Categories
Arduino Project Raspberry Pi Pico RTOS Software Development

TPMS Reception

I was on travel this weekend and tested the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) project on the long road trip. The sensitivity of the receiver is not what it needs to be to pickup all four tires. Previously I was able to pickup the signal from all four tires with a longer antenna, however during this trip only two tires seemed to be received consistently while the other ones would only be received once in a while, but most of the time were not received at all.

I suspect that the reason for the difference may be due to the tires being rotated and the two older sensors may be in the rear, and further away from the receiver or it may be that the placement of the receiver was different enough to cause the signal to not be heard. I plan on digging into this a bit more but will continue to focus on rewriting the code for the TPMS project then attempt to resolve the issue with signal strength. It may simply be that the configuration of the radio needs to be adjusted to improve the gain of the received signal.

Categories
Arduino Project Project Ideas Raspberry Pi Pico RTOS Software Development

Projects in the Real World

Testing projects in real world situations can help uncover issues that we wish would have been discovered earlier. One such example was with my Speech Timer Project.

I traveled to Binghamton, NY so I could attend my family reunion and decided to arrive early to attend the Morning Knights Toastmasters meeting in-person. I brought along my Speech Timer to try it out at the meeting. Before the meeting even started, I ran into an issue. The clock connects to the internet to get the time to set the real time clock (RTC). I knew this but thought the clock would still operate as the RTC does not need to be set for the speech timer to work. The configuration is set for my home network so I knew it would not connect to the internet at the meeting location. I pressed the button on the remote to activate the timer function and nothing happened. I ended up tucking the clock back into my backpack. I’ll need to edit the code and run some tests to make absolutely certain that it will work when it cannot connect to the internet.

This lesson shows how important it is to test our projects in a variety of situations. I believe I have tested this scenario before, so I will need to make certain that I can recreate it with the current code base, then move on from there.

Categories
Arduino CircuitPython Microcontroller Photography Project Raspberry Pi Pico RTOS

Geotagging Photos

I found a good Instructable, GeoTagging With a Standalone GPS Unit & GeoSetter : 6 Steps – Instructables, to walk through geotagging photos with a standalone GPS device and the GeoSetter application. As a result of reading through the 14 year old Instructable, I landed on a somewhat standard CSV format that GPSBabel understands. As a result, the C++ code was updated in the GitHub repository, richteel/gps_tracker: GPS Tracker and data logger (github.com) to use the ‘Universal csv with field structure in the first line’ format. The first line of the CSV file contains the following headers: utc_d,utc_t,lat,lon,alt,head,speed.

  • utc_d: UTC date
  • utc_t: UTC time
  • lat: Latitude
  • lon: Longitude
  • alt: Elevation in meters
  • head: Heading in degrees
  • speed: Speed in meters per second

See: GPSBabel 1.9.0:Universal csv with field structure in first line (unicsv)

GPSBabel Screenshot
GPSBabel screen showing the ‘Universal csv with field structure in the first line’ format selected

GPS Logger

The GPS Logger that I’m discussing, was one I designed and built. The GPS Logger is Open Source, with the case, PCB, schematic, and code are included in the GitHub repository. The code, which is currently being used is the C++ code in the folder, Arduino/gps_tracker. (The CircuitPython code may be updated shortly as well, but for now, it is best to use the C++ code.) GPSBabel is used to translate the CSV file from the GPS Logger into a GPX file, that GeoSetter may be used to geotag photos.

Software Used

First a note on the time setting on the camera. Previously, I would set the date and time to the local date time, however I frequently would forget to update when using the camera, which was problematic when switching between daylight saving time and standard time. I decided this time to simply set to UTC. I’m not certain if this will be a good solution, but we shall see.

The first step is to translate the GPS Logger CSV file into a GPX file, using GPSBabel.

The next steps are done using GeoSetter. My camera produces JPG files, so I have only set the values for JPEG.

GeoSetter File Settings – JPEG
GeoSetter Data Preferences Settings
GeoSetter Map Settings
GeoSetter Misc Settings

Once the settings have been edited, then it is possible to load the GPX file with GPS data and geotag files in a folder. Start by selecting all the photos in the photos panel to the left.

GeoSetter Application with all photos in the photos panel selected

To geotag the selected photos, go to the menu and select, Edit > Synchronize with GPS Data Files…

GeoSetter Menu – Edit > Synchronize with GPS Data Files…

A dialog will open, with options for synchonizing the photos and GPS information. I have selected the “Synchronize with a Directory containing Data Files:” option. Not sure why, but I needed to uncheck the “Request Time Zone by using Webservice” option for the geotagging to work.

GeoSetter – Synchronize with GPS Data Files dialog window

A dialog showing the number of matched files is displayed. If no matches are found, then you will be prompted to try again or cancel. In this example, all 20 images were matched with GPS data, so the “Yes” option is selected.

GeoSetter – Synchronize with GPS Data Files confirmation dialog

An additional confirmation dialog will be displayed asking if you wish to save the assigned track(s) to the current directory. Select the desired option.

The photos will be geotagged and the positions will now be displayed on the map.

GeoSetter showing a map with the locations of the photos

The photos are not saved at this point. You will need to select Edit > Save Changes, from the menu to write the EXIF information to the photos.

Once the photos have been saved, you may view the photos in Windows Photo Viewer to show that the location information is saved with the photos.

Windows default photo viewer showing that the location infromation is saved in the EXIF information of the photo

Alternatively, you may look at the file properties to see the EXIF information.

File Properties – Details, showing GPS data
Categories
Arduino CircuitPython Microcontroller Project Raspberry Pi Pico RTOS

Revisiting the GPS Logger

I’m on vacation/holiday this month, but before I left, I paid the GPS Logger project a visit and rewrote the code in C++, using the Arduino IDE and FreeRTOS to make it a bit more responsive to user input. The result is a nearly polished project that I’m very happy with, but I plan to reorganize the GitHub, project files, at richteel/gps_tracker: GPS Tracker and data logger (github.com), and provide a few different patterns for implementing such a project. While I like using FreeRTOS, it is not for everyone, particularly those just getting started with microcontroller projects. I also wish to revisit CircuitPython and see about implementing the FreeRTOS version of Python. I believe the CircuitPython implementation is still an alpha version so I may not be able to do anything with it yet, but may give it a go.

Here are some photos of the GPS Logger in action.

TeelSys GPS v0.5 C++
Date Time (UTC)
01/06/2024 07:54:29
Local (EST)
01//06/2024 02:54:29
Screen 1 of 6 – Main Time
Lat: 17.9689 N Long: 102.6152 E Alt: 600.72 ft Speed: 1.52 mph Head: 0.0 deg
Screen 2 of 6 – Location Information
Satellites: 5 GPS Fix: Yes Fix Quality: GPS 3D Quality: 3D GPS Enabled: Yes
Screen 3 of 6 – GPS Information
Battery: 3.94 V Battery: 69.94 % Status: Discharging
Screen 4 of 6 – Battery
Card: Present Type: SDHC/SDXC Total: 14.621 Gb Free: 14.620 Gb Files: 11
Screen 5 of 6 – SD Card Information
Memory - Heap Free: 154920 b 65.42% Freq: 133.00 MHz
Screen 6 of 6 – Memory

Why is the GPS Logger needed when photos on the phone are Geotagged or the phone is capable of this function?

While this functionality may be available with apps on the phone, it is not always possible to get tracks off of the phone easily to use with an application such as GeoSetter for photos taken with a dedicated camera, such as the Sony DSC-WX500. I want to be able to use the data gathered from the logger and geotag photos from cameras, which do not have a GPS. I also want to create maps, showing the tracks that we took, while on vacation. For both of these reasons, a dedicated GPS Logger is a good option. The file format of the current version is a CSV file, which may or may not work with the GeoSetter application, but I should be able to convert the data into a format that will be usable.

Categories
Arduino Project Raspberry Pi Pico RTOS

Progress

Well, it has been a productive week. Much progress has been made since getting to the root problem with FreeRTOS and WiFi on the Raspberry Pi Pico.

Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, I’ve been pulling in the code from my previous attempts and have the been piecing them together. Progress has been very quick. Too bad I did not dig into the library earlier, but honestly, I may not have hit on the root cause without some considerable investigating. Thankfully GitHub user, GUVWAF, had submitted a fix for the root cause around the same time I had submitted the pull request, so it was not necessary for me to dig into the libraries much more. I’m very thankful to Earle and Maximilian reviewing my pull request and promptly replying to my comments. Even though my pull request was not needed, I learned a great deal from the effort with Earle and Maximilian’s support.

I’m hopeful that I will be pushing some code to my SpeechTimer GitHub repository some time this week. I may not have all the features hammered out, but hope to be close. I will be working on some of the more difficult aspects, which include using the remote and providing a web interface for controlling the timer. The reason these are the more difficult aspects, is not so much in writing the code, but figuring out the best way to control the timer using the remote.

Update 11 December 2023

The project files are now live on GitHub at https://github.com/richteel/SpeechTimer. There are two things missing so far, but it a minimal usable project. The timer is controllable through the IR Remote. It has three predefined timers for typical Toastmasters meeting activities.

  • 5 to 7 Minutes for Speeches
  • 1 to 2 Minutes for Table Topics
  • 2 to 3 Minutes for Evaluations

There is a fourth timer that may be set using the numbers on the remote and the left and right buttons to change from minimum (left) to maximum (right) times.

The two missing features are the web user interface and the remote unit. I plan to work on the web interface first, but may work on the remote unit. I’m thinking about two different architectures for the web interface and need to decide which one I want to use. One is easy to implement, but it is only available on the same subnet as the timer. The other could control the clock from anywhere, but is a bit more difficult to implement.

Categories
Arduino Project Raspberry Pi Pico RTOS

Raspberry Pi Pico W RTOS and Wi-Fi

It has been a few months since I posted last, but I’ve had a few frustrating months working on the Speech Timer project with a Raspberry Pi Pico W, RTOS, and Wi-Fi. It does not help that I can only work on this project for about 4 to 8 hours a week. This post will go into a few of the issues that I’ve run into and hoping to get the community to help me narrow down the issue.

Starting this project, I used CircuitPython to get the project up and running. It went fairly smoothly, but I ran into some issues that made it not such a good solution. Firstly, the program ran fine most of the time, but after some time, the heap would run out of enough contiguous space and would crash. This issue was still prevalent with garbage collection being called frequently and other optimizations to reduce heap fragmentation. I then turned my attention to C++ as it is possible to create more rock solid code than CircuitPython and the behavior is more predicable. Another reason for looking into C++ is I wanted to use RTOS to help make the user interaction more responsive.

The first problems to show up were with the IRremote library but most of the issues were a result of how the library is built. Once those limitations were mostly understood, it was possible to have the IR Remote working reliably.

The next issue came with the Wi-Fi connection. I still have not sorted it out, but still trying. I can get Wi-Fi working just fine if the FreeRTOS library is not included, but as soon as it is added, the Raspberry Pi Pico W attempts to connect to Wi-Fi, then locks up.

Here is some information on my setup:

  • BOARD: Raspberry Pi Pico W
  • IDE: Arduino IDE 2.2.1
  • CORE: Raspberry Pi Pico W core written by Earle F. Philhower, III
  • PROGRAMMING METHOD: Picoprobe

I made some changes to the WiFiMulti library to allow clearing the AP list and print out some status messages to let me know where things seem to be falling apart.

Below is the modified WiFiMulti.h file.

/*
WiFiMulti.h - Choose best RSSI and connect
Copyright (c) 2022 Earle F. Philhower, III

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
Lesser General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA

Modified by Ivan Grokhotkov, January 2015 - esp8266 support
*/

#pragma once

#include <list>
#include <stdint.h>
#include "wl_definitions.h"

class WiFiMulti {
public:
WiFiMulti();
~WiFiMulti();

bool addAP(const char *ssid, const char *pass = nullptr);

void clearAPList();

uint8_t run(uint32_t to = 10000);

private:
struct _AP {
char *ssid;
char *pass;
};
std::list<struct _AP> _list;
};

Below is the modified WiFiMulti.cpp file.

/*
WiFiMulti.cpp - Choose best RSSI and connect
Copyright (c) 2022 Earle F. Philhower, III

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
Lesser General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA

Modified by Ivan Grokhotkov, January 2015 - esp8266 support
*/

#include "WiFi.h"
#include <string.h>
#include <algorithm>

WiFiMulti::WiFiMulti() {
}

WiFiMulti::~WiFiMulti() {
while (!_list.empty()) {
struct _AP ap = _list.front();
_list.pop_front();
free(ap.ssid);
free(ap.pass);
}
}

bool WiFiMulti::addAP(const char *ssid, const char *pass) {
struct _AP ap;
if (!ssid) {
return false;
}
ap.ssid = strdup(ssid);
if (!ap.ssid) {
return false;
}
if (pass) {
ap.pass = strdup(pass);
if (!ap.pass) {
free(ap.ssid);
return false;
}
} else {
ap.pass = nullptr;
}
DEBUGV("[WIFIMULTI] Adding: '%s' %s' to list\n", ap.ssid, ap.pass);
_list.push_front(ap);
return true;
}

void WiFiMulti::clearAPList() {
while (!_list.empty()) {
struct _AP ap = _list.front();
_list.pop_front();
free(ap.ssid);
free(ap.pass);
}
}


uint8_t WiFiMulti::run(uint32_t to) {
struct _scanAP {
char *ssid;
char *psk;
uint8_t bssid[6];
int rssi;
};
std::list<struct _scanAP> _scanList;

// If we're already connected, don't re-scan/etc.
if (WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECTED) {
return WL_CONNECTED;
}

DEBUGV("[WIFIMULTI] Rescanning to build new list of APs\n");
int cnt = WiFi.scanNetworks();
if (!cnt) {
return WL_DISCONNECTED;
}

// Add all matching ones to the scanList
for (int i = 0; i < cnt; i++) {
for (auto j = _list.begin(); j != _list.end(); j++) {
if (!strcmp(j->ssid, WiFi.SSID(i))) {
_scanAP itm;
itm.ssid = j->ssid;
itm.psk = j->pass;
WiFi.BSSID(i, itm.bssid);
itm.rssi = WiFi.RSSI(i);
_scanList.push_front(itm);
}
}
}
// Sort by RSSI using C++ lambda magic
_scanList.sort([](const struct _scanAP & a, const struct _scanAP & b) {
return a.rssi > b.rssi;
});
for (auto j = _scanList.begin(); j != _scanList.end(); j++) {
DEBUGV("[WIFIMULTI] scanList: SSID: '%s' -- BSSID: '%02X%02X%02X%02X%02X%02X' -- RSSI: %d\n", j->ssid,
j->bssid[0], j->bssid[1], j->bssid[2], j->bssid[3], j->bssid[4], j->bssid[5], j->rssi);
}

// Attempt to connect to each (will be in order of decreasing RSSI)
for (auto j = _scanList.begin(); j != _scanList.end(); j++) {
DEBUGV("[WIFIMULTI] Connecting to: SSID: '%s' -- BSSID: '%02X%02X%02X%02X%02X%02X' -- RSSI: %d\n", j->ssid,
j->bssid[0], j->bssid[1], j->bssid[2], j->bssid[3], j->bssid[4], j->bssid[5], j->rssi);
uint32_t start = millis();
if (j->psk) {
WiFi.begin(j->ssid, j->psk, j->bssid);
} else {
WiFi.beginBSSID(j->ssid, j->bssid);
}
while (!WiFi.connected() && (millis() - start < to)) {
Serial1.print("^");
delay(5);
}
Serial1.print("\n");
if (WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECTED) {
Serial1.println("Connected");
return WL_CONNECTED;
}
}

// Failed at this point...
Serial1.println("Failed to Connect");
return WiFi.status();
}

The Arduino Sketch contains the following files:

  • sketch_dec02a.ino – Main Sketch file
  • Clk_SdCard.h – Header file for SD Card functions
  • Clk_SdCard.cpp – Code file for SD Card functions
  • Clk_Wifi.h – Header file for Wi-Fi functions
  • Clk_Wifi.cpp – Code file for Wi-Fi functions
  • config.h – Structure for configuration file
  • DbgPrint.h – Helper file for Serial statements
  • Defines.h – Pin definitions, programming mode, and debug flag
  • StructsAndEnums.h – Various structures and enumerations

The sketch_dec2a.ino file is shown below. All other files are included in the code.zip file in the “sketch_dec02a” folder. The zip file contains two other folders. The “lib” folder holds the two WiFiMulti library files, that may be copied into the library location. On my Windows machine, the location is “C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\rp2040\hardware\rp2040\3.6.1\libraries\WiFi\src”. The other folder is “SDCard” and contains a sample config.txt file to be edited with your Wi-Fi configuration information and copied to the micro SD Card.
NOTE: The card reader needs to be connected to the pins defined in Defines.h, or the pin definitions need to be modified to match your setup.

/*****************************************************************************

* FreeRTOS Setup *
*****************************************************************************/
#include <FreeRTOS.h>
#include <task.h>
#include <semphr.h>
#define xPortGetCoreID get_core_num

/*****************************************************************************
* Project Files *
*****************************************************************************/
#include "DbgPrint.h" // Serial helpers
#include "Defines.h" // Pin definitions, programming mode, and debug flag
#include "config.h" // Structures for the configuration file
#include "Clk_SdCard.h" // Higher level SD Card functions
#include "Clk_Wifi.h" // Higher level Wi-Fi functions

/*****************************************************************************
* Other Includes *
*****************************************************************************/
#include <map>

/*****************************************************************************
* GLOBALS *
*****************************************************************************/
// Flags to make certain that required initialization is complete before tasks start
bool setup_complete = false;

// WiFi global settings
char last_ipaddress[16] = "";
WiFiMode_t last_WiFiMode = WIFI_OFF;

// Config global settings
unsigned long configLoadMillis = 0;
unsigned long last_configLoadMillis = 0;

// Module Objects
Clk_SdCard clockSdCard = Clk_SdCard();
Clk_Wifi clockWifi = Clk_Wifi();

/*****************************************************************************
* MAPPINGS *
*****************************************************************************/
// Mapping for string lookup
std::map<WiFiMode_t, const char *> wifiModeName{ { WIFI_OFF, "WiFi Off" }, { WIFI_STA, "Station Mode" }, { WIFI_AP, "Soft-AP Mode" }, { WIFI_AP_STA, "Station + Soft-AP Mode" } };

/*****************************************************************************
* INO FUNCTIONS *
*****************************************************************************/
void debugMessage(const char *message) {
Dbg_printf("%s\t%d\t%d\n", message, xPortGetCoreID(), rp2040.getFreeHeap());
}

/*****************************************************************************
* TASKS *
*****************************************************************************/
// void checkWiFi(void *param) {
void checkWiFi() {
// Make certain that setup has completed
while (!setup_complete) {
vTaskDelay(10 / portTICK_PERIOD_MS);
}

int loopCount = 0;

while (1) {
Dbg_print("."); // Print ... while looping so we know that the loop is running
// If the SD Card was inserted/reinserted, use the new configuration to connect to the Wi-Fi AP
if (configLoadMillis != last_configLoadMillis) {
Dbg_println("START: Restart Wi-Fi with new Config");
clockWifi.begin(&clockSdCard.sdCardConfig);
Dbg_println("Wi-Fi Begin Completed");
last_configLoadMillis = configLoadMillis;
Dbg_println("END: Restart Wi-Fi with new Config");
}

// Set the IP Address property
clockWifi.hasIpAddress();

// If the IP Address has changed, print the IP Addess
if (strcmp(last_ipaddress, clockWifi.ipAddress) != 0) {
Dbg_println("START: Update IP Address");
strcpy(last_ipaddress, clockWifi.ipAddress);
Dbg_printf("IP Address has changed to %s\n", last_ipaddress);
Dbg_println("END: Update IP Address");
}

// If the Wi-Fi Mode has changed, print debug message
if (last_WiFiMode != clockWifi.wifiMode) {
Dbg_println("START: Print Debug Statement");
last_WiFiMode = clockWifi.wifiMode;
Dbg_printf("Wi-Fi has changed to %s\n", wifiModeName[last_WiFiMode]);
Dbg_println("END: Print Debug Statement");
}

loopCount++;
// Print message with stack usage once every ten loops
if (loopCount > 10) {
debugMessage("checkWiFi");
loopCount = 0;
}
vTaskDelay(250 / portTICK_PERIOD_MS);
}
}

/*****************************************************************************
* SETUP *
*****************************************************************************/
void setup() {
Dbg_begin(115200);

// Wait for the serial port to connect
while (DEBUG && !(Serial || Serial1)) {
delay(1); // wait for serial port to connect.
}

// Print 5 blank lines on startup
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
Dbg_println("");
}

clockSdCard.begin();
// NOTE: The SD Card needs to be inserted with the Config.txt file or the code will
// never attempt to connect to Wi-Fi. In the final version, there will be a task to
// check the SD Card and reload the configuration file.
if (clockSdCard.isCardPresent()) {
configLoadMillis = millis();
}

Dbg_printf("sdcard_init_complete = %s\n", configLoadMillis != last_configLoadMillis ? "true" : "false");

debugMessage("-----------------------------");

debugMessage("END: setup()");
setup_complete = true;
}

/*****************************************************************************
* LOOP *
*****************************************************************************/
void loop() {
// The core written by Earle F. Philhower, III, requires that the Wi-Fi be
// accessed from Core 0, therefore it needs to run in the loop.
checkWiFi();
}

The code typically hangs with the following output.

START: Reading Config File

0. MySSID_One Password1

1. MySSID_Two Password2

2. MySSID_Three Password3

FINISHED: Reading Config File

sdcard_init_complete = true

----------------------------- 0 165684

END: setup() 0 165684

.START: Restart Wi-Fi with new Config

------^^------ WIFI: Added AP MySSID_One ------^^------

------^^------ WIFI: Added AP MySSID_Two ------^^------

------^^------ WIFI: Added AP MySSID_Three ------^^------

Connecting WiFi...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Once in a great while the code runs properly, but if it failed to connect, the second attempt most likely will hang.

START: Reading Config File

0. MySSID_One Password1

1. MySSID_Two Password2

2. MySSID_Three Password3

FINISHED: Reading Config File

sdcard_init_complete = true

----------------------------- 0 165684

END: setup() 0 165684

.START: Restart Wi-Fi with new Config

------^^------ WIFI: Added AP MySSID_One ------^^------

------^^------ WIFI: Added AP MySSID_Two ------^^------

------^^------ WIFI: Added AP MySSID_Three ------^^------

Connecting WiFi...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Failed to Connect



Failed to connect to Wi-Fi. Trying again...

------^^------ WIFI: Added AP MySSID_One ------^^------

------^^------ WIFI: Added AP MySSID_Two ------^^------

------^^------ WIFI: Added AP MySSID_Three ------^^------

Connecting WiFi...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Then once in a while it will connect just fine.

START: Reading Config File

0. MySSID_One Password1

1. MySSID_Two Password2

2. MySSID_Three Password3

FINISHED: Reading Config File

sdcard_init_complete = true

----------------------------- 0 165684

END: setup() 0 165684

.START: Restart Wi-Fi with new Config

------^^------ WIFI: Added AP MySSID_One ------^^------

------^^------ WIFI: Added AP MySSID_Two ------^^------

------^^------ WIFI: Added AP MySSID_Three ------^^------

Connecting WiFi...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Connected



WiFi connected, SSID: MySSID_One, IP address: 192.168.1.45

Connected in 8015 ms

------^^------ WIFI: Starting Station Mode ------^^------

Wi-Fi Begin Completed

END: Restart Wi-Fi with new Config

START: Update IP Address

IP Address has changed to 192.168.1.45

END: Update IP Address

START: Print Debug Statement

Wi-Fi has changed to Station Mode

END: Print Debug Statement

..........checkWiFi 0 164684

...........checkWiFi 0 164684

...........checkWiFi 0 164684

...........checkWiFi 0 164684

...........checkWiFi 0 164684

...........checkWiFi 0 164684

.......

If you have any thoughts on what may be happening, please comment to let me know. Also check the discussion board on Earle’s core library on GitHub at https://github.com/earlephilhower/arduino-pico/discussions?discussions_q=RTOS. I plan to post a comment there and point to this post.

Thank you in advance for any help on this issue.

UPDATE 3 December 2023

I had found that the delay statement in the WiFIMulti.ccp file was causing the issue with FreeRTOS. I modified it with the blink without delay example and the code worked. I created a pull request for the change and hope it will become part of the code base in the future so hopefully no one else will run into this issue.

UPDATE 4 December 2023

It seems that it was dumb luck yesterday that made me think the issue was with the delay statement. I had created a pull request for the change and fortunately, Earle F. Philhower, III pushed back a bit and stated that it did not make sense that delay would be causing an issue. I was doing some troubleshooting with him and Maximilian Gerhardt, then it appeared that my fix was no longer working. I had forgot that I had modified the fix to handle a rollover in millis, which was really unnecessary. When I removed that segment, the timing loop replacement for delay behaved exactly the same way. I then modified the code to use delay and remove the timing loop and put the if block back in and it worked. It appears that having only a delay in the main loop is the cause of the issue. If anyone has an idea why, please feel free to submit a comment or better yet go to the pull request and add a comment there. The link to the pull request is https://github.com/earlephilhower/arduino-pico/pull/1878.

Original block of code.

while (!WiFi.connected() && (millis() - start < to)) {
    delay(5);
}

My original modification.

while (!WiFi.connected() && (millis() - start < to)) {
	// Replaced delay(5); with the following to prevent
	// failure when using RTOS
	unsigned long tWifiDelayForRtos_start = millis();
	while (millis() - tWifiDelayForRtos_start <= 5) {
		if (millis() < tWifiDelayForRtos_start) {
			// millis wrapped around to zero. Rare to hit this
			// issue, but it will do this every 49 days.
			tWifiDelayForRtos_start = millis();
		}
	}
}

Modification without the if block. Behaved the same as the original code.

while (!WiFi.connected() && (millis() - start < to)) {
	// Replaced delay(5); with the following to prevent
	// failure when using RTOS
	unsigned long tWifiDelayForRtos_start = millis();
	while (millis() - tWifiDelayForRtos_start <= 5) {
		;
	}
}

Modification with delay. Note that all the other code in while loop is unnecessary as it does nothing useful. It is only needed to keep the code running, but why?

while (!WiFi.connected() && (millis() - start < to)) {
	// Replaced delay(5); with the following to prevent
	// failure when using RTOS
	unsigned long tWifiDelayForRtos_start = millis();
	if (millis() < tWifiDelayForRtos_start) {
		// millis wrapped around to zero. Rare to hit this
		// issue, but it will do this every 49 days.
		tWifiDelayForRtos_start = millis();
	}
	delay(5);
}

UPDATE 5 December 2023

Finally got to the bottom of this issue. There was a check-in of new code around the same time as I posted about this issue. The change was in the FreeRTOS code in the file variantHooks.cpp. The call to portENABLE_INTERRUPTS(); was moved from before the call to vTaskPreemptionEnable(nullptr) to after the call. That change addressed the exact problems that I was seeing.

Glad to see that this is finally addressed. I think this may be related to some other issues that I experienced, but not certain. Now I can get back to the project and hopefully wrap it up soon.

If you are interested, the commit for the actual fix is d2461a1.