I have only tried to use this thing a few times and everything worked fine. But recently, the thing fails to connect over wifi or direct. I popped it back into setup mode. I can get to that page, but when i try to get to the patterns page it fails. Over wifi, or over direct connection. I can get it to BRIEFLY connect to via ap mode at 192.168.4.1, but then after a few seconds it stops responding. Over wifi, the loading cube pops up, then times out and fails to load the page.
I have already reset my network, tried various devices, made sure i turned off browser extensions, etc etc etc. all the basic networking and troubleshooting that I can do on my end. It was literally just working a few days ago and I didn’t change a thing.
In addition to the normal browser stuff, sometimes hardware can be the issue, and power is the most common cause.
I would disconnect the LEDs and try powering it from USB. If that helps, then I’d add one thing at a time until the cause is found. Another thing to keep an eye out for is the WiFi antenna (the bit overhanging the edge), try to make sure it’s clear from metal, wire, etc.
didn’t think of the psu as the issue as it has run on this current one before.
note to self 1a not enough. which seems odd because it ran the 8x8 matrix without issue and would manually switch. Guess the little proc needs more juice with or without the matrix connected as i had tried to disconnect the LED’s previously. so 1.5a minimum it seems.
No worries, it’s not totally unheard of for a power supply to degrade over time. Especially the little USB charger supplies driving relatively high loads. These have capacitors that can go bad over time, and often the cheap stuff uses caps that are barely within spec.
The V3 itself will use up to about 175mA, but once a power supply capacitor fails the power it outputs may be dirty/noisy enough to cause problems even with light loads.
Oversizing the power supply a bit won’t hurt, plus generally they will run at lower temperatures and live a bit longer. If you are replacing it, I would recommend something around 2.5A, like the USB power supplies designed for Raspberry Pi 3s (micro USB). The connector on PB is rated for 1.8A, but the extra headroom will mean less stress on the system overall.
For my planned project i will have a minimum of 1 90w 5v psu. I just grabbed a few turds that were laying around for testing and learning. Dirty power is dirty. I just switched it to a psu that is rated for dash charging a cell phone. My other bench tester is a 350w 12v with a buck converter set to 5v rated at 3.5a.
Thanks again, and I hope to flood you with orders in the near-ish future.