Error messages spam if configured wifi not available

Alex9779

Hi,
I have a Duet Mini 5+ running in a somehow portable machine I take to meetings and such.
I configured it basically for home use, saved my home wifi and activate HTTP access in config.g, parameters set with M587 because I want it to connect it right away when it is at home.
I created macros to switch wifi modes and create an AP when I want to.

My problem is that when the machine is not at home and the wifi is not avaible it spams tons of error messages on startup in the connected PanelDue for 10-20 seconds which is really annoying. After that I am able to use my macro to disable wifi and reactivate it in AP mode.

Is there a way to get rid of those messages or make them not so critical that they don't use the message overlay and maybe are just in the console log?

Thanks...
Alexander

droftarts

@Alex9779 I don't think there is currently a way to turn off the messages if you turn WiFi on and it can't find a stored SSID. I'll raise it with the PanelDue development team that multiple messages are sent, though. Please post which version of RRF and PanelDue firmware you are using.

You should not use M587 in config.g. As well as being a security hazard, writing the access point parameters to WiFi chip every time you start the Duet may eventually wear out the flash memory. Also, the wifi module does not get enabled until the end of running config.g. I believe RRF has ignored M587 in the config.g for some time.

To avoid the error messages, you could:

Use M505 to use an alternative config.g (and the rest of the configuration files). That way you can have a configuration set for home that turn on WiFi and connect to an SSID, and a configuration set that creates an Access Point when you are away from home.

If you just want use different network settings, you could have separate macro files to enable them, and have M98 P"config_wifi.g" and M98 P"config_AP.g" called in the config.g. Then just comment the relevant one out when you switch off the printer before moving it.

Alternatively, using conditional/meta Gcode, you could set up your config.g to ask you (on the PanelDue) if you want to connect to WiFi or set up an AP, then run the appropriate code based on the response. It could have a timeout and default to WiFi, too.

Ian

Alex9779

Thanks for your answer...

@droftarts said in Error messages spam if configured wifi not available:

Please post which version of RRF and PanelDue firmware you are using.

Board: Duet 3 Mini 5+ (Mini5plus)
Firmware: RepRapFirmware for Duet 3 Mini 5+ 3.4.3 (2022-10-05)
Duet WiFi Server Version: 1.27

Panel Due firmware version: 3.4.1

@droftarts said in Error messages spam if configured wifi not available:

You should not use M587 in config.g.

I don't, I just wanted ot say I set it with that command to store it in the module.

Thanks for the tips to change config.
I am doing it currently with two macros, though i am just using one because restarting activates default client mode. This is my "Activate AP" macro:

M552 S0
G4 S5
M552 S2

I'll have a look at the meta commands, maybe I'll do that, that could be a workaround.

Thanks!

droftarts

@Alex9779 Thanks for the info. Regarding the original issue, @dc42 says it is RRF that generates the messages, not the PanelDue. There is a recent Github issue about the PanelDue showing too many status change messages: https://github.com/Duet3D/RepRapFirmware/issues/594. When we look at that, it may resolve the multiple WiFi messages you get, too. Can you post a picture of what you see?

Ian

Modix3D created this issue in Duet3D/RepRapFirmware

closed [Bug]: #594

Alex9779

Hmmm a picture won't tell much and I don't wann apost a large video.

It is basically is startup and then I see following messages each for just a moment:

HTTP is enabled on port 80
FTP is disabled
TELNET is disabled
Warning: Heater 1 predicted ...
Error: Accelerometer not found on specified port
Wifi module started

That's all expected, that is what config.g does to the network, my heater can get too hot and I configured an accelerometer which is not connected,. Then as expected the wifi module starts.
But then it continues:

Error: Wifi module reported: no known networks found
Wifi module is idle

These two messages then appear in an infinite loop. You have to close the last one and hurry to get to the macros until they pop up again, you close it again and continue to navigate to the macro to active tha AP mode.
After that macro got through all is fine.

I could make the macro one of the four possible entries at the main view to get it called quicker. But I normally do not need it and I like to have different entries there, so that is not a real option.

As I said, very annoying, also in a "supervised" environment of freaks all looking at the machine this looks strange

Alex9779

I had a look at the issue but mine is not exactly the same. The info messages just apprea in the console log, and I admit this can clog up the log too but they do not block user input to the main interface as the messages I talk about do...