Can't connect after fresh install

[mkeehn]

Had been running the software successfully for a couple of years and had to do a fresh install on my Raspberry Pi. Followed the guide at https://github.com/tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController/wiki/Quick-Start-Guide to install everything.

First question, from what it looks like the latest version requires Node.js v20+, so I varied from the guide there and ran nvm install 20. Just want to make sure I didn't mess up there.

I got the controller and dashpanel installed and both start fine. I'm running into trouble when I try to connect to the controller in the dashpanel. Controller startup:
[25/04/2026, 14:27:25] info: VirtualEquipment: loaded 0 pump definitions (0 effective)
Init state for Pool Controller
[25/04/2026, 14:27:25] info: The current git branch output is master
[25/04/2026, 14:27:25] info: The current git commit output is fb67a2d069f9d027ecdc201831dfb083c3123263
[25/04/2026, 14:27:25] info: Starting up SSDP server
[25/04/2026, 14:27:25] info: Init mqtt interface: Home Assistant
[25/04/2026, 14:27:25] info: Initializing MQTT client Home Assistant
[25/04/2026, 14:27:26] info: Server is now listening on 0.0.0.0:4200 - 192.168.1.109:4200
[25/04/2026, 14:27:26] info: Serial port: /dev/ttyUSB0 request to open successful 9600b 8-none-1
[25/04/2026, 14:27:26] info: Checking njsPC versions...
[25/04/2026, 14:27:26] info: Starting Pool System intellicenter
[25/04/2026, 14:27:26] info: MQTT connected to mqtt://192.168.1.229:1883
[25/04/2026, 14:27:27] info: Auto-backup initialized Last Backup: 1969-12-31T19:00:00.000-0500
[25/04/2026, 14:27:27] info: Found Controller Board IntelliCenter, awaiting installed modules.
[25/04/2026, 14:27:27] warn: dt:Sat Apr 25 2026 14:27:27 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) lat:undefined lon:undefined Not enough information to calculate Heliotrope. See tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController#245

In the dashboard it finds the server. When I click apply, however, it does not save and/or connect to anything. The console in developer tools shows:

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading 'remove')
at controller.js:228:43
at controller.js:153:64
at Object. (controller.js:19:47)
at fire (jquery.js:3223:31)
at Object.fireWith [as resolveWith] (jquery.js:3353:7)
at done (jquery.js:9627:14)
at XMLHttpRequest. (jquery.js:9888:9)

Pretty much stuck here. Anywhere I can look to see what is going wrong?

[tagyoureit]

Most likely there are dependency conflicts from changing Node versions. Remove the compiled files and node modules and try to rebuild:

In the dashPanel directory

1. rm -rf ./dist
2. rm -rf ./node_modules
3. npm start to rebuild

[mkeehn]

Thanks for the response, I appreciate it!

I ran those commands in the dashPanel directory, but before I could run npm start I had to run npm install again, is that right?
All of the commands finished once I included install but it did not change anything.

I tried doing the same in the poolController directory as well, started everything back up, and am at the same spot.

When I try and search for the controller on the dashPanel page (on which it detects it and allows me to select it) I see this in the console:
192.168.1.223 GET /config/findPoolControllers
URL {
href: 'http://192.168.1.109:4200/upnp.xml',
origin: 'http://192.168.1.109:4200',
protocol: 'http:',
username: '',
password: '',
host: '192.168.1.109:4200',
hostname: '192.168.1.109',
port: '4200',
pathname: '/upnp.xml',
search: '',
searchParams: URLSearchParams {},
hash: ''
}
http://192.168.1.109:4200/upnp.xml
error: Error resolving host names: getHostByAddr ENOTFOUND 192.168.1.109
done searching for poolController

Just to add a little more information, I am running this on a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B. Would using the newer version of Node.js have issues with the old hardware and 32 bit version of the Raspberry Pi OS? Thanks again!

[tagyoureit]

Yes, you should have run npm i. That was the correct step.

The fact that dP is finding the server at 192.168.1.109 (did you confirm that's the right address), but can't load up the web page may indicate a networking issue. If you put in http://192.168.1.109:4200/state/all it should return a json structure for the pool. If not, than your Pi can't access the njsPC server. If both are on the same machine, you should try to set the address to localhost and see if it connects that way.

[mkeehn]

Yes, that is the correct address. Both the controller and panel are on the same machine. It does load the webpage and does see the controller when I search.

When I try to save the configuration by clicking on the found controller or if I leave it as localhost it does the same thing.

The json is returned when I go to that url, I've attached it if that gives any clues.
json.txt

[tagyoureit]

Can you tell us which version of dashPanel you're running? From your dashPanel directory, run:

git log --oneline -1

or

node -e "console.log(require('./package.json').version)"

The error at controller.js:228 should be guarded against a null reference in the current code (v9.0.0+). Knowing your exact version/commit will help us determine whether you're on an older build where that guard doesn't exist, or if there's a different issue at play.

Also — the ENOTFOUND error in your server console is harmless (just means no reverse-DNS PTR record for your IP, which is normal on home networks). The controller IS being found successfully via SSDP.

[mkeehn]

First one returned 84ad807 (HEAD -> master, origin/master, origin/HEAD) Enhance pump configuration and message handling

The second returned 9.0.0

[tagyoureit]

Thanks for confirming — you're on v9.0.0 (commit 84ad807). I found and fixed the bug.

Root cause: When you click the gear/settings icon to open the Settings popover, and then click it again to close it, the popover's beforeClose event handler nullifies the reference (o.settingsPopover = null) before the next line tries to call .remove() on it — causing the Cannot read properties of null (reading 'remove') error.

This has been fixed on master. Please update:

cd ~/nodejs-poolController-dashPanel
git pull
npm i
npm start

Once updated, the settings popover (gear icon) should open/close cleanly, and you should be able to configure your connection without errors.

Note: The ENOTFOUND DNS error you see in the server console is harmless — it just means there's no reverse-DNS record for your IP address, which is completely normal on home networks. Your controller is being found correctly via SSDP.

[mkeehn]

That error is not appearing in the Chrome console when I try to save the configuration anymore. If I'm looking in the correct file, the dashPanel config.json does not show the port twice:

"services": {
"protocol": "http://",
"ip": "192.168.1.109",
"port": 4200,
"useProxy": false,
"options": {},
"socket": {
"protocol": "ws://",
"upgrade": false,
"allowEIO3": true,
"reconnectionDelay": 2000,
"reconnection": true,
"reconnectionDelayMax": 20000

I also wanted to mention that on the controller side I'm seeing this when I start up:
[05/05/2026, 15:57:25] info: VirtualEquipment: loaded 0 pump definitions (0 effective)
Init state for Pool Controller
[05/05/2026, 15:57:26] info: The current git branch output is master
[05/05/2026, 15:57:26] info: The current git commit output is c3c48197aad102a1017f66cfd8a07d79a5d705e4
[05/05/2026, 15:57:26] info: Starting up SSDP server
[05/05/2026, 15:57:26] info: Server is now listening on 0.0.0.0:4200 - 192.168.1.109:4200
[05/05/2026, 15:57:26] info: Serial port: /dev/ttyUSB0 request to open successful 9600b 8-none-1
[05/05/2026, 15:57:26] info: Checking njsPC versions...
[05/05/2026, 15:57:26] info: Starting Pool System intellicenter
[05/05/2026, 15:57:27] info: Found Controller Board IntelliCenter, awaiting installed modules.
[05/05/2026, 15:57:27] info: Auto-backup initialized Last Backup: 1969-12-31T19:00:00.000-0500
[05/05/2026, 15:57:39] info: An unprocessed message was received 255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,0,255,165,5,15,16,5,8,15,58,4,5,5,26,0,1,1,72
[05/05/2026, 15:57:39] info: The message was not processed 5 - 255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,0,255,165,5,15,16,5,8,15,58,4,5,5,26,0,1,1,72

[tagyoureit]

These are 2 separate issues. dP should be able to connect to the backend njsPC. Something here is off and I don't think it's with the code because I've exhausted all paths. It feels like something on the local machine or networking is preventing communications. Maybe check the Javascript console if you haven't already?

What OCP do you have? Easytouch? Intellicenter? I'm seeing if find Intellicenter but the packet you show is an Easytouch packet. Packet collisions are just part of the bus and can happen anytime. But picking up one controller when you have another isn't ideal. You should do a packet capture with full config reload and paste it here. Again, a separate issue but worth looking into.

[mkeehn]

Currently the javascript console doesn't show any errors from what I can see.

I do have an EasyTouch. I have attached the packet capture. Thanks again for looking at this.
replay.zip

[tagyoureit]

Pull njsPC again. I added a guard in for Intellicenter but it was not letting Easytouch drop through.

[mkeehn]

Success! Pulled and restarted the controller and dashpanel and everything looks great again. Thanks again for taking all the time to troubleshoot.