No longer see Pi-Star WiFi and can't connect browser

[MW6WHL]

Hi All

Unusual issue here this morning folks... I am sure it is down to lack of knowledge on my part, alas any help greatly appreciated.

So, I have two Raspberry Pi based hotspot devices, both of which run Pi-Star, one is running D-STAR (pi-star.local on my home network) and the other DMR (pi-star-dmr.local on my home network). Right now though, I have an issue with the DMR one.

Everything was working fine, I could see the pi-star domain on my browser allowing me to use and amend the DMR Dashboard, but this morning following a battery running out overnight , once connected to a new power source I restarted the DMR Hotspot and though I can use it fine with my DMR radio, I can't see the Pi-Star domain in my browser. I can talk on and hear all of the channels I've programmed on my radio as normal, but I am unable to access the pi-star-dmr.local page and Dashboard.

No network or home wifi changes.

Interestingly, I am also unable even to see the Pi-Star WiFi. It is strange, because quite obviously the hotspot is connecting to my home wifi network as I am able to use my radio as normal, I just cannot see any dashboard.

Does anyone have any pointers for me please?
Ta

[KJ7NAS]

It may have gotten a new IP.
Use angryip to scan your home network for is in use. If you see the hostname in the list, right click and open web . Remember the new ip

May have booted without an IP and is hosting its own IP. When searching for WiFi networks do you see pistar setup? If so, reboot.

I hope this is a good starting point. Let me know if this worked. Thank you.

[KJ7NAS]

Sorry for the double post. I don't know how to edit so I get notified for responses.

It may have gotten a new IP.
Use angryip to scan your home network for is in use. If you see the hostname in the list, right click and open web . Remember the new ip

May have booted without an IP and is hosting its own IP. When searching for WiFi networks do you see pistar setup? If so, reboot.

I hope this is a good starting point. Let me know if this worked. Thank you.

[AF6VN]

May have booted without an IP and is hosting its own IP. When searching for WiFi networks do you see pistar setup? If so, reboot.

If the OP is able to communicate using it, then it is NOT in auto-ap mode, as the DMR traffic has to be passed to some server...

{For the OP}
However, a cached DNS record having a no-longer valid IP# would be a problem on the host computer. Flushing the DNS cache might work https://www.technipages.com/flush-and-r ... g-ipconfig though my first step would be to log into the router and check ITS list of clients (for example, on my system)

Code: Select all

IP Allocation
IPv4 Address / Name 	MAC Address 	Status 	Allocation 	Action
192.168.1.68 / EPSONF4EF32 	00:26:ab:f4:ef:32 	on 	DHCP Allocation 	
192.168.1.71 / android-50a89c435dfc72db 	10:d3:8a:eb:a8:89 	off 	DHCP Allocation 	
192.168.1.65 / DIRECTV-HR54-C94828D7 	18:16:c9:48:28:d9 	on 	DHCP Allocation 	
192.168.1.93 / unknown5ca39d084ab9 	5c:a3:9d:08:4a:b9 	off 	DHCP Allocation 	
192.168.1.74 / unknown64c6670531d3 	64:c6:67:05:31:d3 	off 	DHCP Allocation 	
192.168.1.70 / Galaxy-S9 	8c:45:00:6d:1a:4c 	on 	DHCP Allocation 	
192.168.1.79 / pi-star-3b 	b8:27:eb:4b:0b:d5 	on 	DHCP Allocation 	
192.168.1.253 / microdiversity 	b8:27:eb:9b:e4:be 	on 	DHCP Allocation 	
192.168.1.252 / microdiversity 	b8:27:eb:ce:b1:eb 	on 	DHCP Allocation 	
192.168.1.66 / ElusiveUnicorn 	b8:ca:3a:79:0c:36 	on 	DHCP Allocation 	
192.168.1.84 / HP7C548D 	c4:65:16:7c:54:8d 	on 	DHCP Allocation 

If the unit shows up, try connecting to the IP# directly. If that works, then try the DNS cache flush.

{Blast -- I could have sworn I had a crontab on my web server to shutdown the WLAN0, since it has a physical cable connection -- but there it is, both eth0 (.252) and wlan0 (.253)}

[MW6WHL]

Thanks for the replies folks. So...

In my router admin panel, I see the IP address for the pi-star-dmr.local device, but when I use that IP address instead of the name, I still get 'Safari can't connect to the server' page.

Very strange indeed.

Oh, I am on an iMac, using OSX Catalina 10.15.4

I am thinking I may have to create a new pi-star MicroSD image...?

[G8SEZ]

Can you run Chrome on your iDevice?

[MW6WHL]

Can you run Chrome on your iDevice?

Have been using Safari without issue since day one, but yep more than happy to try this.

Downloaded and installed and when entering the IP address as shown by my router for pi-star-dmr.local I get 'This site can't be reached' the IP address xxx.xxx.x.xx refused to connect (with the correct IP address showing of course!)

[MW6WHL]

Can you run Chrome on your iDevice?

Incidentally... pi-star.local opens the other RaspberryPi hotspot device just fine and displays my D-STAR dashboard as expected.

Weird eh... and is why I maybe think the RaspberryPi d-star image has gone all wobbly!!!

[MW6WHL]

Incidentally... pi-star.local opens the other RaspberryPi hotspot device just fine and displays my D-STAR dashboard as expected.

Weird eh... and is why I maybe think the RaspberryPi d-star image has gone all wobbly!!!

I get the feeling you didn't name each one of your hotspots a different hostname in the configuration settings.

A router gets confused because two devices on the network have the same hostname, one of them is going to not work because there is only one lookup entry.

Just yank the power and reboot it, power down the other one also. Then boot one of them and change the hostname and reboot it. Then boot the other one and if were you I'd change the hostname of that one too just to prevent future conflicts if you ever wind up booting the stock image again.

Yeah I get you but I ensured the host names were indeed different.

D-STAR host name is pi-star.local
DMR host name is pi-star-dmr.local

They have both been working fine up until last night when the DMR Hotspot went offline due to the battery pack it was connected to running out.

Strange eh!

[MW6WHL]

Also, I see them both listed in the 'online devices' section of my network router, including their MAC addresses and IP.