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

Mendeln · Feb 19, 2019

I’m currently change all my passwords and I give it a try with reefpi too
thing is you can use a password with 100 characters, small, big and special character.... nice

is there a maximum length of characters?

Zekth · Feb 19, 2019

The length of the text field: 255 i think

bishoptf · Feb 19, 2019

Need some electronic advice, I think I figured it out and but would like someone to chime in. The problem I was having was with a raspberry pi 2 I was passing 12v through a lm2596, I had adjusted it before connecting to the pi, adjusted it to 5.1. had everything connected and loaded e everything up but noticed that my usb ports we're not providing any power, Zippo, nada. Did a lot of scratching my head since it's an older pi that was in parts bin but it had worked fine.

Today I find a URL with all of the test points on the back of the pi, if we don't have that linked in reef-pi documents it should be it's pretty nice to have. When I started testing the voltage I noticed I was only getting approximately 3v at the USB test point. Then I tested the input pins and it was the same voltage approximately 3v.

What in the world, so I tested the output from the buck and same voltage, if I disconnected the pi the output from the buck would read 5.1 but with the pi connected dropped it to 3v. I adjusted it up when connected to the pi to 5.1v when connected but when not connected to the pi the output of the buck reads 6.5v. I have more lm2596 that I could try, but was wondering if I have a bad one or it's normal. The one I used for reef-pi seemed to work properly so ki d of scratching my head.

Thanks in advanced :)

Ranjib · Feb 19, 2019

Tom Bishop said:
Need some electronic advice, I think I figured it out and but would like someone to chime in. The problem I was having was with a raspberry pi 2 I was passing 12v through a lm2596, I had adjusted it before connecting to the pi, adjusted it to 5.1. had everything connected and loaded e everything up but noticed that my usb ports we're not providing any power, Zippo, nada. Did a lot of scratching my head since it's an older pi that was in parts bin but it had worked fine.

Today I find a URL with all of the test points on the back of the pi, if we don't have that linked in reef-pi documents it should be it's pretty nice to have. When I started testing the voltage I noticed I was only getting approximately 3v at the USB test point. Then I tested the input pins and it was the same voltage approximately 3v.

What in the world, so I tested the output from the buck and same voltage, if I disconnected the pi the output from the buck would read 5.1 but with the pi connected dropped it to 3v. I adjusted it up when connected to the pi to 5.1v when connected but when not connected to the pi the output of the buck reads 6.5v. I have more lm2596 that I could try, but was wondering if I have a bad one or it's normal. The one I used for reef-pi seemed to work properly so ki d of scratching my head.

Thanks in advanced :)

lm2596 is a regulated voltage output driver, i.e. it should retain the output voltage even under load. The only time it may not be able to do so, when the chip is getting hot (thermal runaway??) or if the supply current is too low. Whats your 12v power source current rating? is it a regulated power supply? are you sure its not dropping voltage (check the input pins of lm2596 with and without load)? I used 12V 2A regulated power supplies (UL listed)

bishoptf · Feb 19, 2019

Ranjib said:
lm2596 is a regulated voltage output driver, i.e. it should retain the output voltage even under load. The only time it may not be able to do so, when the chip is getting hot (thermal runaway??) or if the supply current is too low. Whats your 12v power source current rating? is it a regulated power supply? are you sure its not dropping voltage (check the input pins of lm2596 with and without load)? I used 12V 2A regulated power supplies (UL listed)

That's what I thought, tried 2 different supplies and both are oem supplies and not knock offs. I did a Google search and found a thread that was about the same issue, what the response was that this sometimes happen with the cheap lm2596, I ordered from Amazon and got a pack of them I will try another and see if it acts different, suspecting that it will since this is not what I saw when I used one with my reef-pi build.

:)

Bigtrout · Feb 19, 2019

Tom Bishop said:
That's what I thought, tried 2 different supplies and both are oem supplies and not knock offs. I did a Google search and found a thread that was about the same issue, what the response was that this sometimes happen with the cheap lm2596, I ordered from Amazon and got a pack of them I will try another and see if it acts different, suspecting that it will since this is not what I saw when I used one with my reef-pi build.

:)

I have read about some of the ebay cheapies as well...also what does a pi 2 draw? You may be close to putting those cheap lm2596 on the edge...they say 3 amps but depending on the quality they may only be good for half that.

Tom, take look at those small meanwells that diamond1 and I are using....ROCK STEADY!!!! The 5 volt one is 5 volts 3 amps about 2x2x1 inches...RS-15-5,

bishoptf · Feb 19, 2019

Bigtrout said:
I have read about some of the ebay cheapies as well...also what does a pi 2 draw? You may be close to putting those cheap lm2596 on the edge...they say 3 amps but depending on the quality they may only be good for half that.

Tom, take look at those small meanwells that diamond1 and I are using....ROCK STEADY!!!! The 5 volt one is 5 volts 3 amps about 2x2x1 inches...RS-15-5,

Pretty dumb when it comes to the component quality, just ordered off Amazon based on the ada fruit parts list. Will take a look at those where is the best place to purchase them?

Ahh it's a power supply, meanwell should be quality, thanks for the heads up.

b4tn · Feb 19, 2019

Just out of curiosity what is the current capability of the power supply you are using. It really sounds like a power supply issue. Like it’s being loaded down. I don’t like the wallwort supplies so I am using a laptop power supply but as others have suggested a meanwell would be good as well.

bishoptf · Feb 19, 2019

b4tn said:
Just out of curiosity what is the current capability of the power supply you are using. It really sounds like a power supply issue. Like it’s being loaded down. I don’t like the wallwort supplies so I am using a laptop power supply but as others have suggested a meanwell would be good as well.

Yeah these are quality named brand supplies, I have a bunch of them, this one is a APD 12v 2.5amp power supply. I replaced the LM2596 with another one that I had and it did not exhibit the same issue, adjust for 5v without the load and when I connected it to the pi it stayed close to the same value, obviously there was something amiss with the other buck converter. I guess when you pay $1.50 you have to verify that they are going to work properly. Always learning with this stuff and learned a lot more about troubleshooting the pi. This is the call out of all of the test points - http://ozzmaker.com/testing-points-raspberry-pi/

:)

bishoptf · Feb 19, 2019

ok its up an running since im stoked, not as much as my reef-pi but still another home-brew setup, its pretty neat - https://www.radarbox24.com/stations/EXTRPI004292

now back to our regular scheduled reef-pi talk - :)

ScottBrew · Feb 20, 2019

Bigtrout said:
I have read about some of the ebay cheapies as well...also what does a pi 2 draw? You may be close to putting those cheap lm2596 on the edge...they say 3 amps but depending on the quality they may only be good for half that.

Tom, take look at those small meanwells that diamond1 and I are using....ROCK STEADY!!!! The 5 volt one is 5 volts 3 amps about 2x2x1 inches...RS-15-5,

Ditto on the Meanwell's. They seem to be quite solid!

Bigtrout · Feb 20, 2019

ScottBrew said:
Ditto on the Meanwell's. They seem to be quite solid!

Ive stressed that in a few threads...I trust them alot more than a "who made this" wallwart. Another way to go is a good laptop supply and buckpucks, but the not all of the buckpucks are of the same build quality.

Bigtrout · Feb 20, 2019

Tom Bishop said:
Pretty dumb when it comes to the component quality, just ordered off Amazon based on the ada fruit parts list. Will take a look at those where is the best place to purchase them?

Ahh it's a power supply, meanwell should be quality, thanks for the heads up.

I bought mine on amazon, they were 7 dollars each.

They make a 12 volt version in the same small footprint.

Meanwell RS-15-5 does 5V at 3 amps
Meanwell RS-15-12 does 12V at 1.3 amps
Both have a very small footprint, 3 year warranty, overload, short circuit, overload, overvoltage and surge protection and UL listing.

stefanm · Feb 21, 2019

Ok, I have tried to set the local host within the console, saved and rebooted, but when I type http://reef-pi.local/ in my browser it can't connect, any suggestions or should I just try to set a static IP address, though that seems much more long winded.

I'm using a pi3 a+, latest version of raspbian.

Any pointers would be great?

KevinDodge · Feb 21, 2019

I am looking for help with expanding the PWM of my pi to control more than 2 dosing pumps. I have been following the circuit construction guide for the lighting controller to see how it uses a PCA9685 PWM to control the lights. In the article it says

Notice there are two perma proto boards used in this build. A half size perma proto board has the Kessil control circuit, which involves one NPN transistor for each channel, the PWM output from PCA9685 IC is connected to the transistor base (green wire) with a 10K resistor in series. While the 10V rails are connected to the collector pin (blue wire) of the transistor with a 1K resistor in series. The emitter pin of the transistor is connected to GND.

Looking at the construction process of the Dosing controller it uses the Pi's PWM pins to control the speed of the motor on the L293D chip. Can I directly connect the PCA9685 5v PWM pins to the L293D chip or do I need to go through some sort of NPN transistor setup? I assume the NPN circuit is only needed to convert the PWM signal from 5v to 10v and it appears I don't need to do this for the L293D. But I am far from an expert on this stuff. Any advise would be appreciated.

b4tn · Feb 21, 2019

KevinDodge said:
I am looking for help with expanding the PWM of my pi to control more than 2 dosing pumps. I have been following the circuit construction guide for the lighting controller to see how it uses a PCA9685 PWM to control the lights. In the article it says

Looking at the construction process of the Dosing controller it uses the Pi's PWM pins to control the speed of the motor on the L293D chip. Can I directly connect the PCA9685 5v PWM pins to the L293D chip or do I need to go through some sort of NPN transistor setup? I assume the NPN circuit is only needed to convert the PWM signal from 5v to 10v and it appears I don't need to do this for the L293D. But I am far from an expert on this stuff. Any advise would be appreciated.

Yes, you can connect it directly to the L293 thats how I have mine.

Ranjib · Feb 21, 2019

stefanm said:
Ok, I have tried to set the local host within the console, saved and rebooted, but when I type http://reef-pi.local/ in my browser it can't connect, any suggestions or should I just try to set a static IP address, though that seems much more long winded.

I'm using a pi3 a+, latest version of raspbian.

Any pointers would be great?

Can you run these two command and share the output?

Code:

hostname -f
ps aux

KevinDodge · Feb 21, 2019

b4tn said:
Yes, you can connect it directly to the L293 thats how I have mine.

Well thats a relief. When I posted before about it looking like a lot of work I had assumed that I had to do all the work shown in the Lighting Guide, not just use the PCA9685 directly. With that in mind, this will be much easier. Thanks.

stefanm · Feb 22, 2019

Ranjib said:
Can you run these two command and share the output?

Code:

hostname -f ps aux

Code:

pi@reef-pi:~ $ hostname -f
reef-pi
pi@reef-pi:~ $ ps aux
USER       PID %CPU %MEM    VSZ   RSS TTY      STAT START   TIME COMMAND
root         1  0.1  1.3  26988  5956 ?        Ss   10:57   0:01 /sbin/init spla
root         2  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [kthreadd]
root         4  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [kworker/0:0H]
root         6  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [mm_percpu_wq]
root         7  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
root         8  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    10:57   0:00 [rcu_sched]
root         9  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    10:57   0:00 [rcu_bh]
root        10  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [migration/0]
root        11  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [cpuhp/0]
root        12  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [cpuhp/1]
root        13  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [migration/1]
root        14  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [ksoftirqd/1]
root        16  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [kworker/1:0H]
root        17  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [cpuhp/2]
root        18  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [migration/2]
root        19  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [ksoftirqd/2]
root        21  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [kworker/2:0H]
root        22  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [cpuhp/3]
root        23  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [migration/3]
root        24  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [ksoftirqd/3]
root        26  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [kworker/3:0H]
root        27  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [kdevtmpfs]
root        28  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [netns]
root        29  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    10:57   0:00 [kworker/2:1]
root        33  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [khungtaskd]
root        34  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [oom_reaper]
root        35  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [writeback]
root        36  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [kcompactd0]
root        37  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [crypto]
root        38  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [kblockd]
root        39  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [watchdogd]
root        40  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [rpciod]
root        41  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [xprtiod]
root        42  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    10:57   0:00 [kworker/u8:1]
root        44  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [kswapd0]
root        45  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [nfsiod]
root        55  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [kthrotld]
root        56  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [iscsi_eh]
root        57  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [dwc_otg]
root        58  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [DWC Notificati
root        59  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   10:57   0:00 [vchiq-slot/0]
root        60  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   10:57   0:00 [vchiq-recy/0]
root        61  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   10:57   0:00 [vchiq-sync/0]
root        62  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [vchiq-keep/0]
root        63  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   10:57   0:00 [SMIO]
root        65  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [irq/92-mmc1]
root        67  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [mmcqd/0]
root        68  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [jbd2/mmcblk0p2
root        69  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [ext4-rsv-conve
root        70  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [ipv6_addrconf]
root        84  0.1  1.2  20588  5316 ?        Ss   10:57   0:02 /lib/systemd/sy
root       101  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    10:57   0:00 [kworker/u8:3]
root       102  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    10:57   0:00 [kworker/3:2]
root       122  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    10:57   0:00 [kworker/1:2]
root       126  0.0  0.7  14468  3216 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 /lib/systemd/sy
root       129  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    10:57   0:00 [kworker/2:2]
root       187  0.3  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:05 [w1_bus_master1
root       214  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [cfg80211]
root       220  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [brcmf_wq/mmc1:
root       221  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S    10:57   0:00 [brcmf_wdog/mmc
systemd+   260  0.0  0.8  17280  3556 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /lib/systemd/sy
root       293  0.9  2.6 798368 11776 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:16 /usr/bin/reef-p
message+   301  0.0  0.8   6624  3652 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-d
root       325  0.0  0.3   2884  1720 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 /sbin/dhcpcd -q
root       342  0.0  0.5  23748  2472 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/sbin/rsysl
root       343  0.0  0.9   7380  4304 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 /lib/systemd/sy
root       344  0.0  0.5   5296  2472 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 /usr/sbin/cron
avahi      345  0.0  0.6   6404  2900 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 avahi-daemon: r
nobody     346  0.0  0.5   5296  2452 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 /usr/sbin/thd -
root       348  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [kworker/3:1H]
root       352  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    10:57   0:00 [kworker/3:3]
avahi      353  0.0  0.0   6404   324 ?        S    10:57   0:00 avahi-daemon: c
root       442  0.0  0.5   9668  2456 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 wpa_supplicant
root       516  0.0  1.6  39956  7208 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/sbin/light
root       519  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [kworker/2:1H]
root       522  0.0  0.6   5880  2908 tty1     Ss   10:57   0:00 /bin/login -f
root       529  0.0  1.0  10212  4620 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd
root       531  0.0  7.7 125572 34296 tty7     Ssl+ 10:57   0:01 /usr/lib/xorg/X
root       546  0.0  1.7  32188  7900 ?        Sl   10:57   0:00 lightdm --sessi
pi         554  0.0  1.3   9656  5980 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 /lib/systemd/sy
pi         557  0.0  0.2  11244  1312 ?        S    10:57   0:00 (sd-pam)
pi         562  0.0  2.8  52632 12536 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/bin/lxsess
pi         571  0.0  0.7   6496  3472 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-d
pi         613  0.0  0.0   3800   228 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 /usr/bin/ssh-ag
root       618  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [kworker/1:1H]
pi         630  0.0  1.3  39652  5912 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
pi         635  0.0  1.4  56488  6504 ?        Sl   10:57   0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
pi         651  0.0  3.3  53808 14680 ?        S    10:57   0:00 openbox --confi
pi         657  0.0  2.0  43100  8968 ?        Sl   10:57   0:00 lxpolkit
pi         659  0.2  5.5 141036 24548 ?        Sl   10:57   0:04 lxpanel --profi
pi         660  0.0  4.5  78156 20156 ?        Sl   10:57   0:00 pcmanfm --deskt
pi         667  0.0  0.0   3800   228 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 /usr/bin/ssh-ag
root       669  0.0  0.7   7228  3224 ?        S    10:57   0:00 sudo piwiz
pi         673  0.0  0.0   1900   400 ?        S    10:57   0:00 sh /etc/xdg/lxs
root       674  0.0  1.6  40200  7360 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/lib/policy
pi         678  0.0 11.6 233996 51428 ?        Sl   10:57   0:01 zenity --warnin
root       685  0.2  3.7  25852 16520 ?        S    10:57   0:03 piwiz
pi         730  0.0  0.9   6244  4144 tty1     S+   10:57   0:00 -bash
pi         736  0.0  2.2  74528 10144 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
root       760  0.0  1.9  59200  8728 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/lib/udisks
root       762  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [kworker/u9:0]
root       765  0.0  0.0   2096   152 ?        S    10:57   0:00 /usr/bin/hciatt
root       766  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [kworker/u9:2]
root       772  0.0  0.8   7272  3764 ?        Ss   10:57   0:00 /usr/lib/blueto
pi         785  0.0  1.3  28444  6192 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/lib/menu-c
pi         788  0.0  1.2  37340  5340 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
root       793  0.0  0.8  35036  3704 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/bin/blueal
pi         802  0.0  1.0  50968  4744 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
root       811  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        S<   10:57   0:00 [krfcommd]
pi         817  0.0  1.1  38832  5036 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
pi         821  0.0  1.0  37260  4676 ?        Ssl  10:57   0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
pi         830  0.0  1.8  51340  8088 ?        Sl   10:57   0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
root      1020  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I<   10:57   0:00 [kworker/0:1H]
root      7219  0.0  1.3  11532  5804 ?        Ss   11:12   0:00 sshd: pi [priv]
root      7258  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    11:12   0:00 [kworker/1:0]
pi        7296  0.0  0.7  11532  3440 ?        S    11:12   0:00 sshd: pi@pts/0
pi        7299  0.0  0.9   6232  4104 pts/0    Ss   11:12   0:00 -bash
root      7595  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    11:13   0:00 [kworker/0:1]
root      9754  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    11:18   0:00 [kworker/0:2]
root     11961  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        I    11:23   0:00 [kworker/0:0]
root     12151  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        R    11:24   0:00 [kworker/u8:0]
pi       12804  0.0  0.6   7740  2964 pts/0    R+   11:25   0:00 ps aux

All Greek to me!