Difference between hardware and software for the record

Henry Williams

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Oct 20, 2013, 11:56:25 AM10/20/13

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I've read the manual but not sure I understand the difference between hardware and software for the record_generation setting.

Am I right in saying that using the 'software' setting, weewx reads current data from the station and records its own logs; but using the 'hardware' setting, it just downloads the logs from the station?

If the 'software' setting is used and there's a power failure, will weewx fall back to downloading records from the station to fill in the gap during the power failure or will there just be a gap in the data?

Thomas Keffer

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Oct 20, 2013, 9:33:58 PM10/20/13

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You pretty much have it right. See the manual for details.

If your station has a logger and you set to 'software' and there's a power failure, it will not fill in the gap.

-tk

Tom Keffer

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david murphy

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Oct 21, 2013, 4:56:59 AM10/21/13

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I have had my system (Raspi / Davis Vantage Pro 2) up and running for a week gathering data and I realised
that in my weewx.conf I was using 'software' as opposed to 'hardware' option. I know the Vantage Pro logs
the data so I really should use the hardware option. I made the change and now get this error. Both my weewx.conf & skin.conf are bog standard at the moment..Any idea why i'm getting this error?

Oct 21 19:49:32 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: stats: stats database up to date.
Oct 21 19:49:32 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: wxengine: Using stats database: stats_sqlite
Oct 21 19:49:32 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: register: one or more unusable parameters.
Oct 21 19:49:32 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: **** station_url is not defined
Oct 21 19:49:32 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: wxengine: Starting up weewx version 2.5.0b1
Oct 21 19:49:35 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: wxengine: Clock error is -0.87 seconds (positive is fast)
Oct 21 19:49:35 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: wxengine: Starting main packet loop.
Oct 21 19:50:22 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: cheetahgenerator: generated 1 'SummaryByMonth' files for StandardReport in 2.03 seconds
Oct 21 19:50:26 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: cheetahgenerator: generated 1 'SummaryByYear' files for StandardReport in 4.23 seconds
Oct 21 19:50:42 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: cheetahgenerator: generated 12 'ToDate' files for StandardReport in 15.68 seconds
Oct 21 19:50:45 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: genimages: Generated 11 images in 3.27 seconds
Oct 21 19:55:20 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: cheetahgenerator: generated 1 'SummaryByMonth' files for StandardReport in 1.11 seconds
Oct 21 19:55:22 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: cheetahgenerator: generated 1 'SummaryByYear' files for StandardReport in 2.68 seconds
Oct 21 19:55:25 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: cheetahgenerator: generated 12 'ToDate' files for StandardReport in 2.78 seconds
Oct 21 19:55:28 raspberrypi weewx[2308]: genimages: Generated 11 images in 3.24 seconds

gjr80

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Oct 21, 2013, 5:23:27 AM10/21/13

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David,
In weewx.conf under [Station] have you unintentionally uncommented the station_url setting? If intentionally uncommented is it set correctly?

Gary

david murphy

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Oct 21, 2013, 6:01:30 AM10/21/13

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Gary,

Thanks for the prompt reply..I don't have a web server so its commented out as in ' # station_url = http://www.threefools.org' .

My may concern is that data to my local host (192.168.1.20/weewx/) & http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=INEWSOUT246 are not getting refreshed. As stated only change was from software to hardware in weewx.conf . Would providing a debug=1 output help?

gjr80

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Oct 21, 2013, 6:29:33 AM10/21/13

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David,
Probably about reached my limit, just saw the **** log entry and thought.... Tom's standard answer when troubleshooting is set debug to 1, restart weewx and post the log so yes probably worth it. Would let it run for a few archive cycles first. Also worth posting your weewx.conf less any personal info/passwords.

Gary

Andrew Milner

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Oct 21, 2013, 8:07:18 AM10/21/13

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I don't have a station URL in the station section. There is a server = and path = to a URL in the FTP section though and the HTML_ROOT for the reports is in [stdReport] section.

david murphy

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Oct 21, 2013, 8:23:34 AM10/21/13

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I have also attached my weewx.conf file for viewing....nothing special other than wundergound info.. removed.

weewx.conf

gjr80

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Oct 21, 2013, 8:50:13 AM10/21/13

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David,

My bad, '**** station_url is not defined' is due to the [[StationRegistry]] settings in [StdRESTful] in weewx.conf. You have register_this_station set to true but have no URL for you station set. If your site is not available from the internet it seems there is little use in telling Weewx to register the station. I suspect if you comment out register_this_station that error will disappear.
Don't have any confidence though that it will fix your wunderground/local files are not being refreshed. I dont see any Archive: added archive record 2013-10-20 06:30:00 EST (1382214600) or similar entry which kicks off posting to wunderground and re-generating your files. What happened in the restart and debug=1 and a longer log? Maybe an issue with changing from software to hardware. Maybe this part is one for Tom.

Gary

david murphy

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Oct 21, 2013, 9:11:34 AM10/21/13

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Gary,

The messages file straddles the times when all was well and when I started modding the weewx.conf file with software/hardware option. I did this as to capture and show as much data as I could, and yes debug was set to 1 - not exactly sure but after 20.30 hrs.

david murphy

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Oct 21, 2013, 9:29:38 AM10/21/13

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Gary,

Sounds like some database issue to me..just don't have the knowledge to fault find...other than delete existing database and start again. i'll give it some time before I revert to such drastic actions.

gjr80

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Oct 21, 2013, 9:38:54 AM10/21/13

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David,

Maybe I have misunderstood. So you restarted Weewx after setting debug=1? Can you post the log after the restart, it should be pretty chatty, moreso than the fragment you posted above.

Andrew Milner

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Oct 21, 2013, 10:00:34 AM10/21/13

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Unless I misread the conf file, you appeared to have it set for both mysql and sqlite3 - surely one should be commented out, and one left uncommented?

gjr80

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Oct 21, 2013, 10:15:07 AM10/21/13

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Having both in [Databases] is fine, [StdArchive] sets the database(s) in use.

Thomas Keffer

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Oct 21, 2013, 10:17:32 AM10/21/13

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It would help if we knew what we were trying to debug here. Is it that that weewx is not posting to Wunderground?

If so, we need to see the part of the log where weewx starts up. Set debug=1, restart weewx, then send us the log from startup. It will show the reason why a service was not started.

-tk

Tom Keffer

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david murphy

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Oct 21, 2013, 10:35:55 AM10/21/13

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Tom,

Neither My local data (192.168.1.20/weewx/) or wunderground data is getting up dated. I have no errors as such but something strange is happening. Using Davis Vantage (connecting fine with that) and Raspi.

I have previously attached a messages & weewx.conf file. The /var/log/messages file contained data with debug=1 (as well as data pre & post software / hardware mod). I will attach another as requested.

2013 oct weewx messges.txt

david murphy

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Oct 21, 2013, 10:41:28 AM10/21/13

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Tom,

Attached is the o/p from 192.168.1.20/weewx as u can see last time it was updated was Oct 21 20.05. this is when I changed from software to hardware....I have changed back and forth a few times since. Once in software mode all is working fine. In hardware mode no real errors but not data updates either !!!

On Tuesday, 22 October 2013 01:17:32 UTC+11, Tom Keffer wrote:

2013 Oct weewx status.jpg

Thomas Keffer

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Oct 21, 2013, 10:51:29 AM10/21/13

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There are two possibilities:

See the section of the manual "Weewx generates HTML pages, but it does not update them"
The console and your computer have a large difference in what they think the time is.

-tk

Tom Keffer

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david murphy

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Oct 21, 2013, 11:01:21 AM10/21/13

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Tom,

Raspi & Davis Console are within a minute of each other. Will clear console memory and hopefully that will sort the issue. Thanks once again to everyone for your help. Will report back after I get some sleep.

david murphy

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Oct 21, 2013, 11:15:56 AM10/21/13

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Tom,

Rebooted Davis console and no effect, also noticed my weewx.sdb file has not been updated since Oct 21 20.05 (when I started my adventure). Will look into clearing console memory tomorrow via weewx utility.

On Tuesday, 22 October 2013 01:51:29 UTC+11, Tom Keffer wrote:

Henry Williams

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Oct 21, 2013, 1:57:02 PM10/21/13

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Thanks for that.

Is there a way to combine the best of both worlds, by reproducing the regular updates (as per the display on the station) but also recording the archive logs that the station records every 5 mins?

Thomas Keffer

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Oct 21, 2013, 2:29:47 PM10/21/13

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I'm not exactly following your question, but I've found that leaving in at hardware usually gives the best results.

-tk
Fat-fingered from my smartphone.

Henry Williams

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Oct 21, 2013, 2:39:22 PM10/21/13

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Sorry I wasn't very clear. The weather station updates its display every minute or so but only records every 5 minutes, meaning weewx updates every 5 minutes. Is there a way to make weewx use the data that gets updated every minute, whilst also keeping an archive of the data downloaded from the station?

Thomas Keffer

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Oct 21, 2013, 4:52:47 PM10/21/13

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It could still have been a clock problem. They may be close together in time now, but not immediately after an RPi reboot. See user Matthew's thorough analysis.

-tk

Tom Keffer

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Thomas Keffer

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Oct 21, 2013, 5:01:00 PM10/21/13

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Henry,

I think the confusion may be that I was under the impression that you had a Vantage station, which update continuously (every couple seconds or so), but log once a minute or longer.

What type of station do you have?

In any case, weewx generally only shows you data from the last archive interval. It does not do realtime updates. There are a couple of users who are working on this (most notably, Peter Finley's meso project), and there's an experimental Rapidfire implementation in the development section of SourceForge, but that's about it.

-tk

Tom Keffer

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Henry Williams

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Oct 21, 2013, 5:20:04 PM10/21/13

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Ah, I see. I have a Fine Offset station.

mwall

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Oct 21, 2013, 6:35:01 PM10/21/13

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On Monday, October 21, 2013 5:20:04 PM UTC-4, Henry Williams wrote:

Ah, I see. I have a Fine Offset station.

the fine offset console collects data from the sensors every 48 seconds, and every 60 seconds if you have the uv (in the 3080 series).

the factory setting for the console saves data to console memory every 30 minutes.

you can use wee_config_fousb to change this interval. for example, to set it to 5 minutes (which matches the weewx default archive interval of 300 seconds):

sudo wee_config_fousb --set-interval=5

david murphy

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Oct 21, 2013, 6:48:25 PM10/21/13

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Tom,

Went for the shotgun approach this morning and did the following -

Terminated weewx and moved databases from /weewx/archive directory (going to start from scratch)

Powered down Raspi & Davis console (removed batteries for a few minutes) and executed a clear command on the console (Wind then 2ND hold CLEAR etc.)

Powered all back up again..and running weewx used the wee_config_vantage utility to clear console (just to be sure) and set time on console.

Here is what I get - (arg !!!)

Oct 22 09:38:08 raspberrypi weewx[2794]: wxengine: Initializing weewx version 2.5.0b1

Oct 22 09:38:08 raspberrypi weewx[2794]: wxengine: Using Python 2.7.3 (default, Jan 13 2013, 11:20:46) #012[GCC 4.6.3]

Oct 22 09:38:08 raspberrypi weewx[2794]: wxengine: pid file is /var/run/weewx.pid

Oct 22 09:38:08 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: wxengine: Using configuration file /home/weewx/weewx.conf

Oct 22 09:38:08 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: wxengine: Loading station type Vantage (weewx.drivers.vantage)

Oct 22 09:38:09 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: wxengine: StdConvert target unit is 0x1

Oct 22 09:38:09 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: wxengine: Using station hardware archive interval of 300

Oct 22 09:38:09 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: wxengine: Record generation will be attempted in 'hardware'

Oct 22 09:38:09 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: archive: Created and initialized database table 'archive'.

Oct 22 09:38:09 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: wxengine: Using archive database: archive_sqlite

Oct 22 09:38:16 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: stats: Created schema for statistical database

Oct 22 09:38:16 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: stats: stats database up to date.

Oct 22 09:38:16 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: wxengine: Using stats database: stats_sqlite

Oct 22 09:38:16 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: wxengine: Starting up weewx version 2.5.0b1

Oct 22 09:38:17 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: wxengine: Clock error is 0.10 seconds (positive is fast)

Oct 22 09:38:17 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: wxengine: Starting main packet loop.

Oct 22 09:40:16 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: cheetahgenerator: skipping report SummaryByMonth: cannot find start time

Oct 22 09:40:16 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: cheetahgenerator: generated 0 'SummaryByMonth' files for StandardReport in 0.04 seconds

Oct 22 09:40:16 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: cheetahgenerator: skipping report SummaryByYear: cannot find start time

Oct 22 09:40:16 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: cheetahgenerator: generated 0 'SummaryByYear' files for StandardReport in 0.02 seconds

Oct 22 09:40:16 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: cheetahgenerator: skipping report ToDate: cannot find start time

Oct 22 09:40:16 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: cheetahgenerator: generated 0 'ToDate' files for StandardReport in 0.02 seconds

Oct 22 09:40:19 raspberrypi weewx[2796]: genimages: Generated 11 images in 2.58 seconds

david murphy

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Oct 21, 2013, 7:46:52 PM10/21/13

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Tom,

Modded weewx.conf again to use software and all works like a dream.. (as below).

If I delete the *.sdb databases from the /weewx/archive directory and clear data from Davis console am I not going back to a virgin state? Do I need to let the Davis Console generate a number of records before I can start weewx in hardware mode...Something very subtle going on here. Happy to help troubleshoot but pulling my hair?

Oct 22 10:30:30 raspberrypi weewx[2405]: wxengine: Initializing weewx version 2.5.0b1

Oct 22 10:30:30 raspberrypi weewx[2405]: wxengine: Using Python 2.7.3 (default, Jan 13 2013, 11:20:46) #012[GCC 4.6.3]

Oct 22 10:30:30 raspberrypi weewx[2405]: wxengine: pid file is /var/run/weewx.pid

Oct 22 10:30:31 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: wxengine: Using configuration file /home/weewx/weewx.conf

Oct 22 10:30:31 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: wxengine: Loading station type Vantage (weewx.drivers.vantage)

Oct 22 10:30:31 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: wxengine: StdConvert target unit is 0x1

Oct 22 10:30:31 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: wxengine: Using station hardware archive interval of 300

Oct 22 10:30:31 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: wxengine: Record generation will be attempted in 'software'

Oct 22 10:30:31 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: archive: Created and initialized database table 'archive'.

Oct 22 10:30:31 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: wxengine: Using archive database: archive_sqlite

Oct 22 10:30:32 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: stats: Created schema for statistical database

Oct 22 10:30:32 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: stats: stats database up to date.

Oct 22 10:30:32 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: wxengine: Using stats database: stats_sqlite

Oct 22 10:30:32 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: wxengine: Starting up weewx version 2.5.0b1

Oct 22 10:30:33 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: wxengine: Clock error is -0.20 seconds (positive is fast)

Oct 22 10:30:33 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: wxengine: Starting main packet loop.

Oct 22 10:35:15 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: Archive: added archive record 2013-10-22 10:35:00 EST (1382398500)

Oct 22 10:35:16 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: restful: Published record 2013-10-22 10:35:00 EST (1382398500) to Wunderground station INEWSOUT246

Oct 22 10:35:18 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: cheetahgenerator: generated 1 'SummaryByMonth' files for StandardReport in 1.41 seconds

Oct 22 10:35:22 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: cheetahgenerator: generated 1 'SummaryByYear' files for StandardReport in 3.82 seconds

Oct 22 10:35:37 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: cheetahgenerator: generated 12 'ToDate' files for StandardReport in 15.16 seconds

Oct 22 10:36:00 raspberrypi weewx[2407]: genimages: Generated 45 images in 23.07 seconds