SmallTV-Ultra weather not updating? How to fix it

On the stock firmware, weather problems on a GeekMagic SmallTV-Ultra usually come from one of three places: the city (a name that matches the wrong place), the shared API key everyone uses unless they set their own, or a bug in a particular firmware version. The fixes below go in that order. Further down: how ToyTool Firmware gets its weather instead, and which of its screens and faces show it.

Written for GeekMagic’s stock firmware V9.0.50 and ToyTool Firmware 1.16.0.

How the stock firmware gets the weather#

The V9.0.50 firmware file contains the addresses of two weather services: OpenWeatherMap’s current-weather API, asked by city name or by city ID with an API key, and Open-Meteo for a three-day forecast of highs and lows. Its Weather page (http://<screen-ip>/weather.html) has six settings:

1. City location — a city name, “City,Country” (for example Seoul,KR), or an OpenWeatherMap city ID.
2. Units — wind in m/s, km/h or mph; temperature in °C or °F; pressure in hPa, kPa, mmHg or inHg.
3. Weather update interval — fixed at 20 minutes with the shared key; shorter intervals need your own key.
4. Weather API key — optional, marked “Recommended”. The page says your own key is more stable than the public one and takes 1–2 hours to start working.
5. Weather Forecast API key — optional too; the page warns the shared one may run out.
6. A GIF for the weather screen (80×80 pixels).

The city matters twice: GeekMagic’s manual says the screen takes its time zone from the city as well, so a wrong city also means a wrong clock (more in the time guide).

Common causes on the stock firmware#

Fixes on the stock firmware#

1. Make the city unambiguous. Type it as City,CC with the two-letter country code. If that still picks the wrong place, use the city ID: search for your city on openweathermap.org/find, open the result, and copy the number at the end of its address (GeekMagic’s manual uses Seoul, 1835848). Paste it into City location and click SAVE.
2. Use your own API key. Create a free key at OpenWeatherMap, paste it into Weather API key and save. Give it an hour or two before judging — new keys aren’t active straight away. With your own key you can set a shorter update interval.
3. Set the forecast key exactly as instructed, or leave it empty. A wrongly configured key made screens restart in #131.
4. Check your firmware version on the Settings page. If you’re on a version with a known bug from the table, GeekMagic’s firmware files are in their GitHub repository and upload at http://<screen-ip>/update.
5. Restart the screen after changing the city or keys (Settings → 6. Reboot).

What ToyTool Firmware does instead#

ToyTool asks Open-Meteo for the weather at your city’s coordinates. There’s no API key to get, share or run out of. It asks every 15 minutes, and after a failed request it tries again a minute later.

Each answer has the weather right now (temperature, feels-like, humidity, wind, chance of rain, day or night), the next 12 hours, today plus five days ahead, and today’s sunrise and sunset. The built-in screens and the faces draw on it — and many backgrounds follow along: a sky that changes with the weather and the time of day.

Two honest limits: temperatures are in °C and wind in m/s — there’s no °F setting in firmware 1.16.0 — and ToyTool shows no weather GIFs; the weather icons are its own animated drawings.

Set or change your city#

The city lives in your ToyTool account, not on the screen: open the screen’s Settings, find City & time and search for your city. The search covers cities worldwide and needs no key. The same city sets the screen’s clock, and the change reaches the screen within seconds.

A new screen starts with Moscow’s weather and time. If you’re somewhere else, your account notices from your browser’s time zone and offers your city with one tap.

Which screens and faces show the weather#

Altogether, 31 of the 70 faces in the store need your city — most of them for the weather, from a small temperature under the time to a full forecast. The Data collection has the most detailed ones.

If the weather stops on ToyTool Firmware#

1. Is the screen online? Its card in your account shows a green Online dot and what’s on the screen right now.
2. Is the city set? If the screen still shows Moscow, pick your city as above.
3. Ask the screen. Open http://<screen-ip>/api/state on the same Wi‑Fi: "weatherOk": true means the last request worked; "lastError" shows the most recent problem with any of its data requests.
4. Does the network have internet? The screen retries every minute on its own, so weather comes back as soon as the connection does.

New to the screen? The setup guide covers the first start, and the ToyTool Firmware page shows everything else it does.

Sources: the firmware’s source code, the stock V9.0.50 firmware file, GeekMagic’s manual and public GitHub issues.