I received my Wismesh Pocket unit a couple of weeks ago, and it was working flawlessly without issues until a couple of days ago when I noticed on the screen the message “Critical Fault #3”
After that, I attempted to use the meshtastic web flasher to reinstall the firmware, including executing a flash wipe.
The “Critical Fault #3” message was gone after the firmware reinstall, but now the unit is “deaf”. I could receive some nodes from home, but now it does not receive anything anymore.
I tried to test it using another rak device, and it did work, but the devices needs to be close to each other.
Is there any setting that I need to make sure is correct? Or is there anything in the hardware that could influence RX/TX power?
I’ve also tried posting on the meshtastic community, but so far no luck.
We are not developing or maintaining the Meshtastic firmware, so our support is limited.
Reflashing a firmware can (usually) not affect the hardware of your module, it is more likely that there is a problem in the settings of Meshtastic.
(1) Is the region setting correct?
(2) Is the Modem preset correct (also known as “Channel”)?
(3) Is the frequency slot setting correct?
(4) Is TX enabled?
(5) Is the TX power set to 20?
(6) Is the SX126X RX boosted gain enabled?
All of this is in the “Radio Configuration” ==> “LoRa” setup of the Meshtastic application:
Thanks for the reply. I understand that Meshtastic is not part of your support, and I appreciate that you answered anyway because I’m running out of ideas to troubleshoot.
I did double check all the settings you listed:
(1) Region is set to EU_868
(2) Modem preset is LONG_FAST (which was working before)
(3) Frequency slot is 1 (I assume this is the default that worked before but I could not find more information)
(4) TX is enabled (I have another rak starter kit that can RX/TX to my Wismesh to it as long as it is in close proximity)
(5) TX Power is set to 27dbm (Which is the default and I assume it is the limit for my region)
(6) SX126X boosted gain is enabled
Let me put things into a timeline to be easier to convey the issue:
WisMesh Pocket arrives
I took it out of the box and started using just by setting the node long/short name and region. Everything works fine
The unit starts to present “Critical Fault #3”
I cannot RX/TX, do a firmware upgrade with a flash wipe
Use the default settings (Just setting region/long/short names again)
Cannot see RX/TX to any other nodes, unless it is my other unit sitting next to it
Check which firmware version I have on the starter kit, download the same version from GitHub and flash it to the Wismesh pocket with a flash wipe
No improvements
Try a different antenna (Paradar 868MHz , checked SWR with a NanoVNA), no change
Is it possible for me to know which version of the WisMesh units come flashed out of the factory? I am not sure if my assumption that the starter kit version would be the same
Considering the settings you asked me to check it looks like it is safe to assume the WisMesh does not need any custom firmware/settings for it to work, other than the correct firmware.
Try to lower you TX power. The SX1262 LoRa transceiver is only capable of 22dBm. Not sure what it does when Meshtastic firmware tries to set it to 27dBm.
Double check the IPEX connector on the RAK4631 for any bad solder points or damage.
I did change it to 22dBm (BTW 27dBm was the default configuration. Theoretically, if you set it to 0, it will automatically be configured with the maximum dBm. I assume the firmware will require changes if 22 dBm is the maximum. I will try to look on GitHub and see if I can submit a patch. I assume it is setting the maximum regional limit and not the maximum chipset limit)
I will try to check the solder connection later today.
