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AussieKiwi
Newbie

Joined: 28/04/2025
Location: Australia
Posts: 2

Posted: 10:27am 30 Apr 2025

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Hi all

New member with a problem. I have got myself a Pi Pico W and have started building the Watering System Controller as per Silicon Chip article. I copied the firmware (latest v6) across, setup the wifi and TFTPed the files across (retic.bas and HTML files) all with no issues.

Ran 'retic.bas" and it fired up the main web page OK. Every time I click the GENERAL SETTINGS button at bottom of page it crashes the whole Pi Pico. I have to power reset to recover. I wonder if anyone can help me.

The Telnet session shows -

> run "retic.bas"
30-04-2025 20:24:30 Loaded config and settings data from A:/settings.dat
9999 0 0
30-04-2025 20:24:30 ====================== Ver 1.5 booting...
30-04-2025 20:24:30 Checking connection to WiFi
30-04-2025 20:24:30 Connected. IP address is 192.168.1.166
30-04-2025 20:24:30 Getting UTC time
ntp address 194.195.249.28
got ntp response: 30/04/2025 10:24:32
30-04-2025 10:24:37 Getting the date and time
ntp address 194.195.249.28
got ntp response: 30/04/2025 20:24:37
30-04-2025 20:24:37 Using timezone 10 current date/time = 30-04-2025 20:24:37
30-04-2025 20:24:37 Setting up the TCP interrupt
30-04-2025 20:24:45 Sending default page. Auto refresh set to 12915 seconds.
30-04-2025 20:24:50 Sending setup page

*** PANIC ***

PhilP

Newbie

Joined: 25/01/2017
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 32

Posted: 10:28am 05 May 2025

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I have been using SENDGRID for emailing for over a year now but it no longer appears to work anymore. I have been on my account dashboard and all it says is that emails sent were passed on. However looking at their Pricing Plan, the free account now seems to be limited to 60 days now. Am I correct in my reading of their products??

Geoffg

Guru

Joined: 06/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 3269

Posted: 04:28am 06 May 2025

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AussieKiwi said New member with a problem.

That should not be happening and I cannot see how it could be an issue with the BASIC program.
Are you using the RpPi Pico (with the RP2040)? I have not tested the firmware on the later RpPi Pico 2 (with the RP2350) and using that could cause the panic.
If that is not the problem I would look at the power supply. Excessive noise on the +5V could cause something like that.
Removing the RpPi Pico from the circuit and testing it "naked" with a standard USB charger might shed some light on the issue.
Finally, it could be the browser that you are using. I have tested it with Chrome and Edge.

Geoff

Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net

Geoffg

Guru

Joined: 06/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 3269

Posted: 04:37am 06 May 2025

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PhilP said I have been using SENDGRID for emailing for over a year now but it no longer appears to work anymore.

That is a bummer. I am not in a position to test it at this time but these services all seem to be difficult to use. I suppose it is because they are chasing high paying customers but it would be nice if someone had a simple and low cost solution.

Geoff

Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net

AussieKiwi
Newbie

Joined: 28/04/2025
Location: Australia
Posts: 2

Posted: 04:47am 06 May 2025

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Hi Geoff

Thanks for your reply. I have the Pi Pico W. I ended up starting again but this time I used the 'WaterCtrl.uf2' and all behaved OK. Actually I had it just connected via a USB cable to my PC. Still buying the parts for the actual controller so thought I would have a play first with Pi Pico.

I ended up buying a Pi Pico 2W as well so hope it will work in the watering controller sometime in the future.
Edited 2025-05-06 15:00 by AussieKiwi

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