Automatic Reboot OR Reconnect

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n4bos
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Automatic Reboot OR Reconnect

Post by n4bos »

I would suggest that the Pi-Star have the ability to automatically reboot at a given time OR better yet, automatically reconnect to the web if the router goes down and then comes back. The reason for this is that I periodically do an automatic reboot of my router or, in some cases, my ISP does maintenance at night and the system might go down for a short period. When this happens, the Pi-Star loses it's connection with the web and does not automatically reconnect.

I have added "30 3 * * * root /sbin/shutdown -r now" as the first command in System Cron which does an automatic reboot every morning at 3:30AM. I would think this would be a worthwhile addition to the code.

Thanks,

Steve - N4BOS
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Re: Automatic Reboot OR Reconnect

Post by KD8DVR »

Every time my router goes down, pi star reconnects

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n4bos
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Re: Automatic Reboot OR Reconnect

Post by n4bos »

Interesting. What version of the software are you running? I'm, running 3.4.17 and it won't reconnect on two different (brand) routers.

Steve
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Re: Automatic Reboot OR Reconnect

Post by AF6VN »

n4bos wrote: Sat Oct 05, 2019 9:52 am When this happens, the Pi-Star loses it's connection with the web and does not automatically reconnect.
And how do you determine this state?

Have you checked your router status pages (before/after) to see what IP # the unit has been assigned? Possibly the router is giving it a new IP # but other nodes still have the old IP # cached.

{I can't test this properly -- my router is on my UPS [I should see about getting the backup battery for the router itself -- apparently it is designed for one for emergency phone calls [VOIP system]; my UPS, even with the computer/monitor/drives shutdown only supports stuff for about 2 hours. It's the Pi-Star node that isn't on UPS and goes down if the power glitches.}
Last edited by AF6VN on Sat Oct 05, 2019 3:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Dennis L Bieber
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Re: Automatic Reboot OR Reconnect

Post by KD8DVR »

n4bos wrote:Interesting. What version of the software are you running? I'm, running 3.4.17 and it won't reconnect on two different (brand) routers.

Steve
4.01....but it reconnected when I ran version 3 also.

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n4bos
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Re: Automatic Reboot OR Reconnect

Post by n4bos »

Yes, I have verified the IP address by looking at the Wi-Fi listing in the router before a reboot. The Pi-Star always has the same IP (I suspect because the MAC address is fixed). After a router reboot, the IP address is missing from the router and there is no "new" IP address. When I reboot the hotspot, it reappears in the router table and it works again.

I have a friend who is seeing the same behavior. I can't find any settings in the router or the Expert settings in the hotspot to force a reconnect.

Steve
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Re: Automatic Reboot OR Reconnect

Post by AF6VN »

n4bos wrote: Sat Oct 05, 2019 3:21 pm Yes, I have verified the IP address by looking at the Wi-Fi listing in the router before a reboot. The Pi-Star always has the same IP (I suspect because the MAC address is fixed). After a router reboot, the IP address is missing from the router and there is no "new" IP address. When I reboot the hotspot, it reappears in the router table and it works again.

I have a friend who is seeing the same behavior. I can't find any settings in the router or the Expert settings in the hotspot to force a reconnect.

Steve
This sounds like a router that doesn't "ping" the network to find out what equipment is available, and instead only responds when said equipment sends out a DHCP request.

You haven't, as I recall, provided the make/model of the router, so none of us can attempt to locate a PDF manual for perusal.

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Dennis L Bieber
n4bos
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Re: Automatic Reboot OR Reconnect

Post by n4bos »

Thanks for the reply...

The main router is a dink DIR-880L Hardware Version: A2 Firmware Version: 1.07WW. All is the latest available. It also happens with a Linksys in my motorhome (unknown model right now) and with a friend's router in South Dakota ... also unknown model.

The puzzling thing is I have a number of devices (29 total) connected to the router both wirelessly and wired. ALL the other devices reconnect with no problem but not the (two different) Pi-Stars.

Steve
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Re: Automatic Reboot OR Reconnect

Post by AF6VN »

No suggestions for the other two but for the D-link -- make sure you have enough DHCP addresses (page 98 in the manual I downloaded). With 29 devices you are using a lot of IP addresses on the LAN side. Check the lease time, and "Always Broadcast" (page 99). The manual illustration shows 100 addresses, and "disabled" -- those might be the defaults.

Again, I'm just grabbing at straws here. If you've got two devices and three WiFi nodes and having problems with all I'd start to suspect the R-Pi units as the only common item.


Scrolling back, I don't see any mention of what R-Pi models are in use...

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Dennis L Bieber
n4bos
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Re: Automatic Reboot OR Reconnect

Post by n4bos »

Thanks for the thoughts.

The only common item I can find is the 'Pi as all other devices do reconnect fine. So far, the "fix" I have is to do the automatic reboot at 3:30 AM. That has worked but I think it would be better if it would do it on its own.

Thanks for the thoughts!

Steve _ N4BOS
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