pijuice 0 doesn't follow wakeup alarm schedule

[gobees]

I have a pi 0 W with a pijuice 0 on top. I have two pi 0 W's in the field for time lapse photography. A python script executes the photography function and the last part of the script ensures the pijuice wakeup function is correctly set. The second pi 0 W is using a pijuice HAT (not pijuice 0) and it works perfectly.

While testing the pijuice 0 and pi 0 W camera in the home, I noticed that it had taken pictures all night and outside of the programmed time. As a result, I tried to find any discussions about similar problems. There does not appear to be any discussions about the results I'm getting.

I have no reason to believe that the code is the problem as it works perfectly on the other pi with the pijuice hat.
Here's my code:

# ! /usr/bin/env python3
#import libraries
#import picamera
from picamera2 import Picamera2 #picam 3 wide
import time
import os
import logging
import gc
from pijuice import PiJuice
import subprocess
import sys


# Modified 8/18/2023 to use the picam 3 wide ==================================================================
#==================================================================================================================
try:
   #setup logging
   logging.basicConfig(
           filename = '/home/dad/Documents/home_construction/xfer_files/timelapse_home.log',
           level = logging.DEBUG,
           format = '%(asctime)s %(message)s',
           datefmt = '%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S')




   
#others have trouble starting pijuice scripts too soon after boot (using cron), this code may help (even tho this script
# runs from rc.local

   while not os.path.exists('/dev/i2c-1'):
        time.sleep(0.1)
        
   try:
# Make sure pi time is RTC time
        subprocess.call(["sudo", "hwclock", "--hctosys"])
   #setup PiJuice

        pj = PiJuice(1,0x14)
   except:
        logging.info('cannot create pijuice object')
        print('cannot create pijuice object')
        sys.exit()
              
   
   pjOK = False
   while pjOK == False:
      stat = pj.status.GetStatus()
      if stat['error'] == 'NO_ERROR':
         pjOK = True
      else:
         time.sleep(0.1)
   if pjOK == True:

    #capture battery parameters for log
      stat = pj.status.GetBatteryVoltage()
      b_volts = str(stat['data'])
      stat = pj.status.GetBatteryCurrent()
      b_current = (str(stat['data']))
      stat = pj.status.GetChargeLevel()
      b_charge = (str(stat['data']))
      b_status = ('v= ' + b_volts + 'mV, i= ' + b_current + 'mA, charge: ' + b_charge +"%/")
      print(b_status)
      
   #setup variables
         
   frame = 0
   image_location = "/home/dad/Documents/home_construction/xfer_files/images/house_%06d.jpg"
   word = ""
   path_to_frame_count = "/home/dad/Documents/home_construction/xfer_files/last_frame_count.txt"
   path_to_activity_variable = "/home/dad/Documents/home_construction/xfer_files/activity.txt"
   capture_timeout = 60 #seconds
   period = '' #take pic every 20 or 10 minutes based on activity variable
   hours_not_DST = '12;13;14;15;16;17;18;19;20;21;22;23'
   hours_DST = '10;11;12;13;14;15;16;17;18;19;20;21;22;23' #UTC time
   #pic_hours = hours_not_DST #manually change based on season
   pic_hours = "10;11" #sett for debugging
   days_of_week = '2;3;4;5;6;7' #2=Monday.  7 = Saturday
   debug_mode = False
   flag_reset = False
   pi_flag = pj.rtcAlarm.ClearAlarmFlag()
   
   #setup & start camera
   # camera = picamera.Picamera()
   camera = Picamera2() #picam 3 wide
   #picamera2.Picamera2.CAPTURE_TIMEOUT = capture_timeout
   #camera.resolution = (1920, 1080)
   camera_config = camera.create_still_configuration(main={"size":(3072, 1728)})
   camera.configure(camera_config)
   camera.start()
   time.sleep(2) #let camera settle
   
   # define data variable for if statement below that checks power input to pijuice
   stat = pj.status.GetStatus() 
   data = stat['data']

   # setup file for reading frame counter value

   frame_count_file = open(path_to_frame_count, "r+")
   frame = int(frame_count_file.read()) #read the frame counter value from the file
   frame_count_file.close()

   #get the value of the activity variable
   
   activity_file = open(path_to_activity_variable,"r+")
   activity = int(activity_file.read()) #read the value from the file and convert to integer
   activity_file.close()
   #logging.info('success reading activity file')
   print('success reading activity file')
   # now set the value of 'minute-period' based on activity variable value

   if activity == 0:
      period = '20'

   else:
      period = '10'   

   logging.info('setting period to ' + str(period))                       
# Take the photo

   frame = frame + 1
   try:
      camera.capture_file(image_location % (frame)) #, use_video_port=True)
      camera.stop()
      del(camera)
      gc.collect() 
   except Exception as e:
      print(str(e))
      print(type(e))
      logging.info(type(e))
      logging.info(str(e))
      pass


    
#now save frame (picture number) to file for the next picture to be taken
    
   frame_count_file = open(path_to_frame_count, "w")
   word = str(frame)
   frame_count_file.write(word)
   frame_count_file.close()
   pj.status.SetLedBlink('D2', 10, [244,66,104], 50, [0, 0, 52], 100)

   # check to see if pi is powered from mains power
   
   if data['powerInput'] == "NOT_PRESENT" and data['powerInput5vIo'] == 'NOT_PRESENT':

      #Executing this code means pi is running solely on battery power.
       #Make sure wakeup_enabled and wakeup_on_charge have the correct values

      pj.rtcAlarm.SetAlarm({'minute_period': period, 'hour': pic_hours, 'weekday': days_of_week})
      pjOK = False
      while pjOK == False:
          control_status = pj.rtcAlarm.GetControlStatus()
          control = control_status['data']
          if control['alarm_wakeup_enabled'] == False:
              print('alarm wakeup is disabled')
              time.sleep(.25)
              pi_flag = pj.rtcAlarm.ClearAlarmFlag()
              pj.rtcAlarm.SetWakeupEnabled(True)
          else:
              if pi_flag == {'error': 'NO_ERROR'}:
                 flag_reset = True
              control_status = pj.rtcAlarm.GetControlStatus()
              control = control_status['data']
              print(str(control['alarm_wakeup_enabled']) + ' ' + str(control['alarm_flag']))
              if control['alarm_wakeup_enabled'] == True and flag_reset == True:
                 #logging.info('PJ is ok')
                 pjOK = True
                 logging.info('Pijuice: No errors. Alarm enabled.')
                 print('Pijuice alarm enabled.')
      pj.power.SetWakeUpOnCharge(0)
      alarm = pj.rtcAlarm.GetAlarm();

      #write statement to log
      logging.info('Picture ' + str(frame) + ' captured')
      logging.info(str(b_status))
      logging.info('Alarm settings: ' + str(alarm))

      #keep Pi turned on if debugging in progress
      print(str(debug_mode))
      if debug_mode == False:
         #print('in debug mode. Pi shutdown disabled.')
          
          #Make sure power to the Raspberry Pi is stopped to not deplete the battery

         # !!!When troubleshooting, following line of code must ALSO be commented
         #out along with the 'os.system(sudo shutdown -h now) line of code!!!

         pj.power.SetPowerOff(30)
      
          #Now turn off the system
         #!!! if you comment out the next line of code, you must ALSO comment out
         # the one directly above (pj.power.SetPowerOff(30) !!!
          
         os.system("sudo shutdown -h now")
      else:
          print('Debug mode enabled. No shutdown. Set variable debug_mode to False when troubleshooting completed')
          
   else: #otherwise keep Pi running

      #Write to log
      logging.info('Picture '+ str(frame) + ' captured') 
      logging.info('On mains power. Wakeup alarm disabled.' + str(b_status))
      print('Pi is on mains power, not turning off and not resetting wakeup alarm.  do this manually if necessary.')

except Exception as e:
   print(type(e))
   print(str(e))
   logging.info(str(e))
        
except KeyboardInterrupt:
    logging.info("program terminated from keyboard")

As programmed above, the camera should only start and take pictures every 10 minutes between the hours of 1000 and 1100 UTC Monday through Saturday. (These hours were adjusted by me yesterday for troubleshooting. The normal hours cover about half day (daylight hours) and this is how I discovered the pi wasn't working correctly as it took pictures outside those hours -- basically, all night long. (I'm in the Eastern Standard Time zone so currently 5 hours behind UTC.)

Of note, I do have switch S2 added to my pijuice 0 and I did attempt to reset the pijuice0 using S2 and reloading the firmware. This had no impact on the failure to take pics only within the prescribed hours.

More info:

running i2cdetect -y 1

From the idle shell I get this consistently and i can find no documentation on how to determine what the fault is.:

Final info that may be helpful:

As the python code states in comments, the python script had been executed using rc.local until very recently. There were updates available for my pi 0 W and afterward rc.local was causing the pi camera v3 to fail and my best determination was that something needed for the pi cam wasn't available using rc.local so I created a service and execute the python script using that service now. There have been no python camera failures since.

Appreciate all help.

Thank you.

[gobees]

I shifted to another raspberry pi 0 W and the fault is clear. I cannot explain. But I'd still appreciate some insights.

[gobees]

After running the same pijuice 0 on top of a separate pi 0 W, the pj.status.GetStatus() now returns "isFault": True

AND

it is taking photos outside of the pijuice programmed start time.

The only things in common is the SD card and the camera and the batteries.

[tvoverbeek]

On one of your screenshots I see 'watchdog reset'.
What is your PiJuice watchdog setting on the System Task tab?
Every time you send and I2C command to the PiJuice the watchdog timer is reset.

[gobees]

I honestly don't know what that means. is it a good thing or a bad thing? I thought the watchdog timer was checking for a heartbeat and only intervened when none was found within a specified period of time.

[gobees]

Looks like this:

[gobees]

[gobees]

My problem identified here appears to be exactly the same as this issue from 2020

[tvoverbeek]

I do not know why it does not work for you
One suggestion: Using the same limit (6%) for minimum charge and wakrup on charge is not a good idea (ping-pong effect)