[atlas] Troubleshooting USB stick issues - reaching out

Dear colleagues,

recently, some of the third version of RIPE Atlas probes have had an 
issue with their USB sticks.

We're still investigating what may be causing this issue,
and in the meantime we have a possible solution, outlined in this RIPE 
Labs article (and below in the email)
https://labs.ripe.net/Members/philip_homburg/troubleshooting-ripe-atlas-probes-usb-sticks

These steps might not be a surprise to the users on this list,
but on the 4th of July we reached out to almost 5000 hosts of 
"abandoned" probes, and we see immediate positive results!

As you can see from some screenshots I quickly made,
number of active probes have increased - from 8883 on 1st July,
to 9323 this morning. Allowing for normal fluctuations,
this is still a considerable increase -- and we are grateful!

Thank you for all the effort that you put into keeping the
RIPE Atlas network strong by keeping your probes connected.

Kind regards,
Vesna (and the RIPE Atlas team)

===

Steps to power-cycle probe without USB stick:

1. Unplug the probe from its power source
2. Remove the USB stick from the probe
3. Plug in the probe WITHOUT the USB stick
4. Wait for ten minutes
5. Insert the USB stick

After an hour, check SOS-messages & "Status" tab

Note: Only on a network with working DHCP.
If you have configured probe to use static IP,
this setting would be lost if trying the steps.

If this didn't help, try using a new, brand-name USB stick that is at 
least 4GB in size (it does not need any preparation but its contents 
will be erased so make sure it does not store anything crucial)

If the problem is still there, please contact us at atlas at ripe.net
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