Hi,
I’ve noticed that after ever power failure I have both of my IoTaWatt’s (both with a single voltage ref input) fail to boot and have a red light. I have to unplug the voltage ref and the usb power, plug in the USB power wait for a few seconds then plug in the voltage ref. Seems to happen to both ever time I have a power failure. Given I can’t find any other reports of this, could it somehow be related to the voltage ref I am using or something? (i’m in Australia using a AC910)
Thanks
What’s happening is that the IoTaWatt restarts much faster than your router, and fails to connect. Long story short it gives up on connecting and gets back to the business of monitoring power, logging to the datalog as usual. This state is indicated by the dull red glow - working but not connected to WiFi.
After an hour in this state, it will restart and hopefully successfully connect to WiFi, and resume normal operation. Any backlog to PVoutput, influxDB, or Emoncms will be filled from data in the datalog. The downside is that you don’t have access to the unit for an hour unless you restart it manually (power cycle).
The underlying problem is that the package that manages WiFi connection cannot run at the same time as power monitoring. So at some point the primary mission must be resumed.
There are some changes in the staged firmware to try to mitigate this situation a little better, but for now, it’s a manageable issue.
Thanks. Mine isn’t reconnecting after an hour though, I noticed because I got a email from PVoutput saying nothing had been uploaded for about 4 hours.
It isn’t a big issue, and happy to wait for improvements later.
And the backlog doesn’t get uploaded to pvoutput or emoncms either.
Might try to power cycle the IoTaWatt and report back the LED sequences during and after startup.
Bringing up an old thread - I am facing the same issue that thomasrw described. Mine doesn’t reconnect after an hour. I can restart it with vref not plugged in and it will connect but if vref is plugged in, the light will stay red and never go green.
It usually isn’t a big deal, but we have been plagued with power outages lately and having to restart it is a regular event now.
I was just wondering if there were any changes to the firmware in any of the releases that could help address the issue.
Thanks.
Please post the message log.
Here you go - I can post more if needed, but it has happened in this window.
It won’t boot with vref plugged in. If I unplug it, restart, then plug vref back in it will boot.
SD initialized.
2/15/24 12:15:13z Real Time Clock is running. Unix time 1707999313
2/15/24 12:15:13z Reset reason: Exception
2/15/24 12:15:13z Trace: 1:6[1], 1:6[3], 1:5[31], 1:6[4], 31:0, 31:1, 31:2[6], 31:90, 31:93, 31:1, 1:6[6], 1:3, 1:3, 1:3, 1:3, 1:3, 1:3, 1:3, 1:3, 1:3, 1:3, 1:3, 1:3, 1:3, 1:3, 1:1[8], 1:2, 9:0, 9:0, 8:4, 8:6, 8:8
2/15/24 12:15:13z ESP8266 ID: 6145049, RTC PCF8523 (68)
2/15/24 12:15:13z IoTaWatt 5.0, Firmware version 02_08_03
2/15/24 12:15:13z SPIFFS mounted.
2/15/24 04:15:13 Local time zone: -8:00, using DST/BST when in effect.
2/15/24 04:15:13 device name: IotaWatt
2/15/24 04:15:13 HTTP server started
2/15/24 04:15:13 influxDB_v1: Starting, interval:5, url:http://172.16.0.6:8086
2/15/24 04:15:13 timeSync: service started.
2/15/24 04:15:13 statService: started.
2/15/24 04:15:13 dataLog: service started.
2/15/24 04:15:16 dataLog: Last log entry 02/15/24 04:15:05
2/15/24 04:15:18 historyLog: service started.
2/15/24 04:15:18 historyLog: Last log entry 02/15/24 04:15:00
2/15/24 04:15:18 WiFi connected. SSID=wifissid, IP=172.16.0.19, channel=1, RSSI -61db
2/15/24 04:15:18 Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
2/15/24 04:15:19 influxDB_v1: Start posting at 02/15/24 04:14:30
2/15/24 04:15:21 Updater: Auto-update is current for class MINOR.
2/15/24 09:33:57 WiFi disconnected.
2/15/24 09:34:40 WiFi connected. SSID=wifissid, IP=172.16.0.19, channel=1, RSSI -69db
2/15/24 09:35:14 Heap memory has degraded below safe minimum, restarting.
** Restart **
SD initialized.
2/15/24 17:35:16z Real Time Clock is running. Unix time 1708018516
2/15/24 17:35:16z Reset reason: Software/System restart
2/15/24 17:35:16z Trace: 9:1, 8:4, 8:6, 8:8, 9:3, 9:5, 9:9, 1:3, 1:3, 1:1[2], 1:2[3], 9:0[3], 9:0, 9:1, 8:4, 8:6, 8:8, 9:3, 9:5, 9:9, 1:3, 1:3, 1:6[1], 1:6[2], 1:6[2], 1:6[3], 1:5[21], 1:6[4], 21:0, 21:1, 21:10, 21:10
2/15/24 17:35:16z ESP8266 ID: 6145049, RTC PCF8523 (68)
2/15/24 17:35:16z IoTaWatt 5.0, Firmware version 02_08_03
2/15/24 17:35:16z SPIFFS mounted.
2/15/24 09:35:16 Local time zone: -8:00, using DST/BST when in effect.
2/15/24 09:35:16 device name: IotaWatt
2/15/24 09:35:16 HTTP server started
2/15/24 09:35:16 influxDB_v1: Starting, interval:5, url:http://172.16.0.6:8086
2/15/24 09:35:16 timeSync: service started.
2/15/24 09:35:16 statService: started.
2/15/24 09:35:16 dataLog: service started.
2/15/24 09:35:19 dataLog: Last log entry 02/15/24 09:35:10
2/15/24 09:35:21 historyLog: service started.
2/15/24 09:35:22 historyLog: Last log entry 02/15/24 09:35:00
2/15/24 09:35:22 WiFi connected. SSID=wifissid, IP=172.16.0.19, channel=11, RSSI -65db
2/15/24 09:35:22 Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
2/15/24 09:35:24 Updater: Auto-update is current for class MINOR.
2/15/24 09:35:24 influxDB_v1: Start posting at 02/15/24 09:32:10
2/15/24 09:57:45 Heap memory has degraded below safe minimum, restarting.
** Restart **
SD initialized.
2/15/24 17:57:47z Real Time Clock is running. Unix time 1708019867
2/15/24 17:57:47z Reset reason: Software/System restart
2/15/24 17:57:47z Trace: 9:9, 1:3, 1:3, 1:6[1], 1:6[2], 1:6[2], 1:6[3], 1:5[19], 1:6[4], 1:6[6], 1:1[1], 1:2[2], 9:0[2], 9:0, 9:1, 8:4, 8:6, 8:8, 9:3, 9:5, 9:9, 1:3, 1:3, 1:6[1], 1:6[2], 1:6[3], 1:5[21], 1:6[4], 21:0, 21:1, 21:10, 21:10
2/15/24 17:57:47z ESP8266 ID: 6145049, RTC PCF8523 (68)
2/15/24 17:57:47z IoTaWatt 5.0, Firmware version 02_08_03
2/15/24 17:57:47z SPIFFS mounted.
2/15/24 09:57:47 Local time zone: -8:00, using DST/BST when in effect.
2/15/24 09:57:47 device name: IotaWatt
2/15/24 09:57:47 HTTP server started
2/15/24 09:57:47 influxDB_v1: Starting, interval:5, url:http://172.16.0.6:8086
2/15/24 09:57:47 timeSync: service started.
2/15/24 09:57:47 statService: started.
2/15/24 09:57:47 dataLog: service started.
2/15/24 09:57:50 dataLog: Last log entry 02/15/24 09:57:45
2/15/24 09:57:52 historyLog: service started.
2/15/24 09:57:52 historyLog: Last log entry 02/15/24 09:57:00
2/15/24 09:57:52 WiFi connected. SSID=wifissid, IP=172.16.0.19, channel=11, RSSI -64db
2/15/24 09:57:52 Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
2/15/24 09:57:53 influxDB_v1: Start posting at 02/15/24 09:57:05
2/15/24 09:57:56 Updater: Auto-update is current for class MINOR.
2/15/24 10:29:10 Heap memory has degraded below safe minimum, restarting.
** Restart **
SD initialized.
2/15/24 18:29:12z Real Time Clock is running. Unix time 1708021752
2/15/24 18:29:12z Reset reason: Software/System restart
2/15/24 18:29:12z Trace: 1:3, 1:6[1], 1:6[2], 1:6[2], 1:6[2], 1:6[3], 1:5[19], 1:6[4], 1:6[6], 1:1, 1:2[1], 9:0[1], 9:0, 9:1, 8:4, 8:6, 8:8, 9:3, 9:5, 9:9, 1:3, 1:3, 1:6[1], 1:6[2], 1:6[2], 1:6[3], 1:5[21], 1:6[4], 21:0, 21:1, 21:10, 21:10
2/15/24 18:29:12z ESP8266 ID: 6145049, RTC PCF8523 (68)
2/15/24 18:29:12z IoTaWatt 5.0, Firmware version 02_08_03
2/15/24 18:29:12z SPIFFS mounted.
2/15/24 10:29:12 Local time zone: -8:00, using DST/BST when in effect.
2/15/24 10:29:12 device name: IotaWatt
2/15/24 10:29:12 HTTP server started
2/15/24 10:29:12 influxDB_v1: Starting, interval:5, url:http://172.16.0.6:8086
2/15/24 10:29:12 timeSync: service started.
2/15/24 10:29:12 statService: started.
2/15/24 10:29:12 dataLog: service started.
2/15/24 10:29:15 dataLog: Last log entry 02/15/24 10:29:10
2/15/24 10:29:17 historyLog: service started.
2/15/24 10:29:17 historyLog: Last log entry 02/15/24 10:29:00
2/15/24 10:29:17 WiFi connected. SSID=wifissid, IP=172.16.0.19, channel=1, RSSI -66db
2/15/24 10:29:18 Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
2/15/24 10:29:18 influxDB_v1: Start posting at 02/15/24 10:28:25
2/15/24 10:29:20 Updater: Auto-update is current for class MINOR.
2/15/24 13:21:16 Heap memory has degraded below safe minimum, restarting.
** Restart **
SD initialized.
2/15/24 21:21:18z Real Time Clock is running. Unix time 1708032078
2/15/24 21:21:18z Reset reason: Software/System restart
2/15/24 21:21:18z Trace: 18:2, 18:3, 18:2, 18:3, 18:2, 18:3, 18:2, 18:3, 18:2, 18:3, 18:2, 18:3, 18:2, 18:3, 18:2, 18:3, 18:2, 18:3, 18:4, 18:5, 1:6[6], 1:3, 1:3, 1:6[1], 1:6[2], 1:6[3], 1:5[21], 1:6[4], 21:0, 21:1, 21:10, 21:10
2/15/24 21:21:18z ESP8266 ID: 6145049, RTC PCF8523 (68)
2/15/24 21:21:18z IoTaWatt 5.0, Firmware version 02_08_03
2/15/24 21:21:18z SPIFFS mounted.
2/15/24 13:21:18 Local time zone: -8:00, using DST/BST when in effect.
2/15/24 13:21:18 device name: IotaWatt
2/15/24 13:21:18 HTTP server started
2/15/24 13:21:18 influxDB_v1: Starting, interval:5, url:http://172.16.0.6:8086
2/15/24 13:21:18 timeSync: service started.
2/15/24 13:21:18 statService: started.
2/15/24 13:21:18 dataLog: service started.
2/15/24 13:21:21 dataLog: Last log entry 02/15/24 13:21:15
2/15/24 13:21:23 historyLog: service started.
2/15/24 13:21:23 historyLog: Last log entry 02/15/24 13:21:00
2/15/24 13:21:25 WiFi connected. SSID=wifissid, IP=172.16.0.19, channel=11, RSSI -64db
2/15/24 13:21:25 Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
2/15/24 13:21:26 Updater: Auto-update is current for class MINOR.
2/15/24 13:21:26 influxDB_v1: Start posting at 02/15/24 13:21:05
** Restart **
SD initialized.
2/18/24 08:18:17z Real Time Clock is running. Unix time 1708244297
2/18/24 08:18:17z Reset Reason: Power-fail restart.
2/18/24 08:18:17z ESP8266 ID: 6145049, RTC PCF8523 (68)
2/18/24 08:18:17z IoTaWatt 5.0, Firmware version 02_08_03
2/18/24 08:18:17z SPIFFS mounted.
2/18/24 00:18:17 Local time zone: -8:00, using DST/BST when in effect.
2/18/24 00:18:17 device name: IotaWatt
2/18/24 00:18:20 Connecting with WiFiManager.
2/18/24 00:18:23 HTTP server started
2/18/24 00:18:23 influxDB_v1: Starting, interval:5, url:http://172.16.0.6:8086
2/18/24 00:18:23 WiFi connected. SSID=wifissid, IP=172.16.0.19, channel=1, RSSI -58db
2/18/24 00:18:23 timeSync: service started.
2/18/24 00:18:23 statService: started.
2/18/24 00:18:23 Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
2/18/24 00:18:23 dataLog: service started.
2/18/24 00:18:26 dataLog: Last log entry 02/15/24 13:34:25
2/18/24 00:18:27 Updater: Auto-update is current for class MINOR.
2/18/24 00:18:28 historyLog: service started.
2/18/24 00:18:28 historyLog: Last log entry 02/15/24 13:34:00
2/18/24 00:18:28 influxDB_v1: Start posting at 02/15/24 13:34:05
2/18/24 00:45:23 WiFi disconnected.
2/18/24 00:45:37 WiFi connected. SSID=wifissid, IP=172.16.0.19, channel=1, RSSI -55db
To me, this is not at all like the problem described in the original post. In fact, I don’t see any evidence of the problem that you describe. I’m not saying it isn’t happening, but not evident in the message log posted.
The first restart is caused by an exception in the sampler. That is rare but possible given that you have been unplugging the AC adapter.
The next four restarts were caused by heap memory depletion. This is a problem that is always caused by WiFi issues. You RSSI looks good, but there can be other issues that cause it like other devices using the 2.4MHz band (there are many) or a misbehaving device using the same band or router issues. Nothing I can do about that. Would be interested in when that started as it might give a clue to the cause.
The last restart, what I think you are talking about, is a power fail restart. It looks as though the unit was not running from 2/15 at 13:34 until 2/18 at 00:18. That’s 2 1/2 days.
Your unit appears to be about 3.5 years old. While I can’t point to any particular issue from the past, my gut tells me its the SDcard. Try replacing that and see if the problem goes away.