Start 9 won't connect to internet

I am having trouble with mt start 9 page, it just says ‘connecting’ on the bottom left, and none of the services are running. Its as if I won’t connect to my internet for some reason.

This has happened to me in the past, and resetting the embassy unit usually solved the problem, but in the last week or so that won’t seem to work. I have been regularly updating, but it won’t let me see if I am fully updated. I tried doing a ‘system rebuild’, and a tor reset using ‘wipe state’.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

This doesn’t indicate that your services or your server aren’t running (we don’t know that yet). If you look carefully, their status is “unknown” because your browser is not connected to your server.

Try running through these steps here:
https://docs.start9.com/0.3.5.x/support/common-issues#i-am-unable-to-reach-my-server-via-its-custom-address-local-lan-address

Ok thank you, I have tried those steps. What i learned in the process is that I cannot open start 9 using google chrome for some reason, I am now using safari.

Also when connect to my router, there is no option to put in my user name and password, im just getting a blank screen

Could you let me know what you’ve tried? And what the client OS you’re using this browser on? It might allow me to point out things you’ve missed.

In the second image, that’s not your router, that’s the Starlink website. Your router will be on a local IP address.

I am using a mac, and the internet is working everything else i have.
I just tried logging in to start.local and it says i’m in diagnostic mode, if that could be part of the issue

Yes, normally start.local is only used for initial setup, but when you have an issue the server will go into diagnostic mode. What error message are you getting from the diagnostic mode screen. The error message will give you a clue about which option you should use to proceed.

Could you tell us a little about the model of server you have? I’m guessing by what we’ve seen so far, and from this error, it’s a Raspberry Pi based model?

Essentially I’d have you check any external USB SSD is adequately powered. If it is, then I’d have you go through the reflashing process…

https://docs.start9.com/0.3.5.x/flashing-guides/index

…then this recovery process maintaining the services by choosing to use the existing drive…

https://docs.start9.com/0.3.5.x/misc-guides/attach-drive#attach-drive

Before you begin, please confirm your server hardware.



yes, its a raspberry pi. Everything seems to have power

Is the Pi powering the SSD. There have been issues with this. On my Pi I set up an external power supply for the SSD and this stabilized it, but FYI, I still don’t use the PI for Bitcoin as it can’t keep up, but it is great for services that are less demanding

oh ok thanks for the info. Im not sure what it means to set up and external power supply, how could I do this? Or could you recommend a better device for me to be using other than the Pi?

A few years ago, about a year or so after, your purchase, Start9 offered upgrade kits based on this.

This would mean the issue you’re facing here shouldn’t happen because the drive would be adequately powered.

There are other solutions, but they all boil down to connecting a drive to the Pi, but having it’s power come from an external source. There are types of cases that offer this feature.

Since you can no longer use a device this old for bitcoin though, you might want to just go ahead and keep using it as you have after going through the reflash. You might not see the issue again during what life remains of the device if you’ve only seen it once so far.

Ok great, I am trying the refreshing process, then If is till have problems, look into the upgrade kit.

I did the re-flashing process on a micro sd card, and installed it into the external drive of the embassy.
Now i’m stuck at this step:

How to I get to this setup page?

The setup page is always found at http://start.local/

when i go there, it sends me to this:

This error looks like an issue with the Pi connecting to your external drive. If your external drive only has a USB connection and no direct power I’d expect you to continue to have issues.

As an example of what to look for, I found the ORICO USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure on Amazon. I’m not recommending this model - I haven’t used it. BUT if you look at this enclosure you’ll see it has a power supply to power the drive and then a USB connection to connect to your computer (Pi). This is what you most likely need to get your drive working reliably - a drive enclosure with it’s own power - the Pi can’t supply enough power over the USB cable to be reliable.

Alternatively, you can forego the external hard drive and just use a larger microSD card in your Pi and then run everything off the microSD. I’m running a Pi right now w/a 1.5TB microSD card.

Reading through this thread, I also saw you asked for device recommendations (rather than a Pi). Start9 offers preloaded servers at https://store.start9.com/ but you can certainly source DIY hardware yourself. There is a forum post with various hardware options that people tried and got working at: [Known-Good Hardware Master List] Hardware Capable of Running StartOS - #155 by Comza

Thanks for the info
After reading what you wrote, and looking through all my equiptment, I am wondering if my server is even is a rasberry pi, i may be mistaken. it says Emabssy on it, i bought it through start 9 maybe 3 years ago. I for some reason assumed it was.


Here is a photo of everything i have as it is. Close ups of everything are provided in earlier in this thread.
I am running a Seagate portable drive, is that the same as an external drive? And yes it only has USB running to the server and no power supply.
My Samsung portable SSD HAS 2TB of memory.
I am tempted to just try the ORICO USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure from amazon. Its only $25
Let me know if this makes sense and is worth a shot!

I believe your embassy device is the raspberry Pi.

You have a micro SD card in it which is where you would normally flash the OS. You also have both a Samsung SSD and a Seagate portable drive connected to the Pi - neither has external power.

StartOS supports a maximum of 2 drives - one for the OS and the other for all the data. You should definitely disconnect the Seagate Portable drive. You will probably need the external SSD to be in a powered enclosure for it to work, but you can try it and see if it is stable for you.

With the OS on the microSD and an external powered SSD attached you should be able to restart the server and get to start.local and follow the guides to get your StartOS up and running.

Yes, your Embassy is a Raspberry Pi model. The Pi can’t reliably power one external drive, little yet two! Other than the options already provided, you can also use a powered USB hub.

Ok I will disconnect the seagate portable drive, now i’m not sure what its purpose was in the first place and why i had it connected. As for the external SSD, Jesse, you are suggesting I replace it with an powered external SSD, is that correct?

I like Rexter’s idea to add the DC 5v power supply to my existing setup, then i don’t need to replace anything, is that also correct?