My flightfeeder doesn't work, the OS / SD card are damaged

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

Hi everybody.

Today my flightfeeder doesn’t work.

In LCD monitor attached by HDMI cable, I watch that OS linux doesn’t load successfully. Before i could see status flightfeeder ok and the IP address that it have. Now appear Error I/O

i think so the sd card has damage because the OS doesn’t work fine.

For solve the problem, i can write a new functionally image file in the SD-card with Win32DiskImager software, even if the SD-card is damaged i can buy another SD-card if possible.

Anyone have a image file of OS that can give me? o have any solution?

thanks

2

Did you have the FlightFeeder on a UPS battery backup?

OS Image files are unique per device and cannot be transferred to a different unit than what it was designed for.

Another staffer will be in contact with you by email regarding replacement.

3

Did you have the FlightFeeder on a UPS battery backup?

No, it was connected directy to power energy, is it necessary a UPS?

Thanks for the information, already have a flightaware e-mail in my inbox.

4

Using a UPS is highly recommended because power that fluctuates or occasionally spikes can damage anything electronic. Although we try to minimize writes to the flash card, if power is lost in the middle of a write then there can be sector damage to it.

5

ok
i understand, thank you i will remember.

I am trying to restore the OS in SD Card

6

I have the same problem some time ago, we are solve it with co-operation with FA stuff (Thanks, David!).

First, it’s a standard MicroSD card inside FlightFeeder, so open the case and take it away.
Then put it into you PC and do three things:

  1. Write down SD card image to you PC
  2. Low-level format SD card
  3. Write image back to card

It’s a temporary solution, but helps to keep you FF back into the game.

I’m strongly recommend to do the step 1 even in case you card is working - it helps you if it’s will be damaged later.

I can provide a list of the software i use for this, if you want.

7

Thanks TTroll

Can you tell me the software for this? I want backup my SD-Card. In windows and Linux please

8

An UPS should be used on all computer and communications equipment. The most lethal power abnormalities are the quick breaks where the power is lost for only a second.

9

I’m have a windows box only, so:

Also any utility for low-level SD card format, i’m use “HDD low-level format tool” - hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low … rmat-Tool/

All of them is free for personal use.

10

I will try.

Thank you very much TTroll.

11

Ooops…

Yesterday my flightfeeder stop working again.
The reason are the same - damaged hardware.
I’ve just turn it off to move to the other place in my home, and it doesn’t work after it.

I’m restore the firmware, but the problem is i lost device registration (again), so i can’t see my data in the stats nor re-register the device.

Please be informed it’s still possible to damage firmware after power loss!
FA team, could you please make some suggestions how to power off FlightFeeder correctly to avoid it?

12

Sometimes (maybe once a week) I just switched off the power from plug and switch on it again to see if there is any updates from official…
It’s nothing wrong for me…

13

We are really sorry for the FlightFeeder corruption problems and mitigating them has been the #1 priority of our FlightFeeder development the last several weeks. With version 5.0 of the software, which almost all FlightFeeders now have, the SD cards are run in a read only mode for normal operation. However it is still possible that a card in read only mode can become corrupted if power is cut at the wrong time.

We are wrapping up version 5.2 of the FlightFeeder software and will be rolling it out to all the FlightFeeders in the next few days. This will add keystrokes that can be sent from a USB keyboard to trigger a halt or a reboot, and a web-based thing as well that will work through the FlightAware status page for your FlightFeeder. Using one of these mechanisms to shut down the FlightFeeder before moving it or whatever should basically eliminate the risk of corruption from removing power.

We highly recommend that the FlightFeeder be run on a UPS if possible. Our prototype has been running since March of 2013 without any problems, but it’s been on a UPS the whole time.

14

What’s the serial number? We can regenerate the RSA keys to get the FlightFeeder again feeding data.

15

It seems I got the same issue here. I replaced the sd card but the issue persists. Can anyone suggest a step by step tutorial for read/write the image to new sd card?

Thanks

16

My Flightfeeder doesn’t work too starting a few days ago. I have sent email to Flightaware support and also David, but it seems no reply yet. :confused:

17

In most cases you can see what the problem is if you connect an HDMI monitor to the FlightFeeder.

The boot process will show on screen and it will show in red and green icons which part of the FlightFeeder is not working.