[Solved] Arduino Nanos don't work as nodes

Avamander

// Enable debug prints to serial monitor
#define MY_DEBUG
#define MY_DEBUG_VERBOSE_RF24
 
// Enable and select radio type attached
#define MY_RADIO_NRF24
#define MY_TRANSPORT_SANITY_CHECK
#define MY_RF24_CE_PIN     9
#define MY_RF24_CS_PIN     10
#define MY_RF24_CHANNEL    29
#define RF24_DATARATE      RF24_2MBPS
#define RF24_PA_LEVEL      RF24_PA_MIN
#define RF24_PA_LEVEL_GW   RF24_PA_MIN
#define MY_NODE_ID         1

16 MCO:BGN:INIT NODE,CP=RNNNA---,FQ=16,REL=255,VER=2.3.2
26 TSM:INIT
28 TSF:WUR:MS=0
29 RF24:INIT:PIN,CE=9,CS=10
31 RF24:SBY
32 RF24:WBR:REG=0,VAL=14
39 RF24:WBR:REG=3,VAL=3
41 RF24:WBR:REG=4,VAL=95
44 RF24:WBR:REG=5,VAL=29
47 RF24:WBR:REG=6,VAL=37
49 RF24:WBR:REG=29,VAL=4
51 RF24:RBR:REG=29,VAL=4
53 RF24:RBR:REG=6,VAL=37
55 RF24:RBR:REG=5,VAL=29
58 RF24:WBR:REG=2,VAL=2
60 RF24:WBR:REG=1,VAL=0
62 RF24:WBR:REG=28,VAL=3
64 RF24:FRX
65 RF24:FTX
66 RF24:WBR:REG=7,VAL=112
69 TSM:INIT:TSP OK
70 TSM:INIT:STATID=1
72 RF24:WBR:REG=2,VAL=3
74 RF24:WBR:REG=1,VAL=1
76 RF24:STL
78 RF24:WBR:REG=0,VAL=15
80 RF24:WBR:REG=10,VAL=1
82 TSF:SID:OK,ID=1
84 TSM:FPAR
86 RF24:SPL
87 RF24:WBR:REG=0,VAL=14
89 RF24:OWP:RCPT=255
91 RF24:WBR:REG=10,VAL=255
93 RF24:WBR:REG=16,VAL=255
96 RF24:TXM:TO=255,LEN=7
98 RF24:FTX
99 RF24:WBR:REG=4,VAL=80
103 RF24:WBR:REG=7,VAL=112
106 ?RF24:TXM:MAX_RT
108 RF24:FTX
109 RF24:WBR:REG=4,VAL=95
111 RF24:STL
113 RF24:WBR:REG=0,VAL=15
115 RF24:WBR:REG=10,VAL=1
117 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,1-1-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
2125 !TSM:FPAR:NO REPLY
2127 TSM:FPAR
2128 RF24:SPL
2130 RF24:WBR:REG=0,VAL=14
2132 RF24:OWP:RCPT=255
2135 RF24:WBR:REG=10,VAL=255
2138 RF24:WBR:REG=16,VAL=255
2140 RF24:TXM:TO=255,LEN=7
2143 RF24:FTX
2144 RF24:WBR:REG=4,VAL=80
2149 RF24:WBR:REG=7,VAL=112
2151 ?RF24:TXM:MAX_RT
2153 RF24:FTX
2155 RF24:WBR:REG=4,VAL=95
2157 RF24:STL
2158 RF24:WBR:REG=0,VAL=15
2161 RF24:WBR:REG=10,VAL=1
2163 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,1-1-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
4171 !TSM:FPAR:NO REPLY
4173 TSM:FPAR
4174 RF24:SPL
4175 RF24:WBR:REG=0,VAL=14
4178 RF24:OWP:RCPT=255
4180 RF24:WBR:REG=10,VAL=255
4184 RF24:WBR:REG=16,VAL=255
4186 RF24:TXM:TO=255,LEN=7
4189 RF24:FTX
4190 RF24:WBR:REG=4,VAL=80
4195 RF24:WBR:REG=7,VAL=112
4197 ?RF24:TXM:MAX_RT
4199 RF24:FTX
4201 RF24:WBR:REG=4,VAL=95
4203 RF24:STL
4204 RF24:WBR:REG=0,VAL=15
4207 RF24:WBR:REG=10,VAL=1
4209 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,1-1-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
6217 !TSM:FPAR:NO REPLY

Still no reply.

niclas

I'm not super experienced using mysensors but I do have 3 nodes working and when first settings things up I had some problems with NODE IDs. It looks like you are setting a Static node Id? Is that ID "free" in the gateway? Have you tried powering of all the nodes you have running, wiping the EEPROM of the gateway, powering up the gateway and shortly after powering up the node?

Someone else perhaps knows this better but, if the gateway don't want to include the node, does that generate the FPAR:No reply?

And also, how is the interrupt pin connected?

electrik

I use Arduinos all the time and have problem with them.
I suggest to start with one of the examples.

The RF channel is the same everywhere I guess?
What does the output on the gateway say?

Avamander

@niclas

It looks like you are setting a Static node Id? Is that ID "free" in the gateway?

Yes, there are no other nodes (other than the one with a different static node ID that works)

Have you tried powering of all the nodes you have running,

Yes.

wiping the EEPROM of the gateway, powering up the gateway and shortly after powering up the node?

Yes, I've wiped EEPROMs of all the nodes.

niclas

@Avamander I meant, have you erased the EEPROM of the gateway?

Avamander

@niclas

I meant, have you erased the EEPROM of the gateway?

Yes, that too.

And also, how is the interrupt pin connected?

The radio's IRQ pin is not connected. (The IRQ pin is only required to be connected if the MY_RX_MESSAGE_BUFFER_FEATURE is defined in the sketch.)

niclas

@Avamander Regarding the interrupt pin, at least when using the RFM95 I need to have the pin connected to be able to receive anything. It doesnt poll the module to check for incoming messages. Maybe its different with nRF24.

I haven't tried messing with the MY_RX_MESSAGE_BUFFER_FEATURE so I wouldnt know about that.

Avamander

@niclas

Well, the documentation says I don't have to have it connected.

@electrik

I suggest to start with one of the examples.

The gateway and node both are examples with the minimal required changes.

The RF channel is the same everywhere I guess?

Yes.

What does the output on the gateway say?

Nothing, totally silent. When I plug in the Mega node, then it starts outputting all the sensor and other data.

Anyways, the weird thing here is that I remember this working a few years or so ago on the same boards and stuff, it just doesn't work now and I have 0 clue why. I'm thinking about downgrading MySensors to 1.something

niclas

@Avamander Found the documentation you were referring to and yes. Seems to be true for the RF24 which I haven't used in a long time.

#define MY_RX_MESSAGE_BUFFER_FEATURE

This enables the receiving buffer feature.

This feature is currently not supported for anything but RF24. Require MY_RF24_IRQ_PIN to be set.

Note: Not supported on ESP8266, ESP32, STM32, nRF5 and sketches that use SoftSPI. See below issue for details https://github.com/mysensors/MySensors/issues/1128

Definition at line 2406 of file MyConfig.h.

electrik

I don't think this is a software issue. More likely your NRF24 is failing.

Avamander

@electrik It's highly unlikely. I have more than one type of module and more than one module of each type, none of them work. I also swapped the modules between working GW and Mega node and it still works, I swap the module between working GW and the node, it doesn't work.

electrik

Could you try version 2.2 of mysensors? I remember summer changes in 2.4 regarding nrf modules

Avamander

@electrik :

Could you try version 2.2 of mysensors? I remember summer changes in 2.4 regarding nrf modules

I went to the oldest available version and it doesn't work.

I don't really get it, if I swap the radios between the Mega node and the Nano node, it stops working, swapping CE/CSN also makes it stop working - any alterations make it fail loud and clear.

It does initialize the radio and claim everything is okay. I can be quite certain it's not the radios, it's not the boards themselves, it's not the wiring.

There's something very specific to the Nanos themselves that 2.x.x is unable to use the nRF24L01+.

I will assemble an Arduino Uno board and see if the issue is specific to the AtMega328P.

Avamander

I also ran the full "test" suite of RF24 and all examples work great, so I am very certain communication is likely to be very good.

It's just that something makes MySensors not like it.

Avamander

Just in case I also took clean RepeaterNode example and just defined the CE/CSN pins and channel, it's still unable to work.

I also tried the same example without any repeater functionality enabled, it's still unable to register. It's basically a blank sketch.

Changing Node ID didn't also work.

electrik

In your first sketch the baud rate was 2mbps. How is your existing network configured?
If you take an example sketch and an example gateway sketch, does it work then. So don't change channels and so on

Avamander

In your first sketch the baud rate was 2mbps. How is your existing network configured?

That's exactly the same across all my sketches.

If you take an example sketch and an example gateway sketch, does it work then. So don't change channels and so on

Yeah, I did that and wrote about it above, took RepeaterNode and just defined CE/CSN on GW and the node.

Avamander

I've determined that it doesn't matter which:

Radio
Radio's power supply/source
Nano
Bootloader
Arduino IDE (tried 1.8.2 and latest nightly)
2.x.x MySensors
Example, or custom sketch
Channel, data rate, power level or node ID
Repeater or not
WAIT_READY_MS or not
Predefined master or not
SPI bus speed, 0.5*default SPI speed didn't help

I just can't make a Nano act as a regular node.

Maybe a MySensors dev has an idea what I could try.

Avamander

I'm going to finish my Arduino Uno node and if that too doesn't work getting MyController to work must take some goat sacrifice because I can't do it.

Avamander

I just discovered that on the Arduino Uno RF24_250KBPS works, but RF24_2MBPS doesn't. On the Nanos, neither work.

I used RF24 and tested the boards for a while, I've determined that 2MBPS on that specific channel works great, I've sent at least 100 000 packets and lost only two. Auto-ack and dynamic payloads also work.

I am 99.99% certain this is a bug in MySensors. @mfalkvidd maybe you have some ideas where to look next?

[Solved] Arduino Nanos don't work as nodes

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