reef-pi :: An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi.

wykat · Aug 28, 2018

sorry, somewhere I need to get my frustration leave.

Ordered components for the Reef-PI HAT and PWM from digikey and everything went ok until I was called by Austrian customs. I gave them all the required information (I didn't have the impression they knew what to ask), all parts got blocked at customs.

Called Digikey and they claimed "everything OK, delivery today as promissed". Now suddenly it's me who has to pay for return shipments, no refund, etc...

I have it all on mail, but this is disgusting ;Drowning

Ranjib · Aug 28, 2018

wykat said:
sorry, somewhere I need to get my frustration leave.

Ordered components for the Reef-PI HAT and PWM from digikey and everything went ok until I was called by Austrian customs. I gave them all the required information (I didn't have the impression they knew what to ask), all parts got blocked at customs.

Called Digikey and they claimed "everything OK, delivery today as promissed". Now suddenly it's me who has to pay for return shipments, no refund, etc...

I have it all on mail, but this is disgusting ;Drowning

Why it was blocked ?
Sad to hear this, do you get to buy the pre-made boards at least?

JonJonJonJon · Aug 28, 2018

So I got my Pi 2 Model B configured with latest version of Raspbian Stretch tonight and installed reef-pi using the latest 2.0.0-alpha-0 pi3.deb package. The service is failing to start.

journalctl -u reef-pi.service shows:

Code:

Aug 28 20:23:04 saltbox systemd[1]: Started raspberry pi based reef tank controller.
Aug 28 20:23:04 saltbox reef-pi[293]: 2018/08/28 20:23:04 ERROR: Failed to initialize i2c. Error: open /dev/i2c-1: no such file or directory
Aug 28 20:23:04 saltbox reef-pi[293]: 2018/08/28 20:23:04 ERROR: Failed to initialize controller. Error:open /dev/i2c-1: no such file or directory
Aug 28 20:23:05 saltbox systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Aug 28 20:23:05 saltbox systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Unit entered failed state.
Aug 28 20:23:05 saltbox systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

My /boot/config.txt shows that the i2c module should be loaded. Any ideas on how to proceed?

JonJonJonJon · Aug 28, 2018

JonJonJonJon said:
So I got my Pi 2 Model B configured with latest version of Raspbian Stretch tonight and installed reef-pi using the latest 2.0.0-alpha-0 pi3.deb package. The service is failing to start.

journalctl -u reef-pi.service shows:

Code:

Aug 28 20:23:04 saltbox systemd[1]: Started raspberry pi based reef tank controller. Aug 28 20:23:04 saltbox reef-pi[293]: 2018/08/28 20:23:04 ERROR: Failed to initialize i2c. Error: open /dev/i2c-1: no such file or directory Aug 28 20:23:04 saltbox reef-pi[293]: 2018/08/28 20:23:04 ERROR: Failed to initialize controller. Error:open /dev/i2c-1: no such file or directory Aug 28 20:23:05 saltbox systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE Aug 28 20:23:05 saltbox systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Unit entered failed state. Aug 28 20:23:05 saltbox systemd[1]: reef-pi.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

My /boot/config.txt shows that the i2c module should be loaded. Any ideas on how to proceed?

Disregard. I have reef-pi.service successfully running now!
On pi2, it's a different param in the /boot/config.txt file:

Code:

dtparam=i2c1=on

Ranjib · Aug 28, 2018

JonJonJonJon said:
Disregard. I have reef-pi.service successfully running now!
On pi2, it's a different param in the /boot/config.txt file:

Code:

dtparam=i2c1=on

Nice :-) .

Michael Lane · Aug 28, 2018

Another upcoming UI update.

Ranjib · Aug 28, 2018

Michael Lane said:
Another upcoming UI update.

This is very nice :0-)
I went back and forth with the equipment ui so many time. This is so much better.
Thank you for your continued effort on making the UI better, really appreciate it.

janos · Aug 29, 2018

Good morning,nice to wake up for a nice UI.Wiil be implemented?

wykat · Aug 29, 2018

Ranjib said:
Why it was blocked ?
Sad to hear this, do you get to buy the pre-made boards at least?

The PCB's are in Austria, nothing to do with DigiKey. I think they will arrive tomorrow or Friday.
I'm still ticked off at DigiKey and send all communication to Mastercard, my bank will resolve. Unbelievable behavior of DK!

Ranjib · Aug 29, 2018

janos said:
Good morning,nice to wake up for a nice UI.Wiil be implemented?

yeah, likely before public release of 2.0

janos · Aug 29, 2018

Thank you Ranjib all just good news.Like this day.

pickupman66 · Aug 29, 2018

@Ranjib Check this out. I drew it up in Fritzing (cool program but glitchy with Win10). My wires wont be this tight to the board but it gives me a good idea. I was going to use GPIO26 for one of the 8 outlets, but i cannot find it broken out on the ADAfruit board anywhere so I changed that to a different pin.

this is going to be my Main board for the ULN2803 as well as my Temp and float switch connections. I plan to build an identical one connected via GPIO ribbon to the header.

the Float switch I am using is a simple OPEN/Closed circuit. Will that work from the GPIO pin to ground?
12V in via a Buck device to split out a clean 5v to power the system. 2.4 amps on that end.

Ranjib · Aug 29, 2018

Nice :-), here is the one I am using for the power controller guide

pickupman66 · Aug 29, 2018

Am I seeing it correctly that GPIO26 is missing from the breakout on this Board?

wykat · Aug 29, 2018

wykat said:
The PCB's are in Austria, nothing to do with DigiKey. I think they will arrive tomorrow or Friday.
I'm still ****** off at DigiKey and send all communication to Mastercard, my bank will resolve. Unbelievable behavior of DK!

Finally DK confirmed and will refund.
Officially "due to low value amount", they just failed.
Sorry, I'm really P.O with DK as it's not normal to involve credit card companies and banks to get this clarified.
Now let's go ahead again, rest of all tools have arrived and work :) Hopefully PCB's (and reflow oven) arrive tomorrow. Tested solder paste machine today ;)

Ranjib · Aug 29, 2018

pickupman66 said:
Am I seeing it correctly that GPIO26 is missing from the breakout on this Board?

You are right , and I don’t know why . I’ll ask them in the forum

Ranjib · Aug 29, 2018

pickupman66 said:
Am I seeing it correctly that GPIO26 is missing from the breakout on this Board?

Found it , they have mentioned it in the product description , it did not make the cut .
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2314

pickupman66 · Aug 29, 2018

Lol. Ok. Poor #26. That board limits us from a channel sadly. May be a good starter hat but down the road or larger gpio needs will need to be addressed

Hookster15 · Aug 29, 2018

ok , what page are the dosing pump threads on?

MaccaPopEye · Aug 29, 2018

wykat said:
Finally DK confirmed and will refund.
Officially "due to low value amount", they just failed.
Sorry, I'm really P.O with DK as it's not normal to involve credit card companies and banks to get this clarified.
Now let's go ahead again, rest of all tools have arrived and work :) Hopefully PCB's (and reflow oven) arrive tomorrow. Tested solder paste machine today ;)

Glad to hear you got it sorted but I completely agree, you really shouldn't need to get the bank/credit card company involved in these kinds of things at all.

I ordered all of my parts through mouser and the shipping was very good and all the parts arrived and are ready to go :)

Will people have to use a hot air gun to solder the PCB or can they use other methods? I couldn't find an affordable one in Australia