OpenSprinkler Unified Firmware 2.1.9(9) released

[Ray]

Hi,

We have just released unified firmware 2.1.9(9). This firmware primarily fixes some of the issues for OpenSprinkler 3 and 2.3, it isn’t very relevant to OSPi. Some of the main changes include:

* Changing wired Ethernet to use the new EthernetENC library (https://github.com/jandrassy/EthernetENC). This replaces the previous UIPEthernet library with several major bug fixes. This is relevant to OpenSprinkler 3.2 with wired Ethernet module as well as OpenSprinkler 2.3, by hopefully improving their wired Ethernet realibility.

* Support for using a program to trigger a controller reboot on a regular basis. This can be helpful if you are experiencing WiFi or Ethernet reliability issues, by rebooting the controller once in a while. A program with name :>reboot will trigger a reboot when the controller is idle (i.e. no program is running). A program with name :>reboot_now will trigger a reboot regardless of whether a program may be running or not. Notes: the reboot time will be delayed by 1 minute or so from the start time to avoid the action triggered again right after rebooting. As an example: you can create a program with a start time of 2:00am and runs every day, set the program name to :>reboot. This will trigger a reboot every day at 2:01am (i.e. delayed by 1 minute, so that when it comes back it won’t reboot right away again).

When creating the program, you still need to select at least one zone to run (as required by the UI) but the firmware will ignore the zone as it can recognize the special program name so will not actually run the zone.

Some other changes in this firmware include:

* Support for OpenSprinkler Latch version 3.2. With version 3.2, the Latch version can also support wired Ethernet module like the AC-powered and DC-powered versions.

* Improve NTC sync by using multiple NTP servers and cycle through them if one is not available. Also improves handling of RTC in case RTC doesn’t exist or doesn’t work.

* Improve factory reset function for OS 3.0, forcing flash reformat in the case of flash corruption.

* Allows program’s interval day to be as small as 1 (previously the minimum is 2). This is NOT fully available yet because it still requires UI/app changes to go with it, which we will complete in a few days.

As usual, if you’d like to upgrade your firmware, please follow the instructions at:
https://openthings.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/5000381694-opensprinkler-firmware-update-guide-summary-
Thanks!

[Kevin Forth]

Thanks Ray. I’ve created a :>reboot program to reboot my OS at 1:00 AM every day. I’ll soon learn if this improves the issue where OS drops from WiFi periodically. (fingers-crossed)

[DaveC]

Thanks for the update Ray.
Does the program triggered reboot have a unique reboot cause code?
There are 2 codes, 4 & 5, that both say ‘API Triggered Reboot’. I don’t know why there are 2 for the same cause, but it would good if the program reboot cause could be uniquely identified. Perhaps one of these codes could be for the API Triggered Reboot and the other for the Program Triggered Reboot.

Dave

[cybergrimes]

Removed my smart plug from OS setup, added the reboot program. Thanks for the update.

[[email protected]]

Hi,I have opensprinkler 2.3 with firmware 2.1.9(9) connect by wire,however after several conections I cant connect by App and web UI .I have to switch off device and switch on again. Could you solve this network error on te next firmware please?

[skyynet]

I opened <ip>/update on OpenSprinkler 3.2 with Firmware 2.1.9(7) and only got a page with reason:2
Any idea why and on how to update?

[Ray]

Are you using wired Ethernet? If so you need to switch to WiFi mode as firmware update can only be done in WiFi. You can power off the controller, remove wired Ethernet module, then power it back on.

[skyynet]

Hi Ray, thanks. Yes, I do use wired Ethernet. Sounds pretty strange, update can be done via WiFi and not wired LAN.
I also noticed, that in “About” the WLAN Strength is shown with wired LAN as “Excellent”. Any chance to have another line LAN showing if the connection is established via LAN? By the way: 2.1.9(7) run for my since installation without freezing.

[Ray]

Currently you can tell which way it’s connected on the LCD: if it’s WiFi connected, it shows a WiFi icon (the little triangle bar icon); if it’s wired connected, it shows a small network icon (looks like 3 boxes connected via cables).

Yes we can add the indicator to the UI as well.

The reason it can only be done through WiFi is that OTA update for ESP8266 is a standard feature built-in to the core libraries. OTA update with wired Ethernet — no one has ever written that part yet. That said, I have started looking at ESP8266 core 3.x which seems to have unified the handling of WiFi and wired Ethernet, per it’s possible that OTA update can be done with both, but I have to do some research on that.

[skyynet]

Thanks Ray, Sounds promising.

[SpikeyGG]

Awesome, I just updated and set up my :>reboot schedule to reboot twice a week. Hopefully, this keeps the connectivity issues to a minimum. 😀 Thanks for the change @Ray.

[mrslvd]

Hi Ray,
In your first post you have stated that: … This is NOT fully available yet because it still requires UI/app changes to go with it, which we will complete in a few days.

Did you integrate these changes?

Best regards,
Miro

[Ray]

Yes I believe it’s already integrated into the UI, assuming your controller runs firmware 2.1.9(9) (the UI detects the firmware version and applies different parameters depending on which firmware version you have).
https://github.com/OpenSprinkler/OpenSprinkler-App/blob/master/www/js/main.js#L9136

[mrslvd]

Hi Ray,
Just to clarify something. Your announcement of issuing 2.1.9(9) was on August 22, 2021 at 6:36 pm (the first post). In the same post you say: * Allows program’s interval day to be as small as 1 (previously the minimum is 2). This is NOT fully available yet because it still requires UI/app changes to go with it, which we will complete in a few days.
After that there is no new release of the firmware and that is why I am wondering whether changes were implemented in UI.

[Ray]

The firmware change is independent of UI/app change — at the time of the release, the firmware already supports 1 day as the program’s interval day, but the UI (i.e. front end will reject it if you input 1). The analogy is: your computer (including its hardware and firmware) may support 4K resolution, but let’s say your TV’s mobile app (if it has one) does not give 4K as an option. Now it does. Does this make sense? I already sent you the link to the line of code in the UI that accommodates 1 day.

[mrslvd]

Hi Ray,
Thanks for the explanation but I still don’t fully understand what UI/app changes means. Does this mean changes only to Android App?

Best regards,
Miro

[mrslvd]

Hi Ray,
I think this helps me to understand what you mean: https://openthings.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/5000164006-using-a-different-server-for-ui-assets

Best regards,
Miro

[SprinklerDave]

Note that rain delay seems to prevent the :>reboot program from running.

[Author]

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