Modifying the Config File

[sdetweil]

@jimb you can just copy the config.js.sample over/instead of config.js

cd ~/MagicMirror/config
mv config.js config.js.save
cp config.js.sample config.js

now MM is back to new, and we saved the config you have

[jimb]

Sam, OK the sample file has been renamed to just config.js. When running the new config with ‘npm start dev’ the weather section now says 'loading on both lines (current & forecast) and it still has two entries with "401 unauthorized). Also, error with “could not load data” on two lines. Should I add my API ID to both sections of the config or?

[sdetweil]

@jimb good place to start.

[BKeyport]

@jimb https://docs.magicmirror.builders/modules/configuration.html would be great to read - tells you how to set up the default modules to run. Once you get that, you can get going on any replacements you’d like to run.

[jimb]

BKeyport, thanks for the hint! I have worn out the config docs reading 'em. No matter what I do I can’t past the “401 unauthorized” when MM tries to load the weather data. I get a partial diplay of the weather stuff. Sam has been more that patient with me and I’d hate to wear out my welcome here.

Does anyone know how to get the Pi back to the start? I feel like I’m not going to make real progress until I can use the IP address to SSH into the Pi so I can copy the config file here so it can be seen. I didn’t make a note of it when I ‘built’ the Pi.

[sdetweil]

@jimb open a terminal window, ctrl-alt-t,on the desktop

type

ip addr

press enter

you should get both the ipv4 and ipv6 addresses of the pi

then type

hostname

enter

should give you the pi hostname on the network, you should be able to use this in the ssh command

ssh  {username}@{hostname}

{x} means substitute the value of the thing x for the whole string

[BKeyport]

@jimb If you’re thinking you’re FUBAR, you can always boot a fresh image (Raspberry Pi Imager, preferably, other methods available, search for Raspberry Pi Recovery Mode)

If you do build a new image, take a look at the advanced options in the Imager - You can pre-set things that’ll make life a ton easier - like hostnames, SSH availability, username/passwords, etc. Make sure to have the newest version of the imager, and it’ll remind you to look at the settings every time, rather than have it be a different workflow.

That being said, if you just need to dump Magic Mirror, delete the directory tree and start over - using Sam’s exceptional script this time to set it up. Good chance that gets it going.

What I do personally, is use combinations of SAMBA, Geany, VNC & SSH to get everything up and running fully remote, but that’s a bit advanced - Geany is on the Pi desktop, so if you want to try to use that to edit your config files, great, makes it so much easier.

[sdetweil]

@BKeyport don’t edit ON the pi, use Winscp or Bitvise SSH clients, then you can use your pc editor and keyboard, mouse… and double click to edit, and still have a terminal window via ssh…

one the wall enclosed, or just developing, its exactly the same. and you can multiple systems open at once…

I use Notepad++ or VisualStudio code…
then u have brace matching and indentation matching… REALLY makes life easier…
AND you can use your PC browser to access MM on the pi, so its all right there… laptop, desktop doesn’t matter…

bitvise also has a server side(pc) file manager window so you can drag/drop files in either direction (altho you dont usually need to.)…

all my scripts work thru ssh, MM runs there too… and you can use pm2 just like always…

[BKeyport]

@sdetweil Fair enough, I was applying a bit of KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) suggesting at least initial edits can be done locally - don’t want to overwhelm.

[sdetweil]

@BKeyport I know, but learning all the commands, keyboard, gui tools, menus, settings, etc, is overwhelming for many people.

[jimb]

Sam, I’m trying to get to the point where I can copy/paste the config where you can take a look at it. It’s been 45 years since I looked at Unix, never Linux.

IP Config from the OS prompt on the Pi yields -
“Link/loopback 'all zeros…”
“inet 127.0.0.0/8 scope host lo”
NOT a valid IP address, it should be in the range of 192.168. x.x

hostname command from the Pi gives “rutspi” which is the hostname I assigned as it was building.

[sdetweil]

@jimb if that is the only ip address, then it is not on your wifi or Ethernet networks.

127.0.0.1 is the fake internal only network

[BKeyport]

sounds to me like too much tinkering got the network FUBAR.

I’d reset and start over, personally.

[jimb]

Sam, from the Pi I can use the browser to get to the Internet so it has an IP address. I can ping Google from it, too. At this point I think the best thing would be for me to start over with a fresh installation. I don’t want to be a PITA here!

[sdetweil]

@jimb not a PITA. just odd that ip addr didn’t give u all adapters info

[bhepler]

@jimb said in Modifying the Config File:

IP Config from the OS prompt on the Pi yields -
“Link/loopback 'all zeros…”
“inet 127.0.0.0/8 scope host lo”

This should be the first entry of three in the response when you enter ip addr. The next entry should be your ethernet port, and the final entry should be your wireless LAN. My suggestion is to try this on your pi: ip addr | grep inet

Secondly, when Sam told you to switch on SSH, did you go into the config app and do it? You can get to it from the desktop but the fastest way is to type sudo raspi-config and then navigate to “Interface Options”->“SSH”. Make sure it is enabled.

[jimb]

Gents, my goal was not to build a watch, only to tell the time. I have bit the bullet and will be building a new image of the OS and setting it up to run from my PC. That way I’ll be able to copy configs for all to peruse, trying to get Magic Mirror up and running. Thanks for your continued support!

[jimb]

Sam, et all: I have installed a fresh copy of the OS to a new SD card , booted up the Pi, and installed a new copy of the MM2 files, etc. from Sam’s installation script. The only mistake I made was making the MM auto-install. I attempted SSH into the Pi to modify the config on my PC. Had the same “no connnection” issue I had before. However, I now have the IP address of the Pi and I’m not able to ping it from my PC. When the Pi boots this IP address is displayed in the upper right corner for a few seconds so I know it’s correct. An IP config /all display shows-

C:\Users\Owner>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DESKTOP-LE5LUCM
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : attlocal.net

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : attlocal.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 78-E7-D1-C8-69-02
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2600:1700:d10:2900::681(Preferred)
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, November 29, 2023 1:44:08 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, December 28, 2023 6:10:32 PM
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2600:1700:d10:2900:17cb:6c66:31f8:87bb(Preferred)
Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : 2600:1700:d10:2900:3974:7e8b:2c4:8999(Preferred)
Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : 2600:1700:d10:2900:e81f:6b5c:4ac6:b88d(Deprecated)
Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : 2600:1700:d10:2900:f895:4134:2f63:7933(Deprecated)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::3b70:ff2e:ecd1:4297%12(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.65(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, November 29, 2023 1:44:03 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, December 2, 2023 1:44:06 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : fe80::3a3b:c8ff:fe33:13d9%12
192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 158918609
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-25-B7-F6-59-78-E7-D1-C8-69-02
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 2600:1700:d10:2900::1
192.168.1.254
2600:1700:d10:2900::1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 802.11n Wireless LAN Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 68-A3-C4-EA-95-83
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 1:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 68-A3-C4-EA-95-85
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 68-A3-C4-EA-95-86
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 68-A3-C4-EA-95-84
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:\Users\Owner>

Does anyone see anything weird?

[BKeyport]

@jimb that appears to be your windows computer, not the pi.

[sdetweil]

@jimb said in Modifying the Config File:

only mistake I made was making the MM auto-install.

u mean auto start??? install was my script

ssh doesn’t work unless you enable it on the pi

desktop, menu top left,
preferences
raspberry pi configuration
then the itnerfaces tab, click the slide on the ssh row,
then press ok…

if latest os, then you don’t have to boot

open a terminal window on pi
type

ip addr

you should see like this

pi@raspberrypi4:~ $ ip addr
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether dc:a6:32:20:b0:94 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.2.44/24 brd 192.168.2.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute eth0
       valid_lft 50521sec preferred_lft 36219sec
    inet6 fe80::a5a6:f1d1:50e7:1c5/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether dc:a6:32:20:b0:95 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

in this setup my wifi (wlan0) is not connected but my ethernet (eth0) is

   inet 192.168.2.44

doesn’t matter what the PC says…

do you have a guest network at home and did u connect the pi to that?

can’t connect to it from home network if so… intentional firewall…