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Stellarmate vnc black screen problem

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My suspicion is that all traffic is routed via wlan0 because that one is enabled first and then wlan1. By then the default route has been set to use the wlan0 interface so deleting the default route and adding one for wlan1 should also solve the issue. It should also be possible to create a script that runs at some point and tries to detect if both wlan0 and wlan1 are up and have a valid ip address. If yes it could delete the default route and create it again for wlan1.

Another solution could be to try and see if the kernel modules for the two wlan devices can be given a priority so the current wlan1 kernel module gets loaded first so it will always get the default route. No idea if that really works because it probably also depends on how quickly your network assigns an ip address via dhcp.

And perhaps this can be configured via wpa-supplicant or so but I really wouldn’t know if that is possible at all.

Just a few thought that I hope may be useful to you.


Clear skies, Wouter
4 years 5 months ago #44384

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I have both wlan1 and wlan0 work on boot up, the wlan0 is set to just show the hotspot, and wlan1 is my USB dongle and connected to my home WiFi, now in the network settings you can tell each connection to use a certain wlan connection, I use the hotspot to connect to the unit, and then the dongle to give me internet access....
It seems very straight forward to get it all to work this way, so not sure why the issue are..both mine connect on boot and run fine together...
4 years 5 months ago #44391

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I had the same issue at first, but I appear to have fixed the problem by assigning negative priority connection value to the hotspot in the Wifi connection manager (edit connections in the wifi dropdown menu).
Only when the network finds no other Wifi connections does it now seem to turn on the Hotspot.
Try this out and see if it works for you. I think I gave it a -5 value.
Jo
4 years 5 months ago #44393

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The hotspot by default is set to -10, so not sure why you had to change to -5.... mine is on -10...
4 years 5 months ago #44409

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Remember, I'm not using Stellarmate on the Pi4. I had to find this out the "hard" way.

Stellarmate is making things just too easy!

:-)
4 years 5 months ago #44413

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Another problem I came across occasionally - and again last night- is that my Pi4 defaults back to Hotspot mode when there are interfering networks in the neighborhood.

Happened repeatedly last night again. I had to get off the 5 GHz band and on 2.4 GHz for the Pi4 to get out of Hotspot mode. Even then, I had to lower the priority of the Hotspot to -20 to give the Pi4 enough time to find my home network.

That could be a major factor as well.

Another factor I suspect is insufficient power to the Pi. Transmitting in 5 GHz may be more susceptible to power drain than on 2.4 GHz.

I ran my Pi4 off battery last night to test how long the battery would last and although it showed 75% full, operations became erratic. I was ultimately unable to acquire any more images, as Ekos reported errors acquiring the image from my Nikon.

At first I thought it was a bug in the driver due to a KStars crash a few minutes earlier, but I restarted the Pi again this morning from inside the house and now the camera connects and downloads perfectly. Only difference was that the Pi4 was now connected to the grid and not to battery power.

I think this may be the source of many of the spurious problems we are frequently reading about here.

The Pi4 just needs a lot of power.

Troubleshooting problems when there is an underlying power issue is futile and a waste of time. Likely makes things worse.
Last edit: 4 years 5 months ago by Jose Corazon.
4 years 5 months ago #44414

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The thing is, I don't really want the second WiFi connection - it uses a USB port that I will want for an autofocuser in the future. I know I can add a powered hub, but that's more stuff to keep track of.

I don't know if this matters, but here is the specifics on my kernel, etc.
Static hostname: stellarmate1
Icon name: computer
Machine ID: some long number
Boot ID: another long number
Operating System: Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS
Kernel: Linux 4.19.71-v7l+
Architecture: arm

I changed the hostname in anticipation of powering up another Pi4 to see if it behaves any differently. But I'd really like to get the wlan0 hotspot/infrastructure autoswitchover "issue" resolved. ;)

"Another problem I came across occasionally - and again last night- is that my Pi4 defaults back to Hotspot mode when there are interfering networks in the neighborhood." <- this is very interesting. I wonder, given the supposed weakness in the Pi4's wifi, could this be my problem???
4 years 5 months ago #44432

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Possible.

Tonight one of my neighbors turned on a Wifi transmitter and I was promptly bumped off. Had to restart the Pi4.
Try to determine whether the same coincidences apply to your situation. You may need to specify a specific channel or use ethernet.
4 years 5 months ago #44437

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Turn it off auto and put to 5GHz only, it’s fine then... :)
4 years 5 months ago #44450

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Unfortunately not.

That was the first thing I did. Establish dedicated profiles for 5GHz and 2.4GHz connections and assign highest priority to the 5GHz profiles. It just wouldn't connect and eventually default to the 2.4GHz connection.

The thing is where I position my rig is in a perfect "Bermuda" Triangle between my wireless extender and my three neighbors. If they have their devices on the same channel as my network and wireless extender, the Pi is bombarded with conflicting signals from all directions. Not much I can do except string an ethernet cable, but that's not worth it. I can run the Pi on the 2.4 band, its just a little more sluggish, but as it is running autonomously on the scheduler through the night anyway, that is really irrelevant.

At any rate, as long as one is aware of the problem, one can work around it.

The much bigger problem is that KStars on my Pi4 still crashes randomly for reasons that are complete unclear to me. I have zRAM activated. I am still wondering whether it is running out of memory.
Last edit: 4 years 5 months ago by Jose Corazon.
4 years 5 months ago #44452

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Kstars crashes and crashes on my pi - very frustrating when it happens right at the end of the polar alignment routine.

I did not get out last night. Skies were hazy anyway and I was shot, but I did bring up my spare pi4, and it came up in hotspot mode. To be expected first time without login credentials to join another network. However, it could not see any other networks. Not mine, not my neighbors', nada.
4 years 5 months ago #44456

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Yes, that is aggravating. But it clearly is Pi4 specific. It does not happen on my Zotac mini-PC, so must have something to do with the Linux implementation on the Pi4.
I am using the same OS you do, but installed it from scratch and then installed KStars and Indi later, so the installation likely differs from your Stellarmate install.
I don't have Pi4 crashes after polar alignment. Mine happen completely randomly during the imaging run. The Pi will happily click away at the stars, download and save the image file and then - poof! - KStars disappears without any warning or prior sign of trouble. Restarting at that point and just reinitiating the scheduler is a matter of a couple of minutes and the imaging picks up from there, no problem.
Obviously, though, it is not possible to rely on a good imaging run under those conditions.

I think I will give a different OS for the Pi4 a try, see whether a leaner system like Manjaro will get rid of the crashes.

As for seeing the other networks: Go to 'Connect to Hidden Wireless Network' and click on the pulldown menu where it says 'New'. The networks you specified previously are shown there. Just select the one you want and connect.
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4 years 5 months ago #44462

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