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Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Mon 06 Jan 2020 5:05 pm
by hw1958
Have used Cumulus 1 since Aug 2015 with no real problems and now decided to update to Cumulus MX. I've read all the suggested announcements and tried to follow the instructions but I can't get it to run. Unfortunately my IT skills are fairly basic.
I've downloaded the latest build and put it in a folder on the C drive, and copied over the relevent data and ini file from my Cumulus folder. When I run CumulusMX.exe in Administrator mode I get the following (see screen shot 1 in attachment)
I've put http://localhost:8998/ in my browser but only get (see screen shot 2 of attachment)
Can anyone help please?

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Mon 06 Jan 2020 6:13 pm
by freddie
MX is saying that it can't connect to your station. Could you please zip up and post on here the files in the MXDiags folder? That will give some more clues as to what the issue is.

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Mon 06 Jan 2020 8:35 pm
by hw1958
Thanks,
Zipped folder attached

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Mon 06 Jan 2020 8:52 pm
by mcrossley
Here you go...

Code: Select all

2020-01-06 16:55:26.406 Serial device = COM1
2020-01-06 16:55:26.406 Serial speed = 19200
2020-01-06 16:55:26.406 The port 'COM1' does not exist.
You need to set the COM port to the correct value.

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Wed 08 Jan 2020 7:56 pm
by hw1958
OK,
Excuse my lack of knowledge on this.
In Cumulus I am currently using Com port 3 (see attachment of station settings).
Are you suggesting therefore I set the Com port to 3. If so where and how do I do that?

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Thu 09 Jan 2020 9:20 am
by mcrossley
It's under Settings|Station Settings in the admin interface...

Capture.png

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Sat 11 Jan 2020 2:44 pm
by hw1958
Success !!! Thank you very much.

One last question (hopefully)
I switch off my PC each night so when i next come to switch on my PC if i wanted Cumulus 1 to open i just clicked on the icon and it started up. Now i have to open up CumulusMX.exe and then put htttp://localhost:8998: in broswer. is there a simple way to get it running?

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Sat 11 Jan 2020 7:09 pm
by mcrossley
Well, it's actually running as soon as you start CumulusMX.exe, it is not required to run the admin interface for it to work, and of course you can view the admin interface from any computer or phone connected to you home WiFi. I'm not sure how other people do this because I run MX on a headless Raspberry Pi, and view the data on my web page.

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Mon 13 Jan 2020 4:42 pm
by hw1958
Thanks all for our help.
Now up and running and auto starting when i boot up my PC

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Mon 13 Jan 2020 10:01 pm
by Phil23
Good to see you've made the move.

I had resistance myself; probably because I didn't read the docs etc; so just saw the dos box that didn't grab my attention that much.

Maybe a solution to that, for others in the future would be to have MX launch http://localhost:8998 after it starts.
I'd assume this would need a corresponding ini setting to disable it in the future.

Although I've been in IT for 30+ years, there are going to be tons of people out there that have no concept of what a Web Based application is, & hence a message like this makes little sense. And reading stuff beforehand largely doesn't happen.

Code: Select all

Cumulus running at: http://*:8998/
(Replace * with any IP address on this machine, or localhost)
So if potential new user blindly download MX & the simply clicks to run, as well as getting the dos box their first experience is a nice inviting interface in their default browser.

Cheers.

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Mon 13 Jan 2020 10:50 pm
by mcrossley
The problem with that is some people (me included) run CumulusMX on machines that do not have a graphical interface and browser, or even a screen/keyboard!

However, it may be a interesting option to have in the ini file, but the default would be have to be NOT to launch the browser.

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Tue 14 Jan 2020 4:02 am
by HansR
Phil23 wrote: Mon 13 Jan 2020 10:01 pm [...] there are going to be tons of people out there that have no concept of what a Web Based application is [...]
So, make it the first remark in the README / Wiki with a short explanation?
At least it gives you something to point to.

And indeed, it may be somewhat confusing for users who have difficulty separating from their old systems. Not all meteorologists are IT hobbyists

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Tue 14 Jan 2020 9:40 am
by Phil23
mcrossley wrote: Mon 13 Jan 2020 10:50 pm The problem with that is some people (me included) run CumulusMX on machines that do not have a graphical interface and browser, or even a screen/keyboard!
It's the Download/Run novices that I'm thinking about.
They just expect an application to be "Clickable" & if it's not they walk away.
.

Only bumping the Browser Auto Load for one reason.....

Stumbled over one such user this morning in a more generalized forum.
https://whrl.pl/Rf8GBm

The guy had run Cumulus 1 for years; needs a new station, looked at MX & declared he could not get into it.
Also admitted he wasn't real good at computer stuff......., but he did get by on the old app.

I'd still lean to a default new install launching the interface; but would have no desire to have it auto launched myself.

Cheers.

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Mon 10 Feb 2020 1:42 am
by esanford
I was reading the help that you were providing to the person to get MX started. I moved the program to a new computer. I got the old Cumulus 1 working fine. When I went through the process to install MX, I get the error of cannot connect to station. I cannot even get to the interface because I assume mine is a com port issue. I have Cumulus 1 on Com port 3 and it works. How do I get to the admin area to change MX when I cannot get MX to start?

Thanks,

Ed

Re: Update from Cumulus 1 issues

Posted: Mon 10 Feb 2020 9:44 am
by water01
If you have started CumulusMX, regardless of whether or not it has connected to your weather station or not, the interface is available. Your sig says you are running Windows 10 so I hope you started CumulusMX as an Admin by right clicking on the .exe file and selecting "Run as Administrator". You will then see a MS-DOS command window open and in it is the command to access the browser interface.

Assuming you are using the browser on the same machine as MX is running on, load up your browser and type "http://localhost:8998/" and the MX interface will open in the browser (Edge, IE11, Firefox, Chrome etc.).

Along the top of this screen you will see headings. Click on Settings and then "Station Settings". Scroll down the screen and you will see the Davis settings and in those you will see the Com Port. Check the Control Panel / Device manager / Com Ports to see what port your Davis is on and then set that in the Serial COM Port. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click save. If everything is OK it will save the settings. If anything is in RED you have an incorrect setting which will need fixing otherwise the page will NOT save.

Then after this go back to the Cumulus Mx DOS window, select it by clicking in it, and then type CTRL+C to close Cumulus MX. Then reload it by right clicking on the .exe file and selecting "Run as Administrator". The MS-DOS command window will reappear and this time you should see it connect to your weather station, if not you selected the wrong port!!

You can now go on to use the interface to set up your website, upload files etc.etc as per Cumulus 1 but it is all done via the Web interface.