Native ESP8266 BrewPi Firmware - WiFi BrewPi, no Arduino needed!

[Thorrak]

@Thorrak - think something has been broken between Norway and other countries. But it`s retrivable now.

Get this when running the update.


:: All packages installed successfully.
::: Cloning fermentrack-tools repo from GitHub into /home/pi/fermentrack-tools
:::: Existing instance of fermentrack-tools found at /home/pi/fermentrack-tools
:::: Moving to /home/pi/fermentrack-tools.old/
rm: cannot remove âfermentrack-tools.oldâ: No such file or directory



*** ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ***
----------------------------------
See above lines for error message
Setup NOT completed

EDIT!!
Might be my bad - even once again - think it needs to be run in /home/pi/fermentrack/fermentrack

Should be fine now. I used an old script to build the auto-install-gravity-support.sh script, which had a bug in it. All scripts now have the right code.

 

[stbernts]

Should be fine now. I used an old script to build the auto-install-gravity-support.sh script, which had a bug in it. All scripts now have the right code.

Upgrade went fine, but I`m not able to access the webpage.

I`m still getting the 504 Gateway Timeout from Nginx/1.6.2

 

[stbernts]

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "manage.py", line 22, in <module>
execute_from_command_line(sys.argv)
File "/home/fermentrack/venv/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 367, in execute_fr$
utility.execute()
File "/home/fermentrack/venv/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 341, in execute
django.setup()
File "/home/fermentrack/venv/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/__init__.py", line 27, in setup
apps.populate(settings.INSTALLED_APPS)
File "/home/fermentrack/venv/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/apps/registry.py", line 85, in populate
app_config = AppConfig.create(entry)
File "/home/fermentrack/venv/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/apps/config.py", line 116, in create
mod = import_module(mod_path)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py", line 37, in import_module
__import__(name)
ImportError: No module named huey.contrib
ok
ok

 

[Thorrak]

ImportError: No module named huey.contrib

That's really, really strange. That implies that you weren't able to update your packages from pip as part of the upgrade process. I'm not sure if it's related to the DNS issues from earlier, or what it might be.

For color - the addition of 'huey' to requirements.txt was concurrent with the update to import it in the script. If you now need it (which that error implies) then the upgrade script should have also installed it. Pip installs from a central repository that isn't hosted on the same infrastructure as Fermentrack. Very strange.

 

[stbernts]

That's really, really strange. That implies that you weren't able to update your packages from pip as part of the upgrade process. I'm not sure if it's related to the DNS issues from earlier, or what it might be.

For color - the addition of 'huey' to requirements.txt was concurrent with the update to import it in the script. If you now need it (which that error implies) then the upgrade script should have also installed it. Pip installs from a central repository that isn't hosted on the same infrastructure as Fermentrack. Very strange.

My wild guess, could it have something to do with the upgrade from web GUI which first failed?

 

[alexlark]

For anyone currently experiencing issues accessing fermentrack.com check your DNS. I was using Google which is not resolving at present. OpenDNS works OK 208.67.220.220

 

[stbernts]

For anyone currently experiencing issues accessing fermentrack.com check your DNS. I was using Google which is not resolving at present. OpenDNS works OK 208.67.220.220

That is what I found as well, have been using 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4 for years. Switched and got contact at once

 

[alexlark]

Upgrade went fine, but I`m not able to access the webpage.

I`m still getting the 504 Gateway Timeout from Nginx/1.6.2

Same here

 

[stbernts]

Same here

@Alexlark

Rerun

Code:
curl -L install-gravity-support.fermentrack.com | sudo bash

@Thorrak has made an update, all problems gone - at least for my part
Be patient, the new update took quit some time compared to the first one. (y)

 

[Thorrak]

I just pushed out an update that removes huey[backend] from requirements.txt. No idea why that would be causing any issues - but that appears to have been the issue from the logs @stbernts sent across. Nothing (that we will ever use) is lost from removing huey[backends] so if that fixes it, I&#8217;ll take it.

On the DNS front, @alexlark did some digging and found something that makes me think the issue was something I did yesterday unrelated to the update. I enabled DNSSEC while working on setting up a new server and I&#8217;m guessing this is what caused the DNS outage. I&#8217;ve disabled it for now - hopefully that fixes everything.

 

[stbernts]

@Alexlark

Rerun

Code:
curl -L install-gravity-support.fermentrack.com | sudo bash

@Thorrak has made an update, all problems gone - at least for my part
Be patient, the new update took quit some time compared to the first one. (y)

Fixed, local failure.

 

[alexlark]

All good here, dashboard now working.

 

[spoolinwrx]

Is anyone else still getting LCD scramble? It looks like that was resolved a while ago based on some other posts in this thread. It seems every few days I get the scramble, a power cycle resolves the issues and then it will come back. Didn't seem to happen at all when I was testing without the fridge plugged in but with everything connected it's back.

 

[day_trippr]

The 4x20 LCD is notorious for power sensitivity, and the inductive thump of turning on and off a compressor has proven to be enough to scramble the screen. Doesn't matter if the LCD is the parallel model or one sporting the I2C backpack.

The most practical work-around I've seen is to have the controlling code reset the screen every 5 minutes or so...

Cheers!

 

[alexlark]

Yep still have screen scramble. Only when the fridge cycles, never the heater.

Native LCD refresh is on thorrak's list for the next controller firmware. This is the only issue a lot of us have but it is known.

@Thorrak fermentrack.com still down on Google DNS.

 

[Thorrak]

Yep still have screen scramble. Only when the fridge cycles, never the heater.

Native LCD refresh is on thorrak's list for the next controller firmware. This is the only issue a lot of us have but it is known.

@Thorrak fermentrack.com still down on Google DNS.

2 issues for the firmware on my list are to increase the resiliency of the controller as it relates to WiFi connectivity issues, and to add a reset for the LCD. In both cases I’ve been fortunate/unfortunate enough to have not experienced the issue, however, so there isn’t an easy way to test the fixes. Still - if the theory is sound, hopefully that’s enough.

As far as firmware improvements are concerned, I’m planning to add suppport for external beer temperature sensors (that is - where the controller is being told what the beer temperature is rather than detecting it itself) and adding @pocketmon’s glycol support for legacy firmware.


On the dns front, I have no clue. Hopefully it’s just that it is still propagating - everything in my eyes works perfectly.

 

[BeardedBrews]

Main thing I'm after is an excuse to get rid of stuff. I got really lucky and won the DMA35 in a contest earlier this year, but only after buying everything else. I figure I'll test everything, figure out which pieces of equipment fit my brewing style best, and sell everything else off.

Separately, I know how hard it was for me to get comparisons between gravity measurement hardware when I was in the market -- I'm hoping that the comparison will be useful to someone who may be interested in the same later on.

I'm very interested in your results. I've been looking at the tilt as a neat brewing toy, but the digital refractometer could be much more versatile tool.

Thanks for doing all the work!

(Also, if your toys don't all fit in the garage I'll mail you a flat rate box and you can send them my way )

 

[nvogt1]

Just did a new install last night and everything looks great, except for one weird thing. When trying to start logging a new brew, I get an django error page with the message that says "RelatedObjectDoesNotExist at /devices/1/beer/create/", and then "BrewPiDevice has no gravity_sensor." If I just hit refresh on that page, it will take me back to the device dashboard and the beer that I created will show up (if I hit back instead of refresh, then the beer will not show up as logging, although it will show up as a prior log if I try to load a prior log). Not sure if this is related to the new updates that include gravity support, but thought I'd just pass it along. It's easy enough to work around by just hitting refresh after creating a new beer log.

I'm running fermentrack as a new install on a raspberry pi zero W, and it's attached to an arduino device that I had been running brewpi on (using another raspberry pi). Gravity support is not enabled in the App Settings menu for the fermentrack either.

Overall, great software though! I've been waiting for my current brew to finish fermenting with the old brewpi so I could hook up the new raspberry pi and try it out.

 

[Thorrak]

Just did a new install last night and everything looks great, except for one weird thing. When trying to start logging a new brew, I get an django error page with the message that says "RelatedObjectDoesNotExist at /devices/1/beer/create/", and then "BrewPiDevice has no gravity_sensor." If I just hit refresh on that page, it will take me back to the device dashboard and the beer that I created will show up (if I hit back instead of refresh, then the beer will not show up as logging, although it will show up as a prior log if I try to load a prior log). Not sure if this is related to the new updates that include gravity support, but thought I'd just pass it along. It's easy enough to work around by just hitting refresh after creating a new beer log.

That’s a bug! I’ll get it fixed here shortly. Thanks for finding that!

Let me know as you play with Fermentrack if there is anything that isn’t immediately clear how to use, or where you think some polish would be welcome. I’ve tried to optimize things I’ve noticed, but everyone has their own way of interacting with the app and will catch all kinds of things I’ve missed.

 

[Bigdaddyale]

PCB arrived today.If you need a board send me a PM over at https://www.facebook.com/rowlandheight.brewery

Anybody interested in getting a Thorrak SMD board? I"m thinking about doing another run over at DirtyCheap PCB.

 

[Thorrak]

Just did a new install last night and everything looks great, except for one weird thing. When trying to start logging a new brew, I get an django error page with the message that says "RelatedObjectDoesNotExist at /devices/1/beer/create/", and then "BrewPiDevice has no gravity_sensor."

This is now fixed with the latest update. Sorry about that!

 

[delux]

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ curl -L install.fermentrack.com | sudo bash
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:00:03 --:--:-- 0curl: (6) Could not resolve host: install.fermentrack.com


anyone?

 

[Thorrak]

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ curl -L install.fermentrack.com | sudo bash
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:00:03 --:--:-- 0curl: (6) Could not resolve host: install.fermentrack.com


anyone?

Grrr. Let me reach out to my DNS provider. Based on what @alexlark was saying, I don’t think this is a problem specifically for you.

Edit - ticket sent. I’ll report back with the response.

 

[Thorrak]

Supposedly there was a replication issue that has since been resolved. Things should be back to working within the next 30 minutes. The root cause (sure enough) was me turning on DNSSEC over the weekend and then their system not properly disabling it.

I won&#8217;t touch that switch again for the time being. Sorry about that.

 

[alexlark]

DNS all good now!

 

[Bigdaddyale]

Four boards are still available.

PCB arrived today.If you need a board send me a PM over at https://www.facebook.com/rowlandheight.brewery

 

[Thorrak]

Quick update - Tilt support seems to be working. Just need to test it a bit more & tweak some of the settings & it should be good to go

 

[Thorrak]

Quick Update:

Tilt support is now live! There's a few small quirks I still need to get resolved (like the &deg thing on the dashboards) but you should now be able to install/track both temperature and gravity associated with Tilt hydrometers within Fermentrack.

I'll post a longer update later this afternoon - there is one bug I'm aware of where standalone gravity logging won't automatically start for Tilt hydrometers & requires a reboot of Fermentrack - This will be fixed this afternoon as well.

As always - please report back with any feedback. I'm interested in both finding bugs as well as improving anything that is unclear/confusing/hard to use so please ping me if you have feedback on either.


Edit - It's late, unfortunately so the forum post will have to wait until tomorrow. The fixes are all live (aside from the &deg thing - for that I need to read some documentation on Vue) and should appear shortly. As always, you can force an update by clicking the "gear" in the upper right hand corner and then clicking through the "Update from GitHub" workflow.

 

[sedgington]

Quick Update:

Tilt support is now live! There's a few small quirks I still need to get resolved (like the &deg thing on the dashboards) but you should now be able to install/track both temperature and gravity associated with Tilt hydrometers within Fermentrack.

I'll post a longer update later this afternoon - there is one bug I'm aware of where standalone gravity logging won't automatically start for Tilt hydrometers & requires a reboot of Fermentrack - This will be fixed this afternoon as well.

As always - please report back with any feedback. I'm interested in both finding bugs as well as improving anything that is unclear/confusing/hard to use so please ping me if you have feedback on either.


Edit - It's late, unfortunately so the forum post will have to wait until tomorrow. The fixes are all live (aside from the &deg thing - for that I need to read some documentation on Vue) and should appear shortly. As always, you can force an update by clicking the "gear" in the upper right hand corner and then clicking through the "Update from GitHub" workflow.

I purchased and have been testing a Tilt in a ss brewtech brewbucket inside a freezer/fermenter controlled by Fermentrack. Since most of the time I need to lift the lid on the fermenter to get a reading from the Tilt on my Iphone, when I saw your post I immediately updated the software and attempted to integrate the Tilt into Fermentrack. My thought was that if I used an extension usb cable and placed my usb bluetooth device in the fermenter, I could overcome Tilt's lack of range by using Fermentrack to remotely monitor SG. So far, it is not working:

So, I checked the git-hub code to make sure all the bluetooth dependencies were installed and made sure that I had the latest version of Fermentrack installed on my raspberry pi. Everything looks good. So my question to you is, since I am using an older pi without built in bluetooth, should your code still work? If not, it kind of kills what I thought was a really great work around for the deficiencies of the Tilt in my circumstance. If it should work, here is what I did to install the Tilt in Fermentrack, so that it is not a simple case of operator error:
1. Enable gravity support in django
2. Add gravity sensor from drop down "Select device to control"
3. Select Tilt as sensor type and fill out form
4. After successfully creating Sensor, attach it to temperature controller.
5. Restart logging of beer with temperature controller only
6. Reboot pi remotely

Really a great project. Many thanks for your help.

 

[delux]

Dont think its any problem with the fermentrack. My TILT is logging perfectly and its abouth 2M away from the raspberry, and the tilt is inside a SS fermentation tank, inside a fridge. Think you should update your raspberry mate.

 

[sedgington]

Dont think its any problem with the fermentrack. My TILT is logging perfectly and its abouth 2M away from the raspberry, and the tilt is inside a SS fermentation tank, inside a fridge. Think you should update your raspberry mate.

OK, so which model pi are you using/should I purchase? Thanks.

 

[delux]

Raspberry pi 3 is what i have. Like this one: https://thepihut.com/collections/raspberry-pi/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b

 

[Thorrak]

My thought was that if I used an extension usb cable and placed my usb bluetooth device in the fermenter, I could overcome Tilt's lack of range by using Fermentrack to remotely monitor SG. So far, it is not working

Any bluetooth device that works with Raspbian should work with Fermentrack. Are you using a new Raspberry Pi that has Bluetooth built in, perchance?

I’m trying to think of how to build a debugger for this - let me see if I can come up with something.

 

[sedgington]

No, I was using a Pi2 that did not have built-in bluetooth.Delux was absolutely right (Thanks!). I picked up a pi 3 this evening, installed raspbian, did the Fermentrack install, installed the tilt gravity sensor and immediately it worked. It may be the older bluetooth version in Pi 2 that wasn't working with your code. I don't know, but Apple needs to explain why an iPhone 8 has problems picking up bluetooth that a pi 3 immediately gets with the fermenter lid closed:

One note on the install: After I did the install, I did an apt-get update, upgrade and then added the wifi connection while it was still plugged into the ethernet cable. When I first installed Fermentrack while still connected to both ethernet and wifi, the install completed with no problems, but when I tried to load Fermentrack from the stated ip address in the install, I got a 502 code about site unavailable. When I then unplugged the ethernet cable and ran the Fermentrack install with only wifi enabled, everything worked fine. There may be some issues about how my local network assigns ip addresses vs. how Fermentrack does it. In any case, I think one must note that only one ethernet connection--the one you plan on using--should be enabled when you run the Fermentrack install script. Absolutely brilliant work. Tilt should sponsor you as you have overcome a major limitation. I was about ready to send mine back because of the need to go open the fermenter every time I wanted to check the gravity reading. Now I'm keeping it because of your integration. I'm going to recommend your site to them as I have been in contact with customer support. Do you have plans to do the same for iSpindel?

 

[stbernts]

What has happend to the thread? 35 pages all of a sudden?

 

[Thorrak]

No, I was using a Pi2 that did not have built-in bluetooth.Delux was absolutely right (Thanks!).

@delux is a smart guy!

The reason I was asking in this case is that (behind the scenes) there is a device ID which tracks which Bluetooth controller is polled for BLE devices. If there were two controllers being polled I can see where the wrong device might have been selected and that was why you weren’t seeing data feed back in.

Regardless - I’m glad the Pi 3 works! I’ll try to throw together a connection debug tool regardless, as having the option to stick a Bluetooth receiver on a long USB cable sounds like a smart idea that some people might want to use.

When I first installed Fermentrack while still connected to both ethernet and wifi, the install completed with no problems, but when I tried to load Fermentrack from the stated ip address in the install, I got a 502 code about site unavailable. When I then unplugged the ethernet cable and ran the Fermentrack install with only wifi enabled, everything worked fine.

That’s strange. It sounds like a routing issue on your network in this case, but I would have expected that the way that would manifest is that the (outbound) connection would still work — it just might work across a different connection than you expected, and inbound traffic might only work on a different IP then you expected. Still - again - glad it works now! If it breaks again ping me and I’ll see if I can help debug.

Now I'm keeping it because of your integration. I'm going to recommend your site to them as I have been in contact with customer support. Do you have plans to do the same for iSpindel?

Hah, thanks. Marcus from Tilt is fantastic, and was one of the first people I reached out to as I was looking to integrate Tilt into Fermentrack. Great people.

I do plan to add iSpindel support soon. I’ll post more shortly - I still haven’t had a chance to post about the Tilt integration thanks to being busy at work, once I get a chance I’ll try to provide updates on iSpindel as well.

What has happend to the thread? 35 pages all of a sudden?

The admins changed the forum to display 40 posts per page rather than 10. While I miss the massive page count, I appreciate not having to click as much!

 

[sedgington]

I'll post a longer update later this afternoon - there is one bug I'm aware of where standalone gravity logging won't automatically start for Tilt hydrometers & requires a reboot of Fermentrack - This will be fixed this afternoon as well.

In my enthusiasm over getting the Tilt to talk to Fermentrack I forgot to check this. I have rebooted twice and the logging still does not show up. In my previous configuration, I had initially recorded a manual SG reading (the logging showed up) and then later added a Tilt which did not communicate with Fermentrack because of apparently an icompatible board/bluetooth configuration. This time all I did was add the Tilt and the logging does not show up:

What is the appropriate next step? Thanks again.

 

[Thorrak]

In my enthusiasm over getting the Tilt to talk to Fermentrack I forgot to check this. I have rebooted twice and the logging still does not show up. In my previous configuration, I had initially recorded a manual SG reading (the logging showed up) and then later added a Tilt which did not communicate with Fermentrack because of apparently an icompatible board/bluetooth configuration. This time all I did was add the Tilt and the logging does not show up:
View attachment 546741
What is the appropriate next step? Thanks again.

I think you haven’t assigned the Tilt to the temp controller yet, given that you don’t have gravity in the legend on the right. Try assigning it (Note - you’ll have to stop logging to do this, however).

 

[sedgington]

I think you haven’t assigned the Tilt to the temp controller yet, given that you don’t have gravity in the legend on the right. Try assigning it (Note - you’ll have to stop logging to do this, however).

I'm really sorry to be taking up so much time on this. The tilt was assigned to the temperature controller as is evidenced by the following screen shot:

I went ahead and detached the Tilt and then attached it again, rebooted, and restarted the logging on the temperature controller: Still not showing up in the temperature controller graph. I then dug around in the specs on the temperature controller and realized that it still had the IP address from the former RPI2 configuration of Fermentrack XXX.XXX.X.200. When I created the RPi3 version of Fermentrack I did not go and reflash/attach the esp8266, but just attached the Tilt to the existing temperature controller that showed up: esp3238098.local. So, my thought was somehow the controller and Fermentrack were not communicating because this "handshake" step was never completed.
I went back and created a new Temperature controller--which was actually the same one with a different name. I then attached the Tilt to the new temperature controller and bingo the Tilt fields showed up in the newly named temperature controller graph. However, the script with the data was still going to the old name, so I went into django and deleted the old-name temperature controller and the manual gravity point which I had attached to it to see if that would trigger the gravity fields (not), then went back to the newly named controller and started the beer logging process again and voila--everything worked:

I guess this just shows that you can only short cut certain steps and that every time a new Fermentrack temperature controller/tilt device is created it must be done within the current pi device that is running the Fermentrack software. In other words, 2 separate RPIs running different instances of Fermentrack cannot share controllers or tilt devices by default: each device must be uniquely connected/created within Fermentrack running on a specific RPI. Wow, quite a journey. And, thanks again for all your help.

 

[Thorrak]

I'm really sorry to be taking up s In other words, 2 separate RPIs running different instances of Fermentrack cannot share controllers or tilt devices by default: each device must be uniquely connected/created within Fermentrack running on a specific RPI. Wow, quite a journey. And, thanks again for all your help.

Were you still running the Raspberry Pi 2 when this was happening?

The Tilt in theory should be able to be picked up by as many devices as are in range - the way it works is by broadcasting out its readings to anything in range that is capable of hearing it.

The controller on the other hand can only talk to one Pi at a time. If you have the controller set up on two Pi’s (or two installations of Fermentrack on the same Pi, or an installation of Fermentrack and an installation of BrewPi — not that I’ve ever done any (all) of these and been confused when things didn’t work) then it won’t act as you would expect and would potentially do what you just described.