Problems and Recovery¶

No Power¶

If no LED is lightning up, then first check the power supply chapter.

Power LED only¶

In the vast majority of cases, no firmware is installed here. This is not a big problem. Just try to flash a new firmware via USB.

In the rare event of a hardware defect, the controller board must be repaired.

Getting the IP address¶

If you don't know the IP address of your controller board or you have problems accessing the web interface, there are several possible solutions.

Use the hostname¶

Instead if using the IP address you can just try to enter http://blitzortung in your browser. This might not work in all network setups.

IP address tick¶

If you don't know the IP address of the controller, then this can be signaled via the flashing of the mode LED and the ticking of the buzzer. This feature is available since firmware 10. Note: Only the last number of your IP will be signaled.

1. This method only works within the first 2 minutes after power up, so you might reset the system.
2. Press the button BOOT1 for 2 seconds. You might hear a short beep with a low tone.
3. Press the button BOOT1 again for 2 seconds. You will hear a short beep with a high tone.
4. Now each digit will be signaled by the buzzer and the status LED.

Use a 1:1 network connection to your computer¶

Connect your controller directly to your PC/laptop via an Ethernet cable. Set the IP of your computer to 192.168.1.1. Then you should be able to connect to the standard IP address of the controller (192.168.1.235). If that doesn't work, then you can try a factory reset to set the IP to the standard value. On the web interface you can set your new desired IP address. Note: You won't be able to save until you connect to the running system with the new address and click "Save settings".

Check the debug output¶

The IP address is printed just after startup or when obtained by DHCP. See below for more information.

General recovery and problem solving¶

The following solutions only work when the firmware is present. They allow to see debug messages even if you can not access your controller over the web interface. In case your controller doesn't show any sign of activity (no LEDs, no beeping), then you should try to flash a new firmware first.

Factory Reset by Button¶

Connect the power and hold the BOOT1 button while doing a short push on the Reset button. Still hold the BOOT1 button and wait at least 5 seconds. You might also hear a beep shortly after reset and then again after 4-5 seconds. After you release BOOT1 the system should do a reset and start again with factory settings.

USB COM port interface¶

The STM32 COM Port driver must be installed on your PC for this. You can download it on the ST website or here ⧉ (Password required). Then you can connect your controller to your computer via USB cable.

The USB Virtual COM Port has to be enabled in the controller in Settings -> System. In case you can not access the web interface, then you have to enable debug mode upon startup (see below).

If everything works, you will see a new COM port in the Windows device manager:

You can now connect to this COM port with a baud rate of 115200, for example with PuTTY or any other terminal app.

Serial debug interface¶

For this you need a usb to serial breakout board. Each controller has dedicated pins for serial rx/tx lines. Check the board layouts for more information.

Start in debug mode¶

In debug mode more debug messages will be enabled and the USB COM port interface will be activated.

Hold the BOOT1 button while doing a short push on the Reset button. Release BOOT1 after 1 second. Now the controller waits with the boot sequence until you push BOOT1 again. That allows you to set up your serial USB connection, so you can see all boot messages.

Remote debug¶

We can enable remote debugging to identify the problem for your. Of course this works only in case of working network connection.

Hardware defect¶

If none of the above methods succeeded or they showed a hardware problem a repair of the hardware might be needed. Just write us a mail or ask in the forum or help. Several stations have already been repaired by us.