Troubleshooting
Something not lighting up, or not connecting? Start here. The box's own Maintenance > Diagnostics and Maintenance > Logs pages, and the Status > Call Log, usually tell you what happened.
The box itself
The screen and the lamps stay dark.
Check the supply first: a regulated 5 V supply, into the power socket. Then check the
I2C wiring: SDA to pin 3, SCL to pin 5, both modules on 3.3 V and ground.
The screen must be a 128 x 32 SSD1306 at 0x3c (the setup page has no setting for another address, so a 0x3d module stays dark). The expander must be at 0x27: on the Waveshare board leave the A0/A1/A2 straps open; on other boards set and check the address. With a wrong expander address the lamps stay dark.
If only one of them works, the other one's wiring or address is wrong: the
box keeps trying a missing one every 30 seconds.
A lamp lights in the wrong place, or never. Use the lamp test in Diagnostics. A lamp that never lights is usually fitted the wrong way round: the longer leg goes towards the resistor. Lamps in the wrong place mean their wires are swapped: GPA0 is PWR, through to GPA7 for NET.
The lamps and the screen went out for a moment. After a dip in the power, the box checks them every 5 seconds and brings them back by itself. If it happens often, look at the supply.
Under-voltage. Diagnostics > System shows Power supply: OK, or under-voltage now or since the box started. The fix is nearly always the supply: a good regulated 5 V adapter with a short cable, never a PC's USB port.
No sound.
Check the amplifier's wiring (pins 12, 35 and 40, and 5 V to Vin) and that
the speaker is between OUT+ and OUT-. Check the speaker volume and mute under
Setup > Modem. ATM0 in the modem's init string turns the speaker off.
Wi-Fi and the setup page
I can't find the hotspot. The hotspot's name and password are on the box's screen until you save your home Wi-Fi or change the admin password.
netstalgia.local doesn't open.
Windows XP and older Android phones can't find .local names: use the
address your router gave the box. Your phone or laptop must be on the same
Wi-Fi as the box.
The box won't join my Wi-Fi. It needs a 2.4 GHz WPA2-Personal network. A failed attempt brings the setup hotspot back within a few minutes, so you can try again.
I need the setup hotspot back.
Turn the box off, put its memory card in another computer, and create an
empty file named netstalgia-recovery on the card's first (boot) partition.
Start the box with the card: it comes up with its setup hotspot, and your
saved Wi-Fi is kept. Delete the file again (with the box off) when you are
done.
I lost the admin password. There is no reset over the network. Flash the firmware image again (see flashing): the box starts fresh, with new passwords, and you set it up again from the start.
Dialing in
| What Windows or the Call Log says | What it means |
|---|---|
NO DIALTONE | The box isn't on your Wi-Fi. Check the NET lamp (it shows the box is on your Wi-Fi, not that the internet works). |
NO CARRIER after "not in service" | Wrong number. Dial 638-782-5442, or the number set in Setup > Modem. |
AUTH FAILED in the Call Log | Wrong dial-up user name or password. A new box uses netstalgia / 123456. If they are right, untick "Require encrypted password" in the connection's security settings. |
BUSY | The box's other port is in a call (one call at a time), or realistic line problems are on: about one call in twenty hears busy, like a real ISP. Dial again. |
NO CARRIER now and then | Realistic line problems are on. Turn them off in Setup > Modem for a perfect line. |
Windows can't find the modem. Check the PC cable's USB branch: DA15 pins 10 and 11 to the USB-A plug's D- and D+, pin 5 to its ground, and the box's pins 10 and 11 to the Pi's PP23 and PP22 (see wiring). Install the driver from Maintenance > Downloads; see first-time setup. Windows 95 and Windows 98 first edition have no USB modem support.
Secure (https) sites don't load.
In Archive mode that is on purpose: the archive has no https sites. Switch
to Live mode on http://netstalgia.local from the dial-up PC, or open the
page in Netstalgia Online's browser.
Still stuck? See Support.