Serial Gateway not working on Nano, works with Uno

[Robert-Jan Budding]

Hi guys,

First of all, I am loving this site and community, really cool projects. But I am having a (probably noob) problem.

I am just starting building a sensor network for usage with my Pimatic controller. Because of Pimatic I need a Serial Gateway, so I am building one. But it keeps giving the radio init fail, no matter what. The weird thing is, I tried the exact same config on my Uno, and no problems at all.

I am using an Nano 328 with a NRF24L01+, checked that 10 times, and checked the wiring even more often. Using a decoupler of 4,7uF and also tried a 10uF. Tested the Nano with a test script, worked like a charm. Cleaned the EEPROM as well. I really have no idea anymore, hopefully one of you knows what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks! Robert

[sundberg84]

Are you feeding the radio 3.3v?

[Robert-Jan Budding]

Yep, I followed the tutorial of @petewill as well, have the same connections.

[drock1985]

I have the same problem here to, only difference is i'm using Home-Assistant as a controller. It might be the USB driver the Nano is using to communicate with Pimatic causing a issue.

From a terminal in Pimatic, unplug your gateways and run lsusb
Then, plug in your nano and run the same command and see what device your Nano is coming up as. Might be something like CH340 USB UART, or FTDI. Can't remember for sure.

Then unplug your nano and do the same with your Uno and see if they are different. In the case for my Uno, it registers as:

Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 USB-Serial (UART) IC

[Oitzu]

@drock1985 said:

I have the same problem here to, only difference is i'm using Home-Assistant as a controller. It might be the USB driver the Nano is using to communicate with Pimatic causing a issue.

From a terminal in Pimatic, unplug your gateways and run lsusb
Then, plug in your nano and run the same command and see what device your Nano is coming up as. Might be something like CH340 USB UART, or FTDI. Can't remember for sure.

Then unplug your nano and do the same with your Uno and see if they are different. In the case for my Uno, it registers as:

Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 USB-Serial (UART) IC

The used USB UART Chip is normally no problem for pimatic.
"radio init fail" suggests a problem with the spi communication to the nrf2401+ module.
Maybe your nano is broken? Do you have other spi devices to check if the spi communication on your nano is working?

[petewill]

@Robert-Jan-Budding said:

But it keeps giving the radio init fail, no matter what.

Where are you seeing this message? On the serial monitor connected to a Pi? On a windows PC? Can you try to feed the radio power from an external 3.3v source (regulator)?

[sundberg84]

Radio init fail means:

1. Not wired correctly
2. Not powered correctly
3. Not a nrf24 with +

Some reading regarding + and not + Nrf modules.
http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1153/we-are-mostly-using-fake-nrf24l01-s-but-worse-fakes-are-emerging/4
http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1664/which-are-the-best-nrf24l01-modules/2

[Newzwaver]

Hi, I have a similar problem and moved back to an Arduino UNO for my gateway however I have 30 sensors that are nano's and all have gone down. Not sure why the USB would cause an issue for the sensors in use, they are not connected to a computer and all only connect to the gateway. I lost communication with the GW a few weeks ago and figured it had something to do with the upgrade to VP. Any help that can get this back would be appreciated. I have tried the following;

1. Download old drivers and updated them........ etc etc etc

[Newzwaver]

I almost forgot I also received a radio fail error on the monitor, it was from a sensor that I had in use and worked so the wiring was correct. it's almost like the nano's have a virus or something.

[petewill]

@Newzwaver said:

something to do with the upgrade to VP

What is VP? Have you tried building a sniffer or using MYSContoller to watch the communication?

Did you change anything in MyConfig.h like the channel or baud rate that would cause your sensors to stop communicating with the new gateway? Are they all on the same version of MySensors?

[Newzwaver]

Hi Pete and thanks for replying to my note. No I didn't make any changes at all and my GW went down. I figured something was wrong with it so I tried to build another and couldn't program it because of the Chinese nano. I switched to the Uno and my sensors didn't come back online. At th same time I was figuring this out I had changed to a new Vera plus and had issues with the restore. I think it was a combination of everything. I am back up with the uno and worked around the Chinese nano loading the arduino software to an older computer and using older drivers. I do believe I have it up and working. Thanks again for everything your help is greatly appreciated.

[petewill]

@Newzwaver Great, glad it's working again!