Help, my WF PiConsole keeps freezing

This started about 3 weeks ago, if memory serves. Here’s a brief rundown of the situation. The quickest recognition is the forecast data set on the display is empty. Upon further investigation there is a caution that the the station is offline. When you open the menu the following errors are present:

Station status: offline

Hub firmware: error

Tempest offline

Also, the app freezes at this point and you cannot exit the menu with touch input and have to shut the Pi down and restart. Once there is a restart everything functions correctly for a period of time and then breaks again. This is usually under 12hrs to repeat the condition. I am fairly computer savvy, but Pi isn’t a strong suit of mine.

Sorry you’ve run into issues. Can you share the contents of your wfpiconsole.ini file, or copy and paste the error message that shown on the terminal

Forgive my ignorance, where would I find and how would I export the ini file?

Think I got it…

[Keys]
WeatherFlow = (REDACTED)
CheckWX = (REDACTED)

[Station]
StationID = 103837
TempestID = 264921
TempestSN = ST-00108829
SkyID =
SkySN =
OutAirID =
OutAirSN =
InAirID =
InAirSN =
TempestHeight = 1.8288
SkyHeight =
OutAirHeight =
Latitude = 30.37719
Longitude = -98.0824
Elevation = 249.8666839599609
Timezone = America/Chicago
Name = WK Weather

[Units]
Temp = f
Pressure = inhg
Wind = mph
Direction = cardinal
Precip = in
Distance = mi
Other = imperial

[Display]
TimeFormat = 12 hr
DateFormat = Monday, Jan 01 0000
UpdateNotification = 1
PanelCount = 6
LightningPanel = 1
lightning_timeout = 0
IndoorTemp = 0
Cursor = 1
Border = 1
Fullscreen = 1
Width = 800
Height = 480

[FeelsLike]
ExtremelyCold = 23
FreezingCold = 32
VeryCold = 45
Cold = 55
Mild = 65
Warm = 75
Hot = 85
VeryHot = 95

[PrimaryPanels]
PanelOne = Forecast
PanelTwo = Temperature
PanelThree = WindSpeed
PanelFour = SunriseSunset
PanelFive = Rainfall
PanelSix = MoonPhase

[SecondaryPanels]
PanelOne = Sager
PanelTwo =
PanelThree =
PanelFour = Barometer
PanelFive =
PanelSix = Lightning

[System]
Connection = Websocket
rest_api = 1
nc_rain = 0
stats_endpoint = 0
SagerInterval = 6
Timeout = 20
Hardware = Pi4
Version = v26.4.2

I’ve been using this great app since almost day one on a RPI3B+ and a 10" non-touch monitor. I returned from vacation and found the clock freezing for 5 secs. Tried all the likely suspects (yes I was using an SD card too)…took the full update path and couldn’t fix it. Changed out to a RPI4B+ and it’s perfect again. I did not make any changes or updates to the OS and suddenly this happened. Something changed somewhere and it still bothers me…

Sorry - I made a silly mistake :frowning: I need the contents of the wfpiconsole.log file not the .ini file. The .log file will show the me error

Here is a link to the log file…https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/e755fawgbydwlztq1mdu4/wfpiconsole.log?rlkey=3xl5v2jhe3blwkbq23yl5at4l&st=z7z1kchf&dl=0

I believe the issue is resolved, the console has been up for 3 days now with no more errors. It seemed like there was instability for some reason in the WIFI Network connection and it would not reconnect without restarting the Rasberry Pi. There was an OS update in the background that was un applied. I have no idea whether it was causing the instability or not, but once the Pi was updated, the connection stabilized and the WFPiConsole has been running without issue.

Glad it has resolved itself. I hadn’t got a chance to work on this yet, but your log file is full of connection errors, which matches your assessment. Hopefully it’ll keep working smoothly now!

Well unfortunately the problem is back. I’m wondering if the wifi card is failing. is there any way to diagnose that? can you add an external wifi device to a RasPi?

Yes - look at your operating system logs and see if the wifi is dropping and reconnecting.

Typically this is due to the 2.4 GHz band being overwhelmed with misconfigured neighbors (or your setup) interfering with each other. And yes you can add an external wifi dongle, ages ago used to be needed for the old modelB and non -W pi zero. Used to cost perhaps $8 or so.

I went in and turned power management off on the wifi. I will see if that was the problem. I have been watching the Pi’s connection drop and not connect. I have a very reliable network and we are in the country so traffic/interference shouldn’t be the issue. I guess it could also be the wifi chip is getting “tired”, it has been running for 3 years straight. I have a dongle I way try, but it has been up for 12 hrs now with power management off. Wondering if the power management had been off previously but was changed in a Pi or Console update. I will keep this updated.

Power management on the pi wifi can definitely cause chaos. See how it holds up for a week. Maybe it’s something that simple.

Back with with another update. The power management wasn’t the issue. I believe the WIFI chip had failed or was failing. I disabled the internal chip added a TP-Link WIFI Dongle and reconfigured to recognize it and things seem to be going well for now. Possibly 3 years of constant use was too much for the little RasPi WIFI chipset. Will provide a final update in a week or so.

Certainly unexpected on a pi4 unless you’re running it smoking hot for ages. I’ve run pi for many years longer than that but sure it’s possible. Keep an eye on it and let us know.