Photon Lost Cloud Connect when ex. PUBLISH Flashed

Troubleshooting
1

Hello:
I am a new to Particle and the Photon.
Out of the box it was effortless to get the device on WiFi and the Particle Cloud with the default Tinker firmware. I was able to exercise all the read/write function from the Console.

I then decided to explore “publishing” by loading the example file PUBLISH. I verified the code and then Flashed. The webIDE said the flash was successful. But the Console said the device went offline immediately. I tried reset and nothing changed device flashes blue (rapidly)

Checking my Xfinity WiFi shows the Photon ID online DHCP, with RSSI -42dBm

So I started down the online rebuild path:

particle flash –usb tinker

Reset and still only get rapid blue flashing and checking router showed the photon online.

Then I did the manual firmware system-part1 and system-part2 upload via dfu.
Both return a status message.

particle serial identify

<Firmware: 0.8.0-rc.10>

particle keys server
<Okay! New keys inplace. Device will not restart>

particle keys doctor Photon ID




<Submitting public key succeeded!>
<Okay new keys inplace, your device will restart>

Photon DIDNOT restart so I repowered.

Particle flash –usb tinker

I then checked the Router again with the same result. It shows the Photon ID connected, DHCP
RSSI -42dBm

Still will not connect to the particle cloud. Device has remained CLAIMED.
Any thoughts on what I’m doing incorrectly would be appreciated!

2

Rapid blue would mean the device is in listening mode i.e., awaiting WiFi credentials (see here: https://docs.particle.io/guide/getting-started/modes/photon/) Or is it blinking cyan? Which means it has a tough time connecting to particle cloud.

3

I have seen listening mode this is the faster blink rate and the lighter cyan. Indicating that its trying to get to the Cloud. As a test I cannot make it breath magenta (safe mode) which requires a cloud connection.

4

So its not connecting to the cloud (flashing cyan), there are lots of discussions with that issue on this forum - search for ‘cannot connect to the cloud’ (there are a variety of reasons why you might have problems).

5

Hi still here!

I have read thru several of the Photon cloud connection posts and have retried the following:
With Photon in DFU…
particle flash --usb tinker
particle update
particle keys doctor
particle keys server
all responded with a success status message
device remains CLAIMED

Then with device in listening mode
particle serial wifi
Successfully reset WiFi credentials and Xfinity router shows Photon online
Still cannot connect to Particle Cloud
Running Win10 with particle CLI version 1.34.0 Firmware now reported as 0.7.0 after this update.

HERE is what particle serial inspect reports:
C:\Users\User1>particle serial inspect
Platform: 6 - Photon
Modules
Bootloader module #0 - version 101, main location, 16384 bytes max size
Integrity: PASS
Address Range: PASS
Platform: PASS
Dependencies: PASS
System module #1 - version 207, main location, 262144 bytes max size
Integrity: PASS
Address Range: PASS
Platform: PASS
Dependencies: PASS
System module #2 - version 207, main location, 262144 bytes max size
Integrity: PASS
Address Range: PASS
Platform: PASS
Dependencies: PASS
System module #1 - version 207
Bootloader module #0 - version 7
User module #1 - version 2, main location, 131072 bytes max size
UUID: 2BA4E71E840F596B812003882AAE7CA6496F1590CA4A049310AF76EAF11C943A
Integrity: PASS
Address Range: PASS
Platform: PASS
Dependencies: PASS
System module #2 - version 1
empty - factory location, 131072 bytes max size

As additional info these devices would run tinker, new out of the box but when I tried the first firmware build using webIDE it immediately lost the cloud connection when I tried to build and flash the PUBLISH example. While the build screen reported that the flash was successful.

6

Perhaps time for someone from particle to jump in … @KyleG ?

7

Let me ping someone that might be able to help, @rickkas7 or @ParticleD are you able to assist?

8

Hello Joost & KyleG, overnight I got the device back on the particle cloud. The problem was my Xfinity router.

I had previously opened port 5683 for CoAP but on my router this was evidently insufficient to allow a connection. In combination with that I also had to explicitly allow peer to peer communication in the firewall settings.

My next task will be to get my first photon back on the particle cloud. That one had the exact same problem sequence as this but additionally I had UnClaimed it from the Console while it was disconnected. Thank You.