Modifying the Config File

[sdetweil]

@jimb on the pi desktop, menu top left
preferences, pi preferences.
interfaces, check ssh on. ok,
change host name, just look at it, should be raspberrypi

then save/exit, reboot

on your PC do

ssh pi@raspberrypi

if the userid you created on the pi is pi.

use the password you set when you booted the first time

now you have a terminal on the pi from your PC, and you can copy/paste in both directions…

[jimb]

Sam, I remember the name I gave to the Pi, but unfortunately not the password. Is there a way to find it?

[sdetweil]

@jimb np, but you should be able to change it from the preferences without knowing it

[jimb]

Sam, I know the name assigned to the rasberry. I now know the password as I have changed it. SSH is not resolving the hostname. So, what is the proper way to populate the following-

ssh {what goes here}@{what goes here}

Example: ssh {{hostname} @ {password} ???

[sdetweil]

@jimb ssh user @ hostname

every command supports help

command_name -h or --h

[jimb]

Sam, the username seems to be OK, but the hostame doesn’t resolve. Even though it shows in preference. Am I missing something

[sdetweil]

@jimb try adding .local after the hostname

or use the IP address of the pi.

[jimb]

Sam, beating head against rock… local host didn’t work. I was able to resolve an IP address, but it appeared to be a v6 that would.t work with ssh. I don’t know the next step.

[jimb]

Sam, since I’m not making any progress on the weather module I’m going to remark all the lines out for now and move on to other modules.

[sdetweil]

@jimb ok the address was probably raspberrypi.local

you need to disable ipv6 on the pi, in the network settings of the pi config under the desktop menu
no reason to have ipv6 in a home environment

[jimb]

Sam, no joy on either suggestion. Would it be worth it to start the MM install over again. I couldn’t ‘remark’ out the lines, just caused an error with the config file.

I bought the Rasberry Pi with a pre-populated SIM. Not how to get it in virgin state.

[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.