HeaterMeter v4.0 for RaspberyPi / Standalone


 
Aha! Well that's sort of good news. I also tried using the new bootloader on my Pis and they both boot but don't respect settings in the config.txt file so it kinda screws up the memory. I can set gpu_mem to 16 and then it won't boot at all, so clearly it is reading the file, but any other number has no effect. I'm going to work it out so we can update to the newer boot firmware if possible.

Thanks for sticking with it and working it out, Lukas. Are there any other identifying characteristics about your board revision? I think I might order another rPi to see if I can get one that doesn't work for testing. Are all the 512MB devices made with Samsung chips in the UK?
 
So does it mean I can use the rPi without any problems and it should work with the heatermeter or are there any problems because it don´t respect the config.txt?

I can upload a picture of my board (when I´m at home) if you want but for me there are no identifying characteristics.

I found a table with chip versions from different suppliers:

http://elinux.org/RaspberryPi_Boards

The most of the boards with the hynix chip are from RS. So if you want to buy a new one the chance at RS should be higher to get one than at Farnell.
 
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It should be fine either way, regardless of if it supports the config.txt. It is more my stubbornness. "I said to do this why aren't you doing this?!" The entirety of the LinkMeter system idles at roughly 17MB plus maybe 1MB for file cache so there's no possible way it would use 128MB of RAM (which is what I get with the new bootloader).

That table is very helpful. I just placed an order for one of these new fancy 512MB boards so let's see what I get, and hopefully it won't boot! (Who in their right might has ever said that?)
 
Turns out that they pushed the vc-mem split into the kernel platform module 7 months ago. In order to change the memory split, I'll have to patch the kernel up to a somewhat more recent version. They way they seem to be somewhat randomly changing the USB code all the time makes me dubious of where the "stable" version is. On the plus side, we'll get turbo mode TURBOOOOO and access to the temperature sensor on the chip. Not looking forward to cherrypicking that tree but it looks like something that could be advantageous.
 
Well bad news, I guess? I got a rPi delivered shockingly fast built on 2013 week 4 and it has the Samsung chip (boardrev 0x0e). It boots with either version of the bootloader no problem. I've started pulling the kernel updates from git but it is slow going due to there being a lot of differences between the OpenWrt Linux 3.2 tree and the rPi Linux 3.6 tree. Out of 25 pages of commits I've got roughly half of one done in 6 hours. Luckily most of those are upstream Linux updates which I can skip so it won't take as long as it might seem but golly this is a pain,
 
Ah yes that are "bad news" but I mean it is working at the moment with the new bootloader so it is not a big problem more a little bug. And fixing it don't need to be very fast. Anyway if you have any betas or something like that you can send it to me an I will test it.
 
At the weekend I did my first pulled pork with the heatermeter and my WSM 18.5" and nearly everything was perfect except one problem with the temperature of the food. At 2am my phone rang(great thing) and I woke up and saw that the food should be finished. As I looked at my phone I saw really fast that this could not be real. Without doing anything the temperature fall back to normal and than it happend again. But then there was no more problems till the end. Does anybody know this problem or had the same? Probes are the ET-732
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Cannot connect to HeaterMeter from rPi

Well, I finally got all of my parts for the heatermeter and I assembled everything yesterday. I hooked the heatermeter up to my rPi and configured Wifi. When I go into the webpage utility and click on "linkmeter" I see this:

Capture1.png


When I go to AVR Firmware I see this:

Capture2.png


The red and yellow leds are solid on on the heatermeter. Any ideas? I am wondering if the ATMega chip is blown. Any way I can measure voltages on it to check?

Many thanks.
 
The first image would be normal if the chip was blank. The second indicates no communication at a basic level, which can mean anything from the chip is in backward, or it isn't powered, or the reset line isn't pulled up, or the SPI lines aren't making good connection, or the header between the rPi and the HeaterMeter board isn't connecting. Get out the multimeter!
 
Quick question about blower motors, you said earlier in the thread that "Any 12VDC fan can be used as long as the current draw isn't too high." My question is what is the maximum current draw the blower can have? I have the one in the parts list but need more CFM for my big offset smoker. I was thinking about something like this http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/PMB1297PYB1-AY.(2).GN/259-1367-ND/1021216 which has a current rating of 0.720A. Is that too big? Could I get away with something like that if I used a larger power supply?
 
Yeah it is really limited by your power supply more than anything else. The power MOSFET is a really sturdy part rated for something like 50A, but there's no heatsink so let's say at worst 10A. It has a super-low Rds(on) which is why it is relatively expensive but it can handle a tremendous amount of current.

EDIT: Remember the Model A pi is going to take about half an amp too so size your power accordingly. If you use a model B it is closer to 0.2-0.3A.
 
Requesting some help. I am trying to use my Maverick 732 food probes and they will not register a temperature. I have tried two different food probes in all 3 open food jacks with no luck. The probes are fine because I have plugged them into the Maverick and got readings. I can also plug in my pit probe and get readings on my HM in any of the four jacks. I have unplugged to restart and still no luck. These probes worked the last time I used my HM. Any suggestions?
 
I guess standard ET-732 probe checklist:
-- Make sure they're not pressed in too far. Push them in all the way then pull them back out slightly until you feel them click into place
-- Make sure your config is set to the proper probe coefficients
-- Is the temperature too low? They bottom out around room temperature and may display as "off" because of that. Try placing them in a glass of warm water to see if they start showing up.
-- Last ditch effort: ground the braid on the probes. Try touching a wire from the metal ring bit of the probe jack to the metal braid on the probe to see if they show up. You can touch it to any of the jacks, doesn't have to be the one you're plugged into.
 
Whew! Thanks Bryan. It was the too low temperature. My picnic was at 41 degrees last night with no reading and now reads this morning at 176. I left it plugged into my maverick to monitor my meat temp, but will now let it finish with the HM. The HM kept my weber kettle at 225 +/- 5 all night! :D

Bryan Mayland said:
I guess standard ET-732 probe checklist:
-- Make sure they're not pressed in too far. Push them in all the way then pull them back out slightly until you feel them click into place
-- Make sure your config is set to the proper probe coefficients
-- Is the temperature too low? They bottom out around room temperature and may display as "off" because of that. Try placing them in a glass of warm water to see if they start showing up.
-- Last ditch effort: ground the braid on the probes. Try touching a wire from the metal ring bit of the probe jack to the metal braid on the probe to see if they show up. You can touch it to any of the jacks, doesn't have to be the one you're plugged into.
Click to expand...
 
Bryan Mayland said:
I guess standard ET-732 probe checklist:
-- Make sure they're not pressed in too far. Push them in all the way then pull them back out slightly until you feel them click into place
-- Make sure your config is set to the proper probe coefficients
-- Is the temperature too low? They bottom out around room temperature and may display as "off" because of that. Try placing them in a glass of warm water to see if they start showing up.
-- Last ditch effort: ground the braid on the probes. Try touching a wire from the metal ring bit of the probe jack to the metal braid on the probe to see if they show up. You can touch it to any of the jacks, doesn't have to be the one you're plugged into.
Click to expand...

We need to put this into an FAQ as a sticky.
 
Haha no kidding. I used my some of Amazon Millionaire money to buy an ET-732 probe just to be part of the experience and see if there's anything I can do in software to make it better.
 
If i could make a suggestion, at the next board revision, maybe we could use probe jacks with end stops in them. Or maybe something could be 3d printed to add an end stop to the existing. I believe i spoke to someone on this board at some point about 3D printing end caps for the probe plugs and making tags for the probes themselves to be able tell them apart.
 
Yeah if you can find the part, I'll redesign for it. I'd prefer something from Mouser but I know their selection is rather limited. I didn't know jacks had endstops and picked them because they were cheap and small.
 
They both don't have the ability to use the ambient thermistor when something isn't inserted. I'm not sure if that's a dealbreaker or not, but I'd prefer if it had that.
 
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