RainMachine HD - hanging periodically
Hello,
I have a RainMachine HD-12 and this has happened twice recently. The first time was Jan 25 and the second was yesterday.
The problem is that the device is hanging / mostly unresponsive. The web UI will load partially but most HTTP requests are timing out. I can ssh in, but as soon as I hit any single key, the connection is closed, and no new ssh connections are accepted for a while:
% ssh rainmachine
void endpwent()(3) is not implemented on Android
root@rainmachine:/ # [HIT ANY KEY AND THEN] --> packet_write_wait: Connection to 10.0.0.42 port 22: Broken pipe
When I go look at the device, the wrench is flashing. The first time, the touchscreen said "RainMachine application has stopped" and I had to pull the power cord; yesterday the touchscreen was ok and I was able to reboot the device from the menu. After a reboot, everything is back to normal.
Here's my version info:
Firmware version 4.0.974
Web UI Version 1.9
Hardware revision 3
API 4.6.0
Any ideas? Thank you!
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This morning, after 5 days of testing with the extended range adapter and the experimental WiFi mode, the rainmachine was unreachable again. I could not reach it locally nor remotely. A scan with Fing showed no open ports on the local IP of the rainmachine. I will now wait and try again later today to find out if this resolves automatically or not.
On the unit itself the LED on the WiFi adapter is blinking normally and there is no flashing wrench, but the network tools show all fail. Only WiFi enabled and WiFi connected show true.
Update after 2 hours: it was working again. So it automatically recovered.
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There was no intention of hiding anything:
1. The beta SW: We changed so we completely bring down the wifi interface when a disconnect happened and bring it back up after a delay
2. Exterimental mode: Rescans the WIFI and connect to the first possible SSID instead of just trying to connect to the last one.
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Ok, sorry I did not mean it like a negative comment! Only the underlying issue seems to be dropping of the internal server (too) and not only dropping of the WiFi, because I saw the phenomenon also when I used the wired Ethernet adapter some weeks ago.
With the high gain adapter or with the Ethernet adapter it happens much less but it is still not gone with either one of them. The beta SW now makes sure everything restarts again when the connection is lost, which is of course a great improvement!
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Well, leaving the screen backlight on "dim" helped for a while... Starting earlier this week, I have been losing connection 1-2 times per day. This is definitely related to the multiple AP issue as I had absolutely no issues until just over a year ago when I deployed multiple APs for enhanced coverage. Any other ideas?
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The access points are UniFi UAPs running on multiple channels. Beta, experimental, and leaving the screen on didn't seem to make any difference at all. No other device is having issues staying connected to the network either.
I have been at work when the connection has been lost so it is getting several hours to try to restore the connection before I finally get home and reboot it.
I also just checked and I am reporting a signal strength of -51dbm currently.
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Last week I have noticed several times that the programs were running while it had been raining before. So I checked my settings this morning and saw that everything worked OK, but that the weathering service was FAIL. Probably this was the case already for at least the past 2 weeks.
This is of course the main feature that should work for an intelligent sprinkler system. I do not know for sure but I have the impression that this occurred after the last beta SW update. Any more of you have this behavior too?
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Hi All,
I am so happy to find this thread. I have been battling my HD-16 and Wifi for years now. I love this little device - but the wifi is the thorn in my side. The HD16 is installed inside of my garage, and I have a pretty rock-solid network of Ubiquiti access points. I have an access point outside, about 20 feet from the HD16. The wall is brick, but the HD16 is directly inside of the door (not wood, fake wood or whatever it is nowadays). Any other device works well inside the garage - except the HD16. In fact, I extended all of my irrigation valve wires and moved it to its present position, closest to the AP.
So after 5 years, I have been troubleshooting some with Ubiquiti the last couple of months. They have sent me some test firmware, but it is now looking to be more on the RM side of things. Generally, loses connection all the time, takes forever to load via app on local network. I think Ubiquiti is ready to punt, but I still have their ear.
In a nutshell, I have a wifi, discovery, and whatever else issue. I have moved the HD16 onto a 2.4g network all by itself (to eliminate any semblance of a mesh network), with no firewall rules to access any other VLANS on my network. I have tested by adding other devices to that network, and all is well with those. I can browse usually via Remote Access, but sometimes takes even 10 seconds or more on my fiber connection. Local discovery does not work at all, now, via the app. I can browse directly to the HD16 via web browser though. I can use a utility to browse mdns devices, and I can see the rainmachine with no problem. The app just will only connect via remote access, even if at all.
I am looking for a little direction from anyone here or at RM on what I can try. I am open to helping out in any way that I can. I thought it was on the Unifi side of things, and a couple of their people have been pretty good with the test FW.
Other than the wifi issue, i love the rainmachine (and so do a few of my friends!).
Thanks!
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Yeah, Unifi kit is the common thread for many (but not all) of us with major wifi issues. I replaced my wifi dongle with a TP-Link TL-WN725N for $10 and upgraded to the beta firmware, and I basically haven't had any issues since then.
I can do you one better on the location... my RM is about 3 feet from my networking equipment. I just wish there were a supported option for a wired connection!
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There is! A cheap AX88772B Ethernet to USB dongle (or similar) from ali does the job. Together with the beta FW it hardly has any disconnections (same as with the wireless adapter and beta FW by the way). The main issue is within the RM firmware and not (only) the network adapter. If you read this thread you can find what I've tried and also the progress I have achieved. For now it is still not 100% perfect but more in the range of 97%. But coming from 40% it is a major improvement for me! In the past the RM always required a hard reset to recover, with the beta FW it will automatically recovers after some time.
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