if a user changes led intensity, we should _try_ to change it

pioreactor/background_jobs/monitor.py

@@ -622,8 +622,8 @@ def run_job_on_machine(self, msg: MQTTMessage) -> None:
             options["unit"] = self.unit
             options["experiment"] = whoami._get_latest_experiment_name()  # techdebt
             Thread(
-                target=led_intensity,
-                args=(state,),
+                target=utils.boolean_retry,
+                args=(led_intensity, state),
                 kwargs=options,
             ).start()
 

pioreactor/utils/__init__.py

@@ -25,6 +25,15 @@
 from pioreactor.pubsub import subscribe_and_callback
 
 
+def boolean_retry(function: Callable, f_args, max_attempts: int = 3, sleep_for=0.25) -> bool:
+    for _ in range(max_attempts):
+        res = function(*f_args)
+        if res:
+            return res
+        time.sleep(sleep_for)
+    return False
+
+
 class callable_stack:
     """
     A class for managing a stack of callable objects in Python.