Chapter 7 · Applies to firmware v408 and later · Updated 2026-09-21

Lights, verdicts and messages

What the board's LEDs, its one-line health verdict, and the notes on its pages can tell you — and what to do about each.

1. The LEDs

The board's LEDs are the diagnostics that work with no network and no computer:

LED	Meaning
Mode	The heartbeat: blinking means the application is running. Dark on a powered board means one of two things: the board is in its recovery image (every LED dark, the network up, a plain-text page at the station's address — it is re-checking the update manifest by itself; leave it), or nothing starts at all (no network answer either — recover over USB DFU, firmware chapter, section 3).
Network	On while the Ethernet link is up.
GPS	On while the clock is locked to the satellites' 1PPS signal. Off for the first minutes after power-on is normal; off for ever means the antenna needs more sky (chapter 3).
Signal	Flashes once per captured signal. Dark between events is the normal state most of the time.
Fault	Lit while the firmware has detected a fault. Read the verdict line and the counters on the Diagnostics page for what it is; restart the board once, and contact Denko if it returns.

2. The verdict line

On the Diagnostics page, next to the boot journal, the station answers “am I healthy right now?” in one line, judged once a second:

Shown	Meaning
`OK`	Healthy by the latest evaluation.
`INIT`	Not yet judged since boot. Normal for the first seconds.
`OK?` + reasons	Something is wrong, but not persistently — a dirty reading that may clear by itself.
`BAD:` + reasons	Persistently unhealthy. The reasons name what, worst first.

The verdict is advisory: it names the state but never silences the station. (The sibling Aurora firmware holds back its reports on a bad verdict; Blue does not.)

Reason	Meaning	What to do
`fault`	This boot follows a recorded processor fault (HardFault).	Note the firmware version and contact Denko if it repeats.
`crash`	The previous run ended unplanned — watchdog or fault.	As for `fault`: once is an event, a pattern is a bug worth reporting.
`adc`	The measurement converter is dead or being restarted: no captures are happening.	Check the Diagnostics ADC row. Restart the board; if it stays, contact Denko.
`ring`	The sample memory demonstrably overflowed its reader — captures cannot be trusted while this counts.	Restart the board; if it recurs, contact Denko.
`nofix`	No satellite fix, past the 10-minute grace after boot.	Give the GPS antenna more sky (chapter 3).
`nokey`	The selected compatibility profile (10.1) requires a valid registration to send, and the station does not currently hold one — registration has not completed, or it has lapsed.	Check the registration note (section 3) and network reachability; contact Denko if it stays.

The boot journal beside the verdict is the durable half of the pair: which firmware images ran, for how long, and why each stopped, newest first. A board that restarts every minute tells that story there even when you cannot catch it in the act.

3. Registration notes

The Blitzortung row on the Diagnostics page reports registration when it is enabled. The note after it says where the process stands:

Note	Meaning
station N	Registered; N is the Blitzortung-assigned station number (chapter 6).
waiting for a fix; will not declare 0N 0E	No satellite position yet, so registration is deliberately waiting. Normal until the first fix.
2D fix; will not declare a sea-level altitude	A position without height. Registration still waits — one more satellite, usually.
no reply — timeout, reset, or refused	The registration service did not answer. Retried automatically; check the network if it persists.
server refused the request (HTTP code shown)	The server answered but rejected the request — for example a processor ID not linked to any account. Link the board and wait for the retry.
not registered	Registration is on but has not completed. The note says why.

4. Network states

Shown	Meaning
DHCP: discovering / requesting	Still asking for an address. Seconds, normally.
DHCP: bound	Has an address. Normal.
DHCP: no answer — using the compiled address	No DHCP server answered, so the board took its fallback address in the 192.168.6.x subnet. Reachable only if your network matches — give it DHCP (Quick start).
Address: none yet · gw: none	No address, or no gateway to send off-subnet traffic through. The collectors are all off-subnet: nothing leaves the board.
Blitzortung / Denko: off · on · on · no collector yet	Per-network participation (chapter 8). no collector yet means enabled, but with no usable destination learned so far.
the station did not accept that	A participation change was refused. The state that matters is the one the page reads back.
not stored · attempt(s) did not reach flash	The choice was made but could not be saved; it will not survive a restart. Try again; if it repeats, contact Denko.

5. Detector and capture warnings

Shown	Meaning
ADC: NOT converting	The sample ring never filled — started or not, there are no captures. See `adc` in section 2.
Interference: noise / burst	The trigger rate is high enough that the station calls the input interference, not weather. Move the antenna away from electrical equipment; check the spectrum on the Live page.
Triggers (N over rate_max)	The per-second rate cap fired; N triggers were deliberately not captured. A dead input does this continuously — the cap is what keeps the board serviceable.
Ring laps	Batches were dropped: acquisition overtook the reader. Should be zero; see `ring` above.
Timestamp drops	A capture was dropped because one coherent trigger time could not be established. Should be zero.
Unusable windows	A capture was dropped because its sample window did not survive until readout. Should be zero.
ADC restarts · capture path recovered	The capture path stopped and was restarted by the watchdog. It recovered by itself; a growing count is worth reporting.
Tone rejects · Tone track	Windows dropped as tone-dominated by the single-frequency reject (`reject_hz`), and the tracker's state: off, learning, active, or manual with the frequency it answers to.

6. Firmware page messages

Message	Meaning
that file size is not an official Blitzortung BLUE 9.4 or 10.1 image	Only the two exact published files are accepted (chapter 5). Get the right file.
staging — this erases the staging sectors first, so the first seconds look stalled	Normal. Do not power off.
verified official image is staged; ready for step 2	The stock image is verified and waiting; step 2 writes it and reboots.
writing — do not power it off · this page will stop responding	The conversion is committed and the board is becoming a stock station. Expected.
refused: … · Connection lost; verify the board before retrying	The commit was refused or the outcome is unknown. Check what the board is actually running before trying again; USB DFU or SWD may be needed (chapter 5).
Browser stock restoration is currently unavailable…	This board's flash layout does not support browser conversion yet. Install the current full recovery image by USB DFU or SWD first.