First bootup no WIFI - need Help


 

Rich Long

New member
Hi all.. Finished my HM build, downloaded files to the SD Card and powered up. Everything powered up fine.. lights up, Adjusted the pot, screen showed "No Probe" attached probe and got temp. Connected ethernet cable to the WIFI router and Device Manager picked up the HM as "Wired" (expected) Everything was working great. Powered down both the router and the HM, Powered both of them back up without ethernet cable and no WIFI connection was detected in the Device Manager. Not sure if I missed a step so I connected the ethernet cable from HM to router and now HM can't be found by the Device Manager (wired or WIFI). I know it sounds drastic but.. Thinking I might just erase the SD card and start over, or does someone have any suggestions before I do... ? Thanks
 
Make sure you save all unsaved changes. You should see them on the top right corner of the page. Click on them and it will open a page that will let you save them.
 
Using the SSH command line interpreter, I would change the following file to:

# cat /etc/config/network

config interface 'loopback'
option ifname 'lo'
option proto 'static'
option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
option netmask '255.0.0.0'

config interface 'fallback'
option ifname 'eth0'
option proto 'static'
option ipaddr '192.168.200.1'
option netmask '255.255.255.0'

config interface 'lan'
option ifname 'eth0'
option proto 'dhcp'

config interface 'wwan'
option proto 'dhcp'
 
Sorry for not getting back. Been out of town.

I haven't gotten anywhere with it but plan on having a buddy over for a 12pk of Sams tonight. I'm pretty sure it's something I missed in the steps. Don't recall ever getting to the Attitude Adjustment screen.. But do remember the device manager page. Guess we'll see tonight..

Mike, Yes.. have a couple of dongles now.. both listed in the wiki as "Tested"

I'll post later and let everyone know.
 
What dongles have you tried? I had the same problem with the niceEshop dongle with the 6" antenna. Couldn't detect any wifi broadcasts. I had to buy an Edimax to get it to work.
 
Mike, yes, I'm using the Edimax dongle that was listed in the wiki as "Tested"
Ok... here's where I'm at with getting everything up and running with wifi. So after powering down EVERYTHING... and rebooting, I was able to successfully make connection via wifi but I can't run both internet and HM wifi at the same time. I literally have to manually pick "Connect" in my wireless connections. Not sure but I don't believe this is correct. Question, is this caused from security measures from our DSL? Do I have to disable anything for both to work? I remember a discussions that referenced having an unsecure line but not sure what to search for to follow up with..
Next problem I have is with the configuration Login. I left it at username "root" with no password and that won't give me access. I try resetting and that doesn't work either. I believe if I can get past these two issues, I should have no problem with figuring out the rest of it..
I wanted to also say thanks for all the help.
 
Were you able to sign in via SSH (I use the putty client) and see what is in the /etc/config/network file? If you could post that, it would help.
 
EAGLE is more like a bear! I think the learning curve on that is tougher than 3D modeling! If anyone knows of good resources for parts library's and perhaps some good tutorials I would like to take a look and see if I can overcome my deficiencies in board layout and get to the point where I can create files to send to OSHPark...
 
I know exactly what you mean about eagle. I learned from doing my own pcbs on version 2 of the heatermeter. Alot of trial and error. I still dont have the knowledge of proper design boards. I just keep moving parts around until i have a good looking layout with very little use of vias. But, we will see how screwed up my Aux. Tc board will be next week, lol.

Osh park has a some helpful hints on how to submit a board and they have a eagle .dru that helps with traces and drilling to their specs. I also find other finished boards on the net to look at to get some ideas.

But, all said and done, i still have no clue what im doing lol.
 
More EAGLE! Yeah it is the worst and so hard to learn what is what, especially because we don't do this for a living so the terminology is all foreign. I must have spent 200 hours on the first HeaterMeter board before I sent it to OSH Park between learning all the tools, the sizes, what "rules" actually change the board, how to move more than one part at a time without using the menu...

Now I can whip around pretty quickly and it is much less frustrating. I've tried KiCad several times but I can't get the hang of it, probably because I am thinking in EAGLE's broken terms. It's also not great on being easy to use and I think last time I gave up because I couldn't even create a board from my schematic after several hours.
 
Mache, Currently the way it loads is by me going to my network wifi connections and picking "Heatermeter" and hitting the connect button. (I believe it loads as HTTP://192.168.201.1 which brought me to the HM's main page). By making the connection to the HM, it disables my internet connection meaning either my internet is connected and the HM is not connected or the HM is connected and Internet is not connected.. Sounds strange doesn't it... Ok, anyway after making the connection to the HM which brings me to the HM main page (flames, temps, and graph) at which time I press the "Configuration" button on the bottom of the screen. This brings me to where it asks for a Username and password. From the wiki the username "root" with no password. Correct? I didn't type anything there and hit login.. It comes back with improper Username and password and that's as far as I can get.. Sorry but I'm computer stupid but love to smoke things.. I tried to follow the Software Installation but it seems I'm missing something along the way. Any words of wisdom would be very appreciated.
 
EAGLE is more like a bear! I think the learning curve on that is tougher than 3D modeling! If anyone knows of good resources for parts library's and perhaps some good tutorials I would like to take a look and see if I can overcome my deficiencies in board layout and get to the point where I can create files to send to OSHPark...

My PCB projects haven't been complex enough to NOT use the autorouter (Freerouter on-line tool for KiCAD). But routing is an art more than a science. I consider it to be a black art. I get frustrated easily, try the autorouter & poof, it's done.
If you're having trouble with Eagle, you might try KiCAD. There's a ton of tutorials on the web & if you can find a generic part that works in teh schematic, it's easy to make a footprint. For a not-so-common part, you'll spend as much time searching for a library as creating it from scratch/modifying a similar part.

I chose KiCAD over EAGLE due to the PCB size constraints, naively, it turns out, but I think I would have had the same learning curve with Eagle.

Couple of links I used to get familiar with the terminology, then it goes quicker.
http://www.michaelhleonard.com/how-to-design-the-perfect-pcb-part2/
http://contextualelectronics.com/buildpcbs/
 
Mache, Currently the way it loads is by me going to my network wifi connections and picking "Heatermeter" and hitting the connect button. (I believe it loads as HTTP://192.168.201.1 which brought me to the HM's main page). By making the connection to the HM, it disables my internet connection meaning either my internet is connected and the HM is not connected or the HM is connected and Internet is not connected.. Sounds strange doesn't it...
This is normal, default config for the HM is for the wifi to be in AP mode. You're connected to the HM as if it was your internet router (meaning the default wifi is working correctly on the HM, but it doesn't have internet connection, and shouldn't). Your computer is NOT connected to your internet router, so you don't have internet there either....
If you have a Pi A, you'll have to connect to the Wifi AP as you are doing now.
If you have a Pi B, you should probably stop now & connect the ethernet directly to you router. Connect your computer back to your home wifi. Then watch the HM screen for the IP & type that into your browser. (it will show a few seconds after power up). The only difference in this method is your computer will have internet while you work, so you can look up help when you get stuck....

Ok, anyway after making the connection to the HM which brings me to the HM main page (flames, temps, and graph) at which time I press the "Configuration" button on the bottom of the screen. This brings me to where it asks for a Username and password. From the wiki the username "root" with no password. Correct? I didn't type anything there and hit login.. It comes back with improper Username and password and that's as far as I can get.. Sorry but I'm computer stupid but love to smoke things.. I tried to follow the Software Installation but it seems I'm missing something along the way. Any words of wisdom would be very appreciated.

I can't answer this as I don't remember what the stock User/Pswd was, but you're on the right track for either method I described above. I thought it was root/blank too. Until you get past this, you can forget the SSH suggestions from above (doesn't sound like you've tried).

Once you get the login figured out, use the Step-by-step in the wiki for connecting the HM wifi to your Wifi network.
https://github.com/CapnBry/HeaterMeter/wiki/HeaterMeter-4.x-Software
 
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Thanks Andy, I do have the Pi B - I'll give that all a try tonight. Question: If I was to wipe the SD card and start over, would that reset those login username and password?
 
HeaterMeter is nice enough to restore your configuration if you try to wipe out the SD card. You could prevent the restore process by using the procedure listed HeaterMeter wiki.

If you have a keyboard and HDMI monitor you could just boot the Pi connected to that, wait for it to boot, then press enter (you should get a prompt). Type `passwd` and enter a new password.
 
Well, at least it's comforting to see you all say that you've had the same frustrations with EAGLE that I have... Maybe I will give KiCAD a try....
 

 

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