Complete Walkthrough - Install MagicMirror on a PC - Windows 7/10

Reila

@sdetweil
Oh, I just copied as it was! It might have been a different guide, it was old after all… I see the backward slashes in a later post now.

So now I tried

"start": "node_modules\\.bin\\electron  js\\electron.js",

(with both the double and single space, just in case) and it’s giving me the same error still.
I tested changing the start-dev variant too.
I must be missing another step still.

sdetweil

@Reila I am away from my system at the moment be back in an hour or so.

what does npm -v say?

Reila

@sdetweil No problem! Browser version works fine for tinkering in the meantime :)

npm is 8.17.0

sdetweil

@Reila hm… this is what mine is set to

"start": "node_modules\\.bin\\electron js\\electron.js",

and I don’t get any errors, but electron starts full screen, black screen

but if I open edge and go to localhost:8080 it looks great and if I open electron
(the 1st part, node_modules\.bin\electron) and go to http://localhost:8080
it works…

1a2a3a

@sdetweil

hi i need some help here. when i ran npm start, im getting this message.

Starting MagicMirror: v2.23.0
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.647] [LOG] Loading config …
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.648] [DEBUG] config template file not exists, no envsubst
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.650] [LOG] Loading module helpers …
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.650] [LOG] No helper found for module: alert.
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.655] [LOG] Initializing new module helper …
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.655] [LOG] Module helper loaded: updatenotification
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.656] [LOG] No helper found for module: clock.
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.717] [LOG] Initializing new module helper …
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.717] [LOG] Module helper loaded: calendar
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.718] [LOG] No helper found for module: compliments.
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.718] [LOG] No helper found for module: weather.
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.732] [LOG] Initializing new module helper …
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.733] [LOG] Module helper loaded: newsfeed
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.733] [LOG] All module helpers loaded.
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.737] [LOG] Starting server on port 8080 …
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.779] [LOG] Launching application.
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.812] [LOG] Server started …
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.818] [LOG] Connecting socket for: updatenotification
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.818] [LOG] Starting module helper: updatenotification
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.818] [LOG] Connecting socket for: calendar
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.819] [LOG] Starting node helper for: calendar
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.819] [LOG] Connecting socket for: newsfeed
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.819] [LOG] Starting node helper for: newsfeed
[28.06.2023 13:36.52.820] [LOG] Sockets connected & modules started …

am i supposed to do something next?

sdetweil

@1a2a3a there is a big in the release on windows

https://github.com/MichMich/MagicMirror/issues/3083

you can follow the instructions to checkout the develop branch, or wait til July 1 for the next release with the fix

https://forum.magicmirror.builders/topic/14327/testing-new-fixes-or-solving-current-problems-with-next-release-code

1a2a3a

@sdetweil but when i go to localhost 8080 via web browser it appears to show the screen. is that normal?

sdetweil

@1a2a3a yes, just the initial electron browser startup was broken

1a2a3a

@sdetweil so i used your fix with the link that you provided and i can go into MM.

there is something i dont get though… The MM app itself is ‘electron’?

and my git cmd is ‘terminal’?

when i want to install module etc, i have to close the terminal and reopen and npm start again? is there a way to work continuously on the terminal without closing and opening?

right now im working on windows and subsequently i will shift to raspberry PI. how do i transit everything over to the PI? or do i have to resetup everything?

and if im working on the windows, can i ‘cast’ the MM to anywhere else other than a web browser?

sdetweil

@1a2a3a said in Complete Walkthrough - Install MagicMirror on a PC - Windows 7/10:

there is something i dont get though… The MM app itself is ‘electron’?

yes… mm uses a browser to display
electron, chrome, edge, firefox, Midori,…

and my git cmd is ‘terminal’?

when i want to install module etc, i have to close the terminal and reopen and npm start again? is there a way to work continuously on the terminal without closing and opening?

no, mm only loads modules on start. u can install all you want at once, but you have to restart to load them

yes, just stop MagicMirror, ctrl-c to stop the app and back to command line… work and npm start again

right now im working on windows and subsequently i will shift to raspberry Pi, how do i transit everything over to the PI? or do i have to resetup everything?

yes

install loads different binaries for mm. and for some modules.

I have scripts for Linux to Linux, but not for windows.

and if im working on the windows, can i ‘cast’ the MM to anywhere else other than a web browser?

if you can cast a application… been years since I used windows.

but you can open a browser from anywhere to mm

1a2a3a

@sdetweil thanks so much bruh. Couple of more questions if you don’t mind…

so I can use my tv, go into the browser and enter local host:8080 and I’m in? Assuming they are on the same network. Otherwise what would the web link be? I don’t suppose being on a different network works?
in future when I setup the pi, I’ll have to install everything on the sd card and put into the pi. And the pi is behind the wall display… so assuming 1 fine day I would like to make changes, how do I go about doing it since I can’t use the terminal on my pc to make the changes?
Do I have to take the pi out from the wall display, connect the pi to another monitor and do my edits in the other monitor? Or does the pi on the wall display allow me to do edits? How do people go about doing this, I just can’t wrap my head around this…

sdetweil

@1a2a3a

maybe. we are using more and more of the latest JavaScript level es6. most tvs don’t provide that and are not updateable, so the code will fail.

problem seen recently on Samsung frame tv.

you can connect remotely to the pi ( and windows) w ssh (which i use for all mm work on my pis all over the house)

you can also use a graphical remote connection, vnc.
there is a xrdp server for Linux too for window rdp connection.

I use that on one of my Linux machines w no keyboard or display

bhepler

@1a2a3a said in Complete Walkthrough - Install MagicMirror on a PC - Windows 7/10:

so I can use my tv, go into the browser and enter local host:8080 and I’m in? Assuming they are on the same network. Otherwise what would the web link be?

Localhost won’t work on your TV because localhost in that case is the TV’s local host (server). You’ll want to use the IP address of your Raspberry Pi. Likely http://192.168.1.xxx:8080 where xxx is the final numbers for your Pi.

sdetweil

@bhepler yes, you need to change the config.js address: setting to something other than localhost

localhost means only applications inside the same machine can connect.

you can specify the local machine address, as long as it doesn’t change.
or use “0.0.0.0”, which means any address on any adapter.

a server application has to specify what network address it will listen on for incoming requests.

“0.0.0.0”. is a shortcut that means any address on any active network interface…(your mm could be on wifi and Ethernet at the same time )

1a2a3a

Sorry guys it’s getting too technical for my limited understanding.

I don’t have a pi yet. I’m on a pc with the git cmd, how do I “cast” to the tv/monitor?

When I subsequently get a pi, how do I uh ssh from pc to pi?

Is there like a 101 guide to both above?

sdetweil

@1a2a3a all kinds of ways to use ssh

the command is ssh. user-name-at-other-system@other-system-nane-or-ip-address

example

ssh pi@rasberrypi

using the default user name and machine names

there are other tools that make sone of this better

winscp or bitvise ssh client

both provide the ssh terminal window for commands AND a file manager window for accessing files on the other machine… double click to edit like normal

I use notepad++ as my windows text editor

sdetweil

@1a2a3a cast ? Google search is your friend

1a2a3a

i set mirror config ip to pc ip address, ipwhitelist []…
pc webbrowser via ip address and electron works. but using ipad via ipaddress of pc, it shows black screen. terminal show fetching module. so it seems like its working but black screen…?

1a2a3a

just to give an update to my earlier post.
i manage to get the browser to show mm on my phone but not my ipad. could this be an issue of old safari browser or something along those line?

sdetweil

@1a2a3a yes this is probably an older browser which doesn’t support the newer JavaScript language features we are using.