USB3 / WIFI

I'm trying to figure out how to get USB3 working with the astroberry while keeping wifi working on a RPI4. I've done this on my own system based of of mate, but I'm not sure what it is that's different with the astroberry. One difference is that I think that I use a stand-alone vnc that does not connect to the hdmi/display. Has anyone gotten both WIFI and USB3 to work together?

It should work!!! I have USB3 & Astroberry on RPi4, and WiFi works as expected... can you tell more about what you are facing? is the wifi diabled, or not connecting to any network?

Hi,

You need to give more information about your equipment and configuration. Are you using a USB hub? Is it powered? Or are you plugging direct into the Pi? What other equipment are you plugging in at the same time and what USBs are these occupying (2 or 3)? What wifi network are you trying to connect to 2.4 or 5GHz? What version of Astroberry are you using and what version of KStars/Indi are you using if you have updated separately. What equipment are you trying to connect and what actual problem are you experiencing?
All these things may have a bearing on wifi and USB3 compatibility.

Plenty of people here can help as connectivity issues are quite common especially after upgrading.

Cheers

Mike

Here's a post you should at least skim......it has some helpful info about RF interference of WIFI, USB3, HDMI, and Bluetooth (Pi4 specifically). cheers, Doug
www.indilib.org/forum/general/6576-pi4-u...erference.html#59190

Thanks for the reply's. I'm running a RPI4. I believe that the astroberry is up to date, but I'm not sure how to get the version info other than this:
uname -a
Linux astroberry 5.4.51-v7l+ #1333 SMP Mon Aug 10 16:51:40 BST 2020 armv7l GNU/Linux

I've just updated with "apt update" "apt full-upgrade" that didn't help.

My mount is a Losmandy, so I'm using the ethernet port to control the mount. I am connecting a ZWO 1600MM Pro to the USB3 port, and a ZWO 178MC for guiding to the USB2 port on the 1600. That's all that' connected other than power which is a canna power supply made for the RPI4. I'm using google mesh WIFI which I imagine supports both 2.4, and 5GHz, but right now it is showing that it is connected through 2.4GHz. I haven't done any compiling of any of the software. It all came with the astroberry install.

What happens is when I try and boot the PI with the USB3 plugged in, is no network connection happens. It does not connect to my local WIFI, and it does not make it's own hotspot. If I unplug the USB3, or plug it into the USB2 port then everything works fine. It connects to my local wifi. If I'm away from my house, it will make a hotspot.

The Mate hardware setup is exactly the same, so I know that this can work with the RPI4. One difference with the Mate setup is I have done my best to lower the resolution of the HDMI, and shut it off. I use a VNC server that is not tied to the physical display. I'll try and set that up at some point on the astroberry as well.

Hi amendolajamie,
Looking at Doug's post there may be some RF interference with HDMI when connecting through 2.4GHz wifi (if I read correctly). Try using the installed VNC in Astroberry and connect headless. This is really easy and stable. Just downlaod VNC on your PC or laptop and find out the IP address of the Pi then connect by using that IP in the VNC address. I would check what the IP address your Nest wifi is assigning and lock that in as a static IP.
I don't know much about Google Nest but my wifi's "smarts" changes from 2.4 to 5GHz to find the best signal. This is a pain. This is OK when using a laptop but may cause issues with the Pi. Try to ensure that the Pi connects with a static ip and preferentially to either 2.4 or 5GHz. Limit the choices. You can do this in wifi and network preferences in Astroberry by assigning a number (I think that this is between 0 and 100). I seem to remember that the default is 0. So if you put 99 this will be the WiFi freq and network that is tried first. If you have other freq or networks that you use you can assign these lesser prominence.
If your Mate set up works headless then there is a chance it is the HDMI connection that is the problem. Doug's post may shed some light on this issue.

See how you go with those suggestions and let us know how you get on.

Mike

@ amendolajamie : Re: "The Mate hardware setup is exactly the same, so I know that this can work with the RPI4".

FWIW, I have yet to hear of anyone that can plug their equipment into the Pi4's USB3 port(s) while using 2.4Ghz wireless and achieve stable operations. Momentary success is possible, but not reliable operations (defined as consistently repeatable boots with functional wireless operation). Your symptoms sound EXACTLY like what everyone has experienced with 2.4Ghz wireless and USB3 on the Pi4. As I say in the referenced post, USB3, HDMI, bluetooth, and particular screen resolutions are involved. Best of luck as you figure out your strategy, but I'd suggest 5Ghz or an ethernet cable. Some have mentioned using separate USB wireless dongle configs (possibly from hubs), but I haven't followed those approaches closely (search other posts for details).

A second note about your chained camera config. I haven't run a chained config before, but I note that the ASI specs for your cameras are 170ma + 300ma = 470ma. That should be fine for USB3, but a bit tight for USB2 (recognizing they've set some headroom in the spec). If you add equipment in the future (focuser, SSD, etc.), you'll want to be thinking about a powered USB3 hub. In that case, only the data connect should go back to the PI's USB3 port....all other equipment is best plugged into a powered USB3 hub.

amendolajamie wrote: I am connecting a ZWO 1600MM Pro to the USB3 port, and a ZWO 178MC for guiding to the USB2 port on the 1600. That's all that' connected other than power which is a canna power supply made for the RPI4. I'm using google mesh WIFI which I imagine supports both 2.4, and 5GHz, but right now it is showing that it is connected through 2.4GHz

Hi amendolajamie,

Here are my recommendations:

1- Try to utilize the 5GHz. Its bandwidth is out of the noise bandwidth produced by USB (2.4-2.5 GHz) www.usb.org/sites/default/files/327216.pdf
RPi doesn't support 5GHz natively, so you can use an old router that supports 5GHz, connect with RPi via ethernet (you can add your mount as well), and then connect your PC to the wireless router via 5GHz. I did that in my setup and works great.

2- Try to avoid chain USB. You don't know how much effect on your RPi power status. If the numbers are correct as dmsummers suggested, you are really walking over the edge. You don't need that and you have an empty USB2 that is natively supported by RPi4.

Hope this helps...

Regarding using a powered hub for the ASI equipment: I have been using ASI1600MM and ASI6200MM cameras with an ASI120MC-S and ASI EFW chained to it with no issues whatsoever on USB3 ports of various hardware, including RPi4. Just my $0.02


Wouter

wvreeven wrote: Regarding using a powered hub for the ASI equipment: I have been using ASI1600MM and ASI6200MM cameras with an ASI120MC-S and ASI EFW chained to it with no issues whatsoever on USB3 ports of various hardware, including RPi4. Just my $0.02


Wouter

I have a question for you, since I did have this working well, but have since reinstalled Astroberry and setting up new settings for similar equipment.

Do you use the integrated USB2 hub on the ASI1600MM, or directly EFW / Guide devices to the Pi?

Also, do you use any specific bandwidth values for the cameras in the configuration?

I just checked, and my 1600 cameras hub is powered, so that's not an issue. I didn't mention it, but I always use headless but I noticed that the astroberry is forcing the hdmi to be on in the config.txt . I'll look at turning that off. I'm also going to try and switch the pi to 5g. I think I need to set the country code to achieve that.

gilesco wrote: Do you use the integrated USB2 hub on the ASI1600MM, or directly EFW / Guide devices to the Pi?

Also, do you use any specific bandwidth values for the cameras in the configuration?

Sorry for not being clear. I wrote “chained” hoping that it would be clear that I plug in both the guide cam and the EFW into the USB hub on the ASI1600 or ASI6200.

No special USB configuration for the imaging camera. I use all defaults apart from specifying the gain and offset. Nothing else.

This is on Ubuntu Server 20.04 with the Mate desktop by the way.

And FWIW I always, ALWAYS, connect via an ethernet cable, even when in the field. I make sure that the RPi has a fixed ip address in the range of my home WIFI network so no matter what it always has the same ip address and I can connect to it however I like, whether it is plugged in to my router at home or directly into my MacBook when I am in the field.


Wouter