FTP fails

[36260]

Hello
I've been a licensed customer since 2008. I'm currently running 5.1d on Rasperry 3B. I setup FTP service. Save and Test works, in other words the test file is received by the remote server. However upload of data complety fails. I sent a support question to info@meteohub.de and Boris Pasternak. I had no answer so far. So my question is fairly simple: is Meteohub still supported and if yes, can we expect bug fixes. Thank you

[BigAlT]

I think it very unlikely that Boris will be upgrading or fixing the Meteohub image at all. His last update was only to change the way a license is purchased. No bug fixes since v5.0s. Considering he’s never updated the RPi image to work with any model of the RPi since the 3B ( it only works on the 3B+ using the Frankenkernal mod which was not developed by Boris ) it appears he’s concentrating his energies on the Meteobridge platform which unlike the single payment license for Meteohub requires a renewal every two years. You can’t really fault Boris as the Meteohub platform is much more limited in scope and he does need to be compensated for his time in upgrading and improving the Meteobridge platform. I fear that the Meteohub platform is EOL ( end of life ).

[36260]

@BigAIT: thank you for your thorough answer that I was anticipating. I don't recall a clear statement from Boris on that subject. If the support of the current version of Meteohub would have needed a yearly fee in order to get updates, I think that more than one person would have been ready to subscribe. It is very understable that the maintenance work needs to be funded. As far as my problem is concerned, it turns out that for a reason I don't know yet, the router is at fault. It is indeed very strange to have perfect FTP transfers with a software like Filezilla, and that any attempt made, either with ncftpput or Python are failing. This is very good news as far as meteohub is concerned.

[bcoulter]

@36260: I have been running an online Meteohub weather station on a SheevaPlug for about 10 years. It is housed in the Lifeboat Station in Wexford, Ireland. This Autumn the Sheevaplug expired. I attempted to change over to an RPi 2B running version 5.0s (Build 180) which worked for a month or so and then stopped sending data via FTP. The uploaded files clientrawhour.txt, mwlive.xml, clientraw.txt and most importantly all_sensors.csv are of filesize 0. The FT_Upload Save & Test worked fine. I changed the FTP password to remove special character as suggested by @Heuer (July 30,2016) but this did not make any difference.

I brought the RPi home and connected it to my home network. The above files starting sending just fine. I brought it back to the Lifeboat Station and again there was no file upload. This makes me suspect that changes to router security is the problem. I will approach the Lifeboat people but other than asking what if anything has changed in router/internet security I do not know what to ask them. What is the difference between the FTP used by the Save and Test button and the cron that sends up these files on a regular basis.

Has anyone any idea of what I can try, or what I can ask the Lifeboat people to do to fix the problem?

[36260]

@bcoulter At the end I replaced the zywall router by a draytek one. This is a move I wanted to do anyway. It has never been clear what was the real problem. There were no firewall filtering out rules, I even had reset the former router to its initial state with no success. Before the RPI I had an NSLU2 running with great satisfaction for 8 years I think. Maybe you could try to change your router? While meteohub is still running in the background, I’m now running a Nano SD plugged in the back of a Davis VP2 console.

[bcoulter]

@36260 Thanks for that: Very helpful although it would not be possible for me to change the router. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) runs a very tight ship in UK and Ireland and it is a concession by them to allow me to plug my RPi into one of only two open ports in their communication switch.

Although I do have two Meteohub licenses I don't want to buy another Sheeva Plug as I am afraid it would not work any better. I don't want to contact Boris, I got a flea in my ear last time I did.

Is it possible to record and forward the data by FTP from the VP2 console using a Raspberry Pi 2B without using Meteohub? Is the USB data stream easy to interpret or is it inscrutable? I am desperate to find a solution as my weather/tide website has now been down for 6 days.

[36260]

Is it possible to record and forward the data by FTP from the VP2 console using a Raspberry Pi 2B without using Meteohub? Is the USB data stream easy to interpret or is it inscrutable? I am desperate to find a solution as my weather/tide website has now been down for 6 days.

If I understand correctly, that RPI would be connected to the optional usb interface of the VP2 without using meteohub? I have no experience related to this usb stream, it is certainly achievable since Boris did it, at what cost it is another story. Regarding the FTP problem, I even tried many experiments using the Linux ftp command directly, I noticed that passed a certain number of bytes to be transmitted, FTP failed to connect to remote server. I would be happy if I had a solution for you. Have you considered to migrate to meteobridge? In that case the remote location could pull data using templates, provided you are allowed to do that by RNLI. Or maybe the FTP service of meteobridge will work. I don’t recall whether I tried this scenario with the former router. To make a long story short, I think it is not a directly related to meteohub, it may be related to the Linux distro.

[BigAlT]

You need to find out from the RLS if they have upgraded their internet security protocols.
Meteohub is based on Debian Wheezy, which has been end of life for 3 years now and no updates or upgrades are available. As a result, the Meteohub platform does not have the capability to communicate if the RLS has switched to a version of internet security protocols that it doesn’t support.
If this is the case, you’ll either have to switch to a Meteobridge ( if it supports the internet security protocols now being used ) or switch to a shareware weather program such as Weewx running on an RPi which is running the latest version of RPi OS based on Debian Buster which may support the most recent version of internet security protocols.

[36260]

@BigAlT: thanks to confirm that at is the end this a matter with the OS, it definitely clarifies why I had this problem as well.

[bcoulter]

Thank you so much @BigAlT and @36260. I resolved the problem for the moment by the simple expedient of reverting the software back two versions to SD card image (Version 5.0f) **outdated**. This worked instantly. I am not sure if this will cause problems down the road; I hope not but reverting to outdated software versions is not usually advised.

Researching MeteoBridge options I came across the WiFi Logger v2 from ProData Weather Systems at £149. This plugs into a Vue or Pro 2 console in place of the Davis WeatherLink hardware. I ordered one to test whether I could "cut out the middle-man"; it transmits the Vantage Pro2 data directly to the router by FTP over WiFi.

The ProData ad states: "We’re delighted to announce the launch of a data logger for all Davis Vue and VP2/Envoy consoles that interfaces to PCs & other computers via your WiFi network and also uploads directly to Internet weather networks."

I will report back when I get it working.

[BigAlT]

I have the wi-fi logger 1 ( the original version ) installed in my Vantage Vue Console. I have a Weatherbridge Nano SD installed in my Vantage Pro 2 Console and a Raspberry Pi 3B+ running Weeex connected to a Davis Weather Envoy via a USB Data Logger. All 3 work well.
Strange that reverting to an earlier version of the Meteohub Software works since that doesn’t seem like it should work.
If you have any problems with the WiFi Logger 2, the developer WiFi Logger is very responsive to help requests on the wxforum at https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?board=143.0 .