Raspberry Pi Zero W for Magic Mirror

davidgagne

@sdetweil Okay! I’m doing this right now and will keep you posted. THANK YOU AGAIN.

davidgagne

`@sdetweil Sadly that didn’t seem to work at all.

pm2 flush gave me:

[PM2] Spawning PM2 daemon with pm2_home=/home/dvg/.pm2
[PM2] PM2 Successfully daemonized
[PM2] Flushing /home/dvg/.pm2/pm2.log
[PM2] Logs flushed

Then pm2 status gave me:

┌────┬────────────────────┬──────────┬──────┬───────────┬──────────┬──────────┐
│ id │ name               │ mode     │ ↺    │ status    │ cpu      │ memory   │
├────┼────────────────────┼──────────┼──────┼───────────┼──────────┼──────────┤
│ 0  │ MagicMirror        │ fork     │ 0    │ online    │ 23.3%    │ 40.3mb   │
└────┴────────────────────┴──────────┴──────┴───────────┴──────────┴──────────┘

Then I did cd ~/MagicMirror/ and ran npm start which spit out this:

> magicmirror@2.27.0 start
> ./run-start.sh $1

[2024-05-29 23:08:58.949] [LOG] Starting MagicMirror: v2.27.0
[2024-05-29 23:08:59.437] [LOG] Loading config ...
[2024-05-29 23:08:59.497] [LOG] config template file not exists, no envsubst
[2024-05-29 23:09:07.135] [LOG] Loading module helpers ...
[2024-05-29 23:09:07.356] [LOG] No helper found for module: alert.
[2024-05-29 23:09:36.395] [LOG] Initializing new module helper ...
[2024-05-29 23:09:36.558] [LOG] Module helper loaded: updatenotification
[2024-05-29 23:09:36.688] [LOG] No helper found for module: clock.
[2024-05-29 23:10:00.038] [LOG] Initializing new module helper ...
[2024-05-29 23:10:00.109] [LOG] Module helper loaded: calendar
[2024-05-29 23:10:00.684] [ERROR] Whoops! There was an uncaught exception... 
[2024-05-29 23:10:01.570] [ERROR] Error: Cannot find module 'request'
Require stack:
- /home/dvg/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-JEOPARDY/node_helper.js
- /home/dvg/MagicMirror/js/app.js
- /home/dvg/MagicMirror/serveronly/index.js
    at Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1048:15)
    at Module._resolveFilename (/home/dvg/MagicMirror/node_modules/module-alias/index.js:49:29)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:901:27)
    at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1115:19)
    at require (node:internal/modules/helpers:130:18)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/home/dvg/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-JEOPARDY/node_helper.js:8:17)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1241:14)
    at Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1295:10)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1091:32)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:938:12)
    at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1115:19)
    at require (node:internal/modules/helpers:130:18)
    at loadModule (/home/dvg/MagicMirror/js/app.js:183:19)
    at loadModules (/home/dvg/MagicMirror/js/app.js:213:10)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
    at async App.start (/home/dvg/MagicMirror/js/app.js:261:3) {
  code: 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND',
  requireStack: [
    '/home/dvg/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-JEOPARDY/node_helper.js',
    '/home/dvg/MagicMirror/js/app.js',
    '/home/dvg/MagicMirror/serveronly/index.js'
  ]
} 
[2024-05-29 23:10:01.664] [ERROR] MagicMirror² will not quit, but it might be a good idea to check why this happened. Maybe no internet connection? 
[2024-05-29 23:10:01.745] [ERROR] If you think this really is an issue, please open an issue on GitHub: https://github.com/MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror/issues 
[2024-05-29 23:12:53.308] [INFO] System information:
### SYSTEM: manufacturer: Raspberry Pi Foundation; model: Raspberry Pi Zero W Rev 1.1; raspberry: [object Object]; virtual: false
### OS: platform: linux; distro: Raspbian GNU/Linux; release: 11; arch: arm; kernel: 6.1.21+
### VERSIONS: electron: undefined; used node: 20.8.0; installed node: 20.8.0; npm: 10.1.0; pm2: 5.4.0
### OTHER: timeZone: America/New_York; ELECTRON_ENABLE_GPU: undefined
Starting chromium browser now, have patience, it takes a minute
Chromium_browser not installed

This all seemed pointless, but I ran pm2 restart 0 anyway and got this:

Use --update-env to update environment variables
[PM2] Applying action restartProcessId on app [0](ids: [ '0' ])
[PM2] [MagicMirror](0) ✓
┌────┬────────────────────┬──────────┬──────┬───────────┬──────────┬──────────┐
│ id │ name               │ mode     │ ↺    │ status    │ cpu      │ memory   │
├────┼────────────────────┼──────────┼──────┼───────────┼──────────┼──────────┤
│ 0  │ MagicMirror        │ fork     │ 47   │ online    │ 0%       │ 23.5mb   │
└────┴────────────────────┴──────────┴──────┴───────────┴──────────┴──────────┘

At this point I’m going to give up and go back to square one and flash the drive again and start over. Ugh.

sdetweil

@davidgagne said in Raspberry Pi Zero W for Magic Mirror:

024-05-29 23:10:01.570] [ERROR] Error: Cannot find module ‘request’
Require stack:

/home/dvg/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-JEOPARDY/node_helper.js

no… just fix the MMM-Jeopardy module as I suggested yesterday

two steps
you only did 1

… the more concerning part is that pm2 didn’t get setup as a service and start on boot… i haven’t looked at the log yet

sdetweil

@davidgagne the install log looks good…

don’t know what is going on… will have to think on it while I sleep…

time to rest… til tomorrow

davidgagne

@sdetweil I understand what you’re saying about fixing the Jeopardy module, but I really think that’s secondary to not getting MM to run in the first place (and it not starting as a service on boot). Once I get MM running reliably in the first place I will play around with modules. :-)

davidgagne

How to Get MagicMirror to Run on a Raspberry Pi Zero W Rev 1.1

Late-May 2024

Huge thanks to @sdetweil for all his help!

Flash card with Legacy 32-bit.

Connect via ssh to run script:

bash -c  "$(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sdetweil/MagicMirror_scripts/master/raspberry.sh)"

Answer yes to disable screen saver and use pm2 questions.

Remove chromium with:

sudo apt-get remove chromium-browser
sudo apt autoremove

Add Firefox with:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install firefox-esr

Enable VNC using GUI (Interface Options):
sudo raspi-config
Connect via TigerVNC (Apple app)
Edit installers/mm.sh via VNC using Pi's baked-in text editor by adding:
```
cd ~/MagicMirror
export external_browser=firefox
DISPLAY=:0 npm start
```

Execute fix'em-up script:

bash -c "$(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sdetweil/MagicMirror_scripts/master/fixuppm2.sh)"

cd ~/MagicMirror/
pm2 start MagicMirror

sudo reboot

Note: On my Pi Zero W it takes a solid ten minutes from reboot to actually seeing MM output via HDMI.

sdetweil

@davidgagne thanks.

5 and 6 are optional
as 7 can be done with nano over ssh

   scroll down with keyboard arrow keys
   hit enter to add a line
   type the export line
   ctrl-x to exit nano, yes to save contents

8 and 9 over ssh
9 pm2 can be run from any folder location

davidgagne

@sdetweil Is there any reason why this same procedure would not work on a 3B+? I’ve tried with multiple different versions of the OS but it always seems to get stuck on “Updating packages …” and – as far as I can tell – there’s nothing meaningful in install.log. Is this install script unique to the Zero W?

sdetweil

@davidgagne no. the script works of any Debian based os. pi0 is SLOOOOOW…
but pi 3b+ should be ok. there should be a moving <-> while it’s updating… (haven’t figured out how to make that stand out more)

the script is doing apt get update, apt upgrade . this could take a while based on how much change since distro was released. over wifi, nothing I can do to speed it up.

I’ve tested on all the pi models. except the pi 1.
on odroid, Jetson nano, a chrome box and book running linux and a bunch of x86 distros., and macos Intel and arm.
I also tested on my arm chromebook, with the extra Ubuntu installed. install worked and server mode worked. no ui

if there is a problem, I’ll fix it. I’ll setup my 3b later.

davidgagne

@sdetweil Right. That’s my confusion. I have been able to run the script a dozen (or more) times on the Zero W, but it always fails on the 3B+, which I had assumed would be faster / better than the Zero W.

sdetweil

@davidgagne always fails?

what os? I’d pick the 32 it due to memory size

send me the install.log.

capedbuffethero

@davidgagne Wow, your summary above is just amazing! This is exactly what I was looking for.

Can you comment on why the choice of legacy OS was selected? Is there some kind of tradeoff that is being made here?

sdetweil

@capedbuffethero the pi0 is older armv6l processor, it can only run 32 bit mode. the memory is small on pi0,

everything that doesn’t fit in memory causes swapping, to the sd card. pi0 has the older slower sd chip.

so, use the legacy 32 bit image to reduce the footprint

davidgagne

@capedbuffethero Thanks! Please upvote if you found it valuable. I’m fairly new here and trying to improve my rep so all my posts aren’t held for moderation. :)

capedbuffethero

@davidgagne It appears I need 1 reputation to upvote.

sdetweil

@capedbuffethero really? I’ll check on that. didn’t used to be.

sdetweil

@capedbuffethero can you try this again… we should have reset this option to 0
downvote still requires rep of 1 or above…

plainbroke

@davidgagne
Does it matter that you install firefox-esr
but in the mm.sh script you just call it firefox ?
I went to midori to get mine to work it would not recognize the firefox in mm.sh for some reason.

sdetweil

@plainbroke the package is called firefox-esr

the program name is firefox
it must be on the path for mm.sh to execute it.
I don’t know if installing the package does that.
I don’t remember worrying about it

the command

which firefox
should return the full path to the executable if it’s on the path.
otherwise you can add its folder onto the path in the .profile or .bashrc scripts
that setup the shell environment

capedbuffethero

@davidgagne said in Raspberry Pi Zero W for Magic Mirror:

Summary

when running DISPLAY=:0 npm start I got an unexpected error
follow up question: export external_browser=firefox doesn’t this export vanish as soon as my session ends? Do I have to do this every time?
firefox is started and is visible on VNC
firefox is not able to connect to the node server (I guess the node server is not running)

Details:
When executing this script:

cd ~/MagicMirror
export external_browser=firefox
DISPLAY=:0 npm start

on this step: I get this output:

myname@raspberrypi:~ $ cd ~/MagicMirror
myname@raspberrypi:~/MagicMirror $ export external_browser=firefox
myname@raspberrypi:~/MagicMirror $ DISPLAY=:0 npm start

> magicmirror@2.27.0 start
> ./run-start.sh $1

./run-start.sh: line 79:  8050 Killed                  node serveronly

these are the lines that precede line 79:

    # if user explicitly configured to run server only (no ui local)
    # OR there is no xwindows running, so no support for browser graphics
    if [ "$serveronly." == "$true." ] || [ "$xorg." == "." -a $mac != 'Darwin' -a "$wait_for_x." != "." ]; then
      # start server mode,
      node serveronly
    else
      # start the server in the background
      # wait for server to be ready
      # need bash for this
      exec 3< <(node serveronly)

if we do export external_browser doesn’t that vanish as soon as the RPI is rebooted or if my session ends?

after a while the VNC client showed firefox start, but no URL, then the screen went white, then Firefox said “Unable to connect”

then I ran this script, I am tailing logs. What does “fix 'em up” script do

Execute fix'em-up script:

bash -c "$(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sdetweil/MagicMirror_scripts/master/fixuppm2.sh)"

the last line is this: pm2 setup completed - Fri Jun 14 21:52:48 PDT 2024

cancelling the step DISPLAY=:0 npm start allows me to rerun this step, but the step always ends in failure.

UPDATE: “Unable to connect” is because Firefox cannot connect to the node server. VNC can connect without issue! The error is actually an error from the Firefox browser.