I’ve recently installed BlueOS using Balena Etcher on a brand new 32Gb SD card.
According to the BlueOS documentation, the RaspberryPi4 will boot and launch a hotspot within 5 minutes of launching the OS. I’ve restarted the RaspberryPi 2 or 3 times after waiting 15-30 minutes each and never had the BlueOS hotspot network popup as an option to join.
I’m powering the RaspberryPi with a spare Pixhawk 12V->5V power supply using the GPIO pins on the board. Both the ACT and Power LED are on and solid. I’ve validated that the Pi is receiving 5.5V with a voltmeter.
I recently had this raspberrypi running BlueOS and setup with a 4G modem. I left it aside for a month. I tried to pickup it back up for the first time since adding the modem so that I could continue with adding a Mikrotik. I was unable to get the pi to load blueos.local even after configuring the Mikrotik through winbox.
I figured I would take my losses and start from scratch by wiping the card and reflashing it. However, I had no luck with that. So I bought a new SD card. Still no luck. This RaspberryPi is new with the exception of it’s time running BlueOS.
Hi @marens_14 -
Welcome to the forums!
Sorry to hear you’re still struggling with getting your system setup. If the BlueOS AP isn’t coming on automatically, you can simply connect to the Pi / BlueOS with an ethernet cable from it to your computer. You can then reach BlueOS at 192.168.2.2, or blueos.local, in your browser. This will of course only work if your ethernet network adapter is configured to give your computer an IP address of 192.168.2.1, with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 - as covered in both the BlueBoat and BlueROV2 software setup guides. Avoid using the modern Windows 11 network setup! Access and configure your network via the oldschool control panel to avoid Windows bugs.
Once there, you can either enable the hotspot manually, or connect the unit to your local WiFi network with internet. You’ll likely want to do the latter first, so that you can install any updates and get ZeroTier and the Modem Manager extension setup.
From there, with Mikrotiks configured to be a BaseStation Access Point, and a client (connected to the vehicle’s Pi), you should be able to access BlueOS, at the same IP, via WiFi or ethernet connection to the BaseStation AP WiFi network.
If you’re not able to get connected to the Pi at all, try plugging in a monitor via HDMI adapter, and you’ll be able to see if the SD card you flashed is properly booting, or getting hung up at some stage.
As always, happy to arrange a support session for the support form!
Hi Tony, thank you for the speedy resposne. Unfortunately I tried the above suggestions and had no luck. I think the RaspberryPi may be faulty? I’m not getting any indication of any of the USB/Ethernet/HDMI ports working I’m awaiting a new pi and will update once I get working on it!
I don’t get any output from either HDMI port. On the LEDs I get both a solid red power and solid green activity indicator with no blinking.
The ethernet LEDs are also not responding on the Pi.
I tried wiping and reflashing the software with Balena and it had no issues. When I checked the external storage it did show all the OS files on the SD card.
Additionally our 4G modem doesn’t seem to boot on any of the 4 USB ports. However when I plug it into laptop USB it boots almost instantly.
I ordered a new pi, will keep you posted unless there are any other stones left unturned! Thank you for the support!
Hi @marens_14 -
While you wait for the replacement, I would try flashing the SD card again. You should use this image, unzip the download and select the .img file with balena etcher. The LEDs being on solid suggests that the Pi is not booting… if it’s not from a bad sd card / flash, then the hardware itself may have been damaged.
How did you connect the power from your Pixhawk voltage adapter? Have you checked it is outputting 5V with a multimeter? Pictures are helpful!
I think it’s the hardware. I tried flashing again as recommended and still no luck. The power from the pixhawk adapter was coming from 5V JST output to DuPont connection on the raspberry pi GPIO pins. The voltmeter validated 5.5V output on those pins.
Hi @marens_14
Glad that did the trick!
5.5V is a bit high for the Pi - 5.1V is recommended, and 5.25V is the typical max… Getting a standard UBEC power supply rather than using that old pixhawk one is probably a good idea, that should reduce any risk of it happening again!
I’m awaiting a new pi and will update once I get working on it!