My Dreamcatcher worked without any problems for a few weeks. Today I switched off the Dreamcatcher to write new content to the data sdcard. I then had problems inserting the sdcard again. Only after several attempts was the sdcard fixed. After switching on the WLAN “othernet” was not available. The power LED lights up continuously. The Hardbeat LED flashes twice in quick succession, then long not, twice in quick succession, then long not,… All other LEDs are not lit. Also the LED of the WLAN dongles does not light up. I rewrote the Skylark image on the OS sdcard and used a different USB power supply - without success.
Now my dreamcatcher works again. Possibly a crumb had gotten into the SD card slot. I cleaned the empty slots with a vacuum cleaner. After I had plugged in both sdcard again everything was ok again.
It was interesting for me that all settings were preserved, although I had rewritten the sdcard with the OS. The data is probably saved on the external sdcard. When exactly is this happening?
Re writing the OS with a program such as Win32DiskImager or Etcher just replaces the OS partition. The other partitions which store the Dreamcatcher settings are unaffected. Ken
I have one more question. Does the blinking pattern of the LEDs indicate the error type?
For example: The power LED lights up continuously. The Hardbeat LED flashes twice in quick succession, then long not, twice in quick succession, then long not,… All other LEDs are not lit.
But I’m looking for information on how the LEDs blink in case of an error. For example, LED 8 (HBeat) flashed when my Dreamcatcher malfunctioned. (I had not made HBeat possible.)
Is there an overview of the error codes of the LEDs?
There aren’t any “error codes” for the LEDs. They have defined behavior when whatever they indicate is working normally. And if they are not behaving as per the table Ken posted above, then that indicates failure. There is no specific “error code”.
I am not quite sure what you mean by “I had not made HBeat possible”.
The heartbeat is a CPU load activity indicator. If cpu is working and the OS is working normally, it gives an approximate idea of what the load on the CPU is (in typical operation the load is approximately 2, so it blinks in a “2” pattern).
Three weeks ago I switched off my Dreamcatcher, because I went on holiday. Since there is no power button, I pulled the power supply out of the socket. Last weekend I supplied de Dreamcatcher with electricity again. It showed the same error again:
After switching on the WLAN “othernet” was not available. The power LED lights up continuously. The Hardbeat LED flashes twice in quick succession, then long not, twice in quick succession, then long not,… All other LEDs are not lit. Also the LED of the WLAN dongles does not light up.
I reformatted the sdcard with the OS and rewrote the image to the sdcard - without success. I then tried to restore the default settings via PB1 button. I then tried to restore the default settings via PB1 button. Also this did not bring success. Only when I tried this several times and pulled the power plug several times, the Dreamcatcher worked again. However, the settings were lost. There is also no way to analyze the error. After that there was a browser crash again.
Will the next Skylark version be more stable?
One more thing:
When I remove the complete power supply, the LEDs slowly go out. If I remove the USB cable from the power supply, the LEDs go out immediately.
Is it possible that the induction of the power supply unit causes the voltage to drop slowly, causing problems?
Hi Robert. The symptoms you describe sound exactly like an under-voltage problem with the power supply. When you pull the power unit from the electric mains, the capacitors in the power unit discharge slowly through the load, presenting the display you have seen. When you pull the USB plug from the Dreamcatcher, you have completely disconnected power, so there is no discharge available to keep the leds lit and dimming. You may consider finding another power supply that is capable of 5.2 volts and two amps (2000 ma), and I think if you do find one and use it that these symptoms will all go away. My current Dreamcatcher 3.05 has been up for 31 days, and had been up for 37 days prior to that, and only re-booted due to a mains failure in our whole district. Skylark 5.7 is quite stable and reliable in its current iteration. I hope you will find success soon. Jerry
Hi Jerry,
Thanks for the advice. My hunch was not wrong. In my opinion it would be better to include a power switch in the next version of the Dreamcatcher.
How can you detect a power supply unit that does not have a slow power drop?
In the meantime, you might look into a power cord that incorporates a switch in the line. This would cut power quickly, instead of a slow drop as provided by many USB power supplies.
USB micro-to-micro extensions are fairly common, since Raspberry Pi computers up through version 3 commonly used micro USB plugs for power, and many people found switched cords to be a handy accessory.
@Robert, There already is one on the dreamcatcher - its always been there.
Its important to remember to power off the dreamcatcher instead of simply pulling power. Pulling power on a working dreamcatcher unit is a good way to ruin the sdcard.
“How can you detect a power supply unit that does not have a slow power drop?”
I personally use a hobbyist’s tester called a “Watts-uP” (wrc-electronics-usa.com) inline (between the power unit and the Dreamcatcher) with the power unit. It will log the sag in voltage over the period of time power is applied and you can read it directly while it is connected and powered on. With the Dreamcatcher, if the sag is lower than 4.98v, you will experience freaky things.
Normally due to the inexpensive nature of these items, it is best to just purchase a power unit with a proven track record, such as the official Raspberry Pi power supply, or PWR+ TBAM3-ul. I have used both of those with good success on the Dreamcatcher.
