maby
Well-Known Member
Hi all, I didn't want to hijack the current Openplotter related thread, so here's my new one...
Following suggestions in my request for ideas to share out a connection-limited marina wifi service, I've spent a few days playing with Openplotter. I've been running it on a Pi 3B using the standard image downloaded from the Openplotter web site. After a couple of days of serious experimentation, I've come to the conclusion that it has interesting possibilities, but it does seem rather fragile. I'm just wondering if this is something unique to me - implying that I'm doing something wrong - or is it more general?
I installed (actually, installed four times) from the basic image - not the Noobs image - and booted it up on a known good RPi. In each case, it booted fine and got to the home screen. I then needed to install the drivers for an additional USB WiFi adaptor - I know that the theory is that Openplotter on a Pi 3B should be able to run the onboard wireless simultaneously as an AP and a client to another AP, but it has never actually agreed to do that for me. The process of getting the USB WiFi adaptor configured requires a few reboots and, in every one of my attempts, the Pi has got into the state which I've seen described on some of the forums where it hangs on the boot step where it is checking the 800x480 video sub-system. Once it starts doing that, it seems impossible to get it to boot cleanly again.
The Openplotter 1.0 image reports that there is an upgrade to 1.2 available and the release notes indicate that one of the additions is the ability to configure out the check of 800x480 - so I decided to try doing things the other way round - boot 1.0 and immediately upgrade to 1.2 before trying any of the other configuration tasks. I hooked the Pi up to the network via an ethernet cable to eliminate the need to do any wifi configuration, booted from a fresh card and selected the update option from the menu. It spent a long time downloading, unpacking and installing, then flashed some sort of error message up on the terminal window, paused for a couple of seconds, then blanked the screen - ignoring keyboard and mouse. I let it stand for quite a long time, then forced a reboot - it comes back up still believing that it is running 1.0, but the upgrade option is now broken and many of the other functions don't work either.
So, am I unusual, or is this all still a bit fragile? Thus far, I have put in more than a day trying various options - I really can't justify any longer unless there is a realistic prospect of success. I have a lot of experience of Raspberry Pi - I've built some non-trivial products around them. The hardware I'm using is proven - pulled from our stores where it has been used for commercial applications. All I'm really looking for is a natting wireless extender - possibly with Open VPN built in. I have found some pretty good instructions for setting that up and it will probably be my next attempt. Open plotter does seem to offer some intresting additional functions, but on my current experience I can't justify pouring more time into it.
Following suggestions in my request for ideas to share out a connection-limited marina wifi service, I've spent a few days playing with Openplotter. I've been running it on a Pi 3B using the standard image downloaded from the Openplotter web site. After a couple of days of serious experimentation, I've come to the conclusion that it has interesting possibilities, but it does seem rather fragile. I'm just wondering if this is something unique to me - implying that I'm doing something wrong - or is it more general?
I installed (actually, installed four times) from the basic image - not the Noobs image - and booted it up on a known good RPi. In each case, it booted fine and got to the home screen. I then needed to install the drivers for an additional USB WiFi adaptor - I know that the theory is that Openplotter on a Pi 3B should be able to run the onboard wireless simultaneously as an AP and a client to another AP, but it has never actually agreed to do that for me. The process of getting the USB WiFi adaptor configured requires a few reboots and, in every one of my attempts, the Pi has got into the state which I've seen described on some of the forums where it hangs on the boot step where it is checking the 800x480 video sub-system. Once it starts doing that, it seems impossible to get it to boot cleanly again.
The Openplotter 1.0 image reports that there is an upgrade to 1.2 available and the release notes indicate that one of the additions is the ability to configure out the check of 800x480 - so I decided to try doing things the other way round - boot 1.0 and immediately upgrade to 1.2 before trying any of the other configuration tasks. I hooked the Pi up to the network via an ethernet cable to eliminate the need to do any wifi configuration, booted from a fresh card and selected the update option from the menu. It spent a long time downloading, unpacking and installing, then flashed some sort of error message up on the terminal window, paused for a couple of seconds, then blanked the screen - ignoring keyboard and mouse. I let it stand for quite a long time, then forced a reboot - it comes back up still believing that it is running 1.0, but the upgrade option is now broken and many of the other functions don't work either.
So, am I unusual, or is this all still a bit fragile? Thus far, I have put in more than a day trying various options - I really can't justify any longer unless there is a realistic prospect of success. I have a lot of experience of Raspberry Pi - I've built some non-trivial products around them. The hardware I'm using is proven - pulled from our stores where it has been used for commercial applications. All I'm really looking for is a natting wireless extender - possibly with Open VPN built in. I have found some pretty good instructions for setting that up and it will probably be my next attempt. Open plotter does seem to offer some intresting additional functions, but on my current experience I can't justify pouring more time into it.
