# Memory Issues? (Notes Stop Adding but Session Notefiles Continue)

**URL:** <https://discuss.blues.com/t/memory-issues-notes-stop-adding-but-session-notefiles-continue/2081>\
**Category:** Troubleshooting\
**Created:** [April 22, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://discuss.blues.com/t/memory-issues-notes-stop-adding-but-session-notefiles-continue/2081 "2024-04-22T19:03:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tsuzenski](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discuss.blues.com/tsuzenski/32/847_2.png) [@tsuzenski](https://discuss.blues.com/u/tsuzenski)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://discuss.blues.com/t/memory-issues-notes-stop-adding-but-session-notefiles-continue/2081/1 "2024-04-22T19:03:54Z")

</div>

Hi all,

I am experiencing an issue in which **my device continues to upload session notefiles hourly but stops adding notefiles that include my sensor data after a certain period of time** (has been anywhere between a few days to a few weeks - it is very inconsistent between devices despite using same exact hardware setup, host firmware and notecard firmware versions). Performing a power restart of the device causes notes to start being added again.

I suspected this was a memory issue at first because initially I failed to include “NULL checks” (if (req != NULL)) in my code before adding notes. After incorporating this, I did not encounter the issue again, but meanwhile was unable to reproduce the error with a test code that does not have these “NULL checks”, so my confidence in the suspected fix dropped.

After running into the issue again, I found something that may provide a bigger clue as to what is going on.

After I noticed this morning that my notefiles with sensor data stopped uploading yesterday morning, I tried to see what updating the notecard firmware (from 6.1.1 to 6.2.2) would do. I encountered this error in the device health messages:

```auto
Mon 02:19:48 PM: boot (dfu: encountered {memory} dfu:1233 [16332] [4.0] G:Gp:W~ M:Mp:W900 U:W0 R:Rp:W~ S:Spdd T I:H~ W X Y)

```

I retried the update and it seemed to be successful:

```auto
Mon 02:32:40 PM: boot (relaunch after DFU [16520])
Mon 02:31:05 PM: DFU notecard firmware version updated to: {'org':'Blues Wireless','product':'Notecard','target':'u5','version':'notecard-u5-6.2.2','ver_major':6,'ver_minor':2,'ver_patch':2,'ver_build':16520,'built':'Apr 10 2024 16:03:28'}
Mon 02:28:12 PM: DFU notecard firmware download started from from notecard-u5-6.2.2.16520$20240410160742.bin

```

The boot did not cause my notefiles with sensor data to be added again.  
To me, this suggests my device is having memory issues.

**Here is some more info about my setup:**

- I am using NOTE-WBGLW

- Notecard communication is set to serial, hub config is:

```auto
  J *req = notecard.newRequest("hub.set");
  JAddStringToObject(req, "product", productUID);
  JAddStringToObject(req, "mode", "continuous");
  JAddNumberToObject(req, "duration", 60);
  JAddNumberToObject(req, "inbound", 60);
  JAddBoolToObject(req, "sync", true);
  notecard.sendRequestWithRetry(req, 5); // 5 seconds

```

- Firmware was updated from 6.1.1 to 6.2.2 (see above)
- My host firmware relies on the use of 6 environment variables, including wifi SSID & password
- I am adding 2 notes (one quite large with arrays with nDOTS = 50; template created in setup function) every 60 seconds like this:

```auto
    {
      J *req = NoteNewRequest("note.add");
      if (req != NULL) {
        JAddStringToObject(req, "file", "velocity.qo");

        J *arr = JCreateArray();
        J *arr2 = JCreateArray();
        J *arr3 = JCreateArray();
        J *arr4 = JCreateArray();
        J *arr5 = JCreateArray();
        J *arr6 = JCreateArray();
        J *arr7 = JCreateArray();

        for (int i = 1; i <= nDOTS; i++) {
          JAddItemToArray(arr, JCreateNumber(vRms[i][0]));
          JAddItemToArray(arr2, JCreateNumber(vRms[i][1]));
          JAddItemToArray(arr3, JCreateNumber(vRms[i][2]));
          JAddItemToArray(arr4, JCreateNumber(vPeak[i][0]));
          JAddItemToArray(arr5, JCreateNumber(vPeak[i][1]));
          JAddItemToArray(arr6, JCreateNumber(vPeak[i][2]));
          JAddItemToArray(arr7, JCreateNumber(vTime[i]));
        }
        J *body = JAddObjectToObject(req, "body");
        if (body != NULL) {

          JAddItemToObject(body, "v_RMS_x", arr);
          JAddItemToObject(body, "v_RMS_y", arr2);
          JAddItemToObject(body, "v_RMS_z", arr3);
          JAddItemToObject(body, "v_PEAK_x", arr4);
          JAddItemToObject(body, "v_PEAK_y", arr5);
          JAddItemToObject(body, "v_PEAK_z", arr6);
          JAddItemToObject(body, "velocity_time", arr7);
        }
        JAddBoolToObject(req, "sync", true);
        notecard.sendRequest(req);
      }
    }

    delay(100);

    {
      J *req = NoteNewRequest("note.add");
      if (req != NULL) {
        JAddStringToObject(req, "file", "sensor.qo");
        J *body = JAddObjectToObject(req, "body");
        if (body != NULL) {

          JAddNumberToObject(body, "ambienttempC", temp.x);
          JAddNumberToObject(body, "objecttempC", temp.y);
          JAddNumberToObject(body, "ambienttempF", temp.x * 9 / 5 + 32);
          JAddNumberToObject(body, "objecttempF", temp.y * 9 / 5 + 32);
          JAddNumberToObject(body, "current1", current.x);
          JAddNumberToObject(body, "current2", current.y);
          JAddNumberToObject(body, "current3", current.z);
          JAddNumberToObject(body, "SAMPLE_RATE", sensorInterval);
          JAddNumberToObject(body, "RunTime_period", RunTime_sum);
        }
        JAddBoolToObject(req, "sync", true);
        notecard.sendRequest(req);
      }
    }

```

**Can anyone help me troubleshoot identify the root cause of this issue?** I am happy to provide any additional info that may help. Is there anything I am missing?

Hoping to install these devices with customer trials next month but cannot move forward until we are confident we won’t have issues like this.

Thank you!!!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RobLauer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discuss.blues.com/roblauer/32/1567_2.png) [@RobLauer](https://discuss.blues.com/u/RobLauer)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://discuss.blues.com/t/memory-issues-notes-stop-adding-but-session-notefiles-continue/2081/2 "2024-04-25T14:14:25Z")

</div>

Hi @tsuzenski,

We’ve been looking over this for a bit now to try and identify the source issue. One issue (though not likely a culprit) is the use of both `note-c` and `note-arduino` syntax in your requests. The difference is subtle and very easy to mix up, but:

note-c

```auto
J *req = NoteNewRequest("note.add");

```

note-arduino

```auto
J *req = notecard.newRequest("hub.set");

```

_I’d recommend sticking with the note-arduino syntax consistently._

Now the likely culprit is the plain fact that the Notecard ran out of memory. Clearly you’re putting a lot of Notes in a Notefile and the structure of the Notes themselves are non-trivial (with arrays and sub-objects) and thus take up a lot of Notecard memory.

If not doing so already, you should start by creating [Notefile templates](https://dev.blues.io/notecard/notecard-walkthrough/low-bandwidth-design/#working-with-note-templates). However, this size/complexity of your template would really push the bounds of what the Notecard can handle (but it’s worth testing).

There are other options too:

1. Try breaking up the Notes into smaller requests (ideally Notefile sizes are around 1KB or less).
2. You can try using [web transactions](https://dev.blues.io/notecard/notecard-walkthrough/web-transactions/#web-transactions) which are tuned for larger objects and have a nice side effect of not persisting data to local flash.
3. You can use the [card.binary APIs](https://dev.blues.io/guides-and-tutorials/notecard-guides/sending-and-receiving-large-binary-objects/) to binary-encode the data and deliver the payloads more efficiently.

2 and 3 aren’t nearly as convenient as your note.add workflow, but you’re pushing a lot of data (relatively speaking).

Hope this helps!  
Rob

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tsuzenski](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discuss.blues.com/tsuzenski/32/847_2.png) [@tsuzenski](https://discuss.blues.com/u/tsuzenski)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 2:29pm UTC](https://discuss.blues.com/t/memory-issues-notes-stop-adding-but-session-notefiles-continue/2081/3 "2024-04-25T14:29:38Z")

</div>

Thank you so much, Rob - this is helpful! Yeah, I am pushing a lot of data. 😬 I will look into what you said and try out your suggestions!

I do have a template being created in my setup function for the velocity.qo file but not for my sensor.qo file.