# Devkit\_ctrl UnicodeDecodeError?

**URL:** <https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/t/devkit-ctrl-unicodedecodeerror/318>\
**Category:** Software\
**Created:** [June 18, 2024, 9:13am UTC](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/t/devkit-ctrl-unicodedecodeerror/318 "2024-06-18T09:13:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![slafrass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@slafrass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/u/slafrass)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 9:13am UTC](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/t/devkit-ctrl-unicodedecodeerror/318/1 "2024-06-18T09:13:49Z")

</div>

Hi,

Since moving to the latest CERN-IPMC devkit, I get this error while trying to use:

```auto
 $ devkit_ctrl -a get_atca_blueled
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/ipmc/ipmc-tester/ipmc-tester/DevKITControl.py", line 508, in <module>
    IPMCDevObject = IPMCDevCom.IPMCDevCom()
  File "/home/pi/.local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/IPMCDevLib/IPMCDevCom.py", line 21, in __init__
    if 'IPMCTP_CTRLER' in hello.decode():
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xfe in position 0: invalid start byte

```

How can I get a patch and update the CERN stack please ?

Best regards,  
Sylvain L.  
LAPP

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![haass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@haass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/u/haass)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 12:51pm UTC](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/t/devkit-ctrl-unicodedecodeerror/318/2 "2024-06-18T12:51:10Z")

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Hello Sylvain,

what parts of the software did you update on the tester?

cheers,

Stefan

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![slafrass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@slafrass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/u/slafrass)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/t/devkit-ctrl-unicodedecodeerror/318/3 "2024-06-18T14:26:51Z")

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I updated nothing yet.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![haass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@haass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/u/haass)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/t/devkit-ctrl-unicodedecodeerror/318/4 "2024-06-18T14:40:31Z")

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Hello,

so was it working before or is it the first time you use the tester?

cheers,

Stefan

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![slafrass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@slafrass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/u/slafrass)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 2:59pm UTC](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/t/devkit-ctrl-unicodedecodeerror/318/5 "2024-06-18T14:59:33Z")

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Hello,

No its the very first run on the new devkit.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![haass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@haass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/u/haass)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/t/devkit-ctrl-unicodedecodeerror/318/6 "2024-06-18T16:26:55Z")

</div>

Hello Sylvain,

What is the python version that is being used? Should be 3.9.2. It’s possible that the software for the Raspberry pi on your tester is not up-to-date. Can you please try the following:

git clone [https://gitlab.cern.ch/ep-ese-be-xtca/ipmc-devkit.git](https://gitlab.cern.ch/ep-ese-be-xtca/ipmc-devkit.git)  
cd ipmc-devkit  
python setup.py install --user

Let me know if this helps.

cheers,

Stefan

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![slafrass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@slafrass](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/u/slafrass)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 9:05am UTC](https://cern-ipmc-forum.web.cern.ch/t/devkit-ctrl-unicodedecodeerror/318/7 "2024-06-19T09:05:36Z")

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Hello Stefan,

I had another FTDI device connected on the Pie that seems to cause part of the problem.  
Once disconnected, it still fails on the first try (after a fresh reboot), but afterward it works back…

Best reagards,  
Sylvain L.