Portsdown 5 Installation

[G8GKQ]

Hi All

I have just done 2 fresh installs of the latest Portsdown 5 build (202510250) without any errors, so I am struggling to know how to fix these install errors. They could possibly caused by regional limitations on some of the websites that provide software for the build.

I have some ideas and will release a new version in the next day or 2 with better error-recovery and reporting.

Dave

[NJ6E]

Hi Dave,

Perhaps of some help, here are the contents of the build log from a Portsdown 5 installation attempt on Friday. As you can see, the Stage 2 installation shows as being completed just 5 seconds after starting. As before, the screen shows no text and the installation appears to hang after Stage 1 completes successfully and the reboot occurs.

73,

Stan NJ6E

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ more p5_initial_build_log.txt
Fri 24 Oct 19:39:46 UTC 2025 New Build started
Fri 24 Oct 19:39:46 UTC 2025 Installing Production Version
Fri 24 Oct 19:57:54 UTC 2025 Build Stage 2 Started
Version number: 202510241
Fri 24 Oct 19:58:01 UTC 2025 Build Stage 2 Complete
pi@raspberrypi:~ $

[G8GKQ]

Hi Stan

That error log appears to suggest that there were no errors during the installation, so I'm not sure what is going on. Do you see (static) text on the touchscreen during the initial phase of the build?

Anyway, I have just released a new build (202510271) that puts captions on the touchscreen after the installation reboots. It will also try to start up the Portsdown even if there is an error during stage 2 of the installation. The new build also improves receive reliability.

Dave, G8GKQ

[ZL3TCM]

tried a complete new fresh download and install

piscreen.jpg (306.44 KiB) Viewed 408 times

piscreen.jpg (306.44 KiB) Viewed 408 times

so made a copy of the piscreen amd pc's putty screen at the end of install

Rob ZL3TCM

[ZL3TCM]

BTW that last attempt was with the distribution version , not the main one
Rob ZL3TCM

[G8GKQ]

Hi Rob

Those error messages don't look like they come from a Portsdown 5 installation.

rpidatvgui (referenced in your first error message) is only called in Portsdown 4 and Portsdown 2020. That file has been renamed in Portsdown 5. Similarly, raspi2png (referenced in your second error message) is not included in Portsdown 5.

Please make sure that you have the Portsdown 5 install script from here: https://github.com/BritishAmateurTelevi ... portsdown5 and try again.

73

Dave

[NJ6E]

Hi again, Dave,

This post is a follow-up to your reply of Monday the 27th, addressing my observations about the Portsdown 5 installation log and system hang after installation Stage 1 completes. Unfortunately my results after an attempt to install the latest version are unchanged from the previous try.

To answer your question about my screen during Stage 1, yes, I do see about a half-screen of text containing the IP address and terminating with a login prompt. During Stage 1 installation, this text remains static until the reboot at the conclusion of that stage. At that point, the screen goes dark and the system appears to hang. None of the Stage 2 captions that you describe appear on the touchscreen. As before, I can ssh into the system and a look at the installation log after the latest attempt shows just 19 seconds between Stage 2 start and completion, with the version number (202510271) displayed between the start and finish messages.

As mentioned in my first post, I am using the 7-inch DSI touchscreen that has been approved for use with Portsdown 4. I haven't tried any installations without this screen attached. I could borrow an official touchscreen 1 from another project if you think that might be worth a try.

73,

Stan NJ6E

[g0mjw]

I assume this is a clean install, from a newly written SD card, username pi and that nothing else is plugged in. No keyboard, no monitor, no mouse? Maybe this is another ISP specific issue ?

[G8GKQ]

Hi Stan

Please try this:

• Reboot your Portsdown 5.
• Log in to it by ssh.
• Type stop
• Type ugui
• Try touching the screen
• Let me know what happens, and copy and paste what you see in the ssh terminal here.

Dave

[NJ6E]

Dave,

Terminal screen capture below, as requested. I tapped in different places of the touchscreen about 10 times. Nothing appears on the touchscreen during the process.

A clean install with a fresh copy of Trixie Light was used for all of my installation attempts, with just power and ethernet cables attached.

73,

Stan NJ6E


pi@raspberrypi:~ $ stop
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ ugui
Compiling portsdown5.c
gcc -fdiagnostics-color -Wall -lpthread -I/opt/vc/include -I/opt/vc/include/interface/vmcs_host/linux -I/opt/vc/include/interface/vcos/pthreads -I.. -o portsdown5 \
lmrx_utils.c \
../common/font/font.c \
../common/font/dejavu_sans_18.c \
../common/font/dejavu_sans_20.c \
../common/font/dejavu_sans_22.c \
../common/font/dejavu_sans_24.c \
../common/font/dejavu_sans_26.c \
../common/font/dejavu_sans_28.c \
../common/font/dejavu_sans_30.c \
../common/font/dejavu_sans_32.c \
../common/font/dejavu_sans_72.c \
../common/timing.c \
../common/graphics.c \
../common/hardware.c \
../common/ffunc.c \
../common/ffunc.h \
../common/utils.c \
portsdown5.c -L/opt/vc/lib -lpthread -lrt -lpng16 -lm -ldl -rdynamic -lfcgi -fcommon
cp portsdown5 ../../bin/

Successful compile, starting Portsdown 5

Calling App 129 from scheduler

Touchscreen detected after boot
Completed Screen and Mouse checks
Service starting
sock_port=2005, backlog=4
direct consume disabled
Rectangle xpos 640 xsize 139 ypos 21 ysize 60 tried to write off-screen
Error: setPixelTrying to write pixel outside screen bounds. 720, 400
Error: setPixelTrying to write pixel outside screen bounds. 721, 400

(...these error message lines repeat hundreds of times...)

Error: setPixelTrying to write pixel outside screen bounds. 735, 109
Error: setPixelTrying to write pixel outside screen bounds. 736, 109
Waiting for button press on touchscreen