New product: ClusterCTRL Stack

[Chris Burton]

Hi,

 I've been wanting to do something for regular sized Pi for a while and it's now ready.

  

The ClusterCTRL Stack brings power and monitoring to a stack of 5 full sized Raspberry Pi, removing the need for 5 independent power supplies and adds a couple of temperature controlled (via Raspberry Pi GPIO) fans. The main thing it doesn't have compared to the ClusterHAT is networking but you can either add your chosen Ethernet Switch or connect using WiFi for a single external cable stack of Raspberry Pi.

You can read more about the ClusterCTRL Stack on https://8086.net/product/clusterctrl-stack  (additional pictures at the bottom of the page in various 3d printed "frame" cases). It should hopefully pop up on Tindie later today assuming they approve of my wording.

There's also 25% off on my Tindie store for the remainder of the week for all products including the ClusterCTRL Stack once approved.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Chris.

[Ciprian Manea]

cool 🏁

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[bowguy]

Just ordered one. Any links for a good power supply?

[Chris Burton]

Hi, 

Just ordered one.  Any links for a good power supply?

It's difficult to advise on a specific PSU as I'm not sure where people are but you'd be looking for something that outputs 12 to 24 volts at 60 watts or more (so minimum of 5A at 12v, 3.15A at 19v, 3A at 20v, 2.5A at 24v) and has a 5.5 mm barrel jack for either a 2.1 or 2.5 mm pin.

You should be able to find something suitable searching for things like "12V 5A 5.5 2.5 power supply", "19v laptop power 5.5 2.5" or "24V 60w 5.5 2.5 power supply".

If you already have a USB-C power supply that supports 20V at >=3A then you could use one of the USB-C PD trigger to barrel jack adaptors that seem to be for laptops too.

The lower the voltage the lower the losses in the DC-DC converter though so I'd go with 12V PSU if you can but the Laptop/monitor power suppliers seem to be fairly cheap and plentiful. I'd also advise using a PSU with a fixed tip rather than one with interchangeable tips as these can be poor quality which isn't a good idea if you're pulling 5A through it.

Chris.

[bowguy]

Some questions. Let me know if you want a new thread.
ClusterCTRL Stack up and running with 3 pi's. One of the pi's is my old controller. ClusterHAT is gone obviously and I hooked up my ClusterCtrl with 3 CM's which is working fine. I plugged in the ClusterCTRL Stack to a USB port and the new stack controller. Ran clusterctrl status and got this:
clusterhat:False
clusterctrl:1
maxpi:3
ctrl_bus:20:11:3
ctrl20:FW:1.2 ADC1:4125mV T1:47.29C
p1:1
u1:0
p2:1
u2:0
p3:1
u3:0
Is this correct? Am I seeing both controllers? How do I monitor everything on the new stack?
Thanks
P.S. looks like my zeroes and hat are available. Make offer. 😀

[Chris Burton]

Hi, 

Is this correct? Am I seeing both controllers? How do I monitor everything on the new stack?

No, it looks like I made a mistake and thought I'd already released an image with a clusterctrl version that supported the ClusterCTRL Stack but running these should update it and pickup the ClusterCTRL Stack after replugging the USB cable.

sudo wget -O /etc/udev/rules.d/90-clusterctrl.rules https://raw.githubusercontent.com/burtyb/clusterhat-image/master/files/etc/udev/rules.d/90-clusterctrl.rules

sudo udevadm control --reload-rules

sudo wget -O /usr/share/clusterctrl/python/xra1200.py https://raw.githubusercontent.com/burtyb/clusterhat-image/master/files/usr/share/clusterctrl/python/xra1200.py

sudo wget -O /sbin/clusterctrl  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/burtyb/clusterhat-image/master/files/sbin/clusterctrl

Don't forget you'll also need to renumber the order for one of the ClusterCTRL devices (see https://8086.support/?action=faq&cat=13&id=108&artlang=en ).

I've uploaded new ClusterCTRL-2020-05-27 (rev 3) images to https://dist.8086.net/clusterctrl/testing/ I'll release them properly once they've been tested.

Chris.

[bowguy]

Okay I will try it.

A few more questions.  Can a single pi3B handle the 4 boards and  the 3 CM's on the triple or do I need to go to a pi4?  Does your 64 bit image work for the Stack?  I may just bite the bullet and upgrade.  Or I can get it working and then deal with that later.

Thanks

Bruce

[Chris Burton]

Hi, 

A few more questions.  Can a single pi3B handle the 4 boards and  the 3 CM's on the triple or do I need to go to a pi4? 

The Stack controller doesn't pass any network traffic as the ClusterHAT/Triple/etc. need so you'd only have the Triples network going through the Pi3B which I'd assume should be OK unless you need higher speeds than you're getting currently.

 

Does your 64 bit image work for the Stack?  I may just bite the bullet and upgrade.  Or I can get it working and then deal with that later.

Yes, the 64 bit image should work to control the Stack/Triple/Single/ClusterHAT/etc. For any of the non-controller Pi in the Stack (if you're also connecting the Triple then you'd need one ClusterCTRL image to bridge/nat the network traffic for the Triple) you can also use any OS/distro you want - I'm currently using Ubuntu 20.04 64bit with a manual install of the clusterctrl tool on my WiFi connected "double" stack.

Chris.

[bowguy]

Looks like its working now. Moved the triple to 21 and now get:
pi@pi3Bch:~ $ clusterctrl status
clusterhat:False
clusterctrl:2
maxpi:8
throttled:0x0
ctrl_bus:20:12:5 21:11:3
ctrl20:FW:1.5 ADC1:5130mV ADC2:11969mV T1:27.05C
p1:1
p2:1
p3:1
p4:1
p5:1
ctrl21:FW:1.2 ADC1:4395mV T1:100.00C
p6:1
u6:0
p7:1
u7:0
p8:1
u8:0
pi@pi3Bch:~ $

How do I access all the new functions from the Stack board?
Looking great so far as a dependable power supply. Comparable to my POE setup but better monitoring and fan control.

[bowguy]

Another question. What is the VOUT connection do? Can I power my triple from this?

[Chris Burton]

Hi, 

How do I access all the new functions from the Stack board?

Through clusterctrl it supports.

# on [<devices>]        # Turn on All Pi Zero or devices

# off [<devices>]       # Turn off All Pi Zero or devices

# status                # shows status firmware version, input voltage, DC-DC output voltage and temperature of the IC.

# led on                # Enable all LED

# led off               # Disable all LED

# save <order>          # Save current settings to EEPROM

# saveorder <order>     # Save current "order" setting to EEPROM

# saveusbboot <order>   # Save current USBBOOT settings to EEPROM

# savepos <order>       # Save current Power On State to EEPROM

# savedefaults <order>  # Save default settings to EEPROM

# fan on|off  <order>       # Turns FAN on/off for CTRL with <order> (ganged for both fans on the Stack)

# setorder <old> <new>  # Set order on device <old> to <new>

Looking great so far as a dependable power supply. Comparable to my POE setup but better monitoring and fan control. 

To have it control the fans when the Pi get hot you just need to add "dtoverlay=gpio-fan,gpiopin=18,temp=75000" to /boot/config.txt on each Pi (to turn on the fan at 75C, or 65000 for 65C etc and it will turn the fan off 10C below this). The monitoring is built into the Stack firmware so it just needs the pin toggling on the BCM 18 GPIO.  

 

Another question. What is the VOUT connection do? Can I power my triple from this?

 

By default it's connected to the 5.1V output of the DC-DC converter, I wouldn't advise pulling more than ~1 Amp from it (I use it to power a 5V Dlink switch with a USB to 5.5 mm barrel jack cable.

You can also alter the "VOUT" solder jumper and cut the trace between the centre and "5V" and bridge "VIN" if you want it to output VIN via the USB connector. Probably not wise to do this without putting a warning label on it to remind yourself but, if you're powering the Stack from 12V it means you can power a 12V switch for example.

Chris.

[Bruce Rindahl]

Everything seems to be working except the fans.  I can't turn the triple or stack via clusterctrl.  I even set up the line on config.text on multiple pi's but no luck.  The triple used to work before I did the upgrades in this thread.

Thanks

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[Chris Burton]

Hi,

Everything seems to be working except the fans.  I can't turn the triple or stack via clusterctrl.  I even set up the line on config.text on multiple pi's but no luck.  The triple used to work before I did the upgrades in this thread.

Assuming you have a ClusterCTRL Triple + ClusterCTRL Stack connected to the same controller as above still.

First I'd check the wiring - the black wire should be on the GND label side on the ClusterCTRL Stack and red wire to side with the "+" label on the ClusterCTRL Triple.

Does running "clusterctrl fan on" doesn't turn either of them on?

Does running "clusterctrl fan off" then "clusterctrl fan on 20" turn on just the fan on for the ClusterCTRL Stack?

Does running "clusterctrl fan off" then "clusterctrl fan on 21" turn on just the fan on for the ClusterCTRL Triple?

Chris. 

[Bruce Rindahl]

I will double check the fan on the Triple but I know the fans are connected properly on the stack (black to GND)

I tried all of the above commands and nothing made the fans work.

All the other commands work , on/off led on/off etc.

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[Chris Burton]

Hi,

I will double check the fan on the Triple but I know the fans are connected properly on the stack (black to GND)

I tried all of the above commands and nothing made the fans work.

All the other commands work , on/off led on/off etc.

It's a bit strange neither fan working on the stack as the fan1/2 headers are tested before being sent out -  could you try plugging the fan from the Triple into the Stack Fan1/2 and see if it works there? (Don't try the 70 mm fans on the Triple as the MOSFET isn't designed for the higher current). Also maybe send (to sup...@8086.net.uk ) photo(s) of the setup to check everything looks OK.

Chris. 

[Bruce Rindahl]

Major apologies.  My eyes aren't good enough for such small parts anymore.  After several attempts, I got all the plugs correctly inserted.  They were offset by one pin.  The command line options are working.  I will set up p1 - p5 to control the fans.

Great product as always.

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[Chris Burton]

Hi,

Major apologies.  My eyes aren't good enough for such small parts anymore.  After several attempts, I got all the plugs correctly inserted.  They were offset by one pin. 

Not an issue, glad it was a simple fix :).

Chris.