PV website issues?

Problems
#1

A week back while I was away my Rasp Pi stopped uploading data. This happens every 6 months or so and because I don’t know anything about the coding on it, I do the only thing I can, switch it off, switch it back on and hope it works. Most times it does, but I occasionally have to wipe its sd card and put a new image back on it and it’s away again (I have two sd cards, with a pre installed image on the spare).
This is no longer working. The Pi exports data for a few hours, then stops again. The Pi gets its data from an old EnviR. Everything has new batteries, all connections checked.
The only thing I have noticed is when I go to the PV website it’s 50/50 whether it actually loads, even this help forum page took two attempts, so I am now wondering could it be a PV website issue or is my ISP in the UK doing something to intermittently block the data upload.

Any thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated

#2

Hi @warren333.

Is your PI wirelessly connected to your router of connected via Cat 5 / Cat 6? I found that my PI 3B would regularly drop its Wi-Fi connection to my router. In my case I chose to connect it via cable. The other option would be to check to see it the Wi-Fi connection was working and reboot the PI if not.

How big is the SD card? If it is smallish and the script that you are using to upload the data to PVO is logging / saving too much data to the card your could be filling it up. The OS on the PI will be very unhappy if it runs out of space.

If you have been using the same SD cards for a long time it is possible that they have degraded and are causing a problem.

If you run the command ‘dmesg’ at the command prompt it could give you some clues.

If you think that it is a network problem can you try using the ping command to / from the PI?

A few thoughts - hopefully something helpful amongst them.

Grannos.

#3

Thanks for the tips.
Alas the Pi is connected via Cat5.
Regarding the memory stick it’s 16Gb. And I use 2 (I alternate them, when one stops working), but that really isn’t the issue. The issue is a week ago it stopped working. After putting a freshly formatted SD card in the Pi, it works for about 4 hours then stops. But like I said, even when I now visit the PV website on my tablet or phone, it struggles to load the page. I sometimes have to hit refresh a couple of times to load and hence I wondered if there was something wrong with it.
Thanks anyway

#4

I guess you need to see if there are any logs that show if

  • the data is getting recorded
  • the data is getting sent
  • the data is getting received

What app are you using to collect and send the data.

#5

Are you able to verify that the EnviR is still working? Can you monitor its output with an App or some other method independently of the Pi?

#6

Unfortunately as previously mentioned I am completely useless with code so cannot do a thing on the pi. The pi itself runs a program called measure it and apart from updating it from time to time to the latest version it has worked faultlessly 15 years….
I can access a web page on the pi program and see what it’s recording and logging in that sense, just not what it is sending or not sending

#7

Well I can see the display on the Envi and it is working fine. I fitted new batteries all round, not that it changed anything.

I have this feeling that the pi and the Envi is a bum steer.
Like I previously mentioned about the pvoutput website working correctly. It’s currently 5:40 am and it took two attempts to load the PV home page. Logging onto this forum took over a minute and two attempts. Any other website on the planet loads instantly, except pvoutput. I am wondering if somehow my ISP is doing something

#8

Hi,

It certainly sounds like it is something local. Are you able to access the PVO website without using your home network? Can you hotspot off a mobile phone for instance?

A assume that connecting to more local websites isn’t a problem.

Is your ISP reporting a problem / outage / reduced capability with any of its overseas links on their website?

1 Like
#9

I will try that later today.
Will tether it to my mobile phone and also try using through a VPN and see if I get any difference.

#10

Small update for anyone that maybe interested. It appears that my ISP is now somehow limiting traffic to/from the PV website and I am guessing the auto upload of my Pi.
As suggested by someone I used my mobile/cell to visit the site at the same time as using another device via my ISP. The latter would not load the PV site wereas the cell phone worked perfectly. In fact my ISP blocked access to the site for near on 10 minutes on one test.
I haven’t got a clue why this is now happening considering that I have been with this provider for almost a year.
I am currently creating a rule on my router to see if this will allow traffic,. Failing that I will have to contact them to see if they can provide a solution.
Thanks to all that helped with suggestions/solutions

1 Like
#11

Hi @warren333, It would seem weird for your ISP to block traffic to PVO but not impossible I guess. Are you experiencing problems / delays in accessing other sites / services?

Have you overridden your ISP’s default DNS settings? Or added / configured a VPN that could be redirecting the PVO traffic?

Grannos

#12

Well my ISP say it is nothing they have done, but I can access PV website on my phone anytime, but takes numerous attempts to view the website via a device connected to my network.
So (maybe wrongly) I am assuming this is why my Pi is struggling to upload data.

I have no issues visiting any other website on via my network, on PV and this forum (this page took 3 attempts to load and 10 seconds on the last attempt).

I have tried creating rules on my router to allow traffic, but no joy as of yet. Regarding using a VPN I did experiment with that and I had no issues, delays etc visiting PV but I really don’t want to go down that path of having to use a permanent VPN. As previously mentioned it has run pretty smoothly for about 15 years until 2 weeks ago.
Thanks for your suggestions

#13

If you try the following command from a computer on your network and the PI what do you see? What is the query time?

Could the PI’s power supply be on the way out? I’ve seen a genuine Pi 3B power supply fail and the non-genuine substitutes were unable to provide the correct voltage under load.

marvin (XXXX) ~ $ **dig** **pvoutput.org**

; <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> pvoutput.org

;; global options: +cmd

;; Got answer:

;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 16852

;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:

; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 512

;; QUESTION SECTION:

;pvoutput.org. IN A

;; ANSWER SECTION:

pvoutput.org. 40315 IN A 45.56.66.169

;; **Query time: 76 msec**

;; SERVER: 192.168.24.1#53(192.168.24.1)

;; WHEN: Thu Sep 25 15:52:45 AWST 2025

;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 57
#14

I am sorry but I haven’t got a clue how to do what you suggested. The measureit software on my pi is plug and play for numptys like me. I basically interface with the pi via a webpage, so no coding, just simple settings.

My ISP did log onto my router and stated the following “ From the router I have pinged the site in question and no packet loss was observed. The response time of the site was quite high 100ms+ although when tested direct from our office, this was also the case.”

I will look at the power supply and see if that maybe causing the issue.
Thanks anyway.

#15

To add a suggestion, I will, on rare occasions, have an issue of pvoutput.org loading slowly or not at all and I have a VPN installed. I will have to temporarily disable my VPN and try again and the website loads fine. I then re-enable my VPN and it continues to function normally.

1 Like
#17

I’ll keep this brief. As previously posted I suspected my ISP was somehow blocking or limited my access to the PV website and thus my Rasp Pi was also struggling to export data.
ISP said they wasn’t (but did not answer why when using a VPN or my mobile/cell phone all worked well).
Wasted a day or two creating rules in my router, port forwarding, DMZs etc. none worked. All settings returned back to their previous settings.
Then a day later everything worked fine for exactly 11 hours.
Then stopped working for 2 days.
Then at midnight 2 days ago everything started working again.
So I have done absolutely nothing, except waste my time and yours. Apologies to all.

#18

Hi @warren333. Thanks for the update / feedback.
It sounds suspiciously like the ISP was up to something or something upstream from them had an issue. Nothing like chasing your tail for a few days only to discover that the problem has cured itself! :slight_smile:

1 Like