Solar Dashboard Project

Projects related to Solar Power
TripitakaBC
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2020 5:12 pm

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by TripitakaBC »

amente wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 2:05 pm
TripitakaBC wrote:
Wed Nov 25, 2020 9:55 pm
@jonathan / @amente,

Can you clarify what is required to use mqtt from the unit with username and password? Is it as simple as 'mqttusername-xxxxx' in the config file?
@TripitakaBC

Connecting with username and password with MQTT is not supported at the moment. We will implement it in future firmware updates. Keep tuned.
OK, thanks. Can I ask that you also implement QoS into the MQTT while you are working on it? I'm working on integrating with Home Assistant and the flow of MQTT packets will drive other automation so I need QoS1 or preferably QoS2 due to location at a distant site.

I still haven't successfully got the mqtt client talking to my broker but thats for another day.
TripitakaBC
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2020 5:12 pm

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by TripitakaBC »

Following the firmware update, I now get a message on the local LAN webpage:

"Troubling Developments! I Wasn't Able to Check for Improvements. Don't You Want Me to Improve? Please Connect me to an Internet Enabled WiFi"

The online dashboard is getting updated so clearly there is internet connectivity.
jonathan
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:12 am

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by jonathan »

TripitakaBC wrote:
Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:57 pm
Following the firmware update, I now get a message on the local LAN webpage:

"Troubling Developments! I Wasn't Able to Check for Improvements. Don't You Want Me to Improve? Please Connect me to an Internet Enabled WiFi"

The online dashboard is getting updated so clearly there is internet connectivity.
Yea it just means the update check couldn't connect. You can safely dismiss it. If it keeps coming up we might have to tweak things. The update worked so it sounds like the internet is working.
cedarman
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2020 6:28 pm

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by cedarman »

Is it possible to use a URL instead of an IP address in the MQTT server field, and if so how should it be formatted? Should something like http://foo.net work?
amente
Posts: 31
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2019 3:32 pm

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by amente »

cedarman wrote:
Tue Dec 29, 2020 11:52 am
Is it possible to use a URL instead of an IP address in the MQTT server field, and if so how should it be formatted? Should something like http://foo.net work?
@cedarman

You should be able to use the domain name directly instead of the IP address for eg: test.mosquitto.org, and make sure the correct port is also used, for eg: for the mosquitto test broker it is: 1883
cedarman
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2020 6:28 pm

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by cedarman »

Thanks, I'll try it the next time I'm on site.
xion2000
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Jan 24, 2020 6:02 am

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by xion2000 »

I have had some time to re-visit my SolarDashboard issues today but unfortunately I still cannot resolve them
My unit reboots all the time, often only running for 10 - 20 seconds before doing another reboot
I have tried
Numerous different makes & capacities of MicroSD cards (all formatted to FAT32)
Connecting a USB cable to supply 5v (rather than relying on it being powered purely by the LAN connection)
Completely power cycling my Charge controller
Removing the battery & reinserting it in the SolarDashboard
Running the SolarDashboard WITHOUT a memory card installed
Changing the frequency the data is logged

ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I'm getting to the point of throwing the towel in on it completely
jonathan
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:12 am

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by jonathan »

xion2000 wrote:
Sat Jan 02, 2021 10:32 am
I have had some time to re-visit my SolarDashboard issues today but unfortunately I still cannot resolve them
My unit reboots all the time, often only running for 10 - 20 seconds before doing another reboot
I have tried
Numerous different makes & capacities of MicroSD cards (all formatted to FAT32)
Connecting a USB cable to supply 5v (rather than relying on it being powered purely by the LAN connection)
Completely power cycling my Charge controller
Removing the battery & reinserting it in the SolarDashboard
Running the SolarDashboard WITHOUT a memory card installed
Changing the frequency the data is logged

ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I'm getting to the point of throwing the towel in on it completely
Maybe it's best just to send you a replacement, but you did try these things while on the latest software version right?
xion2000
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Jan 24, 2020 6:02 am

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by xion2000 »

Hi Johnathon, yes I believe I'm on the latest firmware
I could send you a copy of the log from my SD card if thats of any help.
And yes I would very much appreciate a replacement unit as these problems have been ongoing pretty much from day 1.
Here is a small section of the latest log
[sd_card]: Power Cycle 00-00-1970 00:00:00
[sd_card]: Unable to read config file from SD card. Trying backup on SPIFFS ... 00-00-1970 00:00:00
[sd_card]: Found config key value pair dataSampleInterval=5000 00-00-1970 00:00:00
[sd_card]: Found 1config key value pairs. 00-00-1970 00:00:00
[clock]: RTC-I2C Comms Initialized. 00-00-1970 00:00:00
[main]: Hello World, Begin Setup: 02-01-2021 15:35:21
[main]: Firmware version: 4.0-d9c2e4-2020-11-30-05-33 02-01-2021 15:35:21
[main]: HTTP server started on port: 80 02-01-2021 15:35:21
[clock]: RTC epoch: 1609601721 02-01-2021 15:35:21
[clock]: NTP epoch 2 02-01-2021 15:35:22
[clock]: NTP epoch 3 02-01-2021 15:35:23
[clock]: NTP epoch 4 02-01-2021 15:35:24
[clock]: NTP time was not available 02-01-2021 15:35:24
[clock]: NTP Unavailable, NTP->RTC Sync Impossible. 02-01-2021 15:35:24
[mqtt_client]: not enabled. 02-01-2021 15:35:24
[reboot_stat]: lastUpdatedTime: 1609601678 rebootCount: 51 rebootCause: NORMAL 02-01-2021 15:35:24
[updater]: Checking for updates, retry=1/5 02-01-2021 15:35:24
[updater]: Connected to mysolardashboard.snektek.com:8123 02-01-2021 15:35:25
[updater]: Update check result: no_update 02-01-2021 15:35:25
[clock]: RTC epoch: 1609601730 02-01-2021 15:35:30
[clock]: NTP epoch 1609601740 02-01-2021 15:35:30
[clock]: NTP epoch 1609601740 02-01-2021 15:35:30
[clock]: NTP updated RTC 02-01-2021 15:35:40
[main]: WiFi Station Status: 1 WiFi Station IP: 192.168.1.87 02-01-2021 15:35:40
[sd_card]: Power Cycle 00-00-1970 00:00:00
[sd_card]: Unable to read config file from SD card. Trying backup on SPIFFS ... 00-00-1970 00:00:00
[sd_card]: Found config key value pair dataSampleInterval=5000 01-01-1970 00:00:01
[sd_card]: Found 1config key value pairs. 01-01-1970 00:00:01
[clock]: RTC-I2C Comms Initialized. 01-01-1970 00:00:01
[main]: Hello World, Begin Setup: 02-01-2021 15:36:05
[main]: Firmware version: 4.0-d9c2e4-2020-11-30-05-33 02-01-2021 15:36:05
[main]: HTTP server started on port: 80 02-01-2021 15:36:05
[clock]: RTC epoch: 1609601765 02-01-2021 15:36:05
[clock]: NTP epoch 1609601768 02-01-2021 15:36:08
[clock]: NTP epoch 1609601768 02-01-2021 15:36:08
[clock]: NTP updated RTC 02-01-2021 15:36:08
[mqtt_client]: not enabled. 02-01-2021 15:36:08
jonathan
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:12 am

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by jonathan »

You're an early customer of the dashboard and things are much more stable now then they were when you bought. I want to make sure we get you running one way or another.

Could you send a picture of the top of the PCB of your unit? Also are you using a Samsung EVO SD card? We have found this SD card is reliable to use with the dashboard and available worldwide.

I also suggest the following steps to try to get it running as fresh as possible:

Remove the SD card and format it to FAT32. Leave it removed Follow the steps here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=59

Make sure to "erase flash"

Then with the SD card still removed, connect the dashboard to WiFi and reboot it. Do the software update. Re-install the SD card. Configure.


If you have an unstable dashboard after this I will send you a new one. Also I'm interested in your use of homeassistant, I think other users were asking about how to integrate it.

Jon.
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