CumulusMX Crashes on RPi

[acatalano]

I have an RPi B2 with mono and Cumulus MX installed. I have a Davis VantageVue with USB datalogger connected to the RPi. I am uncertain how to configure the data port in "Station Settings" Since its set to Com4 in Cumulus 1.9x I tried that and I also tried no Com setting in the hope the USB would be recognized. I can run Cumulus set up the station and internet settings but the program crashes and I collect no data. I suspect my unfamiliarity with the RPi may be a factor here. Uploading the MXDiags folder contents to this post as recommended

A. Catalano
Boulder, Colorado, USA

[steve]

COM4 is not a valid device name in Linux. As mentioned in the MX 'FAQ/Known Issues' post, you need to specify something like "/dev/ttyUSB0". If you do a 'dmesg' at a command prompt it should be obvious from the output what the device name is - there will be a line saying something like "cp210x converter now attached to device ttyUSB0". You put "/dev/" on the front of what it says there.

[acatalano]

Steve
Many thanks. I'm afraid I'm trying to learn Raspian at the same time, so quite a Newbie. I ran dmesg c to clear all the flotsam out of the file, connected the data logger and indeed it was ttyUSB0 so I entered /dev/ttyUSB0 in the COM section of the Cumulus.ini file. I noticed previously that instead of displaying the gauges graphics I got what appeared as a text only representation of the html file in the webbrowser when pointed to localhost:8998.

Now when running the program I get a message station not found error. I tried moving the Cumulus folder under the root but this does not seem to make any difference. I've zipped the MXdiags to this message and its not a pretty picture I fear. I have anothe RPi coming a few days that I plan on dedicating to the station so maybe I need to make a fresh start there.

Sorry to a be a pain-in-the-you-know-what.

A Catalano
Boulder, Colorado, USA

[steve]

That's a very strange looking MXdiags file - have you concatenated the files for some reason? It's not really a problem, but I'm more used to looking at separate files. One way to do this is to change to the Cumulus directory and then do:

Code: Select all

tar cvjf mxdiags.tar.bz2 MXdiags

Anyway, the problem is here:

2015-06-29 22:11:46.220 Serial device = /dev/tty/USB0

It needs to be /dev/ttyUSB0

If your browser isn't displaying the UI pages correctly, then you need to use a better browser. Some of the browsers on the Pi have limited ability and are not suitable for displaying anything but very basic web pages. I found the new Epiphany browser to be pretty good (but I don't normally display the UI on the Pi itself, I usually look at it from my PC).

[acatalano]

I seem destined to make every mistake in the book! Raspian is a bit of a throwback to the early days of programming in the 60's when an IBM 360 took up the first floor in a building, and one misplaced space in Fortran program meant another stroll with a deck of punch-cards.

Hope to get this all working tonight.

Incidentally looking through the Cumulus.ini file I see the provision for FTP uploads. Suppose this was meant for uploading data, but is there any way, (or any thought of adding) the ability to upload webcam images? I do that for my Wunderound site using a separate IP camera, but was looking forward to adding this to the RPi using the Pi-camera.

All the Best

A. Catalano
Boulder, Colorado USA
http://www.wunderground.com/personal-we ... 94#history

[steve]

You can add any additional files for uploading on the 'extra files' page. Don't tick 'process' for any files which don't contain web tags for processing, e.g. binary images.

[acatalano]

I Confirmed the /Dev/ttyUSB0 again using DMesg and edited the Cumulus.ini file. The program runs but collects no data. After a CTRL-C it reports an I/O error that can be seen at the end of the MXDiags files. I'm attaching the Cumulus.ini (just in case) and the three compressed MXDiags text files. Hard to know what I've messed up now.

Best Regards,
A. Catalano
Boulder, Colorado USA

[steve]

It can't open the device, the system says it doesn't exist:

2015-06-30 20:18:10.734 Serial device = /dev/ttyUSB0
2015-06-30 20:18:10.744 No such file or directory
2015-06-30 20:18:10.746 Not Connected

Can you confirm that device file does exist on your system?

[acatalano]

I guess I don't understand. I have not created any file such in the folder /dev called ttyUSB0. I downloaded and installed mono and Cumulus "where they landed" in the Downloads folder in the user directory pi. I run the program as "superuser" i.e., sudo. Should I move the Cumulus folder over to root (/)? I have assumed the program is listening at the "port" ttyUSB0 gathered from the ini file and taking it (data) from there. Is there a need to literally create a folder that corresponds to the path and then file /dev/ttyUSB0? I think there is something here that I simply don't get.

I'm feeling mighty stupid at this point.

A. Catalano
Boulder, Colorado, USA
http://www.wunderground.com/personal-we ... 94#history

[steve]

I don't think you need to feel stupid, because I don't think this particular problem is your fault. The 'file' /dev/ttyUSB0 isn't one you create yourself, it's created by the system when you plug in your station. What is the output from typing

ls -l /dev/ttyUSB*

while your station is connected?

And what is the output from

dmesg | grep cp210x

[acatalano]

So while Cumulus MX is running, the command yields no result. Clearly the machine is locked. After exiting Cumulus (Ctrl-C) and the various error messages are displayed,
ls -l /dev/ttyUSB* yielded the result "no such file or directory" while the Weather Envoy was connected.

I didn't have much luck with dmesg however. Again the machine is locked so no response; after exiting I just got the list of help suffixes. Wasn't sure if the symbol in the command was the letter "l" or | (over backslash) so I tried both.

Shall I simply create this or is it created as a sort of virtual file & folder by Raspian? I haven't uploaded the MXDiags as I believe its the same old stuff.

Best Regards,

A. Catalano
Boulder, Colorado USA

[pete_c]

I have a Davis VantageVue with USB datalogger connected to the RPi.

Welcome to the Cumulus forum A. Catalano. You have a very nice view from your Weathercam.

I have the same configuration here. IE: Davis Vantage Vue, data logger cable and RPi2.

Remove the power and one battery from your Davis console.

Remove the back cover from your Davis Vantage Vue console and make sure that your Datalogger cable is firmly in place (well with the clip and all).

Put the battery and connect the console power supply. Set your time if you need to.

I am guessing you had no issues with the configuration in Wintel eh? (datalogger USB to Wintel PC).

If so try this first.

(disable CumulusMX from auto starting and do not run it for a bit and unplug your USB datalogger for a bit)

Part A

1 - type sudo uname -a

2 - copy over what you see (if using wintel just highlight and do a control c to copy in putty and a control v to here - if using linux then just do a copy and paste from your terminal session).

3 - type sudo apt-get update - wait until it finishes

4 - type sudo apt-get upgrade - wait until it finishes

5 - type sudo reboot

Part B

1 - SSH back in to your RPI2

2 - plug the USB datalogger in to the RPi2 (use a different USB port this time).

3 - type sudo lsusb

4 - copy over what you see.

5 - unplug your USB datalogger

6 - type sudo lsusb

7 - copy over what you see

Pause here for a bit.

[acatalano]

Thanks for the procedure. I will give it a try. I have had both the Vantage View & the Console working with a Win7 Pro machine with zero issues together with the IP webcam. It's the RPi that is giving me problems. I was kind of curious in your procedure you repeat the lusb in Part B 4 & 6. Whenever I do lusb I invariably get ttyUSb0. The error seems to be associated with the program being unable to find the /dev/ttyUSB0 "file". Do you believe the location is changing?

I had a lot of "experimentation" going on with the RPi & just got another to dedicate to the station. I'm think of starting with a clean slate. I have the program installed in the Downloads folder under user pi. Thought that might be an issue; would be in a Windows machine (except for Cumulus of course).

Many thanks for your help. Actually it was reading your posts that inspired me to get it off my desktop & try the RPi. However I'm quite new to Raspian & Linux.

BTW have you tried FTPing webcam images from within CumulusMX? That's my ultimate goal.

[rogerthn]

...BTW have you tried FTPing webcam images from within CumulusMX? That's my ultimate goal.

I do think that lftp can help you
sudo apt-get install lftp

[slashmusic]

...BTW have you tried FTPing webcam images from within CumulusMX? That's my ultimate goal.

I do think that lftp can help you
sudo apt-get install lftp

As far as I understand, he asked, if it is possible to use the CumulusMX FTP Capabillities to upload a WebCam Image (which is created and located on the SD-Card of the Raspberry Pi) to upload it to his external Webserver. As Steve already mentioned, this is not possible, because the files are being processed first (trying to insert WebTags). since the Webcam Image does not have a webtag, the FTP Upload will not work.
By installing FTP (apt-get install ftp) will not help him, because this will install a FTP Server locally on the Raspberry Pi. I understand his request, that he need to FTP the Webcam Image to a remote Webserver.
But I am not 100% sure, maybe I underatand this wrong but......@acatalano, continue with the installation of your Raspberry pi, the automated Upload of your WebCam Image should not be such a big problem. I wrote a little script which might do this for you.
attached at this Post, there is a small script which can do this for you without installing additional software n the Pi.

cumuluswebcam.zip

Instruction:
Download this Script and copy it into the cumulusMX folder which often is located in /home/pi/CumulusMX
Open a Putty Session to connect via command line to your Raspberry Pi and login as pi and insert these commands
cd /home/pi/CumulusMX
unzip cumuluswebcam.zip
sudo chmod +x cumuluswebcam.sh


Once htis is done, you need to modify one line in this script. The script need to know the exact path of the WebCam Image.
Use this command, to edit the script

sudo nano cumuluswebcam.sh
This will open an editor.
Use the Arrow keys to go down to this line: WEBCAMPATH=/tmp/image.jpg

and change the path that it points top your WebCam Image, for example: If the webcam Image is located at: /home/pi/webcam/image.jpg change the path to:

WEBCAMPATH=/home/pi/webcam/image.jpg

Once this is done,save the changes by pressing: CTRL+O - Return CTRL+X
If you don't want to change but exit the editor, press: CTRL+X and than N

The Script will use the WebCam Image and upload it to the same directory where CumulusMX is storing the Web Files.
The Script will parse the Cumulux.ini file to retrieve the FTP Username,Password, FTP Port and Folder. so you don't need to modify anything in this script, except the path to theWebCam Image.

Finally, this Script needs to be called frquently by using CRON.

Use the command:

sudo crontab -e

and insert this line:
0-59/5 * * * * /home/pi/CumulusMX/cumuluswebcam.sh

CTRL+O - Return CTRL+X to save the changes
This will upload the Image every 5 Minutes

Have fun
Jan