User Interface Goes Away

41

USB power is connected to the 5V input on the Spark. It will never negotiate over USB-C to get 12V or 24V. Power consumption without active peripherals is ~200 mA.

If the problem persists, you can also check Spark debugging output for errors by running

. .venv/bin/activate
pyserial-miniterm /dev/serial/by-id/usb-{PRESS TAB TO AUTOCOMPLETE} 115200

It’ll look something like this. The tab autocomplete is because your controller will have a different name.

(.venv) pi@manyberry:~/brewblox $ pyserial-miniterm /dev/serial/by-id/usb-Silicon_Labs_CP2102N_USB_to_UART_Bridge_Controller_f81a3e3d9a71eb11813b496e014bf449-if00-port0 115200
--- Miniterm on /dev/serial/by-id/usb-Silicon_Labs_CP2102N_USB_to_UART_Bridge_Controller_f81a3e3d9a71eb11813b496e014bf449-if00-port0  115200,8,N,1 ---
--- Quit: Ctrl+] | Menu: Ctrl+T | Help: Ctrl+T followed by Ctrl+H ---
42

Just tried an external USB “A” 3 amp power supply with a USB”A” to USB”C” cord. Same issue.

“USB power is connected to the 5V input on the Spark. It will never negotiate over USB-C to get 12V or 24V. Power consumption without active peripherals is ~200 mA.”

Huh? I can power the Spark 4 from a 12 VDC power supply through the 5 VDC USB ”C” port?

43

You won’t get 12V. The USB-C spec supports this, but the Spark does not.

44

I did not know the USB “C” was capable of switching voltages dependent on the device.

45

Devices can negotiate for 12V / 24V, with a maximum of 100W / 240W, depending on the cable. It’s becoming more common for laptops to replace their power jack with a USB-C port as well.

We don’t use it, because we found out that when the Spark negotiated for 12V, the 5V → 12V switch would interrupt power long enough that the Spark would reboot.

46

No, but through i/o-module you can.

47

Guess I’m living with this for a while. I’m fully aware it could be caused by an external issue…

So… Here’s another annoying problem that perhaps is related…

IMG_0852
IMG_08521920×1440 244 KB

This is not quite as big a PIA as the UI going blank, but never the less an issue…

48

The popup doesn’t go away if you run brewblox-ctl flash?

49

And now here’s the latest issue, just happening this afternoon… Probably related…

IMG_0856
IMG_08561920×1440 182 KB

The blocks won’t reload sometimes, during the UI reload. Guess the prayer I said during the reload was not the correct one.

… I will be out for a week. I need it. Take a break…

50

Noticed this in the log: recovery required on readonly filesystem

Is it possible that the SD card is worn out and switched to read only?

51

OK!

I will get another SD card, reconfigure it and try it out late this week….probably Friday. It will be a good exercise for recovering and reloading the saved user interface file.