[Xastir] Raspberry Pi with Xastir

[Lee Bengston]

Update - I didn't realize at the time I wrote the message below that the
AX25 interface had quit transmitting and receiving packets - it had quit
less than an hour before I sent the message.  I had to kill the interface
on the Pi and restart it via kissattach, and then restart the AX25
interface in Xastir.  At least this failure scenario didn't crash the
entire OS.  There does seem to be an issue with AX25 networking in the
Raspbian distibution.  For grins I have APRX running now as the IGate using
the same AX25 setup - we'll see how long it lasts.

Lee - K5DAT


On Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 6:58 PM, Lee Bengston <lee.bengston at gmail.com>wrote:

> Thanks Ray.  My unstable setup was very similar to yours - Dixprs as the
> IGate and AX25 networking on the Raspbian/Wheezy distro.  It also included
> a powered USB hub for the USB to serial adapter, USB enclosure with IDE
> hard drive, and (sometimes) a keyboard & mouse.  In theory I didn't need
> the wired hub because the USB drive enclosure was powered, but I had
> started with a laptop hard drive in a smaller HD enclosure that did need
> the powered hub, so I just stuck with it, anyway.  I was not using WiFi -
> at least not directly.  The wired Ethernet port was connected to a wireless
> access point configured in client mode, so the AP handled the wireless
> connection to the router.  10 days was very typical before a crash.  In my
> case it was not just networking - pretty much everything - had no access to
> the Pi once it crashed.
>
> My current setup, however has not changed from the above other than to run
> Xastir as the IGate instead of Dixprs.  It has now run for 20 days and
> counting.  I started out using a universal phone charger rated at
> 5.5v/800mA.  Then I moved up to an "Amazon Basics" unit rated at
> 5.5v/2100mA, but nothing changed.  Only changing the software has had an
> impact.
>
> Regards,
> Lee - K5DAT
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 11:06 PM, Ray Wells <vk2tv at exemail.com.au> wrote:
>
>> I had terrible stability problems with a Pi in service as an aprs Igate.
>> Ten days was the best I could get out of it before a crash but the crash
>> could have been after a couple of hours or so. The installation was Wheezy
>> with kernel ax25 compiled on the machine and running dixprs as the gateway
>> software. The Pi drove an approved powered hub with 2A p/s and I used wi-fi
>> to access the LAN. It was the wi-fi that crashed every time. I moved away
>> from the Pi because I needed reliability. I had looked at power supply
>> issues, but obviously not in enough detail.
>>
>> Months later I revisited the Pi for adsb and found that with with one
>> particular 700mA mobile charger the Pi was stable and the DTV dongle was
>> happy, without the need for a hub. If I moved to any of a number of other
>> supplies the adsb program dump1090 would crash within seconds. The phone
>> charger was putting 5.22v on the Pi whereas the other supplies were just
>> under 5v. It seemed obvious that there was a supply issue. I ended up using
>> a Murata 5v 1.5A smps to give me 5v but I still wasn't happy with the
>> voltage for the USB sockets when under load. I shorted all Polyfuses on the
>> Pi and have never looked back. Current uptime is 16 days, following a
>> forced mains reset for something else.
>>
>> Enthused by the adsb success I again put a Pi into service for the aprs
>> gateway. I tried another Murata smps but it was just under 5v and I felt
>> uneasy about that (low) supply voltage. I now have a linear 3.5A supply
>> using an LM350, and adjusted to 5.1v. Again, I'm using Wheezy with ax25
>> compiled on the machine and, dixprs. The only thing plugged into the Pi is
>> the four port USB/RS232 adaptor. Uptime is now 11 days and I feel confident
>> about the stability.
>>
>> My two running Pi's both use ethernet rather than wi-fi, the bridge to
>> the wireless LAN being via a D-Link wireless/ethernet bridge with two
>> ethernet ports.
>>
>> I now believe that supply requirements for the Pi are more stringent
>> under some conditions than I would have believed.
>>
>> Ray vk2tv
>>
>>