Hi everyone,
I spent the afternoon moving some nodes to 3.23.12.0 ... some were a sysupdate from 3.23.8.0 and some were a complete re-install from earlier versions to avoid dangerous upgrade.
On all the nodes that updated (Mikrotik QRT5, BaseBox5, various SXTs) the existing MeshChat 2.8 went away as often happens but the port forwarding stayed in place which also seems to be normal. OK, no worries has happened before, need to remove meshchat, reboot, install meshchat, fix the advertised name, reboot ... like before
The latest MeshChat was 2.9 and when I installed that it would not install at all. Never got past the upload package and ended up finding some old files of MeshChat 2.8 which immediately and easily re-installed.
So I can't get the 2.9 to work. Part of the mystery is that when I went to uninstall the package 2.8 as part of re-installation ... there was no MeshChat 2.8 anywhere on the package list after updating the firmware.
Weird. At least it's all up and running but something is not playing nice with something else.
73, Ed
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MeshChat 2.9 would not re-install after 3.23.12.0
Fri, 12/08/2023 - 22:10
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MeshChat 2.9 would not re-install after 3.23.12.0
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I recently ordered a Mikrotik LDF2 and converted it to an AREDN node using the 3.23.12.0 build. I tried installing the latest meshchat (2.9) and got the following error: Collected errors: * pkg_init_from_file: Malformed package file /tmp/web/upload/newpkg.ipk. I got the same error message going back to previous builds from 2.8 all the way back down to v2.4. I also tried v2.2 which gave the same behavior. I was able to get meshchat_2.0_all.ipk to upload successfully. What device were you using Ed? I'm curious how you got v2.8 to load and if I am the only other one having problems like this.
73,
Stephen - KY4G
Hi Stephen,
I can recall several things. First I believe the 2.9 is for server based installations, all of my node based installations are 2.8 version. I might be missing some nuance here but that is what I have now.
The process sometimes requires a complete removal of the package, reboot, install the package. There might be some stray files that sometimes have to be removed using ssh access to the file system. I don't recall perfectly right now.
The thing that messed me up the most is github itself. I am new to using github, and it turns out there are multiple places with a hyperlink that appears to be where you download the package ... but most just return empty files and not the actual package. It's not intuitive as I see it. Once I found the correct hyperlink and downloaded the correct file, everything went smoothly. FWIW my stored package waiting for use ... meshchat_2.8_all.ipk is 63KB size.
Ed
I'm coming up empty finding meshchat-api_2.8_all.ipk. Can you point me to the correct location?
Thanks in advance,
Eric
I was able to install 2.9, however the chat messages don't show up as you'd expect in the lower part of the screen. I then uninstalled 2.9, and am looking for a previous installation to try and see if that fixes it.
Thanks!
Eric
Did you see messages at all? Or were there never any messages? Was meshchatsync running in the background?
73
--
Gerard, WT0F
There are several meshchat_y.x(.ipk/.deb) programs
One for the Raspberry Pi or any computer running Debian OS.
Some for AREDN nodes running earlier firmware <= 3.22.1.0, written in perl.
Some for AREDN nodes running more recent firmware => 3.22.6.0, written in lua.
The node may have meshchat-y.x.ipk program installed or be linked to a RPi or computer running meshchat_y.x.deb .
The node hosting a meshchat_y.x (internal or external) must have a meshchat-api_y.x_all.ipk installed.
I think.
73, Chuck
Thanks, Lee
At this point you are limited to using MeshChat v1.02 on the Raspberry Pi. In doing so, you will need to load the MeshChat API package (any of the v2.x versions should work well enough) on one of the hAPs. Or actually quite simply run MeshChat v2.9 on a hAP like you have now and point the AREDN node in the config file on the Raspberry Pi. I forget the configuration variable name, but it is something like api_host.
Now in saying that, in a while I will be working on getting MeshChat updated for Linux based installs without the need of installing the API package on an AREDN node. This will eliminate the need to produce a seperate API package. This will also allow all MeshChat installs to finally be on the same code base and receive the same bug fixes.
I was hoping to have the v2.10.0 release of MeshChat back in early December, but it was a perfect storm of the holiday season, getting married and getting sick that has significantly delayed the release. Lately the preparations for Hamcation have been occupying much of my time and so the release probably will not happend until after Hamcation. Once that is done I will be able to make the changes to allow MeshChat (LUA version) to run on Linux which will go into 2.11.0. Actually a good amount of the work was done in my AAMM package so it should come pretty quickly as it will be mostly just bringing over code changes from that package.
73
Gerard, WTØF
Now as far as the amount of diskspace available on a hAP, you can mount a USB flash drive on the hAP and move the message database and file storage to the USB drive. This may be the short term solution for you.
Something to keep in mind is that the files stored on a MeshChat server does not replicate to the other MeshChat servers. Just the metadata about the files is replicated between the servers. So when you see a file on a remote MeshChat server it is just a link to the original file on the original MeshChat server. This can be a single point of failure, but just something to be aware of.
The MeshChat v1.02 distribution can be found on K7FPV's website for the orignal version of MeshChat. https://www.trevorsbench.com/meshchat-messaging-for-mesh-networks/
73
Gerard, WT0F
Hi, Lee:
caveat emptor
73, Chuck
Thanks for the links, and the helpful MeshChat tips. I wondered how I might use the USB port on the hAP.
I really appreciate the Aredn help this forum provides.
73
Lee
73
Gerard, WT0F
Off topic.
However,
https://www.arednmesh.org/content/challenges-mounting-usb-drive-mikrotik...
73, Chuck
Originally titled: "Having problems finding the MeshChat version for raspbery pi"
Reference: https://www.arednmesh.org/comment/22884#comment-22884
Lee:
Was your question answered?
73, Chuck
our $pi_zone = 'Big File Meshchat';
our $local_meshchat_node = 'KF7YRS-QTH-6'; (The hAP (LAN port) the pi connects to via Ethernet )
I advertised "Big File Meshchat" on my hAP connected to our local "tunnel mesh". When I click on the link, it takes me to the "Apache2 Debian Default Page" which is presumably in the Pi. Browsing to the Pi's ip address goes to this same page. This was unexpected and I am bit stuck, any suggestions? Is this normal? I attached images that might help explain what I've done. Maybe there is something I need to do to get past the Apache default page, or maybe I need to point the Pi-based meshchat toward the node-based api program? Thanks...
You set your advertised page to the root directory of your HTML server and
that is exactly where your web browser went. :-|
My MeshChat web pages reside in a folder under the default HTML directory.
/var/www/html/meshchat
I also recommend that you set
our $local_meshchat_node = localnode.local.mesh
so that you can more easily move this RPi server to any
node in your network.
73, Chuck
Now I think I need to change some lines in the meshchatconfig.pm file to expand the file storage space from the default. The current "$max_messages_db_size =500", I think that means 500 messages...should be enough. The entry "$max_file_storage = 2 * 1024 * 1024;" seems like the place to increase the acceptable file size and storage area, but I don't understand the format. My goal is to use much of the 32 GB Pi SD card for file storage, any suggestions on how this is might be accomplished? Maybe a USB memory stick would be a better idea. Thanks again,
32 GB is not always 32 GB, so I would suggest that you set the value to 31.5 GB. That is unless you get the exact size and set the max_file_storage for that. So you should be fine if you use 31.5 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024. Alternatively you could say 31.5 * 1024^3 (I think that is valid Perl expression).
73
Gerard, WT0F
Lee
It can take quite a long time for a new installation to fully sync with others, and the advertised names have to match. If you have been installing, un installing ... the files might need to be purged by a reboot after each step.
Ed