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Power Outage [not sure what the issue was here]

BAPBAP
edited June 2018 in Problems Now Fixed
After a power outage, the Beagle has spent over an hour going through 1 LED, 4 LED's, 2 LED's flashing. Does that mean its software will have to reloaded? or does it take hours to check through the filesystem?
Is this common after a power outage?
Thanks Brian. (Newcomer to Beagle)

Comments

  • when did you put it on the air the first time? what version of code was running before the outage?
  • It was first used today! It had started by doing an upgrade so I expect it should be the latest version but I didn't note what version it had loaded. It was working most of the day and then we got one of our common power outages.
  • flashing LEDs is it announcing it's IP address which is normal starting with version v1.174. We're at v1.175 now.  I think all is well for you

  • Yes. I can connect to it now but I couldn't earlier. Thanks for saving me from starting again.

  • When a power supply first starts, it doesn't always power on instantly to full output. The KiwiSDR will then fail to complete the boot sequence and go into a loop that doesn't always boot. The solution is to unplug the KiwiSDR, turn on the power supply and then plug the KiwiSDR in.
    Ron
    KA7U
  • edited March 2018
    I seem to experience this problem as I frequently find that my Kiwi has powered itself off.  Perhaps it failed to reboot after a auto SW upgrade.  Since my Kiwi is 2500 away, I have to ask a neighbor to come over and manually power cycle the Kiwi to get it back online.  
    Is this a HW design problem or something that could be addressed in SW?
  • If it is any help, I now use a home built linear power supply with LT1083 chip, good for several amps. It is powered off ever night and comes on every day without problem. Only had one power outage this week (the weather has been good) and it restarted well.
    There may be something in what Ron has written.
    73 Brian.
  • edited April 2018
    My $2 switcher can power up the Kiwi reliably, but my $50 ultra low noise 5V 2.5A must be first plugged into 120V, then plugged into the  Kiwi.  If it is connected to the Kiwi it doesn't start up.  I have seen the same problem with a 5A power supply, so it appears that the Kiwi's startup circuitry is sensitive to the ramp up of the 5v supply line.

    For my solar/battery powered applications i need a power supply which can reliably bring up the kiwi after an outage and the efficiency of the $2 switcher for me seems to make up for the few RF spikes it introduces below 400 Khz. I have searched for a low noise linear supply to cascade after the switcher but have found only a LT3038 1A linear which isn't enough current for the kiwi.

    I have experienced several uncontrolled loss of 5V power  events after which I had to re-flash the kiwi in order to restore it to operation.  So it appears to me that the Beaglebone OS is sensitive to file system corruption.  Unless I can work around this problem, the kiwi will not be suitable for remote installations.
  • The Beagle on-board power management IC (PMIC) has a strict 50 msec max ramp up time on the 5V input. Someplace there is a thread where we discussed this.

    Here is a good thread from the time-nuts mailing list which talks about how to parallel low-noise LTC regulators to increase the current capability: https://www.mail-archive.com/time-nuts@febo.com/msg90345.html


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