BB1 WiFi

[Clan]

I turned my BB1 off yesterday, it was playing the radio . It turns on ok and plays music from the SD card but the wi fi wont connect , the wi fi symbol is there  and I put the password in but it sticks at "connecting" forever .  This is the second time this has happened , last time Martin rebuilt the SD Card . I'm getting fed up with  finding and reloading you tube content and re loading my music , I cant ever risk wasting my  time filling  the SD card with content as i have no faith anymore .   

[Peter Lowham]

Clan,

Have you tried 'Settings & Tools' -- 'Setup Wifi' -- Select your Wifi, then check your passphrase and then click 'Next'.

This should reconnect your BB1 to your network.

Regards,

Peter.

[Clan]

Thanks Peter ,

  Yes that is the first thing i did , Martin had to rebuild the card last time the same thing  happened , the trouble is you loose everything each time  . 

This is about the 4th time i've had major card problems since  just before Christmas ...  and all the BB1 does is play the radio these days due to me having no confidence to load too much . I can download a new image but it's not really the answer .

Clan

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Clan,

Yes, from your post I reckoned that you have gone through the usual check processes but its worth asking!

I would suspect that there is a hardware problem in your BB1, given that you have had a replacement micoSD card already.

Given that I have had a BB1 for the last 6 months, with no problems apart from one microSD card (which was not a Brennan supplied card), my BB1 has behaved faultlessly, so I believe that the BB1 is a good solid device if the hardware is good.

Regards,

Peter.

[Clan]

Hello Peter,

 Can you remind me where the BB1  SD image  file is to re do my SD card ? I already have the etcher program from the last incident .

Thanks  Clan .

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Clan,

I haven't been able to find the BB1 image on the Brennan site.  I have rebuilt BB1 SD cards previously, but I have always used the original supplied card as the basis for the new build.

Just now as an experiment, I took the latest B2 image and used Etcher to create a new SD card, then tried to boot up the BB1 with this.  No luck unfortunately, the BB1 shows the screen with 'Brennan' and hangs there.

I think that this is one for Paul.

Regards,

Peter.

[Clan]

yes , thanks for your trouble Peter .

[PMB]

Hi Clan,

Try doing a reset - power on the BB1 > once booted up press and hold the POWER button - the BB1 will go off after a couple of seconds, then come on again > release the button at the 'brennan' logo.

Now try running Setup WiFi again.

The SD Card image can be found on the BB1 User Guide page - link - How to update the SD Card.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Clan,

I picked up on Paul's BB1 image location and downloaded it.  I ran through the new SD card rebuld using balenaEtcher on an old microSC card and it worked perfectly (leaving it at 24 Oct 2019 version).  After the rebuild, I placed the rebuilt card into the BB1, re-entered my Wifi passphrase, and then did the latest web update.  All worked as expected. The complete operation took about 20 minutes to complete.

Regards,

Peter.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Clan,

Another thought that I have just had is in regard to the power source that you are using on your BB1.  Is it Brennan power unit or other mains power unit (e.g. cell phone charger) or rechargeable batteries or alkaline batteries or ordinary batteries?

If using Brennan power unit, can you try another power unit (but make sure it is a 5 volt 2 amp unit, not 5 volt 1 amp which many cell phone chargers are)?

If you are using batteries, could you run for a while on the mains power unit and see if this makes any difference?

As an aside, when using ordinary/ alkaline/ NiMh batteries previously, I have watched the voltage indicator which starts off at about 6 volts when fresh, but this falls off quite quickly down to 4 volts (over a few hours).  4 volts is too low for a BB1 to work reliably and is probably not very good for the electronics.

I then purchased two sets of Lithium Polymer rechargeable batteries (Li-Po) while in the USA and these start off at 5.8 volts fully charged.  After about 9.5 hours, the voltage is still up at 5.5 volts, then the batteries switch themselves off.  This is designed into this type of battery.  I reckon that this is much 'kinder' to the BB1's electronics.

Regards,

Peter.

[Clan]

yes  using the Brennan power supply and the new LiPo batteries . However  i heard from a neighbour that there was some sort of power problem in the night , not a power cut , perhaps a surge . Then  wondered why my wireless printer would not connect . I re started the router and   all was well!  Thanks for the  thoughts along the way .