pi keeps crashing

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

Hey guys,

I recently moved across town in London. I used to be in a basement flat near Heathrow and now am on a 7th floor flat nearer London City. When I plugged in my pi I was AMAZED at how much more my piaware setup sees.

See this map: I can hear Belgium! Before this I couldn’t barely hear outside the M25.

720×505 562 KB

So that’s the good news.

The bad news is that I can’t seem to keep my pi running reliably anymore. Either the wifi connection will drop, or dump1090 will crash and not restart. I can’t tell if the two are correlated or not, but today the wifi seems to be staying on so I can see that dump1090 isn’t running.

Because I haven’t changed a single thing with the software I can only think of two likely scenarios:

  • My pi is now getting overworked because of the huge increase in the number of positions reported and eventually crashing. CPU usage seems to hover around 40-50% so that should be fine, but maybe it spikes when I’m not looking?

  • My new flat is older than my previous and doesn’t have a reliable power socket. This seems less likely but it could be a power issue?

I’d like to try and debug why this is happening but I can’t seem to find any log files that will help me. Are there any?

This is the output from the log on my adsb page on flightaware.com:



[2015-07-03 10:19 BST] 27358 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (929 in last 5m); 25844 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 10:24 BST] 28216 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (858 in last 5m); 26702 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 10:29 BST] 29184 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (968 in last 5m); 27670 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 10:34 BST] 30223 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (1039 in last 5m); 28709 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 10:39 BST] 31436 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (1213 in last 5m); 29922 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 10:44 BST] 31676 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (240 in last 5m); 30162 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 10:48 BST] seconds since last message or startup (505) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 10:48 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 10:49 BST] 31676 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 30162 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 10:53 BST] seconds since last message or startup (805) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 10:53 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 10:54 BST] 31676 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 30162 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 10:58 BST] seconds since last message or startup (1105) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 10:58 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 10:59 BST] 31676 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 30162 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 11:01 BST] multilateration support enabled (use piaware-config to disable)
[2015-07-03 11:01 BST] multilateration data requested, enabling mlat client
[2015-07-03 11:01 BST] Starting multilateration client: /usr/lib/fa-mlat-client/fa-mlat-client --input-host localhost --input-port 30005 --udp-transport 70.42.6.194:8822:319331504
[2015-07-03 11:01 BST] mlat(2814): fa-mlat-client 0.2.1 starting up
[2015-07-03 11:01 BST] mlat(2814): Using UDP transport to 70.42.6.194:8822
[2015-07-03 11:01 BST] mlat(2814): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 11:03 BST] seconds since last message or startup (1405) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 11:03 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 11:04 BST] mlat(2814): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 11:04 BST] mlat(2814): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 11:04 BST] 31676 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 30162 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 11:06 BST] mlat(2814): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 11:06 BST] mlat(2814): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 11:08 BST] seconds since last message or startup (1705) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 11:08 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 11:09 BST] mlat(2814): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 11:09 BST] mlat(2814): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 11:09 BST] 31676 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 30162 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 11:11 BST] mlat(2814): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 11:11 BST] mlat(2814): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 11:13 BST] seconds since last message or startup (2005) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 11:13 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 11:14 BST] mlat(2814): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 11:14 BST] mlat(2814): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 11:14 BST] 31676 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 30162 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 11:16 BST] mlat(2814): Receiver connection: ready
[2015-07-03 11:16 BST] mlat(2814): Server connection: ready
[2015-07-03 11:16 BST] mlat(2814): Receiver: 0.0 msg/s received 0.0kB/s from receiver
[2015-07-03 11:16 BST] mlat(2814): Server: 0.0 kB/s from server 0.0kB/s TCP to server 0.0kB/s UDP to server
[2015-07-03 11:16 BST] mlat(2814): Aircraft: 0 known, 0 requested by server
[2015-07-03 11:16 BST] mlat(2814): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 11:16 BST] mlat(2814): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 11:18 BST] seconds since last message or startup (2305) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 11:18 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 11:19 BST] 31676 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 30162 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 11:19 BST] mlat(2814): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 11:19 BST] mlat(2814): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] mlat(2814): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] mlat(2814): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] manual update (user-initiated via their flightaware control page) requested by adept server
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] manualUpdate is not set in adept config, looking further...
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] manualUpdate in /etc/piaware is enabled, allowing update
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] performing manual update, action: reboot
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] rebooting...
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] update request complete
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] mlat(2814): Lost connection to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] mlat(2814): Reconnecting in 30.0 seconds
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] lost connection to faup1090, reconnecting...
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] no ADS-B data program is serving on port 30005, next check in 60s
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] piaware (process 2307) is shutting down because it received a shutdown signal (SIGTERM) from the system...
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] stop_faup1090: no need to stop faup1090, it's not running
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] multilateration data no longer required, disabling mlat client
[2015-07-03 11:22 BST] piaware (process 2307) is exiting...
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] autoUpdate is not set in adept config, looking further...
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] autoUpdate in /etc/piaware is enabled, allowing update
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] manualUpdate is not set in adept config, looking further...
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] manualUpdate in /etc/piaware is enabled, allowing update
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] multilateration support enabled (use piaware-config to disable)
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] ADS-B data program 'dump1090' is listening on port 30005, so far so good
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] i see dump1090 serving on port 10001
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] connecting to dump1090 on port 10001...
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] piaware is connected to dump1090 on port 10001
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] multilateration support enabled (use piaware-config to disable)
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] multilateration data requested, enabling mlat client
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] Starting multilateration client: /usr/lib/fa-mlat-client/fa-mlat-client --input-host localhost --input-port 30005 --udp-transport 70.42.6.194:9121:675142748
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] mlat(2515): fa-mlat-client 0.2.1 starting up
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] mlat(2515): Using UDP transport to 70.42.6.194:9121
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 11:23 BST] 44 msgs recv'd from dump1090; 9 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 11:28 BST] 1121 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (1077 in last 5m); 1086 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 11:33 BST] 1997 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (876 in last 5m); 1962 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 11:38 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver connection: ready
[2015-07-03 11:38 BST] mlat(2515): Server connection: ready
[2015-07-03 11:38 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver: 223.4 msg/s received 4.1kB/s from receiver
[2015-07-03 11:38 BST] mlat(2515): Server: 0.0 kB/s from server 0.0kB/s TCP to server 0.9kB/s UDP to server
[2015-07-03 11:38 BST] mlat(2515): Aircraft: 63 known, 50 requested by server
[2015-07-03 11:38 BST] 2960 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (963 in last 5m); 2925 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 11:43 BST] 4135 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (1175 in last 5m); 4100 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 11:48 BST] 5299 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (1164 in last 5m); 5264 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 11:53 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver connection: ready
[2015-07-03 11:53 BST] mlat(2515): Server connection: ready
[2015-07-03 11:53 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver: 270.4 msg/s received 4.9kB/s from receiver
[2015-07-03 11:53 BST] mlat(2515): Server: 0.1 kB/s from server 0.0kB/s TCP to server 1.1kB/s UDP to server
[2015-07-03 11:53 BST] mlat(2515): Aircraft: 78 known, 62 requested by server
[2015-07-03 11:53 BST] 6479 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (1180 in last 5m); 6444 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 11:58 BST] 7605 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (1126 in last 5m); 7570 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 12:03 BST] 8589 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (984 in last 5m); 8554 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 12:08 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver connection: ready
[2015-07-03 12:08 BST] mlat(2515): Server connection: ready
[2015-07-03 12:08 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver: 261.5 msg/s received 4.7kB/s from receiver
[2015-07-03 12:08 BST] mlat(2515): Server: 0.1 kB/s from server 0.0kB/s TCP to server 1.4kB/s UDP to server
[2015-07-03 12:08 BST] mlat(2515): Aircraft: 68 known, 52 requested by server
[2015-07-03 12:08 BST] 9650 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (1061 in last 5m); 9615 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 12:13 BST] 10729 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (1079 in last 5m); 10694 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 12:18 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:18 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:18 BST] 11113 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (384 in last 5m); 11078 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 12:20 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:20 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:23 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:23 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:23 BST] seconds since last message or startup (455) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 12:23 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 12:23 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver connection: ready
[2015-07-03 12:23 BST] mlat(2515): Server connection: ready
[2015-07-03 12:23 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver: 111.9 msg/s received 2.0kB/s from receiver
[2015-07-03 12:23 BST] mlat(2515): Server: 0.1 kB/s from server 0.0kB/s TCP to server 0.5kB/s UDP to server
[2015-07-03 12:23 BST] mlat(2515): Aircraft: 0 known, 34 requested by server
[2015-07-03 12:23 BST] 11113 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 11078 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 12:25 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:25 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:28 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:28 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:28 BST] seconds since last message or startup (755) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 12:28 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 12:28 BST] 11113 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 11078 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 12:30 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:30 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:33 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:33 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:33 BST] seconds since last message or startup (1055) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 12:33 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 12:33 BST] 11113 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 11078 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 12:35 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:35 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:38 BST] seconds since last message or startup (1355) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 12:38 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 12:38 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:38 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:38 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver connection: ready
[2015-07-03 12:38 BST] mlat(2515): Server connection: ready
[2015-07-03 12:38 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver: 0.0 msg/s received 0.0kB/s from receiver
[2015-07-03 12:38 BST] mlat(2515): Server: 0.0 kB/s from server 0.0kB/s TCP to server 0.0kB/s UDP to server
[2015-07-03 12:38 BST] mlat(2515): Aircraft: 0 known, 34 requested by server
[2015-07-03 12:38 BST] 11113 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 11078 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 12:40 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:40 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:43 BST] seconds since last message or startup (1655) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 12:43 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 12:43 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:43 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:43 BST] 11113 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 11078 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 12:45 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:45 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:48 BST] seconds since last message or startup (1955) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 12:48 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 12:48 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:48 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:48 BST] 11113 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 11078 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 12:50 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:50 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:53 BST] seconds since last message or startup (2255) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 12:53 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 12:53 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:53 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:53 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver connection: ready
[2015-07-03 12:53 BST] mlat(2515): Server connection: ready
[2015-07-03 12:53 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver: 0.0 msg/s received 0.0kB/s from receiver
[2015-07-03 12:53 BST] mlat(2515): Server: 0.0 kB/s from server 0.0kB/s TCP to server 0.0kB/s UDP to server
[2015-07-03 12:53 BST] mlat(2515): Aircraft: 0 known, 34 requested by server
[2015-07-03 12:53 BST] 11113 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 11078 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 12:55 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:55 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:58 BST] seconds since last message or startup (2555) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 12:58 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 12:58 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 12:58 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 12:58 BST] 11113 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 11078 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 13:00 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 13:00 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 13:03 BST] seconds since last message or startup (2855) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 13:03 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 13:03 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 13:03 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 13:03 BST] 11113 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 11078 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 13:05 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 13:05 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 13:08 BST] seconds since last message or startup (3155) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 13:08 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 13:08 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 13:08 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 13:08 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver connection: ready
[2015-07-03 13:08 BST] mlat(2515): Server connection: ready
[2015-07-03 13:08 BST] mlat(2515): Receiver: 0.0 msg/s received 0.0kB/s from receiver
[2015-07-03 13:08 BST] mlat(2515): Server: 0.0 kB/s from server 0.0kB/s TCP to server 0.0kB/s UDP to server
[2015-07-03 13:08 BST] mlat(2515): Aircraft: 0 known, 34 requested by server
[2015-07-03 13:08 BST] 11113 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 11078 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 13:10 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 13:10 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 13:13 BST] seconds since last message or startup (3455) less than threshold for action (3600), waiting...
[2015-07-03 13:13 BST] dump1090 is listening for connections on FA-style port 10001
[2015-07-03 13:13 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 13:13 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
[2015-07-03 13:13 BST] 11113 msgs recv'd from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 11078 msgs sent to FlightAware
[2015-07-03 13:15 BST] mlat(2515): Disconnecting from localhost:30005: No data (not even keepalives) received for 150 seconds
[2015-07-03 13:15 BST] mlat(2515): Input connected to localhost:30005
2

Are you using the same router as before?

Could also be an issue of Wi-Fi-Stick/Router-combination.

Sometimes this can cause problems.

Regards,

Kabuse

3

Yes, it is the same router.

I use an Apple Time Capsule that connects via hardwire to the new router so that I don’t have to update the password all my devices. :slight_smile:

4

That log imples that dump1090 is still there, just not producing anything useful.
Unfortunately the piaware sdcard image doesn’t capture dump1090 output anywhere so it’s tricky to diagnose.

I’d suspect power problems (it’s a recurring theme with these setups) - if your power supply was marginal before then the increased CPU load might be enough to push it over the edge, and usually USB is the first thing to drop out which can wedge the dongle or make the wifi drop out. How are you currently powering it?

5

That does seem to make sense.

I am using this for power: amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AUKR4EU/r … 31_TE_dp_1

So the USB devices are powered via pi. Am I going to have to go down the powered USB hub route?

6

That was going to be my suggestion. Doesn’t have to be an expensive powered USB hub.
…Tom

7

Thanks, Tom. I’ve got one ordered. I’ll report back once it arrives.

8

I had a lot of problems with two PI’s, a model B+ and a Pi 2. All of the problems were down to power. Not all power supplies are good, the one I bought of eBay was supposed to be 2000mA but when I connected it to the Pi 2 the red light kept flashing indicating power problems. I found two USB chargers lying around that worked, an Asus for a Google tablet and an Apple charger, both these worked. I have also bought a USB hub and another charger from Pi Hut and both these work OK.

One other thing to watch is the cable. Even with a good power supply a bad cable can cause you to crash. I have one USB to micro USB cable that causes the Pi 2 red light to flash and crashes the machine if you leave it on long enough. I think there is a difference between a charger cable and a data one.

9

I can recommend the ‘official power supply’, no problems here with it:

http://www.amazon.de/Raspberry-Pi-OFFICIAL-National-adapter/dp/B00MBH6XNS

Regards,

Kabuse

10

in the hot weather My pi was crashing a lot - fixed now

something was overheating (the dongle was really hot)

I took the plastic case off the dongle and the cover off the Pi case, and gave then a small fan to create a draft over the boards.

11

Still having this problem. :frowning:

Over the past months I’ve done some upgrades.

First I upgraded the power supply to a powered USB hub, which then powers the Pi and then the wifi dongle and the DVB-T Stick. That seemed to work ok for a day or two and then went back to its old ways of crashing all the time.

I then thought maybe it was crashing due to too much CPU load so I upgraded from my original Raspberry Pi to a B+ model thinking with more CPU and memory it can’t hurt, right?

Well that worked fantastically for a few days. I got about 25% more readings on my flightaware page compared to what I was getting before so that was very exciting. However, today the inevitable happened. I got an e-mail from flightaware saying my receiver has been offline for 6 hours. It died at 1am this morning for no apparent reason.

I really just wish I had an error to go on. Any ideas?

12

Is the heatsink for the CPU ? Do you observe the fall of dump1090 process fails? Is there any powerful radio interference near your antenna, resulting in freezing RTL dongle?

13

One of the other contributors to this Forum abcd567 had similar regular crashes. He eventually discovered a bad connection somewhere in the antenna chain.

@obj:

Hi Oliver!

The dump1090-mutability on my RPi Model2 is no more crashing. :smiley: :mrgreen:

It was due a dodgy component, the F-female to F-female barrel connector on my antenna pad. It intermittently connected/disconnected the antenna to feed line.

Last month I discovered it by chance, when I was testing impedance matching of Franklin Spider (by inserting an appropriate value capacitor in feed line at an appropriate distance from antenna).

From the day I have replaced the dodgy connector, the crashes of dump1090-mutability have also stopped completely.

Regards,
ab cd

14

I had the same problem when overclocked PI2 without heat sinks.

15

From what I read, not you solution, but (might still be worth a try)…

I had a wifi dongle drop out frequently. I wrote a script to re-boot it if it didnt see my router (hourly). The script pinged the rooter, and this alone kept the link up and no further problems (or requirement for the script to reboot)

Allan

16

Are you running a Pi2 or the PiB+ single core? Running everything off a powered hub can cause power issues. Have you tried running the Pi via the MicroUSB power using a wallwart (2Amp), and the wifi and DVB stick off the powered hub? The Pi’s are very picky on power issues…

17

Hey guys,

Same issue here. I reckon its because of the fact that we usually place our RPis close to nthe windo for easy access to the antenna.
Usually this means that your RPi is far away from your home’s WiFi router and that it is a region susceptible to interfering WiFi signals from neighbor’s routers (because its near the window)

I know this because, I have a TL-MR3020 pocket router hacked with OpenWrt placed (Client mode) in my balcony as a part of my weather station and it kept dropping connection, I looked up the system logs and it showed that the WiFi gave up trying to connect to my home’s WiFi. When my apartment was new and there were fewer people living in it, I had no issues, but when people moved in, got internet connections a and installed WiFi routers, all hell broke lose and my Weather station kept getting disconnected from the main WiFi router.

In case of the weatherstation, I disabled the WiFi and installed a wired Ethernet cable from the main router to it.
In case of my PiAware setup, physical constraints do not allow me to do such a thing. So I wrote a handy script and set it up as a cron job to detect connection outages and reboot the RPi.

Documented it in a blog post here: http://www.electronicsfaq.com/2016/11/automatically-rebooting-piaware-and.html

In case you want to know about the Weather Station: http://www.electronicsfaq.com/2014/02/iot-weather-station-using-tp-link-tl.html

18

We have dirty power out at our airport, and my Pi3 crashed all the time at the shop until I replaced the cheap SD card that came with it (Now using a sandisk class 10) and replaced the wall wart with a Tecknet PowerZen.

More accurately, the old wall wart feeds the PowerZen and this, in turn, feeds the Pi.

I chose the powerzen because it’s got excellent filtration and current sensing and will keep a Pi and a Pro Stick powered for the better part of a day if power is somehow interrupted. Yeah, the feed cuts out until the router comes back online, but at least it doesn’t corrupt the filesystem and make me re-image the card.

Additionally, Lithium batteries don’t really like charging at the same time they’re being used. It’s hard on them. Because of this, most battery packs won’t let you charge them at the same time they’re being used to power another device (or they do, and just hurt the batteries to do it) but the Tecknet uses some excellent power conditioning and load balancing circuitry to keep the batteries in decent shape.

Since then, the only times the Pi has crashed was when I would screw up in a terminal session or accidentally pull the power while messing with my antenna setup.

https://s17.postimg.org/bkr22elwr/Pi_Setup.jpg

The powerzen is the black blob of plastic on the right.

Don’t know for a fact that it will work for your problem, but it can’t hurt.

19

Sounds to me like the pi should have its own power supply and then anything that is on a powered hub should be on that hub with a separate power supply for the hub.

I think that should reduce the power drain and keep the system running clean.

20

Also keep your USB power lead short and of good quality (lots of copper in them wires).

If I charge my tablet with a 30" lead it’ll get 2A, if I use a 72" lead - it charges at about 650-750mA

  • not using a WiFi dongle, but have always powered the receiver (RTL820t, RTL820T2, FlightAware Pro, FlightAwatere ProPlus) via the Pi … never had a power problem.