I bought and assembled a kit from IO Rodeo. Now I’m trying to get it connected to my Wifi network, but running into issues.
Ethernet
If I hook up the micro via Ethernet to my eero hub, I am able to see microscope.local:5000 from my Chromebook, but not my Windows 10 machine (invalid address). It’s not a practical set up anyway, since the hub is downstairs from my office and I have no Ethernet outlet upstairs. I’ve tried directly connecting via Ethernet to my PC upstairs, but that port appears to be dead.
I’d like to set the WiFi network/pw via the web interface, but there doesn’t appear to be any option to do so (the internet lies).
OpenFlexure Connect will not work on my Chromebook, as it has no Linux GUI installed (there are ways, supposedly, but I’d rather not go there). Again, Windows 10 fails to find the micro using //microscope or microscope.local on port 5000.
Onward…
WiFi
I tried connecting to raspi-webui, (the SD card from IO Rodeo has the “full” desktop OS). Using WEP with password “ChangeMe”, I get “bad password”. Using PSK I get nothing.
SSH
I haven’t tried this approach yet.
Hooked Up Micro
My next attempt will be to hook up the micro with monitor, keyboard, mouse. Waiting on a connector for the micro HDMI, arriving tomorrow.
Am I overlooking anything? I’m sure the Windows 10 problem is a config issue, but where to start?
Hmm. Networks are remarkable when they work, but errors can be very hard to troubleshoot.
When you are using wired from the microscope to your router, are you using wired or wireless on the other computer?
If you are on wireless, some routers separate the networks at some level, which might make it not local anymore. That would be in your router settings.
If you are on wired, are you using a USB-ethernet on the other computer? There can be vagaries of those (but more usually in direct connection, below…)
Have you got a USB-ethernet dongle? You can use that to connect directly to the microscope. Some dongles will not work in this mode with some computers! I have never worked out a systematic reason for this, but I have a number of big-brand and cheapo dongles and there is usually one that will work…
The clearest way to get set up is to use the Microscope desktop directly as you are going to do. You can then see the actual IP address and use <ip_address>:5000, which is sometimes more reliable than microscope.local:5000/microscope:5000. It is possible to do everything remotely using SSH, but you need to be more familar with Linux than I am. What you need to do in Rasbian Buster (the basis of the OpenFlexure Server v2 that you have) is different from the current Raspberry Pi OS. The internet is probably not giving you old Buster instructions unless you explicitly put that.
Usually a wired connection has better apparent speed in operation (probably latency).
Hmm. Networks are remarkable when they work, but errors can be very hard to troubleshoot.
When you are using wired from the microscope to your router, are you using wired or wireless on the other computer?
Wireless. Like I mentioned, the PC can’t locate microscope.local:5000, but the chromebook can. Both using the same wireless network.
If you are on wireless, some routers separate the networks at some level, which might make it not local anymore. That would be in your router settings.
If you are on wired, are you using a USB-ethernet on the other computer? There can be vagaries of those (but more usually in direct connection, below…)
Have you got a USB-ethernet dongle? You can use that to connect directly to the microscope. Some dongles will not work in this mode with some computers! I have never worked out a systematic reason for this, but I have a number of big-brand and cheapo dongles and there is usually one that will work…
Good information. I was thinking about trying that, but I don’t have that dongle right now.
The clearest way to get set up is to use the Microscope desktop directly as you are going to do. You can then see the actual IP address and use <ip_address>:5000, which is sometimes more reliable than microscope.local:5000/microscope:5000. It is possible to do everything remotely using SSH, but you need to be more familar with Linux than I am. What you need to do in Rasbian Buster (the basis of the OpenFlexure Server v2 that you have) is different from the current Raspberry Pi OS. The internet is probably not giving you old Buster instructions unless you explicitly put that.
Again, useful info. I rarely use SSH anymore, so I’ve postponed relearning it.
Usually a wired connection has better apparent speed in operation (probably latency).
I would, except I have to ethernet upstairs and don’t want to be running wire through the wall for a microscope that I may decide to eventually donate (I already have a good traditional one).
I was really disappointed to not find WiFi settings in the web client. I think I failed to mention that when I tried to connect to raspi-webui via wireless, I got a
“network out of range” error, even with the micro sitting right next to my laptop. I hope that doesn’t mean I have a bad WiFi on the raspberry.
Once I get the micro hooked up to monitor/keyboard, I’ll have something to report. I truly hope I can log in the micro to my wifi network, otherwise I’ll be sad.
Have you used OpenFlexure Connect on the Windows 10 computer? It is sometimes better at finding microscopes on the network than a browser is. It is able to find Microscopes with any network name.
WiFi should work in your use case, and clearly does on the Chromebook. This indicates to me that it is interaction between your local network settings and your Windows settings rather than within the Microscope.
A final thing to try would be to use a wireless hotspot on a phone. That tends to have quite bad lag, but always works for a connection when I am somewhere with networks that won’t let the Microscope in (managed workplace networks).
I think this is probably because there are security implications of letting a random browser connection change system parameters. There is no authentication on the web client. Otherwise it is just that there are higher priority things on the issue list.
I just now got my HDMI cable, but no signal is coming from either raspberry HDMI port to the monitor. Yet I know something is booting up on the microscope, because I can connect via browser on the chromebook as explained below.
To answer your questions:
Using an ethernet connection on the eero hub, the PC is unable to connect to the microscope either through OpenFlexure Connect or through the browser. However, I am able to connect to the micro via the chrome browser on my chromebook. OF Connect is not an option for the chromebook, as it has no linux GUI. I checked the network settings on the PC, but saw no obvious problem.
The chromebook does not connect to the raspbi-webui wifi (“network out of range” error). Checked my phone and it does not see raspi-webui, either.
I’m running low on options:
try the SSH route
reconnect the scope to the hub via ethernet, reboot the PC, and see if the scope magically appears
go to my son’s apartment, and try his Windows 11 PC
add a Gnome GUI to the chromebook linux subsystem, or WINE
I’m trying to connect with the IO Rodeo folks that made the kit before I go much further. No word back as of yet.
As for no wifi settings on the web app: the docs say otherwise, but
Have you tried connecting via IP directly or are you using the microscope.local address? If you can connect via the chromebook than that can clearly resolve the address and you should be able to get the IP through that instead of directly with a screen or ssh. I’ve never used a chromebook but if it has some linux support nslookup microscope.local might work. Another option to find the IP is to go to your router DHCP settings and see what is connected, you should be able to recognise the microscope there. Another option is to use nmap to scan for a device with port 5000 open, but that is probably overkill.
For the display, make sure the monitor is plugged in when the Pi is booting, and make sure you plug it into the correct HDMI port.
The first one I should have suggested earlier - reinstall the Openflexure operating system from scratch (on a different SD card if you have one). Unexplained pronlems are too often some SD fault. That is a weak link in the Pi system. All sorts of things can corrupt parts of the SD card, and that causes no end of intermittent or strange behaviour.
Second, the Pi operating system only recognises monitors on boot. You need to be sure that the monitor is on and connected to the Pi before booting the Pi.
The Microscope really should work with a local screen, so that not happening indicates a deeper problem.
I tried the direct Ethernet connection to the PC after a PC reboot, and…I can connect using OF Connect!
I am still not seeing an option to connect to a WiFi network from OF Connect. Docs suggest this is possible, unless I was reading some AI hallucination.
I am now struggling with calibration, which is kinda working, but results are poor. I may need to move the camera up a bit closer to the slide (or maybe further away?). Doesn’t look like my illumination is centered, either. Mechanical problems I can deal with, though.
