Raspberry Pi with error #153 - no connection to VRM

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1

Hello,

I’m asking help on this forum as I seem to have exhausted all debug alternatives that I can think of…

Here is the story:

I’ve set up a DC only installation with a 100/50 Victron MPPT and a DIY LiFePO4 (8 cells - 7 kWh) battery with a JBD BMS. To monitor and control everything I used a Raspberry Pi 3B+, running Venus OS v3.54 and Mr. Manuel/ Louis VDW dbus serial Battery driver for Venus OS. Installation is remote and needs a 4G Modem Router. I also installed TailscaleGX so I could change the BMS driver settings via SSH or FTP.

Everything was working fine, including VRM and remote console. After the 1st day operation I noticed I needed to tweak the BMS settings in order to avoid over charging, so I accessed remotely with tailscale, modified and uploaded the *.ini file of the serial driver as needed. I used Filezilla. Then rebooted the Raspberry. It was the last time it was seen on VRM. Now I get the permanent error:

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Here is what I tried:

  • Rebooted router, switch, and Raspberry - no change
  • Set on and off on the HTTPS option - no change
  • Tried WiFi connection instead of wired - no change
  • Changed manually the DNS server to 8.8.8.8, both in Venus OS and Router - no change
  • Checked the time settings in router and in VenusOS - all ok
  • Set the Firewall off on the router - no change
  • Removed the SD card on Raspberry and inserted again - no change
  • Finally, I even tried a completely different router (a Teltonika TRB140) with a completely different ISP sim card - in this case, the 2nd ISP even has public IP, that means no CGNAT!! And guess what… still the error.

So, at this point I am convinced the problem is within the Venus/ Raspberry. Very possibly related with the writing that I did via Filezilla. Any Ideas to what could I do next? I can still access with TailscaleGX and use SSH or Filezilla, but to do what?

2

I’d start with a fresh install of Venus and the serial battery driver. You seem to have covered about everything else.

3

Thanks Mike, I’m already planning on doing that as last resort. The problem is that it may take a week, maybe 2, until I get the chance to go there.

Also, I have plans to buy a Multiplus and VenusGX device to replace the Raspberry, and I’m worried this can happen again with the GX device in the future. Hence, the will to debug all now and try to find out the root cause…

4

In future, I’d have a look at which files you need to access remotely. I’ve not used tailscale, and I’ve not used filezilla for a long time. and neither with Venus OS. I would only edit Venus os files via an ssh connection, and most parameters can be set or overriden through the VRM . It’s also been a long time since I used Louis’ serial battery code.
Without remote access to Venus, there won’t be anything you can do except visit the site, and you should be able to prepare a new SD card in advance, so just switch the sd card and reboot the pi.

5

But I do have remote access to this Venus! It’s only the VRM logging that isn’t working. I still have SSH access (putty for example), so I’m eager to try correct anything in the file system!!

6

Try changing the firmware to a different version. then reboot.

7

Interesting idea…

However, the checking for a new version fails… similar to VRM, cannot contact the server:

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I can however roll-back to previous version:

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I’m a little worried to do this, I’m not sure if tailscale is configured in previous version. I may lose total contact for a week or more. Kind a risky… I also have package manager installed, not sure if this may be handy:

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But I like your idea… Any easy way to check the “health” via SSH before doing risky business?

8

If the GX device can’t contact the server, then the only other* restore option would be if you had an alternate version stored locally:

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*If you don’t then it’s going to be a sd card replace.
However, if you have VRM remote console access to the GX, I don’t see why the rest doesn’t work, unless the os is corrupted. Only other is why you are not using ‘secure’ connection for VRM?

9

I don’t have VRM remote console access, that’s the part that is NOT working - anything related to Victron Portal.

I only still have access because I installed TailscaleGX beforehand.

It was part of the test. It is indifferent, VRM Portal does not work either way

10

ok. I don’t see a way forward other than changing the SD card for this.

11

Thank you.

By the way, is there any negative impact of preparing a new SD card, installing additional packages, test everything including registration in the VRM portal using a different Raspberry Pi computer (same type: 3B+) and then moving the SD card on to the actual Pi ?

12

Don’t think so, that is the way that I would do it.

13

Thank you Mike for all your suggestions. They were valuable.

I would like to end this thread with the information of how the problem of error #153 was solved:

  • Since I prepared a new SD card and was planning to move to site, I had nothing to lose to try other options.
  • So, following the idea on this thread, I did a software rollback, from 3.54 to 3.50. I immediately gained access via VRM portal!
  • Then, I upgraded the system to VenusOS v.3.67. All is working again.

So, most likely, I did something wrong while modifying the BMS settings and damaged the filesystem or OS and somehow triggered the error #153.

Having a secondary way to access to VenusOS (TailscaleGX) was key to avoid another trip to the remote site.

14

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