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WiFly module problems: (some) connectivity issues

General
#1

Hello all,

this is from an email sent before to all the community. We are still debugging, so it means that if your kit is not connecting yet, doesn’t necessarily mean that your WiFly module is corrupted. We are working over the weekend on having registration process solved, and finally get a real number of WiFly modules corrupted, which will are already commentating to Microchip, since they did not warned us before.

Hi Smart Citizen,

I hope you are having a great week.

If you’ve been following the SCK forum’s daily activity (or if you are one of facing this issue) you might have noticed that we’ve been experiencing a lot of incidents with the WiFly module connection, which will go into Smart Citizen’s history as… the “error in connection!” catastrophe! :stuck_out_tongue:

This malfunction was really hard to reproduce as we could not clearly understand what was going on. Fortunately, a few days ago one of our test devices (the one connected to the solar panel) suffered the same problem and allowed us explore it in further detail.

After having spent a long time reviewing the documentation and verifying the information gathered, we have discovered that there is a known issue with the WiFly firmware version (Ver 4.00.1) which is installed on all the SCKs shipped to date. Apparently a new firmware update (Ver 4.41), that we were not told about, was pushed earlier this year in order to avoid corruption of the WiFly module when it operates in low power mode. This mode is when a system connected to a solar panel wakes up after the battery has been fully discharged. It also occurs when the battery is running low or almost empty.

We recommend that you-

  1. Remove the solar panel and battery from the kit and power up your SCK just through the USB connector

  2. Perform a firmware update for the WiFly module ASAP.

Once this is done you should be able to connect the solar panel and battery again with no problems.

The good news is that we are implementing this WiFly firmware update in the new registration/configuration method and it seems to work fine. We will implement this fully-featured Smart Loader in the platform as soon as it is thoroughly tested. This Smart Loader also includes SCK firmware v0.86, which slightly improves the battery life as it solves a problem with VCC measurement when the battery is low.

FYI: We really wanted to send a link to the Smart Loader with this email but we still working hard finishing it.

Lastly, we have notified Microchip in order to get a solution for the corrupted module. We will do our best to resolve this issue in the most convenient way we can for everyone. We’ll let you know more about everything very soon.

In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions.

All the best,
The Smart Citizen team
:slight_smile:

#2

I had a question about this. I’m not sure if this was to prevent the corruption or if it can solve it after it has already happened.

I have Ver 4.00.1 of the wifly module and am unable to connect after hooking up the solar panel. I’ve tried updating the wifly module, but the ftp command does not work / exist. Is this part of the corruption?

#3

Hello!

can you try as a beta test the new registration process? http://sandbox.smartcitizen.me

please note that we are fixing minor bugs, but can help on resolving the wifly problem. Let us know since we are reporting to Microchip. Where are you based?

thanks

Tomas

#4

  1. Problem is once the config is “gone” from low power - the wireless module starts up in the “Web App” - that does not have the FTP access. I have not been able to force it to start up in the “WiFly” program after the config is gone. On Wi-Fi scan - once running the Web App - it will show a Wi-Fi access point called SCK_98.

  2. I tried updating from Internet Explorer - but kept asking for Codebender extension - despite it was installed. So no luck with that.

  3. Tried doing it from Firefox - sandbox software works - and it says updating firmware. But it does not seem to update the Wi-Fly module - so still dead hardware.

#5

Same problem as mine. I check on WiFly command line. And I found the main firmware on WiFly module is corrupted and don’t have any way to do a ftp update. Every time it reboot it came back to Web App mode.

I try to set boot file to Wi

boot image 2

Set Boot Image 2, =FAIL

#6

Can you please try with Chrome? I want to make sure you are using the same environment as us. If the kit starts as an AP it is not totally dead, so hopefully it is a matter of update.

Let us know how it goes

thanks

Tomas

#7

Hi Tomas,

I tried in Chrome - but despite saying “Firmware Updating” - the USB/Serial connection from Chrome to Arduino closes right away. (Im spying on the USB port) - I have also tried without spying on the USB port.

I have no problem uploading sketches with Arduino. No yellow lights are blinking while running the Chrome code from Sandbox.

#8

I’ve tried updating via the chrome as well.

It sees the board (by letting me know the firmware needs to be updated), but nothing happens when I click upload firmware. It says ‘updating firmware’, but there are no blinking orange lights and it never finishes.

I’ve tried it several times and with different combinations. I can flash the board via arduino w/o any issue. Afterwards, when I connect via terminal, it is still on the old version.

#9

ditto here.

#10

Ok, seems that your base boards are problematic then. We are producing a new batch (out of stock) and will make sure you get that problem solved ok? can you send emails to info@smartcitizen.me with the link of this thread, your name and address? Many thanks and sorry that you got this bad luck

#11

Hi Tomas,

are you doing anything about the charge circuit? It can’t provide enough power to run the board in its current config on Solar Power. Either that - or power consumption has to be reduced by about 2/3’s.

On firmware 0.8.5 board consumption is average 100mA. If consumption can get down to 20-30 mA average - it would help a lot. But the charge circuit has an absolute maximum output of 500mA - but I have tried fiddling with the charge limitations - and the maxium battery output I can EVER get is about 250-300 mA while the board is running - which is far from enough to secure a full charge every day.

And please 2000 mA is not enough battery capacity. With a consumption of 0.1 Amp average the industry norm for solar calculations would be a 22 Ah battery is needed. If consumption got down to 0.035 Amp - then you could make due with a 6000 mA battery. (Again if you follow Solar power industry norm)

So for your future boards - replace the buck converter from a 500 mA version to a 1500-2000 mA version - and upgrade batteries to AT LEAST 6000 mA. That would buy us 2.5 days of battery power at the current consumption. (Solar Industry standards says plan for 6 days without solar). If power consumption went to 30 mA - then 6000 mA would be enough for the 6 days backup.

And for future solar panel deliveries - dependent on loss in Buck converter chosen - a 5 watt panel would be more than enough for current consumption of 100 mA. If current consumption could go down to 50 mA - a 2.5 watt panel would be more than enough. That is a LOT smaller than the panels we got from the Kickstarter.

#12

@kaz911: please keep posting your critical knowledge here. I am sure community & developers will appreciate it and find a solution in the end.
THANK YOU.

#13

Thanks a lot @kaz911, we take notes of recommendations. Doing major upgrades for the next batch we are producing in the coming weeks, and another big one for a v2 of the kit, which hopefully will come at the end of the year. This is a learning process, and we are really happy to have the participation of the community in the design decisions, even if they are technical, we are not 100% specialists in anything, which makes a lot valuable to have inputs like yours. Remember sending the email. We are putting the order of 150 more kits due demand, with more charging capability, and hope we can send you a new base in a matter of few weeks. Best and thanks!

#14

Hi Tomas, I can send you an Excel sheet for solar calculations according to standard solar industry terms.

#15

Sounds good, can you please send it to support@smartcitizen.me? many thanks

#16

Hi Tomas and all,

I think I’m starting to get this thing to work, abd every now and then I do have an outcome that is posted to the network, but I have a problem that I do not know how to solve.

After first succeeding to put .85 on the board I tried to figure out what I had to do to update the wifly module. And this is quite a task for me because of this being the first time I’ve ever worked with this module. In the end I figured that updating my board through the web based configuration module (mentioned above) would do this for me.

I succeeded in this, but I’m not sure if my wifly is now updated. If not, could anybody explain me what to do (I will google it more offcourse, but I’m just not sure).

Next to this I now have this problem with my board not finding any wifi spots. Well sometimes it does find some (12!) but most of the time 0 or it gives me this message:
Wifi Spots: 2014-03-30 13:45:21
which isn’t quite helpfull either.

Hopefully someone has a clue.

Jesse

#17

Hi Jesse

very good news for you, we just refurbished the whole setup process, making it less painful (sorry, it took a lot to make it public), so you have to:

  • Open Chrome or Safari and go to Smart Citizen page
  • Login
  • Connect your kit via USB to your computer
  • Go to your sensor configuration page
  • A new setup will appear, you might need to install the code bender plugin for either browser
  • Follow the instructions (make sure you select the kickstarted kit)
  • Voila!

it should do:

  • Firmware update (there is anew one)
  • WiFly update
  • WiFi settings

let us know how it goes

Tomas

#18

tried multiple times but is does not work :frowning:
reset is not done, so its asking to do it manually, but also nothing happens after that.
its trying multiple times, only blue leds light up

Please give us the link to the firmware so we can update via arduino IDE

#19

Yo Tomas,

then I think it worked :slight_smile:

now to make sure that I actually recieve some kind of wifi signal, and for the sun down time connect a battery.

Greetings, Jesse

#20

Hi @bwired

you can access to it from your dashboard in the smart citizen site, but here it is: https://github.com/fablabbcn/Smart-Citizen-Kit/releases/tag/v0.8.5

main repository: https://github.com/fablabbcn/Smart-Citizen-Kit

your base board might be damaged, but lets try to debug first. Please try:-

  • different cables
  • different browsers
  • different computers
  • if you can try first that it works with a normal arduino in the IDE, the better

good luck!

Tomas