X10 Community Forum
📱🖥️PiX10Hub => 🏥Help and Trouble Shooting => Topic started by: petera on September 12, 2019, 11:15:27 AM
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Edited
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Well I can announce we have at least one happy camper using HomeGenie on Raspbian Buster after following these installation instructions. He knows who he is so if he wants to share his adventures with you by all means I'm sure we would all like to hear about them :)%
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Hi All I have just installed the latest RPi Buster with the help of petera and his step by step instructions. I have learned a lot with his expert guidance. I am presently re configuring HG rather than using a backup of previous RPi. I had a couple of problems with previous versions. X10 E2 and E10 were not enabled in HG but were giving sporadic commands, and sometimes modules not scheduled on would turn on could not figure it out. In addition I'm sure some of my issues resulted from improper clearing memory of My CM15 controller. Both Tuicemen and petediscrete provided me with the proper procedure for clearing memory in CM15 in preparation for HG use. I learned the hard way this is a very important step. House codes have to be set to none, memory and history have to be cleared all AHP programs, Macros and schedules have to be deleted and finally most importantly download changes to interface (CM15)
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Glad to hear you are up and running with HG using the latest Raspbian OS, Raspbian Buster. This is important as the previous Raspbian OS version, Raspbian Stretch will be heading to end of life support so updates available for it will be restricted to security updates for a limited amount of time. You can sit back for at least another three years without worrying about what Raspbian OS version you have.
What you now have is a HG installation unique to you. The problem with using another persons downloaded image is, that persons image could have corrupted configuration files unknown to them. You then inherit those corrupted files and problems that arise with your installation as a result are very difficult to resolve.
Other than your sources list for Mono which i resolved, you saw how quickly the copy/paste method performed. You used exactly the instructions I outlined above. I think it's best that any user who is serious about exploiting HG fully should use this method. The main thing is that it works.
I hope that your new installation now resolves your Ghost RF commands issue. Maybe you could report back later and let us know if it does.
For any other HG users, you should give the above a try. If nothing else it will give you a basic primer in Raspbian and the Raspberry Pi which I imagine @edjal will clearly agree with.
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Any idea if the new OS and Mono will require updating as frequently as in the past to keep email functioning? I have never had it work for more than ~ 2 weeks before having to update it again. It's really been the biggest disappointment with HG (which is actually a very good thing, everything else works as expected). >!
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Any idea if the new OS and Mono will require updating as frequently as in the past to keep email functioning? I have never had it work for more than ~ 2 weeks before having to update it again. It's really been the biggest disappointment with HG (which is actually a very good thing, everything else works as expected). >!
To be honest, since installing Raspbian Stretch a while back and keeping current with the Mono project Raspbian release I've had no problems with email notifications. In fact using Raspbian Buster with Mono 6.0.0.327 has made the whole HG experience feel a bit smoother. My install is running on a Raspberry Pi Zero W quite happily 24/7 with no freeze ups and no need for regular rebooting as some users seem to do.
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I don't have issues with reboots on Stretch like I did on older OS versions. But, no installation so far has kept email working so I assume it isn't and don't rely on it anymore. I'll get one of my dusty old HG build cards out and put Buster on it since my home automation season is now starting!
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I'd really be interested to see why your notification program keeps falling over. When you finally kick back in on the season I'd try to keep your setup as stock as possible. The latest version of Mono from the project page should help too.
Is your email notification program a simple one or do you have the likes of picture attachments. I did find a while back that if there was any delay in fetching images from a camera the notification program fell over and nothing was sent.
Again it might be worth passing some of the older 3rd party C# programs through a compiler to debug them. Have you used Mono Develop at any stage.
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I've gone through a lot of variations in my setup so I can't say that I don't have a development version of Mono on one of my cards. I think (from memory) that I'm using Mono complete for my most recent installer script. My current image should be based on the script I have posted on my github distro. But, when I get going again I'll scrap things and start from your script adding the features I need. I'll probably step into it as well to make sure new things don't break working features since the last version I have been using is probably 1-2 years old now.
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A while back I was installing Mono complete to compensate for a couple of dependency issues I was experiencing particularly the email notification issue. That’s stripped back now to the basic Mono and dependencies install and all seems fine.
You’ll probably have a better idea how this install performs when you get a chance to install it.
Do you normally edit your install scripts to reflect any changes in distributions, links etc or does the install script handle this at execution time.
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My scripts are just dumb command lists right now and they don't do anything fancy. I install mono complete for the email certificate stuff as I recall, so if that's now part of the main distro, dropping it would be a good choice.
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Hi Petera Does this ver of Raspian buster update automatically or do I have to do it manually every so often?? Edjal
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Hi Petera Does this ver of Raspian buster update automatically or do I have to do it manually every so often?? Edjal
Do the following :
sudo systemctl stop homegenie.service
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo systemctl start homegenie.service
You should now be good to go with the latest update.
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Thank you the upgrade was successful. I did not know it was available. Do you recommend following same procedure every so often? Edjal
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Thank you the upgrade was successful. I did not know it was available. Do you recommend following same procedure every so often? Edjal
Absolutely. I find once weekly will keep you up to date with all the security, base and firmware updates that come through the Raspbian repositories and ensures your system remains stable.
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I've read once you've updated to buster on any pi board you can remove the sd card and use it in a pi 4. I'm wondering if you could also use the same SD card in any Pi 1-4
Have you tested your zero w card in any other pi boards petera?
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It's not advisable to swap SD cards between boards. You could try it though. The architecture is quite different between each, ethernet springs to mind, and sudo upgrade doesn't always catch the correct firmware. I did try it a year or so ago and the results weren't great. The usual suspects program wise began to play up like notifications etc.
HG is pretty fussy owing to the way Mono operates on different Linux kernels so you may think you're up and running and a week later everything comes to a crawl.
The Pi 4 is a completely different story. Personally I wouldn't run a production setup on it. So many firmware patches applied to iron out the release issues. I'll admit it's the first version of a Pi I didn't jump in to buy. Pi 4 v2 is only around the corner which should see all those issues addressed.
My instructions on a Buster fresh install applies to all models and a number of novice users have managed it quite well so that's the route I'd go if I were you. As you know a simple HG restore when completed will see you back in business quite quickly.
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I'm in the process of doing both a Buster upgrade and image build on 2 Zero Ws.
I plan to do a bit of experimentation with each as neither board is my main setup (it still uses stretch) >!
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I'm in the process of doing both a Buster upgrade and image build on 2 Zero Ws.
I plan to do a bit of experimentation with each as neither board is my main setup (it still uses stretch) >!
At this stage I don't see any point in an image but if it's something you want to do by all means fire ahead. Most if not all, even the novice users have managed to grasp the concept of setting up a Raspberry Pi from scratch so the Buster fresh install I outlined is a breeze.
If you were so inclined you could alter one of the install scripts @bkenobi created to reflect the relevant Buster repos if so required. Maybe @bekenobi could expand on that.
Just so everyone is clear, there's a difference between a Buster upgrade and a Buster fresh install. Running sudo apt dist-upgrade from the CLI (command line) in Raspbian Stretch will indeed upgrade to Buster but it's not advisable to do unless you are very familiar with the Linux environment. The Buster fresh install and HG restore is the way to go.
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I'm in the process of doing both a Buster upgrade and image build on 2 Zero Ws.
I plan to do a bit of experimentation with each as neither board is my main setup (it still uses stretch) >!
Another matter to consider is that your Mono security certificates store will begin to expire so if you choose to continue using Stretch you may well have to self certify yourself. A little messy by all accounts.
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I do plan to move my setup to Buster prior to the new year so issues with mono will not be a problem. I also plan to create a image for the PiX10hub what pi it will be geared to remains to be seen. There continues to be new users to this everyday and they even have issues installing it. I also had issues with the install of a fresh image which newbies would have just given up on.
The PiX10Hub image I plan on creating is more for my own ease of use with other pi boards I have. However since others may find it useful I will post a link to it.