Subj : Re: My question isn't about the fault, its about how to find it. To : The Natural Philosopher From : Chris Elvidge Date : Sun Sep 15 2024 15:47:54 On 15/09/2024 at 14:21, The Natural Philosopher wrote: > On 15/09/2024 12:49, Chris Elvidge wrote: >> On 15/09/2024 at 11:16, The Natural Philosopher wrote: >>> On 14/09/2024 22:25, Chris Elvidge wrote: >>>> On 14/09/2024 at 19:32, The Natural Philosopher wrote: >>>>> On 14/09/2024 16:38, Chris Elvidge wrote: >>>>>> On 14/09/2024 at 15:37, The Natural Philosopher wrote: >>>>>>> On 14/09/2024 11:33, The Natural Philosopher wrote: >>>>>>>> On 14/09/2024 08:12, Pancho wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Prolly easier to get an HDMI and USB adapter and pop a monitor >>>>>>>> and keyboard on it. >>>>>>>> I spent hours yesterday googling for PI ZERO 2 W WIFI >>>>>>>> DISCONNECTS and everybody has the same problem. Must be 1000 >>>>>>>> posts out there. It seems that the 2W is basically a piece of >>>>>>>> shit. People try SD cards that work perfectly in the Zero W, but >>>>>>>> don't work in the 2W. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I tried every methodology suggested, and its still doing it. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I am tempted to buy the old version, two of which have been >>>>>>>> faultlessly connected to the same wifi point for several years.... >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Unfortunately I soldered a header block to this one so I can't >>>>>>>> return it. Bin job probably. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> Well another day of configgling >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Tried to make it talk to a different wifi point. Bricked it. >>>>>>> Reinstalled OS lite and started setting up. (again!) >>>>>>> >>>>>>> The Pi ZERO 2W apparently uses a different wifi chip - SYMANTEC >>>>>>> SYN43436, not the old BROADCOMM BCM43438 >>>>>> >>>>>> Where did you get this info? >>>>>> On mine module cfg80211 is loaded by brcmfmac (broadcom?). >>>>>> >>>>> Apparently there are two possible chips. Broadcomm and symantec >>>>> I THINK I have the broadcomm >>>>> >>>>> dmesg | grep brcmfmac >>>>> [ 12.461334] brcmfmac: F1 signature read @0x18000000=0x1541a9a6 >>>>> [ 12.467893] brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_alloc_request: using >>>>> brcm/brcmfmac43430-sdio for chip BCM43430/1 >>>>> [ 12.468806] usbcore: registered new interface driver brcmfmac >>>>> [ 12.731339] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_process_txcap_blob: no txcap_blob >>>>> available (err=-2) >>>>> [ 12.732079] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_preinit_dcmds: Firmware: * >>>>> BCM43430/1* wl0: Jun 14 2023 07:27:45 version 7.45.96.s1 >>>>> (gf031a129) FWID 01-70bd2af7 es7 >>>>> [ 15.888471] brcmfmac: brcmf_cfg80211_set_power_mgmt: power save >>>>> enabled >>>>> >>>>> That's exactly the same as my 'working perfectly' Pi Zero 1W... >>>>> >>>>> So its probably not that. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> Model : Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W Rev 1.0 >>>>>> Revision : 902120 >>>>>> Raspberry Pi OS (bookworm, full); kernel 6.6.47+rpt-rpi-v8 >>>>>> >>>>>> No problems with wifi over the last few weeks. >>>>>> Wavlink M30HG4.V5030.191116 >>>>>> >>>>>> Now bluetooth, there's a whole nother story!! >>>>>> >>>>> Disabled that baby straight off. >>>>> >>>>> Its very strange. >>>>> >>>>> Its 64 bit instead of 32 bit. >>>>> >>>>> But that's all that seems radically different hardware wise. >>>>> >>>>> Again some rumours are that the zero 2 being power hungry may be >>>>> loading the PSU more. >>>>> >>>>> But in the middle of the night? Doing NOTHING? >>>>> >>>> >>>> I started with 32bit lite but swapped to 64bit full just to see what >>>> happened. I had had no problems with 32bit lite (except bluetooth, >>>> see above). However I haven't stopped bluetooth, just don't (as yet) >>>> use it. My dmesg looks much the same as yours. >>>> >>>> I feed mine from a 2.4 amp source. >>>> But I also have USB3 hub + ethernet port feeding 256Gb SSD and USB >>>> speaker. >>>> >>> >>> Mmm. I was feeding mine, on the basis that it was drawing less than >>> half an amp, from a very small PSU I normally use for Pi Picos. >>> >>> I swapped that for a generic phone charger PSU and added a line that >>> someone suggested to config.txt: >>> >>> over_voltage=2 >>> >>> Its been stable doing an rsync backup of itself overnight, and is >>> still up this morning. >>> >>> Power saving is in fact on, on the wifi interface. >>> >>> Journalctl reveals no entries to do with wifi AT ALL since 8 o clock >>> yesterday evening when it was rebooted. >>> >>> I think the key was in realising that on mine at least the wifi >>> hardware was the same as on the 32 bit zeros. >>> >>> So if they connected to my old POS Netgear ex ADSL router >>> transgendered into a wifi access point, so should this one. >>> >>> I will probably try reverting to the PICO power supply and see if >>> that makes any difference. >>> >>> And get a voltmeter or scope on the supply rails. >>> >>> Maybe there is trash... >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> Perhaps you could use vcgencmd to look at/monitor various internals. >> E.g. vcgencmd [measure_temp|measure_clock core|measure_volts] > > Oh I have checked all those. > Only difference was temp went up from 45°C to 48°C with power saving off. > > measure volts says 1.325. > > Clock is 250000000 > >> I think over_voltage is a red herring, it limits the CPU/GPU upper >> voltage doesn't set it (AFAICS). > > https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/config_txt.html > > > > Mmm. Well I am in the process of trying to eliminate stuff that doesn't > make any difference. > > I agree that that documentation implies it is a bit of irrelevant > nonsense. ;-) > > If the thing stays stable, I'll reboot with that removed and see if it > is then simply the power supply that made the difference. > > Its odd, because I cant at a brief glance at the (limited) schematic, > see anything that uses raw 5V, but the schematics omit the wireless chip > and symantec and broadcomm do not publish specs. > > The Pi PICO doesnt care if you go down much lower than 5V. I think it > will run of 3.3v > > Hey ho. Back to theorise and test, with as usual no hard information. > > Mmm. It hasn't crashed, but the messages about reconnecting every few > minutes and taking too long reappeared after about an hour totally idle. > > I wonder if disabling power management would sort that out. > > Well now it's disabled. Let's see. > > The official PSU specification calls for 2.5A although the board only > takes 300mA. My mini PSUs were only an Amp. > > Maybe reconnecting wifi from power saving needs a lot of instantaneous > power? Third party tests suggest up to half an amp. > > Should be OK on a 1A supply, but is that a "Chinese" 1 A? > > Tests continue > > Best of luck. I've just looked and power management is on on both a PiZ2W and one Pi3B+ with no disconnects. Also 'thin' power transfer cores in the USB power cable could be a problem. -- Chris Elvidge, England NEXT TIME IT COULD BE ME ON THE SCAFFOLDING --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05 * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3) .