General Discussion

@mrhutchinsonmn I'm not an expert on this code and when I get into a situation like yours, I suspect a corrupted file. So I download the MySensors code again. Yeah it's a pain because you have it all configured. To minimize that pain, I create shell script to run the the configure program. I also keep my source files in a different directory from MySensors. When I go to compile the code, I copy the source(s) to the directory(ies) to where "make" expects it(them). Sometimes, for me, I've bolluxed things so badly that I reimage the RPi and really start over! I try to document exactly how to start over. I admit, it's not efficient nor elegant, but I eventually I get a configuration with which I can live. Documenting what I do is key!

I've purchased the family plans for both LastPass and Bitwarden. I'm torn between the two. I've been alternating back and forth between using them and I much prefer LastPass. Family sharing in Lastpass is vastly superior and easier to use. Bitwarden does family sharing in a clunky and disjointed fashion. Family sharing of some sites is especially important to us. My wife is not technical at all and has learned to effectively use Lastpass over the last 12 years. I've not even shown her how Bitwarden works yet, and I know what her response will be.

https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/products/environmental-sensors/particulate-matter-sensor/bmv080/ could be the next generation. No moving parts. Measures PM2.5. Datasheet: https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/media/boschsensortec/downloads/product_flyer/bst-bmv080-fl000.pdf

@NeverDie DipTrace stores all components with the project file, so you can open it on any computer and extract components from Schematic or PCB as a library. Also it automatically saves all project components into design cache, which is immediately accessible as a library with all its functionality.

@mfalkvidd If things go sideways in the "you know where" region of eastern Europe, such that they affect Sweden, feel free to open a thread and ask for help. I'm sure everyone on this forum will do their best to get you any information or other resources you might need to adapt to events as they develop.

@qqlapraline Those are some quick times for assembly! I usually am doing a board with parts they don't stock, so I have only used them for assembly a few times, and not recently, so it's good to hear. @NeverDie I've used JLCPCB a bunch of times now, and I have yet to find an error that affected the board electrically. I've found small things like sloppy printing or some rough edges of the copper, but always small, and like I said, it has yet to cause an issue for me. For prototyping they're really hard to beat.

After a 4 years work, here are some samples of my pellet consumption. [image: 1665343111244-chart-2.png] [image: 1665343116115-chart-3.png] Now, guess when I usually stop the boiler ..:) Cheers, QQ.

@elsereno I would investigate why the router goes down and fix that, unless your GW is the only thing using that router...

@mfalkvidd said in Absolute location of system config in EEProm: https://github.com/mysensors/MySensors/blob/253109d3ff00ec524c5d1e1dfcd8e197c96e54c2/core/MyEepromAddresses.h might be useful Wow thanks. That is exactly what I needed. Thanks for the help, you are a champion.

You need a Pin Vice (or vise if you're across the pond and want to butcher the Queen's King's English)... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143450664932?epid=2305158887&hash=item2166536fe4:g:g-AAAOSwnO1d2YjH&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoNgdTu9H35nxAzYb88y%2Bd%2BnDpgfsjI2QXCJzOGcO0bj4xAlrbUz9IScDEEydVAxUQ2Fv%2FQXkfPURAH3PWftlQIbAploXhvcmwP4%2F%2FY1YNgXeglqfwkTWyP%2BQkgvRuss8OI4OkverPgiUT%2BBftCZcFLqrm6LdeKgcz8uqo4pMxnLx4AtDgoQHTnSznUbSxLM4jDkUGLECVv%2Bqaptf8fgnWu0%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR8DLmJnqYA Pete.

Nomorobo.

Useful information

@OldSurferDude said in Some"ting" interesting...: @NeverDie Non-internet connected networks still need NTP. I built an NTP server from a $5 gps module, a $3 Arduino nano, a $6 ethernet shield, network cable and a USB cable. A neighbor 3D printed an enclosure for me in exchange for 4 home baked cookies (they're awesome). Just for fun, I put in software for an under $2 display to make a clock. Should we re-title this thread, "Be Afraid, and here's how to ameliorate your fear. " In the scenario I was referring to, the IOT devices are still internet connected. They're just on their own dedicated local LAN (which could be a virtual LAN), that's all. Now, shutting them off from the internet entirely.... maybe that's another step one could take, depending on what it is. I have some lights/switches that were cheap but which have to run through the cloud in order to connect with Alexa. They wouldn't work properly if they were cut off from the internet.

What is also most interesting with zigbee is a very important number of devices, and low price of them compared to zwave for instance.

In a previous house I had a wireless sensor that was cylindrical. I drilled a roughly 3/4" - 7/8" diameter hole in the doorframe and slide it in, so it wasn't at all visible when the door was closed. Because of the packaging and form factor, some exotic things, like that, are far easier to buy than build, though I suppose it would be within the grasp of someone with skills who was determined to make their own. Less exotic: if you made your sensor flat enough, you could hollow out the door molding and hide it inside of that. A properly designed door sensor could run off of a CR2032 coincell battery for 10+ years, so it's not such a wild idea.

@nrf24_is_hard When I sent data between an Aduino and the RPi I discovered that I have to make the the receiving and the sending structs the same size AND the variables be on 4 byte boundaries. Change your char name[15] to char name[16] Another challenge is that the number of bytes of type int are different. If I remember correctly, Arduino Uno is 2 bytes and RPi is 4 bytes. To make matters worse, some compilers make the least significant byte the first byte of a word and others make it the last byte of a word. eg, sending the value 1 would be received as 16777216 (0x00000001 vs 0x01000000) There are a lot more gotcha's ;) OSD

@NeverDie said in Bootloading a barebones arduino: You and a group of friends could sit around a table and pass bits and bytes to each other using an SPI communication protocol. Passing bits and bytes is probably more fun that sitting around a table and passing digs and barbs! I don't know: maybe my friends ARE binary!:angel: [Edit: I forgot to say anything about the content of your SPI protocol story. That was a great story; I feel badly for not thinking about the SPI connection at all. Now it is ingrained. ]

I just remembered the key technique to getting the communications working smoothly. I do all my communication synchronously. That is as follows: The master device sends a message to a node. The send command returns a success or fail, but fail does not mean the message was not received, it means that an ACK was not received. The master waits a timeout period for a response. If there is no response, a second attempt is made. If there is a response, the data with the response is processed. If not, the node is ignored. After that transaction, the master repeats this process with the next node and for each node there after. A round-robin. If a node does not get a request from the master within a certain interval, it reboots itself. If the system power cycles, the nodes inundate the the master with DHCP requests. Because of so many requests, requests can be ignored or two nodes might receive the same network address (different from NodeID). Eventually, one node will get a valid network address and begin to communicate as expected. This reduces the network traffic and the probability of another node receiving a unique network address improves. Eventually, all nodes connect. "Eventually" can be many, many minutes. The tree structure of the network means that some nodes send data through other nodes. In asynchronous communication, a node may be trying to send data while another node is sending data through it. I may not be correct in this, but I think that it is possible that this will corrupt one or both data packets. This is why I do the round-robin communication. The master only has 5 (4?) usable addresses to receive data. Like computer DHCP, addresses can be reserved for specific NodeID's. For example, address 3 an be reserved for NodeID 31, then NodeID 22 can have a reserved address of 43, thus NodeID 22 will always send data through NodeID 31. (addresses are octal). The address 4444 is reserved; this is the address a node requesting an address uses. To increase the chance of getting a valid address, I put a delay in the first DHCP request based upon the NodeID. I put the NodeID in EEPROM address 0, as does MySensors. I have one program that sets the NodeID and then my program for all of my nodes is the same. Nodes that sleep must have the flag set (in the node software) that indicates no data can be passed through it from another node. All of these hoops are handled by the MySensors libraries, though I force the NodeID. This my impetus to use MySensors. I must wonder though, "How much overhead is there? Do I have enough memory for my code?" So far I haven't had a problem. OSD