Need "correct" version of node-libgpiod ....

sdetweil

@rkorell MM is started by doing node --run or npm start or npm run start

that matches a script in the scripts section of package.json

the MagicMirror installed files support 3 different runtimes

npm start - full using electron

		"start:x11": "DISPLAY=\"${DISPLAY:=:0}\" ./node_modules/.bin/electron  js/electron.js",

npm run server - server mode only , using node engine

		"server": "node ./serveronly",

npm run client - UI mode using electron

node clientonly --address 192.168.1.5 --port 8080

which does this to launch electron, not it doesn’t use the module node_helpers, as its the UI portion
only… the server side (under full, or server only) does that

const child = require("node:child_process").spawn(electron, elecParams, options);

as I said before, the electron embedded node engines CAN be different than the install standalone nodejs version

node -v
will tell you the standalone node js version.

the problem you have, I mentioned in the prior post, if the node versions don’t match, then
you MAY have to recompile when switching runtime choices…

npm rebuild

will fix the standalone node version

electron-rebuild

will fix the electron version

I believe the current electron version is 22, and the node version we require is 22

this is because the standalone node version of 24 has dropped support for 32 bit runtimes… and knocks out using the
32 bit legacy raspi OS images that some use…

we put out a message to tell the versions when you start MM

VERSIONS: electron: 36.6.0; used node: 22.15.0; installed node: 22.15.0; npm: 10.9.2; pm2: 6.0.8

SO… fun times… keeping the node versions synched will avoid the problem you are encountering

rkorell

@sdetweil
Dear Sam, OK, thanks for this.
Not fully understood…

How can I

figure out, how my mirror is started? (looooong ago I‘ve used your install script and (if I remember correctly) I‘ve answered „yes“ to „do you want automatically start your mirror at system startup“ - or something similar. - Never took care about, what is done - it worked (and still works)…)
double check the above „VERSIONS“ - message - is this message in logfile?
can I get „keeping the node versions synched“?

Thanks for further advise!
Warmest regards,
Ralf

sdetweil

@rkorell 1. my pm2 setup uses the file

~/MagicMirror/installers/mm.sh

you can see that by using the

pm2 info xxxx

command, where xxx is the name or number of the app row in

pm2 status

output, from my desktop , note you CAN setup the SAME NAMED app multiple times,
so the pm2 start app_name
might be ambiguous
so pm2 start 8 would target the app on line 8

┌────┬─────────────────────┬─────────────┬─────────┬─────────┬──────────┬────────┬──────┬───────────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────┐
│ id │ name                │ namespace   │ version │ mode    │ pid      │ uptime │ ↺    │ status    │ cpu      │ mem      │ user     │ watching │
├────┼─────────────────────┼─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────┼──────┼───────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────┤
│ 8  │ MagicMirror         │ default     │ 2.32.0… │ fork    │ N/A      │ 0      │ 245… │ stopped   │ 0%       │ 0b       │ sam      │ disabled │
│ 7  │ MagicMirror 8       │ default     │ 2.31.0… │ fork    │ N/A      │ 0      │ 8    │ stopped   │ 0%       │ 0b       │ sam      │ disabled │
│ 6  │ MagicMirror1        │ default     │ 2.31.0… │ fork    │ N/A      │ 0      │ 13   │ stopped   │ 0%       │ 0b       │ sam      │ disabled │
│ 0  │ Smart Mirror        │ default     │ 0.0.30  │ fork    │ N/A      │ 0      │ 31   │ stopped   │ 0%       │ 0b       │ sam      │ disabled │
│ 2  │ checkarec           │ default     │ N/A     │ fork    │ 2870     │ 19D    │ 0    │ online    │ 0%       │ 3.4mb    │ sam      │ disabled │
│ 5  │ smart-mirror        │ default     │ 0.0.31  │ fork    │ N/A      │ 0      │ 8    │ stopped   │ 0%       │ 0b       │ sam      │ disabled │
│ 4  │ smart-mirror ttt    │ default     │ 0.0.30  │ fork    │ N/A      │ 0      │ 10   │ stopped   │ 0%       │ 0b       │ sam      │ disabled │
│ 3  │ start_alexa_bk      │ default     │ N/A     │ fork    │ 2871     │ 19D    │ 0    │ online    │ 0%       │ 2.4mb    │ sam      │ disabled │
│ 1  │ startspot           │ default     │ N/A     │ fork    │ 6315     │ 19D    │ 439  │ online    │ 0%       │ 2.5mb    │ sam      │ disabled │
│ 9  │ testups             │ default     │ N/A     │ fork    │ 2885     │ 19D    │ 0    │ online    │ 0%       │ 3.2mb    │ sam

using pm2, you can view the log with

pm2 logs yyy --lines=xxxx

yyy is the name or number of the app from status above), if not supplied,
output from all managed apps is displayed, 1 after the others

xxxx is the count of most recent lines to display (default 15)

you can also see the files(.out and .err, by app) in the

~/.pm2/logs

folder

MM puts out a messages at runtime (this from my desktop system)

[2025-08-09 09:47:38.743] [INFO]  System information:
### SYSTEM:   manufacturer: System manufacturer; model: System Product Name; virtual: false
### OS:       platform: linux; distro: Ubuntu; release: 22.04.5 LTS; arch: x64; kernel: 5.15.0-144-generic
### VERSIONS: electron: 36.6.0; used node: 22.15.0; installed node: 22.15.0; npm: 10.9.2; pm2: 6.0.8
### OTHER:    timeZone: America/Chicago; ELECTRON_ENABLE_GPU: undefined

notice the versions line

keep the node versions synced… yes manually (I use the nodejs version of nvm, called n )
if installed this will show the versions installed

n list

and

will show the list AND the current one, but you have to type q to exit the list
(because n updates the /usr/local/bin folder, you have to use sudo to actually install or change the active version)

or
if you use my install/upgrade script they will make sure the correct standalone version is installed

my scripts install and use n if needed to change versions

rkorell

@sdetweil Dear Sam,
thanks again for this long explanation!

My versions (if I interpret correctly) doesn’t mismatch :-(

0|MagicMir | ### SYSTEM:   manufacturer: ; model: ; virtual: false
0|MagicMir | ### OS:       platform: linux; distro: Debian GNU/Linux; release: 12; arch: arm64; kernel: 6.12.20+rpt-rpi-2712
0|MagicMir | ### VERSIONS: electron: 32.2.7; used node: 20.18.1; installed node: 20.18.1; npm: 10.8.2; pm2: 5.4.3
0|MagicMir | ### OTHER:    timeZone: Europe/Berlin; ELECTRON_ENABLE_GPU: undefined

So I’m not sure at all, what to do.

pi@MagicMirrorPi5:~ $ n list
node/20.18.1

Does show up exact this version, as well.
Where are my problems from ???
Thanks a LOT for any idea!

Ralf

sdetweil

@rkorell

so, if, in the module folder you do

npm rebuild

it will fix the version to the standalone node engine

if you do

electron-rebuild

it should fix the version to the electron embedded node engine

if the engine is the same, only one of those is required

rkorell

@sdetweil OK; thanks.
I will stop to handle these mismatches.
Will try to get the MM-Module runnable .
Console/terminal runs with node may not be necessary …
Thanks anyway for your kind support!
Ralf

rkorell

@sdetweil Dear Sam,
just FYI: I’ve just identified that my main problem is NOT the version mismatch but a major change in node-libgpiod’s handling of GPIO-ressources.
This was the main reason for mal-function of PIR sensor detection. “Version” was a side effect, not root-cause.
I’m nearly done with this and it seems that it will work as intended…

Thanks again for your support!

Regards,
Ralf

sdetweil

@rkorell awesome. yes gpio changes are a pain!!

rkorell

@sdetweil yes, indeed …

schlomm

@rkorell Do have any any resources for your current development? I’m also stucking at a similar problem handling GPIO for buttons using a Raspberry Pi 5.
Do you have a Github Repository?

rkorell

@schlomm I’m absolute beginner …
Had HEAVILY used AI to get this done and have recycled a LOT.

GPIO part is from old (discontinued) module MMM-Pir from Bugsounet.
This is reflected in pirLib.js - sliightly modified for my purposes.

I do have a repository - pushed literally minutes ago …
Feel free to have a look.

Buttons should work with some modification. Essentiall for my purposes I simply query state of a single GPIO pin - to which a PIR sensor is connected. Code must be enhanced to handle more than one pin - if you are talking about “butons” - which signals plural…

As mentioned such modification should be doable with AI as well.

[ EDIT : My system is a raspi5 / bookworm as well - this is main reason for some difficulties. Some procedures simply doesn’t work anymore with new libraries and I had to change implementation…]

Good luck!
Warm regards,
Ralf

rkorell

@sdetweil Dear Sam,
I was able to get this done - to my big surprise …
As announced, I just have pushed it to git and will post a corresponding message tomorrow.
Do I get it right that it is recommended to edit the modules page as well?
And the 3rd Party Modules page then will populate by itself, right?
Thanks!

Warmest regards,
Ralf

sdetweil

@rkorell yes, you edit the wiki page, and then the 3rd party list will pick up those changes on the next refresh (once a day)

rkorell

@sdetweil thx!

schlomm

@rkorell Thanks for publishing your great module. I already use it and hell yeah - it’s great :)
I was also able to make the needed modification to my “Buttons”-module using the node-libgpiod package. Main reason why it was not working was the missing postinstall script.

Thanks and “schöne Grüße” :)

rkorell

@schlomm
This is really cool.
Awesome that it works as designed…
(Was a little bit afraid that especially postinstall will fail and module doesn‘t work as expected…)
So thanks for (first !) confirmation for working module!

Warmest regards,
Ralf

Schöne Grüße zurück - danke für‘s Kompliment und Danke für‘s „externe“ Testen! :-)