i've fallen and i can't get up.... scratch my last, working

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

. . I put together a rasp pi adsb receiver last year and it worked fine until it stopped working fine in the fall. I ended up downloading a new version of the software, 2.1-2 and it would work for several weeks then stop. this went on for months, I would just restart it every so often. finally it would not come up for very long at all.
. . the software was hung up in what appeared to be a restart loop. I would get about a page and a half of command line stuff, then a blue screen, and it would start over again. this happened continuously.
. . I replaced the cpu, the wireless dongle, the receiver, and the cable to the receiver. I downloaded and imaged version 2.1-5 of the software. nothing I did made any difference.
. . if I unplugged the receiver, the software would run what looked like completely through the startup command sequence, and then present a raspberry on the screen. if I then plugged in the receiver, the restart sequence started again.
. . I am open to suggestions as to what I should try next.

thanks,
bill

2

. . so I’m sitting here, and it occurs to me that I have not changed the power supply. I change the power supply, and off she goes. seems to be working fine. I will check and see if I am supplying statistics in a few mins.

. . edit, not supplying data yet. sigh.

. . edit the next day, shes tooting. had a bad wifi module I guess. using older software.

bill

3

. . question on the raspberry system: while I am running dump 1090, can I escape out to a level at which I can surf the internet? if so what command sequence would I use?

thanks,
bill

4

. . one more question: I wanted to buy a Linux for dummies book, (I’m hoping I have the correct language here) so I searched on ebay. there are quite a few varieties. can someone suggest which edition/version I should buy?
. . I think I will only be using it for the flightaware software.

thanks,
bill