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System, WiFi & password

How you reach your droid, and who else can. WiFi is off until you ask for it, and a password keeps the web page yours.

What it’s for

Section titled “What it’s for”

The System page holds the board’s WiFi, the web UI password, and Run setup again. WiFi changes take effect after a restart.

Quick start: secure your droid

Section titled “Quick start: secure your droid”
  1. Give the board’s own network a new Password: every board starts with 12345678.
  2. Save WiFi, then restart and rejoin with the new password.
  3. Set password for the web UI (8 to 64 characters).
  4. Choose Log out after: how long an idle login lasts.

Turning WiFi on

Section titled “Turning WiFi on”

DroidFX keeps WiFi off by default: a droid at an event shouldn’t broadcast a network unless you ask, and it does its whole job without WiFi. You only need it to set things up.

  • The WiFi switch: a switch from GPIO1 to GND. Closed, WiFi starts at power-up; open, it stays off. It’s read once, at power-up, so flipping it while you’re connected won’t cut you off.
  • The BOOT override: no switch, or a broken wire? Power the board up, then press and hold BOOT for 3 seconds. The serial log confirms WiFi is starting.

Its own network, or your home WiFi

Section titled “Its own network, or your home WiFi”
Mode Behaviour
Access point The default. The board makes its own network, DROIDFX_xxxx (the last four characters of its hardware address), password 12345678 until you change it. Works anywhere.
Station The board joins an existing network. Handy at a workbench where you want internet too. Reach it at http://droidfx-xxxx.local/, or find it in your router’s device list. If it can’t join, it comes back on its own network.

The web UI password

Section titled “The web UI password”

Out of the box, anyone who can reach the board can use its web page. Two things change that, and the first matters more.

  1. The network password. Everything the web page sends, including your login, travels inside the WiFi’s encryption: there’s no HTTPS on the board. So change 12345678; the System page warns until you do. On your home WiFi, that network’s security applies instead.
  2. A web UI password. Once set, every page needs a login, above all updates, backup, restore and factory reset.
  • You stay logged in until you close the browser, press Log out, leave it idle for the time you set (30 minutes by default), or the board restarts. A restart or update logs everyone out.
  • If a login runs out while you’re editing, the login screen appears over the page. Your unsaved changes are still there afterwards; save again.
  • After five wrong passwords, login locks for 30 seconds, then longer with each mistake, up to 15 minutes.
  • Changing the password needs the current one, and logs out every other browser.
  • The password is never in a backup, and restoring a backup never sets, changes or removes it, so a backup you share doesn’t carry the key to your board.

Forgot it?

Section titled “Forgot it?”

Power the board on, then press and hold BOOT within 3 seconds and keep holding for 10 seconds. Or connect over USB and type clearpw into the serial console at 115200 baud. Either clears the password, and both need the board in your hands. (Don’t hold BOOT while the power comes on.)

Running setup again

Section titled “Running setup again”

Run setup again starts the setup wizard from the board as it is now. Only the steps you complete are applied, and nothing you didn’t touch is removed. See Getting started.

Trouble?

Section titled “Trouble?”