Author Topic: Remote access/control of WeatherCat  (Read 3176 times)

testmatch

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Remote access/control of WeatherCat
« on: July 26, 2015, 02:42:02 PM »
Hi,

I don't normally spend more than a few nights at a time away from home, so my network is usually locked down to prevent external access. However I'm away until the end of this week and forgot to enable remote access to the Mac Mini running WC before leaving home. You can probably guess the rest...

WC emailed me on Friday saying there'd been a 'Sensor failure at sample time' followed by another message to say 'Comms reset successful'. I checked via the WeatherCat Client while still in the hotel, and got the normal set of gauges showing it was running. However it hasn't updated my own website or any of the externals sites it reports to since three hours after that reset. WC Client can find the machine but says 'no server running at that address?'. I'm also getting an email every 30 minutes saying WC 'appears to have hung: rebooting as a precautionary measure'.

Short of driving back home and restarting WC (or more realistically, waiting until the end of the week when we return from holiday) is there anything I can do? Is there a reboot facility in the client? Or a way of stopping the emails every 30 minutes?

I can provide logs when I get home if that would be helpful, but wondered if there's a way of getting out of this endless loop of reset attempts and emails remotely and without having enabled my router for access from outside the LAN?

If not, might adding that to the WC Client (or to a password-protected remote emergency restart application) be reasonable, and useful?

Thanks,

John

elagache

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Sounds beyond easy fix. (Re: Remote access/control of WeatherCat)
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2015, 10:37:30 PM »
Dear Testmatch and WeatherCat victims of Murphy's law while vacationing.

I don't normally spend more than a few nights at a time away from home, so my network is usually locked down to prevent external access. However I'm away until the end of this week and forgot to enable remote access to the Mac Mini running WC before leaving home. You can probably guess the rest...

Actually, you can infer the rest . . . . using Murphy's law . . .  [banghead]


WC emailed me on Friday saying there'd been a 'Sensor failure at sample time' followed by another message to say 'Comms reset successful'.
. .  .
. I'm also getting an email every 30 minutes saying WC 'appears to have hung: rebooting as a precautionary measure'.

If you are getting that email, it sure suggests that WeatherCat is already trying to reboot itself automatically.  So this probably is a more serious problem than easy access to WeatherCat would solve.  It might have been possible to solve the problem by rebooting the Mac itself.  However, the sensor and communication errors suggest there may be other issues involved.  Indeed, you gave yourself trouble by not giving yourself access to your network, but even if you had that, there still might not be anything you could do remotely.  After all, Murphy is sometimes extremely thorough . . . .   [banghead]  [banghead]  [banghead]


Short of driving back home and restarting WC (or more realistically, waiting until the end of the week when we return from holiday) is there anything I can do?

Perhaps Stu will have an idea, but that sure looks like Murphy really got you.

If not, might adding that to the WC Client (or to a password-protected remote emergency restart application) be reasonable, and useful?

If you are getting the emails, odds are that the watchdog application is at least trying to launch WeatherCat.  One possible explanation is that you have a problem with your station and WeatherCat is hanging up waiting for the station to become live.  You'll have to see if others think the remote reboot option is interesting, but I think in your case it wouldn't have helped anyway.

Sorry, bad things happen to good weather stations . . .

Edouard

JosBaz

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Re: Remote access/control of WeatherCat
« Reply #2 on: July 27, 2015, 01:16:58 PM »
It won't help you this time but for more peace of mind during future holidays, I can recommend 'TeamViewer'. A piece of software (free for private use) which provides remote access to your desktop from almost any type of device. After password protected logon, you can 'see' the desktop as if you were behind the actual keyboard and monitor.

I'm running the 'host' part of the software on my Mac mini (running WC) and can now access and control it from anywhere in the world, even from my iPad or iPhone.

Jos

xairbusdriver

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Re: Remote access/control of WeatherCat
« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2015, 03:01:40 PM »
I've had a couple of experiences with TeamViewer while trying to get my webcam functioning. In my case, I had to verbally provide a four digit code that appeared on my screen... or type in a code provided by the other end... I've already forgot the exact interaction. It sounds like a good solution to investigate. OTOH, my wife (and I, to a lessor degree) is an Anglophile, I'm sure we would be happy to come 'house sit' during your next vacation! I'll send you a PM with an address to send our tickets! :P [rolleyes2] [lol]

I must admit that I was a bit paranoid about letting a person in some Far East country access my Mac! If it's capable of rebooting the remote machine, you'll probably also need to do a few other preparatory things in order to make the connection after the Restart, but the price is certainly right! [tup]
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Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system


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Re: Remote access/control of WeatherCat
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2015, 08:11:26 PM »
I think Edouard has nailed it. My best guess is that your serial driver has died and WeatherCat is trying to connect with your station - when it sees nothing happening for half an hour it'll reboot to try cure the problem.

In this case, as the driver lives in kernel space, I suspect the only thing that will revive it is a reboot of the machine.

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Re: Remote access/control of WeatherCat
« Reply #5 on: July 28, 2015, 05:53:06 AM »
I agree with Jos.

TeamViewer allows you to remotely access your Mac from another computer, laptop, iPhone or iPad. It is free and you can set it up for unattended remote access so that you do not have to use the 4-digit code described by Xair. The four-digit code thing is how you allow someone else to access your comptuer when you are home so you can tell them what the current 4-digit code is. TeamViewer changes that code every few minutes so that if you are not home, it minimizes your chances of getting hacked. But the software has a method to set up unattended remote access, which is what you need when you are not home and you want to remote into your own machine.

It's free, it works and you get it from TeamViewer.com rather than from the App Store.
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testmatch

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Re: Remote access/control of WeatherCat
« Reply #6 on: July 28, 2015, 07:29:20 PM »
I think Edouard has nailed it. My best guess is that your serial driver has died and WeatherCat is trying to connect with your station - when it sees nothing happening for half an hour it'll reboot to try cure the problem.

In this case, as the driver lives in kernel space, I suspect the only thing that will revive it is a reboot of the machine.

Thanks for the replies - even though they confirm that I can't stop the emails or resolve the situation without remote access or going back home! I'm still getting the reset emails every 30 minutes, as well as the 8pm 'backup successful' ones. I'm not getting the daily data summary ones, and Sylvester is tweeting every night to say 'WeatherCat got an error: Application isn't running'. It will stay that way until we get home on Thursday and I can restart/reboot as necessary.

I like the idea of a WeatherCat babysitting service to provide holiday cover - it could let us all see some different parts of the world. However the soggy weather in the UK might not be very attractive!

John - in the picturesque, but currently very damp, Yorkshire Dales

elagache

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What is your data logger set do? (Re: Remote access/control)
« Reply #7 on: July 28, 2015, 11:11:31 PM »
Dear John and WeatherCat fans,

Thanks for the replies - even though they confirm that I can't stop the emails or resolve the situation without remote access or going back home!

There is potentially one good thing depending on how you have your Davis Vantage Pro-2 configured.  What is the sample interval you have your data logger set to?  Even if WeatherCat cannot access the station, the data logger should be continuing to store data.  If you have your sample interval set correctly, it might be able to store all the data while you were on vacation.  Here is the information on the data logger setting and time of storage:

http://wiki.trixology.com/index.php/Capacity_of_the_Davis_data-logger_to_store_weather_data_depending_on_the_chosen_sampling_interval

It just occurred to me, that before leaving on vacation it might be good idea to reset your data logger to make sure it can store all the data during the period of your vacation.  It might be prudent "insurance policy."

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

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Re: What is your data logger set do? (Re: Remote access/control)
« Reply #8 on: July 29, 2015, 03:23:27 AM »
It just occurred to me, that before leaving on vacation it might be good idea to reset your data logger to make sure it can store all the data during the period of your vacation.  It might be prudent "insurance policy."

Great idea. Thanks for thinking about WeatherCat in between painting engine parts and waiting for it to rain.
Blick


elagache

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Another day, another bracket . . . (Re: Remote access/control)
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2015, 01:01:56 AM »
Dear Blick and WeatherCat overworked home owners, . . .

Great idea. Thanks for thinking about WeatherCat in between painting engine parts and waiting for it to rain.

Well, another day and another bracket painted.  This time the power steering pump bracket.

Alas, the heatwave is causing all sort of new problems.  I transplanted 4 Euryops plants when it was cool, and these poor things can't take the heat.  I had to jury-rig sun shades and even with that, one looks close to being a goner.

As to rain, the forecast includes a chance of monsoonal rain starting on Friday, but alas rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch . . . .

So far the monsoon has been mostly heat and very little rain . . . .

Oh well, . . . . Edouard

testmatch

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Re: What is your data logger set do? (Re: Remote access/control)
« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2015, 07:25:20 PM »
There is potentially one good thing depending on how you have your Davis Vantage Pro-2 configured.  What is the sample interval you have your data logger set to?  Even if WeatherCat cannot access the station, the data logger should be continuing to store data.

And that is exactly what has happened.  ;D

We're back home now and after rebooting the Mac Mini, WC is busily updating itself and Weather Underground with all the historic data from the Davis Console.

John

elagache

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Glad for the happy ending! (Re: Remote access/control)
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2015, 11:58:15 PM »
Dear John and WeatherCat station caregivers, . . .

There is potentially one good thing depending on how you have your Davis Vantage Pro-2 configured.  What is the sample interval you have your data logger set to?  Even if WeatherCat cannot access the station, the data logger should be continuing to store data.

And that is exactly what has happened.  ;D

We're back home now and after rebooting the Mac Mini, WC is busily updating itself and Weather Underground with all the historic data from the Davis Console.

Glad to hear that after all there is a happy ending!  :)

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]