Running solarthing check command

If you would like, you can jump straight into configuring the program. However, if you are new, it’s a good idea to know that your setup works before spending the time to craft your SolarThing configuration.

Run solarthing check -h to see usage of the command

Docker InstallNative Install

pi@raspberrypi:/opt/solarthing$ sudo docker run --rm ghcr.io/wildmountainfarms/solarthing check -h
The options available are:
        [--help -h]
        [--modbus value] : The modbus address if using the rover or tracer type. Defaults to 1 if not set
        [--port value] : The path to the serial port
        [--scan] : Set this flag if you want to scan multiple modbus addresses. Starts at the value set from --modbus
        [--type /mate|rover|tracer/] : The type of device to look for [mate|rover|tracer]

Ok, that’s a lot of options. First, we need to know what our serial port is. For a simple USB to RS232 adapter, it is likely /dev/ttyUSB0. So if we have a rover, we can run a command like so:

Docker InstallNative Install

sudo docker run --rm --privileged -v /dev:/dev ghcr.io/wildmountainfarms/solarthing check --port /dev/ttyUSB0 --type rover
# or if you would prefer not to use --privileged
sudo docker run --rm --cap-add=SYS_RAWIO --device "/dev/ttyUSB0:/dev/ttyUSB0" ghcr.io/wildmountainfarms/solarthing check --port /dev/ttyUSB0 --type rover

If you have a tracer or mate instead, simply replace rover with tracer or mate and run the command.

If the command was successful, continue on to configuring SolarThing.

Wrong serial port

If you got a message like Could not open serial port, jump back over to Identify the path of your serial port.

There’s also the possibility that another application on your computer is using the same serial port. If you have not configured an application to use the serial port, this likely is not the problem.

Devices not detected

If you tried checking for a rover or tracer and got that no devices were detected, don’t worry! It is common for these devices to use Modbus Addresses other than 1. We can try detecting using an address other than 1 like so:

Docker InstallNative Install

sudo docker run --rm --privileged -v /dev:/dev ghcr.io/wildmountainfarms/solarthing check --port /dev/ttyUSB0 --type rover --modbus 10

The above command checks for a rover at address 10. If that doesn’t work I recommend you try 16. If that also does not work, you can scan:

Docker InstallNative Install

sudo docker run --rm --privileged -v /dev:/dev ghcr.io/wildmountainfarms/solarthing check --port /dev/ttyUSB0 --type rover --modbus 1 --scan

The above command scans addresses starting at address 1.

Still not working

If it is still not working, there could be any number of things wrong. The most likely of which is that your serial adapter is not working properly. This could be because the adapter is bad, or because the wiring is bad if you created a custom cable.