30 raspberryshake kernel: [17201.677640] Under-voltage detected! (0x00050005)
/var/log/syslog:Oct 26 00:12:36 raspberryshake kernel: [17207.917633] Under-voltage detected! (0x00050005)
/var/log/syslog:Oct 26 00:17:38 raspberryshake kernel: [17509.519158] Under-voltage detected! (0x00050005)
/var/log/syslog:Oct 26 00:18:22 raspberryshake kernel: [17553.199385] Under-voltage detected! (0x00050005)
/var/log/syslog:Oct 26 00:18:30 raspberryshake kernel: [17561.519409] Under-voltage detected! (0x00050005)

I Also updated the time to the nearest second. I doubt this will be of any use in resolving the power issue though.

To help trouble shoot, I have ordered the official power supply, even though the charger I am currently using has a higher current capacity. I also tried various wall sockets in my apartment.

Perhaps I should get my multimeter out an start measuring some voltages on the board?

Anyway, I am getting intermittend data, so I can chaulk it up as a partial success.

Thank you

2 Likes
6

Yes, the Shake it’s working when it receives sufficient power, and it’s also transmitting to our servers.

I think that all these undervoltage issues will disappear as soon as you receive the new PS unit.

In any case, I remain available for any other issue/query you may have.

7

Looks like you were right. I am surprised that using the official power supply made a difference, but now I am getting a constant stream of data.

Thanks for your help.

2 Likes
8

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

Happy to read that the official power supply fixed the issue for your Shake.

9

Perhaps we need to be even more explicit in our documentation and, in addition to providing recommendations on voltage and amperage, to outright say that users should be using official Raspberry Pi company power supplies.

B

1 Like
10

Good idea Branden. I have updated the relevant places in our manual, and will remember to add this info to my future replies.

1 Like