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Xangle Camera Server

Network, image & recovery

Advanced

Use these procedures when you need to change the boot network, prepare a fresh boot-server card, or recover a Pi image outside the normal operator workflow.

Change the boot-server network

Use this guide when the default Xangle boot network conflicts with a venue network or when you are preparing a fresh boot-server card for a different isolated Ethernet subnet.

Before you change anything

A boot-server network change affects four parts of the system:

  • The boot server's static Ethernet address.
  • DHCP, TFTP, and NFS settings on the boot server.
  • The boot-server address embedded in the cardless clients' network-boot command line.
  • The local computer's Ethernet adapter and Camera Server discovery settings.

Use a dedicated Ethernet adapter for the isolated boot network when possible. Keep the computer's normal LAN or Wi-Fi connection separate for internet access.

If the boot server changes to 10.45.0.211/21, the dedicated Ethernet adapter on the computer needs an address in the same subnet, for example:

IP address: 10.45.0.50
Subnet mask: 255.255.248.0
Gateway: leave blank
DNS: leave blank

ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew help only when that adapter is configured for DHCP. They do not change a manually assigned 10.42.x.x static address. Do not release the adapter until the new DHCP server is online.

Configure from Camera Server

Use this path when the boot-server Pi is already running and visible in Network Nodes.

  1. Open Network Nodes.

  2. Open the boot-server Pi's detail panel.

  3. Choose Configure Boot Network at the bottom of the panel.

  4. Enter the network address, prefix, and static boot-server address. For example:

    Subnet:    10.45.0.0
Prefix:    21
Server IP: 10.45.0.211

  5. Configure the computer's dedicated Ethernet adapter on the same subnet before rebooting the Pi.

  6. Choose Apply (reboot required).

  7. Reboot the boot server after confirming the staged change.

  8. Reboot the cardless Pis so their NFS root uses the new boot-server address.

  9. Return to Network Nodes and refresh discovery.

Choose Reset to defaults to restore the standard Xangle values:

Subnet:    10.42.0.0
Prefix:    21
Server IP: 10.42.0.211

Resetting the Camera Server setting alone does not restore an unreachable Pi. The boot server itself must also receive and apply the reset configuration.

Configure a fresh card from Windows

Use this path when the microSD card is in a Windows computer and the boot-server image has support for the Windows-editable configuration file.

  1. Shut down the boot-server Pi cleanly and remove its microSD card.

  2. Insert the card into Windows. The FAT boot partition may appear as E:. The drive letter can differ.

  3. Open:

    E:\xangle\boot-network.conf

  4. Edit the values, keeping the file as plain text:

    MODE=boot-server
SUBNET=10.45.0.0
PREFIX=21
SERVER_IP=10.45.0.211

  5. Safely eject the card and put it back in the Pi.

  6. Boot the Pi. The boot-network service validates the file, updates the static address, DHCP settings, and netboot command lines, then restarts the relevant network services.

  7. Configure the computer's dedicated Ethernet adapter on the same subnet.

  8. Reboot the cardless clients after the boot server is reachable.

The standard default file is:

MODE=boot-server
SUBNET=10.42.0.0
PREFIX=21
SERVER_IP=10.42.0.211

The file is optional. If it is absent, the existing boot-server configuration is left alone.

Fresh-image requirement

The Windows file works only when the image or XNN bundle includes the boot-network helper and boot service. If E:\xangle\boot-network.conf is missing from a fresh card, do not assume the image supports this workflow yet. Use the Camera Server workflow after first boot, or use WSL/ext4 access to edit the Linux partition.

Safety and recovery

Do not change the boot server to a subnet that the Camera Server computer cannot reach. Changing only the Pi can make the boot server disappear from Network Nodes.

If the boot server becomes unreachable:

  1. Restore the previous subnet on the computer's dedicated Ethernet adapter.
  2. Restore the previous values in E:\xangle\boot-network.conf if using the card workflow.
  3. Boot the server again.
  4. Confirm the boot server responds before rebooting cardless clients.

When the previous values are the standard Xangle network, restore:

MODE=boot-server
SUBNET=10.42.0.0
PREFIX=21
SERVER_IP=10.42.0.211

Do not edit or remove the Pi bootloader EEPROM configuration as part of this network change. Network boot still depends on the cardless clients' boot order.