Ethernet Gateway problem

[Dan S.]

My soft spi version is up and running. Didn't work at first (Vera lua errora) till I read that you moved gw.begin in setup() to be done after the delay(1000). After doing that I was up and running. Will keep my fingers crossed for long term reliability.

[Dan S.]

@Anticimex Was wondering how you knew/diagnosed that it was necessary to move the gw begin to after the delay to get the soft spi to work

[Anticimex]

@Dan-S. I actually stumbled upon that when I was experimenting with the SPI_EN signal and temporarily disabled ethernet or rf24 to see which interfered with what. I never went into why this had to be done because after I went back to HW SPI and rebased my library to get the latest updates, I got it to work without switching the order as well.

[Dan S.]

Well if it wasn't for that stumble, my softSpi Ethernet gateway wouldn't be humming along like it is right now. If the softSpi is a solution for all Ethernet shield users, regardless of the version and SPI_EN hookup, would recommend a more formal documentation of the procedure. Maybe a whole separate softspi version of the library only for creation of the ethernet shield gateway that can then be discarded and replaced with the normal library for all the sensors. Those doing breadboarding or with known compatible shields can opt for the hard wire version.

[Anticimex]

I suspect the re-ordering is only necessary for soft-SPI variants, possibly due to some unclear dependency in the init of the IO. I agree that a soft-SPI alternative RF solution could be a useful complement to the library.

[Dan S.]

After 24 hours of continuous operation with the softSPI version of my ethernet shield based gateway with no hiccups, I'm ready to declare victory and move on!! A special thanks to Anitcimex, without whose help it would not have been possible.

[Anticimex]

Great news Dan :)
I have also verified my gw on breadboard and am now working on the final product. I'll publish both HW and SW design on the forum. It will feature a new twist on the gateway I don't think anyone have done before ;)

[Dan S.]

Hate to keep this thread going but although I focused mostly on the SPI end of the problem here, I found out I also had a radio problem--in fact all of my problems may have been related to the radio. I thought I was doing good in powering the antenna version of the radio using the AMS117 to supply 3.3 v rather than the board supplied 3.3V. Found out that when I did this the radio would quit working after a while. When connected directly to my UNO 3.3v supply (and the uno has enough power for the radio) it works flawlessly. If anyone has any insights on this would appreciate a response.

[RJ_Make]

@Dan-S.

Noise? Ripple? Overheating? What kind of circuit did you build around it.?

Looking at the datasheet; pages 4 and 5 may be of some help.

ds1117.pdf

[Dan S.]

Using the AMS117 module shown in mysensor store. Vin connected directly to the same power line powering the Uno, ground to uno ground and Vout to the radio whose ground is also to Uno (common ground for uno, AM117 module and radio). Power supplied by 5volt, 2amp wall wart.

[RJ_Make]

@Dan-S.
Capacitor across vcc and gnd on the radio?

[meanpenugin]

@ServiceXp
I believe the part that is at the store already has the supporting circuitry on the board as described in those pages. I don't think there is any external components necessary.
Edward

[Dan S.]

I do have a cap on the radio in addition to whatever is onboard the part. Also the UNO power is connected to through the USB connector if that affects anything.

[RJ_Make]

@meanpenugin
Yep, I thought he was using the chip. :-)

[RJ_Make]

@Dan-S.
What size cap? In testing I found I needed a pretty big cap (47uF) to get mine working with MySensor version 1.4.

[Dan S.]

Thought about this some more. I supplied power to both the radio and the Uno from the same wall wart 5v power source. But when the Uno is supplied 5v from its USB connector, the power from that connection is not regulated by the UNO. Since the radio has significant fluctuations in power output (and demand) it may cause significant ripples in its power source line--the same one which sources the UNO. Because the UNO is not regulating this power, it may have caused problems with the UNO (not the radio). Perhaps I should have capped the UNO power source also or at least should have had 2 separate power supplies, one for the UNO and one for the radio. Thought I was being clever in using one. At any rate the gateway continues to run with no problems with the radio getting power directly from the UNO's 3.3V output pin. The UNO provides enough power from this pin to power the radio with no issues.

[gregl]

Thanks everyone esp. @Anticimex for your troubleshooting on this.
I didnt realise i had an issue with my 1.4 Ethernet GW ( using the iBoard hardware) as i wasn't using it in "production" and since it was just running from my PC's USB port it was restarted each time i woke my PC.

Anyway - to bring stability to the Iboard , i just added to the original sketch the line:

SPI.setClockDivider(SPI_CLOCK_DIV2); //to assist with gateway stability.

eg:

void setup()  
{ 
 SPI.setClockDivider(SPI_CLOCK_DIV2); //to assist with gateway stability.
  // Initialize gateway at maximum PA level, channel 70 and callback for write operations 
  gw.begin(RF24_PA_LEVEL_GW, RF24_CHANNEL, RF24_DATARATE, writeEthernet);
 
  Ethernet.begin(mac, myIp);

  // give the Ethernet interface a second to initialize
    delay(1000);
  
    // start listening for clients
    server.begin();
  }

Thanks again!

[Anticimex]

@gregl You're welcome :)
Actually, I read somewhere that SPI.setClockDivider(SPI_CLOCK_DIV2) is a default setting in the device, but maybe various AVRs differ.
In any case, I found that when breadboarding, it might actually be needed to lower it to DIV4 as well.
Eventually, SPI.setClockDivider(SPI_CLOCK_DIV2) will be executed when SPI is configured in the library, but possibly some SPI calls are made without this call since you notice a difference when adding the call yourself before calling any library function.

[Dan S.]

Still having an issue with my ethernet gateway (Uno plus shield). Works flawlessly for up to 24 hours, then shuts down. When working, responds without fail to every message from my test light sensor, but then fails to respond to any message. If I take the gateway offline, then restart everything it goes through the same process--working for some length of time, then shutting down. Have tried soft spi, separate power for the radio etc., and each time I think I have found the solution till it shuts down again. Any suggestions. Thinking that it is a hardware issue given that it operates fine for hours before stopping.

[Anticimex]

Hm. Perhaps dodgy USB circuitry? (for powering the Arduino that is) assuming you do that. Have you tried alternative power supply for the Arduino as well?