• Re: My question isn't about the fault, its about how to find it.

    From Chris Elvidge@21:1/5 to The Natural Philosopher on Sun Sep 15 12:49:23 2024
    On 15/09/2024 at 11:16, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 22:25, Chris Elvidge wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 at 19:32, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 16:38, Chris Elvidge wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 at 15:37, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 11:33, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 08:12, Pancho wrote:


    Prolly easier to get an HDMI and USB adapter and pop a monitor and >>>>>> keyboard on it.
    I spent hours yesterday googling for PI ZERO 2 W WIFI DISCONNECTS
    and everybody has the same problem. Must be 1000 posts out there.
    It seems that the 2W is basically a piece of shit. People try SD
    cards that work perfectly in the Zero W, but don't work in the 2W. >>>>>>
    I tried every methodology suggested, and its still doing it.

    I am tempted to buy the old version, two of which have been
    faultlessly connected to the same wifi point for several years.... >>>>>>
    Unfortunately I soldered a header block to this one so I can't
    return it. Bin job probably.


    Well another day of configgling

    Tried to make it talk to a different wifi point. Bricked it.
    Reinstalled OS lite and started setting up. (again!)

    The Pi ZERO 2W apparently uses a different wifi chip - SYMANTEC
    SYN43436, not the old BROADCOMM BCM43438

    Where did you get this info?
    On mine module cfg80211 is loaded by brcmfmac (broadcom?).

    Apparently there are two possible chips. Broadcomm and symantec
    I THINK I have the broadcomm

    dmesg | grep brcmfmac
    [ 12.461334] brcmfmac: F1 signature read @0x18000000=0x1541a9a6
    [ 12.467893] brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_alloc_request: using
    brcm/brcmfmac43430-sdio for chip BCM43430/1
    [ 12.468806] usbcore: registered new interface driver brcmfmac
    [ 12.731339] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_process_txcap_blob: no txcap_blob
    available (err=-2)
    [ 12.732079] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_preinit_dcmds: Firmware: *
    BCM43430/1* wl0: Jun 14 2023 07:27:45 version 7.45.96.s1 (gf031a129)
    FWID 01-70bd2af7 es7
    [ 15.888471] brcmfmac: brcmf_cfg80211_set_power_mgmt: power save
    enabled

    That's exactly the same as my 'working perfectly' Pi Zero 1W...

    So its probably not that.



    Model : Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W Rev 1.0
    Revision : 902120
    Raspberry Pi OS (bookworm, full); kernel 6.6.47+rpt-rpi-v8

    No problems with wifi over the last few weeks.
    Wavlink M30HG4.V5030.191116

    Now bluetooth, there's a whole nother story!!

    Disabled that baby straight off.

    Its very strange.

    Its 64 bit instead of 32 bit.

    But that's all that seems radically different hardware wise.

    Again some rumours are that the zero 2 being power hungry may be
    loading the PSU more.

    But in the middle of the night? Doing NOTHING?


    I started with 32bit lite but swapped to 64bit full just to see what
    happened. I had had no problems with 32bit lite (except bluetooth, see
    above). However I haven't stopped bluetooth, just don't (as yet) use
    it. My dmesg looks much the same as yours.

    I feed mine from a 2.4 amp source.
    But I also have USB3 hub + ethernet port feeding 256Gb SSD and USB
    speaker.


    Mmm. I was feeding mine, on the basis that it was drawing less than half
    an amp, from a very small PSU I normally use for Pi Picos.

    I swapped that for a generic phone charger PSU and added a line that
    someone suggested to config.txt:

    over_voltage=2

    Its been stable doing an rsync backup of itself overnight, and is still
    up this morning.

    Power saving is in fact on, on the wifi interface.

    Journalctl reveals no entries to do with wifi AT ALL since 8 o clock yesterday evening when it was rebooted.

    I think the key was in realising that on mine at least the wifi hardware
    was the same as on the 32 bit zeros.

    So if they connected to my old POS Netgear ex ADSL router transgendered
    into a wifi access point, so should this one.

    I will probably try reverting to the PICO power supply and see if that
    makes any difference.

    And get a voltmeter or scope on the supply rails.

    Maybe there is trash...





    Perhaps you could use vcgencmd to look at/monitor various internals.
    E.g. vcgencmd [measure_temp|measure_clock core|measure_volts]
    I think over_voltage is a red herring, it limits the CPU/GPU upper
    voltage doesn't set it (AFAICS). https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/config_txt.html



    --
    Chris Elvidge, England
    SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS ARE NOT SCABS

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to Chris Elvidge on Sun Sep 15 14:21:38 2024
    On 15/09/2024 12:49, Chris Elvidge wrote:
    On 15/09/2024 at 11:16, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 22:25, Chris Elvidge wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 at 19:32, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 16:38, Chris Elvidge wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 at 15:37, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 11:33, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 08:12, Pancho wrote:


    Prolly easier to get an HDMI and USB adapter and pop a monitor
    and keyboard on it.
    I spent hours yesterday googling for PI ZERO 2 W WIFI DISCONNECTS >>>>>>> and everybody has the same problem. Must be 1000 posts out there. >>>>>>> It seems that the 2W is basically a piece of shit. People try SD >>>>>>> cards that work perfectly in the Zero W, but don't work in the 2W. >>>>>>>
    I tried every methodology suggested, and its still doing it.

    I am tempted to buy the old version, two  of which have been
    faultlessly connected to the same wifi point for several years.... >>>>>>>
    Unfortunately I soldered a header block to this one so I can't
    return it. Bin job probably.


    Well another day of configgling

    Tried to make it talk to a different wifi point. Bricked it.
    Reinstalled OS lite and started setting up. (again!)

    The Pi ZERO 2W apparently uses a different wifi chip - SYMANTEC
    SYN43436, not the old BROADCOMM BCM43438

    Where did you get this info?
    On mine module cfg80211 is loaded by brcmfmac (broadcom?).

    Apparently there are two possible chips. Broadcomm and symantec
    I THINK I have the broadcomm

    dmesg | grep brcmfmac
    [   12.461334] brcmfmac: F1 signature read @0x18000000=0x1541a9a6
    [   12.467893] brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_alloc_request: using
    brcm/brcmfmac43430-sdio for chip BCM43430/1
    [   12.468806] usbcore: registered new interface driver brcmfmac
    [   12.731339] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_process_txcap_blob: no txcap_blob
    available (err=-2)
    [   12.732079] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_preinit_dcmds: Firmware: *
    BCM43430/1* wl0: Jun 14 2023 07:27:45 version 7.45.96.s1 (gf031a129)
    FWID 01-70bd2af7 es7
    [   15.888471] brcmfmac: brcmf_cfg80211_set_power_mgmt: power save
    enabled

    That's exactly  the same as my 'working perfectly' Pi Zero 1W...

    So its probably not that.



    Model       : Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W Rev 1.0
    Revision    : 902120
    Raspberry Pi OS (bookworm, full); kernel  6.6.47+rpt-rpi-v8

    No problems with wifi over the last few weeks.
    Wavlink M30HG4.V5030.191116

    Now bluetooth, there's a whole nother story!!

    Disabled that baby straight off.

    Its very strange.

    Its 64 bit instead of 32 bit.

    But that's all that seems radically different hardware wise.

    Again some rumours are that the zero 2 being power hungry may be
    loading the PSU more.

    But in the middle of the night? Doing NOTHING?


    I started with 32bit lite but swapped to 64bit full just to see what
    happened. I had had no problems with 32bit lite (except bluetooth,
    see above). However I haven't stopped bluetooth, just don't (as yet)
    use it. My dmesg looks much the same as yours.

    I feed mine from a 2.4 amp source.
    But I also have USB3 hub + ethernet port feeding 256Gb SSD and USB
    speaker.


    Mmm. I was feeding mine, on the basis that it was drawing less than
    half an amp, from a very small PSU I normally use for Pi Picos.

    I swapped that for a generic phone charger PSU and added a line that
    someone suggested to config.txt:

    over_voltage=2

    Its been stable doing an rsync backup of itself overnight, and is
    still up this morning.

    Power saving is in fact on, on the wifi interface.

    Journalctl reveals no entries to do with wifi AT ALL since 8 o clock
    yesterday evening when it was rebooted.

    I think the key was in realising that on mine at least the wifi
    hardware was the same as on the 32 bit zeros.

    So if they connected to my old POS Netgear ex ADSL router
    transgendered into a wifi access point, so should this one.

    I will probably try reverting to the PICO power supply and see if that
    makes any difference.

    And get a voltmeter or scope on the supply rails.

    Maybe there is trash...





    Perhaps you could use vcgencmd to look at/monitor various internals.
    E.g. vcgencmd [measure_temp|measure_clock core|measure_volts]

    Oh I have checked all those.
    Only difference was temp went up from 45°C to 48°C with power saving off.

    measure volts says 1.325.

    Clock is 250000000

    I think over_voltage is a red herring, it limits the CPU/GPU upper
    voltage doesn't set it (AFAICS).
    https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/config_txt.html


    Mmm. Well I am in the process of trying to eliminate stuff that doesn't
    make any difference.

    I agree that that documentation implies it is a bit of irrelevant
    nonsense. ;-)

    If the thing stays stable, I'll reboot with that removed and see if it
    is then simply the power supply that made the difference.

    Its odd, because I cant at a brief glance at the (limited) schematic,
    see anything that uses raw 5V, but the schematics omit the wireless chip
    and symantec and broadcomm do not publish specs.

    The Pi PICO doesnt care if you go down much lower than 5V. I think it
    will run of 3.3v

    Hey ho. Back to theorise and test, with as usual no hard information.

    Mmm. It hasn't crashed, but the messages about reconnecting every few
    minutes and taking too long reappeared after about an hour totally idle.

    I wonder if disabling power management would sort that out.

    Well now it's disabled. Let's see.

    The official PSU specification calls for 2.5A although the board only
    takes 300mA. My mini PSUs were only an Amp.

    Maybe reconnecting wifi from power saving needs a lot of instantaneous
    power? Third party tests suggest up to half an amp.

    Should be OK on a 1A supply, but is that a "Chinese" 1 A?

    Tests continue


    --
    When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over
    the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that
    authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.

    Frédéric Bastiat

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Chris Elvidge@21:1/5 to The Natural Philosopher on Sun Sep 15 15:47:54 2024
    On 15/09/2024 at 14:21, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 15/09/2024 12:49, Chris Elvidge wrote:
    On 15/09/2024 at 11:16, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 22:25, Chris Elvidge wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 at 19:32, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 16:38, Chris Elvidge wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 at 15:37, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 11:33, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 08:12, Pancho wrote:


    Prolly easier to get an HDMI and USB adapter and pop a monitor >>>>>>>> and keyboard on it.
    I spent hours yesterday googling for PI ZERO 2 W WIFI
    DISCONNECTS and everybody has the same problem. Must be 1000
    posts out there. It seems that the 2W is basically a piece of
    shit. People try SD cards that work perfectly in the Zero W, but >>>>>>>> don't work in the 2W.

    I tried every methodology suggested, and its still doing it.

    I am tempted to buy the old version, two of which have been
    faultlessly connected to the same wifi point for several years.... >>>>>>>>
    Unfortunately I soldered a header block to this one so I can't >>>>>>>> return it. Bin job probably.


    Well another day of configgling

    Tried to make it talk to a different wifi point. Bricked it.
    Reinstalled OS lite and started setting up. (again!)

    The Pi ZERO 2W apparently uses a different wifi chip - SYMANTEC
    SYN43436, not the old BROADCOMM BCM43438

    Where did you get this info?
    On mine module cfg80211 is loaded by brcmfmac (broadcom?).

    Apparently there are two possible chips. Broadcomm and symantec
    I THINK I have the broadcomm

    dmesg | grep brcmfmac
    [ 12.461334] brcmfmac: F1 signature read @0x18000000=0x1541a9a6
    [ 12.467893] brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_alloc_request: using
    brcm/brcmfmac43430-sdio for chip BCM43430/1
    [ 12.468806] usbcore: registered new interface driver brcmfmac
    [ 12.731339] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_process_txcap_blob: no txcap_blob
    available (err=-2)
    [ 12.732079] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_preinit_dcmds: Firmware: *
    BCM43430/1* wl0: Jun 14 2023 07:27:45 version 7.45.96.s1
    (gf031a129) FWID 01-70bd2af7 es7
    [ 15.888471] brcmfmac: brcmf_cfg80211_set_power_mgmt: power save
    enabled

    That's exactly the same as my 'working perfectly' Pi Zero 1W...

    So its probably not that.



    Model : Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W Rev 1.0
    Revision : 902120
    Raspberry Pi OS (bookworm, full); kernel 6.6.47+rpt-rpi-v8

    No problems with wifi over the last few weeks.
    Wavlink M30HG4.V5030.191116

    Now bluetooth, there's a whole nother story!!

    Disabled that baby straight off.

    Its very strange.

    Its 64 bit instead of 32 bit.

    But that's all that seems radically different hardware wise.

    Again some rumours are that the zero 2 being power hungry may be
    loading the PSU more.

    But in the middle of the night? Doing NOTHING?


    I started with 32bit lite but swapped to 64bit full just to see what
    happened. I had had no problems with 32bit lite (except bluetooth,
    see above). However I haven't stopped bluetooth, just don't (as yet)
    use it. My dmesg looks much the same as yours.

    I feed mine from a 2.4 amp source.
    But I also have USB3 hub + ethernet port feeding 256Gb SSD and USB
    speaker.


    Mmm. I was feeding mine, on the basis that it was drawing less than
    half an amp, from a very small PSU I normally use for Pi Picos.

    I swapped that for a generic phone charger PSU and added a line that
    someone suggested to config.txt:

    over_voltage=2

    Its been stable doing an rsync backup of itself overnight, and is
    still up this morning.

    Power saving is in fact on, on the wifi interface.

    Journalctl reveals no entries to do with wifi AT ALL since 8 o clock
    yesterday evening when it was rebooted.

    I think the key was in realising that on mine at least the wifi
    hardware was the same as on the 32 bit zeros.

    So if they connected to my old POS Netgear ex ADSL router
    transgendered into a wifi access point, so should this one.

    I will probably try reverting to the PICO power supply and see if
    that makes any difference.

    And get a voltmeter or scope on the supply rails.

    Maybe there is trash...





    Perhaps you could use vcgencmd to look at/monitor various internals.
    E.g. vcgencmd [measure_temp|measure_clock core|measure_volts]

    Oh I have checked all those.
    Only difference was temp went up from 45°C to 48°C with power saving off.

    measure volts says 1.325.

    Clock is 250000000

    I think over_voltage is a red herring, it limits the CPU/GPU upper
    voltage doesn't set it (AFAICS).
    https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/config_txt.html


    Mmm. Well I am in the process of trying to eliminate stuff that doesn't
    make any difference.

    I agree that that documentation implies it is a bit of irrelevant
    nonsense. ;-)

    If the thing stays stable, I'll reboot with that removed and see if it
    is then simply the power supply that made the difference.

    Its odd, because I cant at a brief glance at the (limited) schematic,
    see anything that uses raw 5V, but the schematics omit the wireless chip
    and symantec and broadcomm do not publish specs.

    The Pi PICO doesnt care if you go down much lower than 5V. I think it
    will run of 3.3v

    Hey ho. Back to theorise and test, with as usual no hard information.

    Mmm. It hasn't crashed, but the messages about reconnecting every few
    minutes and taking too long reappeared after about an hour totally idle.

    I wonder if disabling power management would sort that out.

    Well now it's disabled. Let's see.

    The official PSU specification calls for 2.5A although the board only
    takes 300mA. My mini PSUs were only an Amp.

    Maybe reconnecting wifi from power saving needs a lot of instantaneous
    power? Third party tests suggest up to half an amp.

    Should be OK on a 1A supply, but is that a "Chinese" 1 A?

    Tests continue



    Best of luck.
    I've just looked and power management is on on both a PiZ2W and one
    Pi3B+ with no disconnects.
    Also 'thin' power transfer cores in the USB power cable could be a problem.

    --
    Chris Elvidge, England
    NEXT TIME IT COULD BE ME ON THE SCAFFOLDING

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Single Stage to Orbit@21:1/5 to The Natural Philosopher on Sun Sep 15 21:06:03 2024
    On Sun, 2024-09-15 at 11:16 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:



    transgendered

    Not funny.

    Besides, in English objects do not have a sexual identity.
    --
    Tactical Nuclear Kittens

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to Chris Elvidge on Sun Sep 15 20:34:20 2024
    On 15/09/2024 15:47, Chris Elvidge wrote:
    On 15/09/2024 at 14:21, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 15/09/2024 12:49, Chris Elvidge wrote:
    On 15/09/2024 at 11:16, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 22:25, Chris Elvidge wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 at 19:32, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 16:38, Chris Elvidge wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 at 15:37, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 11:33, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 08:12, Pancho wrote:


    Prolly easier to get an HDMI and USB adapter and pop a monitor >>>>>>>>> and keyboard on it.
    I spent hours yesterday googling for PI ZERO 2 W WIFI
    DISCONNECTS and everybody has the same problem. Must be 1000 >>>>>>>>> posts out there. It seems that the 2W is basically a piece of >>>>>>>>> shit. People try SD cards that work perfectly in the Zero W, >>>>>>>>> but don't work in the 2W.

    I tried every methodology suggested, and its still doing it. >>>>>>>>>
    I am tempted to buy the old version, two  of which have been >>>>>>>>> faultlessly connected to the same wifi point for several years.... >>>>>>>>>
    Unfortunately I soldered a header block to this one so I can't >>>>>>>>> return it. Bin job probably.


    Well another day of configgling

    Tried to make it talk to a different wifi point. Bricked it.
    Reinstalled OS lite and started setting up. (again!)

    The Pi ZERO 2W apparently uses a different wifi chip - SYMANTEC >>>>>>>> SYN43436, not the old BROADCOMM BCM43438

    Where did you get this info?
    On mine module cfg80211 is loaded by brcmfmac (broadcom?).

    Apparently there are two possible chips. Broadcomm and symantec
    I THINK I have the broadcomm

    dmesg | grep brcmfmac
    [   12.461334] brcmfmac: F1 signature read @0x18000000=0x1541a9a6 >>>>>> [   12.467893] brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_alloc_request: using
    brcm/brcmfmac43430-sdio for chip BCM43430/1
    [   12.468806] usbcore: registered new interface driver brcmfmac >>>>>> [   12.731339] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_process_txcap_blob: no txcap_blob >>>>>> available (err=-2)
    [   12.732079] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_preinit_dcmds: Firmware: *
    BCM43430/1* wl0: Jun 14 2023 07:27:45 version 7.45.96.s1
    (gf031a129) FWID 01-70bd2af7 es7
    [   15.888471] brcmfmac: brcmf_cfg80211_set_power_mgmt: power save >>>>>> enabled

    That's exactly  the same as my 'working perfectly' Pi Zero 1W...

    So its probably not that.



    Model       : Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W Rev 1.0
    Revision    : 902120
    Raspberry Pi OS (bookworm, full); kernel  6.6.47+rpt-rpi-v8

    No problems with wifi over the last few weeks.
    Wavlink M30HG4.V5030.191116

    Now bluetooth, there's a whole nother story!!

    Disabled that baby straight off.

    Its very strange.

    Its 64 bit instead of 32 bit.

    But that's all that seems radically different hardware wise.

    Again some rumours are that the zero 2 being power hungry may be
    loading the PSU more.

    But in the middle of the night? Doing NOTHING?


    I started with 32bit lite but swapped to 64bit full just to see
    what happened. I had had no problems with 32bit lite (except
    bluetooth, see above). However I haven't stopped bluetooth, just
    don't (as yet) use it. My dmesg looks much the same as yours.

    I feed mine from a 2.4 amp source.
    But I also have USB3 hub + ethernet port feeding 256Gb SSD and USB
    speaker.


    Mmm. I was feeding mine, on the basis that it was drawing less than
    half an amp, from a very small PSU I normally use for Pi Picos.

    I swapped that for a generic phone charger PSU and added a line that
    someone suggested to config.txt:

    over_voltage=2

    Its been stable doing an rsync backup of itself overnight, and is
    still up this morning.

    Power saving is in fact on, on the wifi interface.

    Journalctl reveals no entries to do with wifi AT ALL since 8 o clock
    yesterday evening when it was rebooted.

    I think the key was in realising that on mine at least the wifi
    hardware was the same as on the 32 bit zeros.

    So if they connected to my old POS Netgear ex ADSL router
    transgendered into a wifi access point, so should this one.

    I will probably try reverting to the PICO power supply and see if
    that makes any difference.

    And get a voltmeter or scope on the supply rails.

    Maybe there is trash...





    Perhaps you could use vcgencmd to look at/monitor various internals.
    E.g. vcgencmd [measure_temp|measure_clock core|measure_volts]

    Oh I have checked all those.
    Only difference was temp went up from 45°C to 48°C with power saving off. >>
    measure volts says 1.325.

    Clock is 250000000

    I think over_voltage is a red herring, it limits the CPU/GPU upper
    voltage doesn't set it (AFAICS).
    https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/config_txt.html
    ;

    Mmm. Well I am in the process of trying to eliminate stuff that
    doesn't make any difference.

    I agree that that documentation implies it is a bit of irrelevant
    nonsense.  ;-)

    If the thing stays stable, I'll reboot with that removed and see if it
    is then simply the power supply that made the difference.

    Its odd, because I cant at a brief glance at the (limited) schematic,
    see anything that uses raw 5V, but the schematics omit the wireless
    chip and symantec and broadcomm do not publish specs.

    The Pi PICO doesnt care if you go down much lower than 5V. I think it
    will run of 3.3v

    Hey ho. Back to theorise and test, with as usual no hard information.

    Mmm. It hasn't crashed, but the messages about reconnecting every few
    minutes and taking too long reappeared after about an hour totally idle.

    I wonder if disabling power management would sort that out.

    Well now it's disabled. Let's see.

    The official PSU specification calls for 2.5A although the board only
    takes 300mA. My mini PSUs were only an Amp.

    Maybe reconnecting wifi from power saving needs a lot of instantaneous
    power? Third party tests suggest up to half an amp.

    Should be OK on a 1A supply, but is that a  "Chinese" 1 A?

    Tests continue



    Best of luck.
    I've just looked and power management is on on both a PiZ2W and one
    Pi3B+ with no disconnects.
    Also 'thin' power transfer cores in the USB power cable could be a problem.


    Well. power saving didn't cause a problem per se, but it got rid of
    some warnings when I turned it off.

    Today's hypothesis is that power saving causes the wifi to [partially?] disconnect and that the reconnection process with a flaky chinesium PSU
    was simply too much current draw for the PSU, but it does reliably
    reconnect with the slightly better PSU. Eventually. With warnings.

    Without power saving it never has to reconnect anyway.
    So no warnings...

    Its been idle for a few hours today and is still online to the access
    point that was flakey as hell before, so there is a strong suspicion
    that I have arrived at an OK setup for now, at least.

    The key would seem to be a bigger PSU.

    More bits have arrived from amazon, so I will hope its stable, connect
    up the rest of the hardware and start to build the software underneath.

    Keep me off the streets for a few days.

    I probably ought to get more USB supplies. I am alarmingly short of
    them. The mobile phone plugs into a computer USB port....

    I think the key message is that the 2W is a more hungry beast than the
    old Zero W, and that bookworms default 'power management on' state is
    probably not ideal.

    --
    If I had all the money I've spent on drink...
    ..I'd spend it on drink.

    Sir Henry (at Rawlinson's End)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Ahem A Rivet's Shot@21:1/5 to Single Stage to Orbit on Sun Sep 15 21:40:42 2024
    On Sun, 15 Sep 2024 21:06:03 +0100
    Single Stage to Orbit <alex.buell@munted.eu> wrote:

    On Sun, 2024-09-15 at 11:16 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

    transgendered

    Not funny.

    Besides, in English objects do not have a sexual identity.

    Many connectors do - back in the days when I dealt with RS-232 a
    lot I carried a kit of handy tools among them two varieties of gender
    benders. They had a different name in the Black Box catalogue but that's
    what everyone called them.

    --
    Steve O'Hara-Smith
    Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/
    For forms of government let fools contest
    Whate're is best administered is best - Alexander Pope

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to Single Stage to Orbit on Mon Sep 16 05:18:01 2024
    On 15/09/2024 21:06, Single Stage to Orbit wrote:
    On Sun, 2024-09-15 at 11:16 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:



    transgendered

    Not funny.

    Oh sorry, I didn't realise you were so sensitive a little flower.

    Besides, in English objects do not have a sexual identity.

    Of course they do.
    That's what the arguments are all about.

    --
    “It is hard to imagine a more stupid decision or more dangerous way of
    making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people
    who pay no price for being wrong.”

    Thomas Sowell

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to Single Stage to Orbit on Mon Sep 16 05:47:21 2024
    On 15/09/2024 21:06, Single Stage to Orbit wrote:
    On Sun, 2024-09-15 at 11:16 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:



    transgendered

    Not funny.

    When I take a machine that is built for one thing and repurpose it to do another thing, it isn't meant to be funny.

    Perverse, weird or perverted perhaps. But not funny at all.

    Besides, in English objects do not have a sexual identity.

    Nor do trans people.

    Not one that can be changed by dressing up in a frock anyway.
    --
    "It is an established fact to 97% confidence limits that left wing
    conspirators see right wing conspiracies everywhere"

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From druck@21:1/5 to All on Mon Sep 16 21:19:21 2024
    T24gMTQvMDkvMjAyNCAxOTozMiwgVGhlIE5hdHVyYWwgUGhpbG9zb3BoZXIgd3JvdGU6DQo+ IFvCoMKgIDE1Ljg4ODQ3MV0gYnJjbWZtYWM6IGJyY21mX2NmZzgwMjExX3NldF9wb3dlcl9t Z210OiBwb3dlciBzYXZlIGVuYWJsZWQNCg0KWW91IG1heSBmaW5kIGl0IGlzIHNsaWdodGx5 IG1vcmUgcmVsaWFibGUgd2l0aCBwb3dlciBzYXZpbmcgZGlzYWJsZWQuDQoNClRvIGRpc2Fi bGUgdGVtcG9yYXJpbHkgdXNlOi0NCg0Kc3VkbyAvc2Jpbi9pdyBkZXYgd2xhbjAgc2V0IHBv d2VyX3NhdmUgb2ZmDQoNClRvIG1ha2UgcGVyc2lzdGVudCBjcmVhdGUgYSBmaWxlIGNhbGxl ZCANCi9ldGMvdWRldi9ydWxlcy5kLzcxLXdpZmlfcG93ZXJfc2F2ZV9vZmYucnVsZXMgY29u dGFpbmluZyB0aGUgbGluZTotDQoNClNVQlNZU1RFTT09Im5ldCIsIEFDVElPTj09ImFkZCIs IERSSVZFUlM9PSJicmNtZm1hYyIsIEtFUk5FTD09IndsYW4wIiwgDQpSVU49Ii9zYmluL2l3 IGRldiB3bGFuMCBzZXQgcG93ZXJfc2F2ZSBvZmYiDQoNCi0tLWRydWNrDQo=

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to druck on Tue Sep 17 10:37:51 2024
    On 16/09/2024 21:19, druck wrote:
    On 14/09/2024 19:32, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    [   15.888471] brcmfmac: brcmf_cfg80211_set_power_mgmt: power save
    enabled

    You may find it is slightly more reliable with power saving disabled.

    I have done this. I think it is more stable. It is more appropriate in a
    server anyway


    To disable temporarily use:-

    sudo /sbin/iw dev wlan0 set power_save off

    To make persistent create a file called /etc/udev/rules.d/71-wifi_power_save_off.rules containing the line:-

    I used nmcli I think...yes. I have recorded everything I have done on
    this implementation in case I have to do it again.

    sudo nmcli c modify [SSID] 802-11-wireless.powersave 2

    I had to do it for the other SSID as well.

    I made a decision - as with systemd,- that in NetworkManager was the 'supported' way to do stuff, I might as well [learn to] use it.

    I am less interested in learning the more recondite areas of the distro,
    than achieving a stable platform on which to build an application.

    SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="brcmfmac", KERNEL=="wlan0", RUN="/sbin/iw dev wlan0 set power_save off"

    ---druck

    I am not saying 'solved' BUT since using the bigger power supply, it
    hasn't *dropped* at all, however there are still the odd reconnects that occasionally take too long...on one wifi point. Oddly I have two now configured and after retrying the first one a few times it decided to
    try the one literally inches away and has been solid on that one ever
    since.

    And interesting discovery was that the configuration of a static address applies to one SSID only - a 'connection' in Network Manager parlance -
    not to the *interface* wlan0..

    Which is why I thought it had bricked when I changed wifi access points
    on the fly. The next time I did that I realised it was now back on
    DHCP...and was available on a different IP address...

    Anyway the final conclusions seem to be :

    1. The ZERO 2W is hungrier for electrons than the old ZERO W.
    2. The symptoms of starvation are evident first in the WiFi hardware.
    The CPU and nearly everything else is fed from 3.3V, 1.8V and 1.3V downconverted supplies. No documentation showing what voltage was used
    by the WiFi chip exists that I could find.
    3. On at least my model, whilst the name of the company may have
    changed, the old Broadcomm wifi chip and driver is still used.
    4. Apart from having to use journalctl, it is unusually not possible to
    blame systemd for these issues.
    5. Whilst a chinesium USB source *may* be able to deliver the quoted
    current, it is not necessarily able to deliver it in a noise free or voltage-retaining fashion.

    I never got round to putting a meter or a scope on the thing - it's a
    bit awkward especially with a 'hat' on.

    Interestingly the Pi PICO W uses a chip that works down to 3V.

    Now I have achieved stability, the unit will go to a different location
    to further development where it will naturally connect to the original
    POS wifi point.

    But I now have a microwave with a burnt out magnetron to fix...

    Sigh.

    --
    The lifetime of any political organisation is about three years before
    its been subverted by the people it tried to warn you about.

    Anon.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From druck@21:1/5 to All on Tue Sep 17 21:20:59 2024
    T24gMTcvMDkvMjAyNCAxMDozNywgVGhlIE5hdHVyYWwgUGhpbG9zb3BoZXIgd3JvdGU6DQo+ IEFueXdheSB0aGUgZmluYWwgY29uY2x1c2lvbnMgc2VlbSB0byBiZSA6DQo+IA0KPiAxLiBU aGUgWkVSTyAyVyBpcyBodW5ncmllciBmb3IgZWxlY3Ryb25zIHRoYW4gdGhlIG9sZCBaRVJP IFcuDQo+IDIuIFRoZSBzeW1wdG9tcyBvZiBzdGFydmF0aW9uIGFyZSBldmlkZW50IGZpcnN0 IGluIHRoZSBXaUZpIGhhcmR3YXJlLiANCg0KVGhlIFplcm8gVyB1c2VzIHRoZSBzYW1lIFNP QyBhcyBvcmlnaW5hbCBQaSwgYW5kIEkgcmFuIHRoYXQgaGFwcGlseSBmb3IgDQp5ZWFycyBv biBhIDAuN0EgZmlyc3QgZ2VuZXJhdGlvbiBTYW1zdW5nIEdhbGF4eSBwaG9uZSBjaGFyZ2Vy LiBXaGVuIHdlIA0KZ290IHRoZSBtdWx0aWNvcmUgUGkgMkIgaXQgcmVhbGx5IG5lZWRlZCBh IHByb3BlciBQU1UgcmF0aGVyIHRoYW4gYSANCnBob25lIGNoYXJnZXIgZm9yIHJlbGlhYmls aXR5LiBUaGUgWmVybyAyVyBpbml0aWFsbHkgdXNlZCB0aGUgc2FtZSBTT0MgDQphcyB0aGUg MkIsIHRoZW4gc3dpdGNoZWQgdG8gdGhlIDNCJ3Mgb25lIHdoZW4gdGhhdCB3YXMgbm8gbG9u Z2VyIGF2YWlsYWJsZS4NCg0KPiA1LiBXaGlsc3QgYSBjaGluZXNpdW0gVVNCIHNvdXJjZSAq bWF5KiBiZSBhYmxlIHRvIGRlbGl2ZXIgdGhlIHF1b3RlZCANCj4gY3VycmVudCwgaXQgaXMg bm90IG5lY2Vzc2FyaWx5wqAgYWJsZSB0byBkZWxpdmVyIGl0IGluIGEgbm9pc2UgZnJlZSBv ciANCj4gdm9sdGFnZS1yZXRhaW5pbmcgZmFzaGlvbi4NCg0KWW91IGNhbid0IGdvIHdyb25n IHdpdGggdGhlIG9mZmljaWFsIHBvd2VyIHN1cHBseSwgSSd2ZSBub3QgaGFkIG9uZSBmYWls IA0KeWV0LiBJJ3ZlIHVzZWQgb3RoZXJzIHdoZW4gSSBuZWVkZWQgYSBsb25nZXIgVVNCIGNh YmxlcywgYW5kIGhhdmUgaGFkIHRvIA0KcmVwbGFjZSBzb21lIG1vcmUgdGhhbiBvbmNlLg0K DQo+IE5vdyBJIGhhdmUgYWNoaWV2ZWQgc3RhYmlsaXR5LCB0aGUgdW5pdCB3aWxsIGdvIHRv IGEgZGlmZmVyZW50IGxvY2F0aW9uIA0KPiB0byBmdXJ0aGVyIGRldmVsb3BtZW50IHdoZXJl IGl0IHdpbGwgbmF0dXJhbGx5IGNvbm5lY3QgdG8gdGhlIG9yaWdpbmFsIA0KPiBQT1Mgd2lm aSBwb2ludC4NCg0KWW91IG1pZ2h0IGd1ZXNzIEkgcmVjb21tZW5kIG5vdCBzY3JpbXBpbmcg b24gdGhlIGFjY2VzcyBwb2ludCBlaXRoZXIuDQoNCj4gQnV0IEkgbm93IGhhdmUgYSBtaWNy b3dhdmUgd2l0aCBhIGJ1cm50IG91dCBtYWduZXRyb24gdG8gZml4Li4uDQoNCk5vdCByZWxh dGVkIHRvIHRoZSBaMlcgSSBob3BlIQ0KDQotLS1kcnVjaw0KDQo=

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to druck on Wed Sep 18 11:29:24 2024
    On 17/09/2024 21:20, druck wrote:
    On 17/09/2024 10:37, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    Anyway the final conclusions seem to be :

    1. The ZERO 2W is hungrier for electrons than the old ZERO W.
    2. The symptoms of starvation are evident first in the WiFi hardware.

    The Zero W uses the same SOC as original Pi, and I ran that happily for
    years on a 0.7A first generation Samsung Galaxy phone charger. When we
    got the multicore Pi 2B it really needed a proper PSU rather than a
    phone charger for reliability. The Zero 2W initially used the same SOC
    as the 2B, then switched to the 3B's one when that was no longer available.

    In general most of my kit is now using proper rated 5V power supplies
    plus any ancillary electronics needed to complete the project. China
    turns round PCBS very fast and cheap so it seems a shame not to do a
    'proper' job. I am not really a fan of USB PSUs at all.
    In this case once I have done the board level PSU for the 4B server, the 'proper pi' PSU will become available.


    5. Whilst a chinesium USB source *may* be able to deliver the quoted
    current, it is not necessarily  able to deliver it in a noise free or
    voltage-retaining fashion.

    You can't go wrong with the official power supply, I've not had one fail
    yet. I've used others when I needed a longer USB cables, and have had to replace some more than once.

    Yes. I think that what works fora mobile phone is not necessarily what
    works for a Pi zerro, but the Pi Picos are happy as pigs in shit with
    almost anything above 3.5V

    Now I have achieved stability, the unit will go to a different
    location to further development where it will naturally connect to the
    original POS wifi point.

    You might guess I recommend not scrimping on the access point either.

    Well its an old ADSL router repurposed. It's actually pretty hard to
    get a simple Ethernet to wifi *bridge*.

    I did find something made in Eastern Europe that has worked in another
    room OK (big house, foil lined plasterboard walls - need at leats 3 points)


    But I now have a microwave with a burnt out magnetron to fix...

    Not related to the Z2W I hope!

    It sits under the access point!

    Well it did.

    New magnetron now fitted, waiting for the HV fuse to arrive. It appears
    the magnetron went anode/cathode short-ish , blew the fuse and that was
    all that was wrong

    And it only *just* blew the fuse. It switched on, HUGE humming noise
    from the HV transformer for around 10 secs, then it went quiet, HV fuse
    had blown...


    --
    "And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch".

    Gospel of St. Mathew 15:14

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to All on Fri Sep 13 14:34:44 2024
    Yesterday I brought up a brand new Pi Zero 2 W and after a bit, it was
    all hunky dory.
    Sometime last might, it went offline. No route to host.
    I rebooted it and it lasted half an hour. Then it wouldn't reboot at
    all. Its now sitting next to the wifi router is configured for and is
    for now accessible.
    I have no HDMI adapter for it., Its headless and normally accessible via
    ssh.

    What I want to know is where in the logs to start looking for any issues?

    The most interesting thing is that journalctl is full of unrelated
    messages *all the time I could not access* the PI Zero 2W

    Mostly related to

    Sep 13 11:12:24 PiFi2 systemd[715]: rpi-connect-wayvnc.service:
    Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 1515.
    Sep 13 11:12:24 PiFi2 systemd[715]: Stopped rpi-connect-wayvnc.service -
    WayVNC process used by Raspberry Pi Connect.
    Sep 13 11:12:24 PiFi2 systemd[715]: Starting rpi-connect-wayvnc.service
    - WayVNC process used by Raspberry Pi Connect...
    Sep 13 11:12:24 PiFi2 systemd[715]: rpi-connect-wayvnc.service: Control
    process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
    Sep 13 11:12:24 PiFi2 systemd[715]: rpi-connect-wayvnc.service: Failed
    with result 'exit-code'.
    Sep 13 11:12:24 PiFi2 systemd[715]: Failed to start
    rpi-connect-wayvnc.service - WayVNC process used by Raspberry Pi Connect.

    That bunch was followed by an ssh session closed message. I didnt close
    the session.

    [note: I have disabled VNC and wayland in raspi-config - how to remove
    vnc entirely?]
    [Ah. apt-remove rpi-connect seems to work okay ]

    So it appears that the machine was up, but simply wasn't connected
    TCP/IP/Wifi wise?

    It did not respond even to pings. or presumably ARPS...

    Ah. I found something.
    Sep 13 09:42:54 PiFi2 NetworkManager[529]: <info> [1726216974.2842]
    device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) access point 'Larksrise' has
    security, but secrets are required.
    Sep 13 09:42:54 PiFi2 NetworkManager[529]: <info> [1726216974.2948]
    device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) connection 'Larksrise' has security,
    and secrets exist. No new secrets needed.
    Sep 13 09:43:19 PiFi2 NetworkManager[529]: <warn> [1726216999.7653]
    device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) association took too long

    Now googling suggest that may be randomized MAC addresses on the wlan0 interface, or 802.11n enabled on the router. Neither is active as far as
    I know.

    *Well I have possibly fixed it.*

    By explicitly creating
    /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/30-mac-randomization.conf as [device-mac-randomization]
    wifi.scan-rand-mac-address=no

    So far it's stable after an hour or two

    --

    “The fundamental cause of the trouble in the modern world today is that
    the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt."

    - Bertrand Russell

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Pancho@21:1/5 to The Natural Philosopher on Sat Sep 14 08:12:43 2024
    On 9/13/24 14:34, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    Yesterday I brought up a brand new Pi Zero 2 W and after a bit, it was
    all hunky dory.
    Sometime last might, it went offline. No route to host.
    I rebooted it and it lasted half an hour. Then it wouldn't reboot at
    all. Its now sitting next to the wifi router is configured for and is
    for now accessible.
    I have no HDMI adapter for it., Its headless and normally accessible via
    ssh.


    Maybe a Serial Console would help?
    <https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254214795077?>

    Reading logs is one thing, but immediately being able to test a
    hypothesis is much better.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Natural Philosopher@21:1/5 to Pancho on Sat Sep 14 11:33:48 2024
    On 14/09/2024 08:12, Pancho wrote:
    On 9/13/24 14:34, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    Yesterday I brought up a brand new Pi Zero 2 W and after a bit, it was
    all hunky dory.
    Sometime last might, it went offline. No route to host.
    I rebooted it and it lasted half an hour. Then it wouldn't reboot at
    all. Its now sitting next to the wifi router is configured for and is
    for now accessible.
    I have no HDMI adapter for it., Its headless and normally accessible
    via ssh.


    Maybe a Serial Console would help?
    <https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254214795077?>

    Reading logs is one thing, but immediately being able to test a
    hypothesis is much better.

    Prolly easier to get an HDMI and USB adapter and pop a monitor and
    keyboard on it.
    I spent hours yesterday googling for PI ZERO 2 W WIFI DISCONNECTS and
    everybody has the same problem. Must be 1000 posts out there. It seems
    that the 2W is basically a piece of shit. People try SD cards that work perfectly in the Zero W, but don't work in the 2W.

    I tried every methodology suggested, and its still doing it.

    I am tempted to buy the old version, two of which have been faultlessly connected to the same wifi point for several years....

    Unfortunately I soldered a header block to this one so I can't return
    it. Bin job probably.


    --
    There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale
    returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.

    Mark Twain

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)