SOLVED! How to fix Rachiio 3 WiFi not connecting first time

Brilliant it worked. I got a couple of error which i resolved the following way (for others who run into same cut and paste error)

  1. could not resolve host: application

I had to remove the space between Content-Type: and application/json

  1. Then i got the curl error port number ended with ‘a’

after several tries one that worked for me was swapping url part and credential part

i moved “https://…” before -d "

Eventually connected successfully. Thank you.

But this is a device meant even for non IT people. Rachio sending us to this page is not a solution. Update your app by fixing this bug.

Indeed. Rachio: What the hell?!?! That post by @JeffOstroff is over a year old. How can you not have fixed this yet?

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In Rachio’s defense, this is not possible to fix by updating the app. The problem is that many controllers were shipped with a firmware bug that renders them incompatible with the Wi-Fi stack in newer versions of iOS and Android. Some of these units are still on retailer shelves. If an older mobile device is unavailable, one must use a Windows, Mac or Linux computer to provision the controller. Once provisioned, the firmware auto-updates and can then be used with the app.

Further in their defense, the updates to iOS and Android that rendered them incompatible occurred after the buggy controllers had been shipped, so the problem cannot be blamed on sloppy design or inadequate testing.

However, Rachio should have made it much easier for the user to correct the problem. They can still do this. For starters, the app can be updated to report the specific issue, rather than displaying “An unknown error occurred”. It would recommend trying an older phone or tablet; failing that the user would be told to visit app.rach.io from a computer with Wi-Fi. From there, they could download a customized script that would provision the controller with no further user input.

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This was an AMAZING thing to find. I almost literally peed my pants when this worked after all else failed thank you thank you

As late as I may be to this party, I thank you Jeff, from the bottom of my heart. I upgraded to fiber a month ago and lost connection to my controller. My phone is not compatible with the Rachio app and I had just about given up hope. I couldn’t believe how easy it was using the commands.

IMHO, this post should be posted marked as a sticky at the top of the troubleshooting category.

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Just want to add this post combined with another one on DNS_FAILURE helped me with my issue.

I’ve had Rachio 3 running for about a year. However just a few days ago I noticed the Rachio went offline. Tried many different reset on router/modem/Rachio over a span of few days and nothing worked. Always end up stuck at the “3rd stage” light with a red light that flashes occasionally.

Long story short, my Spectrum Internet DNS server appears to no like something the Rachio 3 is looking up causing the Rachio 3 to stay offlined. I reconfigured my router to use Google’s DNS server (8.8.8.8) instead of my Internet providers and that solved the issue.

Details:
Using this page’s info which shows how one can directly talk to the Rachio hardware via wifi, I found out the issue is with DNS_FAILURE. Another thread (Rachio 3 not connecting to WiFi - DNS - #5 by ProWater), shows possible server Rachio 3 uses - but all of them resolved fine for me.

Not sure if Rachio added something new recently, but since it is a DNS failure, I decided to just change my router’s DNS config to use Google’s DNS server instead of Spectrum’s and that fixed the problem.

Costco’s 12-zone Rachio 3. Spectrum cabinet Internet in San Diego.

IMO, it would be useful if Rachio can add these level of details to the app under some advanced debug info instead of having users dig this up via search and use command line to communication directly with the hardware.

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How did you find this out? I would love to have a reference of what Rest commands I can send directly to the controller. I have been able to have it join my network but still cannot get my iPhone or iPad to finish the add device workflow.

No, none of this works for Rachios defense.

First of all, let me tell you i created an account for the sole purpose of thanking @JeffOstroff (Thank YOU Jeff!!)

I was literally going to throw the rachio out the window. Next, i was going to tell the irrigation company that installed my system and recommended this controller to no longer use them. In fact i might still do this. After 2 years its not acceptable for such an issue to not be fixed.

Second, my controller was installed last season. It worked fine. This season, when spring came around and it was time to get my irrigation system up and running it just wouldnt work. Obviously this fix ended up solving the issue, but if my controller was working on wifi before why wouldnt it get a firmware update as every other electronic device ever does??

Third, i tried a ton of troubleshooting steps the average person wouldn’t have access to…

I tried the galaxy s21 ultra (same one used last year to set up) This year it somehow isnt compatible.
I then tried an iphone 13 pro. No luck. I tried an ipad. I tried a pixel 5. I tried the galaxy tab s7+. Nope. Maybe it was the wifi router and not the device? I tried a wifi6 router. Nope. Tried a linksys EA7300 AC1750 router on the 2.4 only. Nope. Tried a netgear network extender. Nope. I moved the rachio controller closer to the router. No, none of this worked. Thankfully i already had all the equipment laying around the house, i cant imagine the countless people (judging by the number of posts) that perhaps bought new routers thinking that was the issue. I submitted a troubleshoot ticket too, support never got back to me. Rachio is laughable honestly.

This solved the issue for me.It is very upseting that Ratchio support people told me a needed to buy a new Ratchio controller after their scripted solution using the .bat file did not work. They told me the controller wi-fi was dead. FOllowing this post I could see that in the first step my controlloer wi-fi was responding. BAD BAD Rachio support experience. It is time for them to figure this one out as no everyone has an old phone around - i did and did not work either.

This worked for me - Maybe I should sniff the traffic when the app tries to connect. I would be it’s because there is a space in my SSID

This helped me get past the second yellow light, but now I’m stuck on the 4th light blinking, and it times out trying to connect. Anyone have any ideas on this part? Thanks!

I ran into the same issue. No matter what I did, I would NOT get this system to configure and activate with my phone app. I was completely frustrated and about to pull it off the wall and send it back. I just happened to stumble upon this post, which FINALLY allowed me to complete configuration. Thanks Jeff!!!

It’s unbelievable that a premium product that “Claims” to be simple to setup would require pulling out a laptop and circumventing the setup process with CURL commands. What layman user is going to even understand that. #rachio needs to get their act together and get this process fixed!

I had the same problem and went back through Jeff’s course of CURL commands until it finally worked. In on case I had accidentally altered my SSID to all uppercase. It is case sensitive. After rinsing and repeating a couple of times, it finally clicked and allowed me to start setting up my zones.

It’s ridiculous that you have to take these actions on something that is touted as simple to setup.

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NONSENSE!!! My Rachio 3 controller has a serial tag, dated Jan 2023 and it’s STILL a problem!!!

Ok, I’ll keep trying. Yeah this is unbelievable, spending days on this is kiling me! It originally synced no sweat, but my internet provider forced me to get a new modem recently, and now it’s having this issue

Similar issues but I think worse. Had a working device for a year and then the “connection error” issue happened a few weeks ago so the device was RMA’d. Just got the new one and installed and now it won’t connect. Get green in the first third with the yellow at the end around segment 4,5,6 with 4 eventually turning green, then 5 eventually turns green and 6 stays yellow. Then all lights shut off and 10-20 seconds later it all repeats. Holding down stop to reset doesn’t work. Tried the manual method but unit isn’t broadcasting an SSID, looked on PC, phone and older iPad to no avail so that’s out. Guess I need an RMA for my RMA and get to wait another week for a replacement that hopefully doesn’t have the same issues. Beyond frustrated and am about ready to give up on Rachio.

My rachio was connected last year without issues, but when I went to get it going again for this year, I couldn’t get it to connect. All I could get it to do was to run zones manually for quick runs, and that wasn’t very useful. I tried following the CMD commands, but it didn’t cooperate. (I’m thinking that maybe I didn’t disconnect from the regular wifi properly or something.) I saw a comment about using an older phone to get it to connect, and that was finally successful. I was just about to give up and buy a new controller. I love so many things about the racchio (and I’ve had it for years) but I was about to abandon the company all together and either go with something that wasn’t ‘smart’ or at least try a different cojmpany, but I’m staying on the ship for now.

Can someone explain how to do this? I am not super tech savy and dont know how to code. This has been so frustrating and rochio tech help is worthless. I have it connected so its a solid blue line, but then in my app it is still disconnected from wifi

Thanks so much this worked for me as well. Here is a tip, don’t try to type in that code manually. Open MS Word or notebook and copy / paste the code in from the first post. Then make your changes like on the serial number. Then copy it from Word and paste it into the C: prompt. I struggled trying about 5 times typing manually, then just did the above and it worked on the first try.

I made an account just to say thank you for this post. I had rebooted everything multiple times (my Rachio, my router, my modem, my phone) and was still unable to get past the yellow light. But I took your steps above and it worked immediately. Thank you!

I’m shocked Rachio hasn’t somehow incorporated this into its product 4 years after your post.