Randomly cannot connect / Intermittent connection

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1

What is the problem?

On booting up Octopi and trying to log in using a web browser I usually am greeted with:

"The OctoPrint server is currently not running" message
or
A grey screen
or
"OctoPrint is still starting up, please wait..." then "Looks like something went wrong during startup, the server is gone again. You should check `octoprint.log' "

What did you already try to solve it?

  1. fresh install onto the SD card - makes no difference

  2. ran an update and upgrade in the terminal (suggested but a post I cant find) I cannot quite remember the exact command but it was something like "sudo apt-get update" and "sudo apt-get upgrade" It took a long while but performed and update and upgrade. this made no difference.

  3. enter "sudo reboot" and try again or "sudo shutdown" unplug then plug back in.
    If I do this enough times (20 or more) I can occasionally get into the web interface

Is there a way to get Octopi to reliably boot without having to go through this time consuming process? It can literally take hours of doing this to get it to boot up properly.

Logs
Entering "octoprint.log" or "serial.log" into the terminal gives "-bash: octoprint.log: command not found" and "-bash: serial.log: command not found" and doesn't show the log file.

Additional information about your setup (Connected via Ethernet cable to network, OctoPrint version 1.3.12, OctoPi version 0.17.0, Raspberry Pi 1, Balco 3D Touch printer (Wanhao duplicator i3 plus clone), Balco firmware that came with it, Firefox (Ubuntu), Chrome (Mac OS), Firefox (Mac OS) Ubuntu 19.10 and Mac OS 10.15.2, ... as much data as possible)

2

Yeah that is to be expected :smiley:
Click on the word logs for further instructions

1 Like
3

I found your problem. Now where's my cookie?

2 Likes
4

Sorry, I cannot get into the web interface to get the logs. That's why I was trying through the terminal. I'm dreading typing them out to be honest.

5

Do you think that if I got a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B it would solve my problems? :open_mouth: :grinning:

6

no.
Read the links here on how to obtain and attach the logs.
Make sure that you have the proper power supply for your pi.
Then get rid of the 1, as it will most likely not work properly anyway.

1 Like
7

It should, yes.

Much of what you're seeing is a race between you trying to pull the home page and the OctoPrint service trying to boot on the Pi 1. Since it takes a while, you would need to be rather patient. The first Pi had one 700Mhz core with 256MB; the 3B has four 1.2Ghz cores with 1GB RAM. There's no comparison.

Specifications

Since I'm working on an industrial 3D printer now, its Pi4B has four 1.5Ghz cores with 4GB RAM. It kicks the 3B's butt in any race (but is usually overkill for OctoPrint).

1 Like
8

I was going to order a new Raspberry Pi for Octoprint anyway when I got it working. I just had a couple of Pi 1's lying around. I'm going to order a Pi 3 B+ or a 4B tonight.

I'll post the logs when I switch over in case it it makes a difference and fixes the issue - I don't want to waste your time if buying a new Pi fixes it.

Seriously though, THANK YOU all so much for engaging with me. I really appreciate the community spirit here. :+1:

1 Like
9

It's alright. I do this for a living. So basically, when something is compiling I jump on here and try to answer one question during that time slot. Go for the 3B+; the 4B is a little overkill and requires active cooling.

10

Bought a Pi 3 B+ which will arrive on Wednesday :grinning:

1 Like
11

Note that it can support 5Ghz wifi zones.

1 Like
12

My Raspberry Pi 3B+ arrived today. Not only doe sit connect easily it does so much quicker :grinning: :grinning: :grinning:. I have an Ethernet port next to my printer so I'm not using wireless but thanks for that - I hadn't though about 2.4ghz vs 5ghz before in connecting my Pi

Thank you

1 Like
13

Voila :cookie: