COMPLETE Shut Down Of Hotspot

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KB0OXD
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Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2018 9:51 pm

COMPLETE Shut Down Of Hotspot

Post by KB0OXD »

What I'm talking about is the ability to COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN MMDVM Hotspots to the point whereas EVEN THE DISPLAY doesn't show as this would be like Windows COMPLETELY TURNING OFF the PC

The reason I say this is because (At least with the DXMini) I was told BY THE DXMINI DEVELOPER is that is this is a Pi-Star specific issue (I've got the Twitter DM stating this) as I had brought this up with them last night

While it's not a really big deal, it WOULD be a great feature to have as it would make going portable with such hotspots a lot easier as I wouldn't have to use the battery to control the power to the DXMini & wouldn't be so hard on Pi-Star & the DXMini every time it was power cycled

Just a thought...

Cheers & 73 :D

Pat, KB0OXD
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KE0FHS
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Re: COMPLETE Shut Down Of Hotspot

Post by KE0FHS »

The normal process is to use the shutdown command and then to power the hotspot off. There are inexpensive USB switches available if you don't want to pull the plug.
73, Toshen, KE0FHS
Playing with Pi-Star (unofficial notes about setting up and using Pi-Star):
https://amateurradionotes.com/pi-star.htm
KB0OXD
Posts: 39
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Re: COMPLETE Shut Down Of Hotspot

Post by KB0OXD »

ANYTHING would be easier on the Hotspot when it comes to powering it up than plugging & unplugging it DIRECTLY into & out of THE WALL :D

Cheers & 73 :D

Pat
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w7efs
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Re: COMPLETE Shut Down Of Hotspot

Post by w7efs »

KB0OXD wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:43 pm While it's not a really big deal, it WOULD be a great feature to have as it would make going portable with such hotspots a lot easier as I wouldn't have to use the battery to control the power to the DXMini & wouldn't be so hard on Pi-Star & the DXMini every time it was power cycled
Since DXMini doesn't provide any specifications on the power supply other than a USB micro connection, this solution might work there too, if you have a short USB A to USB micro shielded cable, available at many Dollar stores.

To enlarge on KE0FHS's suggestion, I work with 2 used 16Ah USB batteries stacked under an RPi/DVMEGA, all bundled with a velcro strap. The battery that isn't powering the RPi is kept fully charged with the wall-wart while at base, and while mobile with a 500W AC inverter. When a simple pushbutton test shows the active battery at 25% charge (1 out of 4 blue LEDs), I use the PiStar-Remote shutdown to halt the OS, power-off the battery's USB switch, then move the USB A connection to the fully-charged battery and switch on that battery's USB power to get a green USB power-active LED and start the boot process.

Except for the very brief downtime of switching the USB power cable, the DVMEGA RPi is running 24/7, even when transporting it between car and house. I think these batteries are only capable of 5A max output with 2.5A max/port, so it might not work acceptably with an RPi4 ... just another reason why I prefer a lower-powered RPi, as a battery lasts at least a couple of days here.
M1DNS
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Re: COMPLETE Shut Down Of Hotspot

Post by M1DNS »

I'd be very interested to read the reply you had, if possible from the manufacturer of the hotspot device in what the specific issue is they see with pistar and their device.

Please DM me here. Where It will be handled as private.
Or DM me on twitter if you choose, a simple search there using my callsign will find me.

Andrew M1DNS, (Mod)



Andrew M1DNS.
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KE0FHS
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Re: COMPLETE Shut Down Of Hotspot

Post by KE0FHS »

KB0OXD wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:43 pm The reason I say this is because (At least with the DXMini) I was told BY THE DXMINI DEVELOPER is that is this is a Pi-Star specific issue (I've got the Twitter DM stating this) as I had brought this up with them last night
Pat, that is not an accurate statement. It is not a Pi-Star specific issue, it's a Raspberry Pi issue. Hopefully, the DXMini Developer understands this and just misstated his answer to you. And to be perfectly clear, your DXMini is not anything special; it's simply an MMDVM hat (probably a clone) mounted on a Raspberry Pi Zero W with an added Nextion display, and with all of it wrapped up in a case. What I'm saying applies to all Raspberry Pi-based MMDVM hotspots, including the best quality ones like the ZUMspot, the LoneStar, and the German MMDVM_HS_Hat.

And it's not really an issue; it's just the way a Raspberry Pi works. If you take a Raspberry Pi (not a hotspot, just a Raspberry Pi), the way you turn it on is by supplying it with power. This can be done by plugging in its power supply. Or you can do what I do and insert a power switch between the power supply and the Raspberry Pi, or between the power supply and the wall socket; in either of which cases, to power it on, you simply toggle that power switch.

To turn off the Raspberry Pi, you go through a shutdown process that is similar to what you do with Windows PC. However, even when the Raspberry Pi has been shut down, there is still power being supplied to it, and you can see a red LED light still lit on the Raspberry Pi board. To full power it off, you need to toggle a power switch or unplug the power supply.

This is similar to what happens with a Windows computer. Right now, my Windows laptop is shut down but still plugged in, and there is an LED light that is still lit, which indicates that it is plugged in and charging (or, if it is fully changed, on standby). If I pull its power plug, that light will go off and the Windows laptop will be full powered down.

It seems like you did not understand my previous reply:
KB0OXD wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:34 pm ANYTHING would be easier on the Hotspot when it comes to powering it up than plugging & unplugging it DIRECTLY into & out of THE WALL :D
To be absolutely clear, I am NOT suggesting you turn off your hotspot by unplugging the power supply.

My suggestion is that you 1) use the Pi-Star Shutdown command first, which shuts down the MMDVM processes; and then 2) power off the hotspot unit by unplugging the power supply or by toggling a power switch. Since the MMDVM hat is plugged into the Raspberry Pi via the GPIO pins, when there is power being supplied to the Raspberry Pi, there also will be power being supplied to the hat even when the MMDVM processes have been shut down, and that second step is what will fully shut off the power to the entire unit, including the hat and the display.

Here are a few different examples of power switches you can use (I use all of them). They all have the advantage of not requiring you to pull the micro USB plug out of your Raspberry Pi, saving your Raspberry Pi from wear and tear.

For Raspberry Pi 3B+/3A+ and earlier: For Raspberry Pi 4B:
[*]CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 PiSwitch (USB-C)
https://www.canakit.com/raspberry-pi-4- ... witch.html

For all Raspberry Pi power supplies:
Last edited by KE0FHS on Tue Oct 08, 2019 9:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
73, Toshen, KE0FHS
Playing with Pi-Star (unofficial notes about setting up and using Pi-Star):
https://amateurradionotes.com/pi-star.htm
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