If you don't know what you're doing and don't feel comfortable tinkering around with any advanced settings DON'T DO IT, get help
Make a backup in case you make things worse
If you need a new pi image download one from pi-star
Use this to write the new image to the sd card
Below are some common reasons why your MMDVM pi-star HotSpot might be misbehaving
If you haven't used your hotspot on BrandMeister in awhile go you your BM account and reset your password
✔Can’t log into the
web interface, don’t know the devices IP address, no problem (Use this tool
to find the IP) or try this url link to the configuration
dashboard http://pi-star.local/admin/configure.php
✔Mismatch color code, needs to match the code plug in the radio
✔Mismatch frequencies, needs to match the code plug in the radio
✔Wrong or missing network password
✔Wrong mode selected (DMR) (D-Star) etc
✔Simplex / Duplex setting, needs to match the code plug in the radio
✔D-Star not working, set simplex frequency in radio to duplex and zero out the shift
✔If you’re using duplex change to simplex and try that, there really is no advantage running the hotspot in duplex, there are delays and drops outs just seems to inconsistent
✔Missing or incorrect DMR User ID 7 digits max
✔Missing or wrong Call sign
✔Your DMR has been verified by RadioID and BrandMeister won't accept it without being verified first, Read This
✔Wrong Radio Modem Type selected (STM32 DVM MMDVM) the most common.To find your modem type use this SSH command (sudo pistar-findmodem)
✔Test your server connection jitter use this SSH command (sudo pistar-jitter test BM)
✔Set display port to “modem” check the manual and select the correct modem type
✔DMR network Talkgroups need to match Talkgroups in the radio TGIF / BrandMeister etc code plug issues
✔Network passwords, log into your BM acct. and reset the HotSpot password not your acct login, two separate things. Same for TGIF
✔Corrupt SD card, bad image, replace with higher performance (Very common if you keep unplugging the device)
✔You’re running an old version of pi-star, upgrade to the latest or re-image the SD card to a newer version
✔Poor or no Internet connection use LAN (Buy a USB mini to LAN Adapter)
✔If you’re using an iPhone tether use simple SSID and simple passkey with no fancy characters. Turn on Maximize Compatibility, use a simple name and password (no spaces or weird characters).
✔Crowded WiFi ch local interference use LAN (Buy a USB mini to LAN Adapter)
✔Your WiFi has been compromised and you have leeches draining your bandwidth, secure your home network
✔Clear the Cache Memory of the browser you're using
✔Too close to the HotSpot over driving it / too much power (use the lowest setting you have)
✔Inadequate voltage / bad power supply
✔Relocate the HotSpot away from RFI sources
✔High BER HotSpot RX / TX offset calibration is off (Use this tool on the dashboard to fix it)
✔The pi board is too hot, add a fan, remove it from direct sunlight
✔HotSpot will not recognize the radio no matter what try setting TXO / RXO to -475, then go down from there, you may need to change hotspot frequencies
✔I have seen + or - 300 work, other have used even highrt numbers, you need to try it out until you see the radio recognised and see the BER getting close as possible to 0.001
✔Node type set to public, if so select private or add a DMR User Access List try that
✔Incorrect date and time, set the appropriate time zone and offset UTC
✔Wrong or missing call sign data in your gateway activity, perform an “Update” leave hotspot turned on auto downloads happen nightly.
✔Try changing HotSpot frequencies
✔The device you’re attempting to access the dashboard is on a different network
✔The device is logged into the “Guest Network” isolated from the primary no dash access
✔The IP address was changed, use an IP scanner or log into your router to find the new one or use an IP scanner like this one to find the new IP, or just use pi-star.local
✔The device was rebooted and your BM password was removed, if DMR Network Status is yellow one or more of the network passwords is wrong
✔You’ve changed the “Host Name” from pi-star to something else, change it back
✔Try a factory reset, bring the whole thing back to square one and slowly re-configure the device with just the basics at first see if you can get it back up and running
✔ Auto AP is used for the initial configuration of Pi-Star, including adding the name and password for your actual WiFi network (http://192.168.50.1) is the IP address for that
✔ If everything is correct and your hotspot still won't connect to the DMR server you may be blocked by the server or rule violations like bridging talk groups, using DV switch, kerchunking talk groups too much
✔Auto AP, which connects your computer directly to your Pi-Star or use http://pi-star.local/admin/configure.php
✔HotSpot on a private network (not connected to your actual WiFi network). The device used to log into the dashboard must be on the same network as the hotspot.
✔Check your router's NAT settings and check the UPnP option, also look at the routers security setting like MAC filters or limited IP address assignments
More detailed advanced Playing With Pi-Star Notes
Don't forget the save the configuration after you get it up and running good
If you still can't get it to work write a new pi image to the SD card and start from the beginning and slowly carefully reconfigure the device
✔Mismatch color code, needs to match the code plug in the radio
✔Mismatch frequencies, needs to match the code plug in the radio
✔Wrong or missing network password
✔Wrong mode selected (DMR) (D-Star) etc
✔Simplex / Duplex setting, needs to match the code plug in the radio
✔D-Star not working, set simplex frequency in radio to duplex and zero out the shift
✔If you’re using duplex change to simplex and try that, there really is no advantage running the hotspot in duplex, there are delays and drops outs just seems to inconsistent
✔Missing or incorrect DMR User ID 7 digits max
✔Missing or wrong Call sign
✔Your DMR has been verified by RadioID and BrandMeister won't accept it without being verified first, Read This
✔Wrong Radio Modem Type selected (STM32 DVM MMDVM) the most common.To find your modem type use this SSH command (sudo pistar-findmodem)
✔Test your server connection jitter use this SSH command (sudo pistar-jitter test BM)
✔Set display port to “modem” check the manual and select the correct modem type
✔DMR network Talkgroups need to match Talkgroups in the radio TGIF / BrandMeister etc code plug issues
✔Network passwords, log into your BM acct. and reset the HotSpot password not your acct login, two separate things. Same for TGIF
✔Corrupt SD card, bad image, replace with higher performance (Very common if you keep unplugging the device)
✔You’re running an old version of pi-star, upgrade to the latest or re-image the SD card to a newer version
✔Poor or no Internet connection use LAN (Buy a USB mini to LAN Adapter)
✔If you’re using an iPhone tether use simple SSID and simple passkey with no fancy characters. Turn on Maximize Compatibility, use a simple name and password (no spaces or weird characters).
✔Crowded WiFi ch local interference use LAN (Buy a USB mini to LAN Adapter)
✔Your WiFi has been compromised and you have leeches draining your bandwidth, secure your home network
✔Clear the Cache Memory of the browser you're using
✔Too close to the HotSpot over driving it / too much power (use the lowest setting you have)
✔Inadequate voltage / bad power supply
✔Relocate the HotSpot away from RFI sources
✔High BER HotSpot RX / TX offset calibration is off (Use this tool on the dashboard to fix it)
✔The pi board is too hot, add a fan, remove it from direct sunlight
✔HotSpot will not recognize the radio no matter what try setting TXO / RXO to -475, then go down from there, you may need to change hotspot frequencies
✔I have seen + or - 300 work, other have used even highrt numbers, you need to try it out until you see the radio recognised and see the BER getting close as possible to 0.001
✔Node type set to public, if so select private or add a DMR User Access List try that
✔Incorrect date and time, set the appropriate time zone and offset UTC
✔Wrong or missing call sign data in your gateway activity, perform an “Update” leave hotspot turned on auto downloads happen nightly.
✔Try changing HotSpot frequencies
✔The device you’re attempting to access the dashboard is on a different network
✔The device is logged into the “Guest Network” isolated from the primary no dash access
✔The IP address was changed, use an IP scanner or log into your router to find the new one or use an IP scanner like this one to find the new IP, or just use pi-star.local
✔The device was rebooted and your BM password was removed, if DMR Network Status is yellow one or more of the network passwords is wrong
✔You’ve changed the “Host Name” from pi-star to something else, change it back
✔Try a factory reset, bring the whole thing back to square one and slowly re-configure the device with just the basics at first see if you can get it back up and running
✔ Auto AP is used for the initial configuration of Pi-Star, including adding the name and password for your actual WiFi network (http://192.168.50.1) is the IP address for that
✔ If everything is correct and your hotspot still won't connect to the DMR server you may be blocked by the server or rule violations like bridging talk groups, using DV switch, kerchunking talk groups too much
✔Auto AP, which connects your computer directly to your Pi-Star or use http://pi-star.local/admin/configure.php
✔HotSpot on a private network (not connected to your actual WiFi network). The device used to log into the dashboard must be on the same network as the hotspot.
✔Check your router's NAT settings and check the UPnP option, also look at the routers security setting like MAC filters or limited IP address assignments
More detailed advanced Playing With Pi-Star Notes
Don't forget the save the configuration after you get it up and running good
If you still can't get it to work write a new pi image to the SD card and start from the beginning and slowly carefully reconfigure the device