Instromet data logger download problem

[Hobbyist]

I have in the past noted that another Instromet user had a problem with the data transfer between the Cumulus software and the logger taking a long time.

https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewtopic.p ... =instromet

I too had a similar problem and contacted the manufacturer and received a replacement module which indeed cured the fault although my Data Flash IC was not in the suspected group.

Unfortunately yesterday I noticed that my rainfall figures were not updating on my website so shut down cumulus and did a reboot which took 3.5 hours to reconnect to the logger.

I spotted an out of memory error warning so have attached a debug file and the DIAGs folder for a view on what is happening.

I would be grateful for any possible diagnosis of what is going on.

Thank you

[steve]

Instromet asked me to change my code to avoid the use of part of the protocol (even though I was using it correctly) as it was causing the logger problems (a side effect is that 'rewinding' to a previous point is no longer possible) so I'm surprised that they didn't supply you with the updated version of Cumulus. I think that the latest build (1099) has the changes and you are using 1096, so the first thing to try is to install the latest build.

[steve]

I've had chance to check now, and it looks like the changes I did for Instromet are not in the released build 1099. Here's a link to the version with the changes - http://nybbles.co.uk/downloads/CumulusSetup.zip

[Hobbyist]

Many thanks for that Steve.

I did download version 1099 but it did exactly the same, long delays between firing up Cumulus and the actual program running.

I then downloaded the Instromet 'special' version but unfortunately that too takes approximately 2 hours from Cumulus run command to actually downloading all required data and running.

I have contacted Instromet themselves but they too are puzzled.

[steve]

Could you please let me have the diags folder again, with the 'special' version, and I'll take a look. I'm very busy at the moment (I'm on holiday but using it to put down 700 sq ft of underfloor heating and slate tiles) but I'll look at it when I can.

[Hobbyist]

Thanks Steve it is appreciated, your 'holiday' must come first.

I have attached the specific Instromet file from the Diags folder.

[steve]

When Cumulus reads the logs, it's sending nearly 18000 entries, going back to February, which is why it takes so long. Cumulus reads off the logs until it gets to the recent logs that it actually needs, but the latest log is for 03/05/2015 22:02:23 so it doesn't actually get to the current time. It's actually only sent about 11000 entries before it says there are no more to download. As that is diags log 7, presumably there are logs after that - could you let me have the diags files following the one you uploaded, please, so I can see what it does after that? I suppose I should have specified explicitly that I wanted to see all of the diags files when I said 'folder', perhaps it wasn't clear.

[Hobbyist]

Apologies Steve I was trying to cut down how much you had to read through but ended up giving you more work!

Attached complete DIAGS folder again

[steve]

When it started the next time, the logger started giving logs from approximately the point it stopped on the previous run - i.e. logs from May. It continued supplying logs up until the end of its memory, the entry for whihc was timestamped 11/06/2015 19:09:28, and then it wrapped around to entry zero (which is the correct thing to do) but the timestamp for entry zero is 18/02/2015 16:09:30.

After the entry for timestamp 28/02/2015 18:14:47 it stopped supplying entries.

On the next run (diags log 9) we're back to the situation in diags log 7, where it starts supplying entries from February again. As far as I can tell, Cumulus is working correctly, and is no longer using the broken part of the the protocol which Instromet asked me to stop using. I'm not sure, but I don't think the problem you're having is the same one that was apparently caused by the broken protocol command.

I don't know whether it's possible to reset the logger? It might start behaving after that.

[Hobbyist]

Thanks for spending time on this Steve especially when you are involved doing so many other tasks.

If Cumulus is working happily it may be something to do with the Instromet logger but that is a probably a much harder thing to diagnose.

Maybe I should see how CumulusMx handles an Instromet as a possible solution, if I can get them talking.

[steve]

I'm not sure anyone has tried MX with an Instromet yet (or maybe I've just forgotten), so it will be useful to know how it performs. Note that MX still uses the command which Instromet asked me to stop using. I was waiting for feedback from them that the change had actually helped, before I changed MX, but it's been three months now, so perhaps I should just go ahead and do the same change in MX.

I would be very surprised if the logger responds differently to MX regarding the problem you're having. MX is functionally equivalent to Cumulus 1 in this respect (with the exception noted above).