Cannot connect to Brandmeister network

Help with DMR issues
G4TVP
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2020 11:30 pm

Cannot connect to Brandmeister network

Post by G4TVP »

I thought I would have a go at setting up my MMDVM to talk DMR to the Brandmeister network, but all it does is alternate the status between RED and GREEN. I have tried ssh'ing and looking at the logfile, but only shows :-
M: 2020-07-20 07:17:34.588 DMR, Opening DMR Network
On the Brandmeister screen, it shows my DMR id(s) (2352971 & 235297101), both with RED circles, to me indicating it hasn't made a connection, backed up by the fact that on the Profile screen, I see this.
G4TVP's DMR IDs
ID Repeater Last seen TX time this week
2352971 1970-01-01 1:00:00 0s
Here is the configuration from Configuration page:
DMR Master: BM_United_Kingdom_2341
Hotspot Security:••••••••
BrandMeister Network: Repeater Information | Edit Repeater (BrandMeister Selfcare)
DMR ESSID: 235297101
DMR Colour Code: 1
DMR EmbeddedLCOnly:
Enable DMR Embedded LC Only
DMR DumpTAData:
DMR Dump T-A Data
I've tried googling and can't see any clues as to what might be wrong, only some suggestions to look at the Expert screen. The Pi was setup to do Dstar and that was working fine. I've tried updating, to no avail. I have checked that my Hotspot password's match, but perhaps if I could get some more debugging info, I can tell what it's not liking.
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G8SEZ
Posts: 555
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:26 pm

Re: Cannot connect to Brandmeister network

Post by G8SEZ »

Try opening the live log in a separate browser tab, there's a link on the admin page.
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Brian G8SEZ
G4TVP
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2020 11:30 pm

Re: Cannot connect to Brandmeister network

Post by G4TVP »

I have downloaded the log, but it shows nothing different to what I am seeing when ssh'ing into the Pi-star (there doesn't appear to be any attempt to connect to the Brandmeister network).
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.604 This software is for use on amateur radio networks only,
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.604 it is to be used for educational purposes only. Its use on
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.604 commercial networks is strictly prohibited.
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 Copyright(C) 2015-2018 by Jonathan Naylor, G4KLX and others
M: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 MMDVMHost-20181107_Pi-Star is starting
M: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 Built 09:24:10 Nov 12 2018 (GitID #9444eca)
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 General Parameters
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 Callsign: G4TVP
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 Id: 2352971
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 Duplex: no
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 Timeout: 240s
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 D-Star: disabled
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 DMR: enabled
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 YSF: disabled
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 P25: disabled
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 NXDN: disabled
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.605 POCSAG: disabled
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 Modem Parameters
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 Port: /dev/ttyAMA0
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 Protocol: uart
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 RX Invert: no
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 TX Invert: yes
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 PTT Invert: no
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 TX Delay: 100ms
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 RX Offset: -475Hz
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 TX Offset: -475Hz
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 RX DC Offset: 0
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 TX DC Offset: 0
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 RF Level: 100.0%
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 DMR Delay: 0 (0.0ms)
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 RX Level: 50.0%
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 CW Id TX Level: 50.0%
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 D-Star TX Level: 50.0%
I: 2020-07-21 08:06:00.606 DMR TX Level: 50.0%
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G8SEZ
Posts: 555
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:26 pm

Re: Cannot connect to Brandmeister network

Post by G8SEZ »

What version of PiStar are you using? I am assuming from the MMDVM string that it's quite old.

Have you run sudo pistar-update and sudo pistar-upgrade from your ssh window? If not then try doing so again, it might require several cycles of these commands.
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Brian G8SEZ
G4TVP
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2020 11:30 pm

Re: Cannot connect to Brandmeister network

Post by G4TVP »

The version of Pistar is "Pi-Star:3.4.16 / Dashboard: 20200706". That looks quite recent to me.

Anyway, I've powered it back up and now it's connecting ! Sooooo, I will leave it alone :o
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G8SEZ
Posts: 555
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:26 pm

Re: Cannot connect to Brandmeister network

Post by G8SEZ »

You are one release behind the latest 3.4 release, so one cycle of sudo pistar-update then sudo pistar-upgrade should get you to the latest 3.4.x release.

Since last year development is on the 4.1.x series, which needs a new SD card flashed as the upgrade from Raspbian Jessie to Buster is too tricky with an in place update.

If you're happy with 3.4.x then that's fine too. One thing to be aware of is that your modem firmware might be quite old, currently it's at 1.4.17 for the MMDVM_HS_HAT boards, that would probably be worth upgrading. I'm not sure what modem board you are using.
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Brian G8SEZ
G4TVP
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2020 11:30 pm

Re: Cannot connect to Brandmeister network

Post by G4TVP »

Have done another round of "update" and "upgrade" and that has brought me up to 3.4.17. We are now back to RED against the DMR, so I spoke too soon.

This particular unit is a cheapie chinese MMDVM unit. How do I go about upgrading the modem firmware?
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G8SEZ
Posts: 555
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:26 pm

Re: Cannot connect to Brandmeister network

Post by G8SEZ »

Do you have the modem set to MMDVM_HS_HAT (DB9MAT and DF2ET) for RPi GPIO?

Assuming it is using a 14.7456MHz TCXO then the command you need is:

sudo pistar-mmdvmhshatflash hs_hat

this should then find the modem, check the version, download the new version and flash the new code.

It won't flash if anything is wrong, but a successful flash does need the BOOT0 signal connected on the HAT connector, which it usually is on the Chinese boards.
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Brian G8SEZ
G4TVP
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2020 11:30 pm

Re: Cannot connect to Brandmeister network

Post by G4TVP »

Yep, modem type was set correctly and the TCXO was 14.7456MHz.

The "sudo pistar-mmdvmhshatflash hs_hat" ran succesfully and it has rebooted. I get this in the log, so I presume it's worked fine :-

MMDVM protocol version: 1, description: MMDVM_HS_Hat-v1.4.17 20190529 14.7456MHz ADF7021 FW by CA6JAU GitID #cc451c4

But I also get this, is that normal? :-
E: 2020-07-21 14:53:35.242 MMDVM RX buffer has overflowed
E: 2020-07-21 14:53:35.495 MMDVM RX buffer has overflowed

We have green lights on the DMR Net section of the dashboard.

I will leave it for a while, as I've been here before, thank you for your kind assistance.
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G8SEZ
Posts: 555
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:26 pm

Re: Cannot connect to Brandmeister network

Post by G8SEZ »

I don't think the overflow message is a showstopper, but keep an eye on it. You have the latest non-beta modem firmware and I'm pleased that you have got your green DMR status back.

Ah just found this:

"I had this issue, and turns out in the default config, MMDVMHost is set to use /dev/ttyAMA0 for [TFT Serial], and I was also using that for my MMDVM Board (raspberrry Pi hat). I commented out the lines for TFT Serial and solved the issue for me."

I suspect you may have the same sot of conflict, best to use the Configuration->Expert->MMDVMHost page to find it and change it.

Actually it could be that you have a display type set to TFT Serial, I would suggest setting it to OLED 3 even if you don't have an OLED display on your HAT.

This can be done on the straight Configuration page, but be careful if you then change anything in the Expert pages then these changes can get mangled by using the Configuration page. The dashboard can't quite cope with the two being used in parallel, so best not to.

Another possibility is that you have some debugging turned on somewhere, find all the debug entries in the Expert MMDVMHost page and change them to 0 if the previous suggestion doesn't help.
Last edited by G8SEZ on Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Brian G8SEZ
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