MMM-PIR-Sensor Guide with Edits and Updates

[StacheEnthusiast]

I recently got the MMM-PIR-Sensor up and going and it’s working flawlessly. I wanted to give a little information as I had to parse this from different sources and some of the info is a bit dated.

I am relatively new to pi in general so definitely point it out if something isn’t right.

Below is a step by step for MMM-PIR-Sensor by paviro.

Navigate to your modules folder at cd ~/MagicMirror/modules
Execute git clone https://github.com/paviro/MMM-PIR-Sensor.git
Navigate to cd ~/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-PIR-Sensor

This is one area I got held up
The guide states to perform an npm install where a dated version(2.25) of wiring-pi would be installed.
When issuing the command gpio -v, I would get an error message “Unable to determine hardware version. I see: Hardware : BCM2835 - expecting BCM2708 or BCM2709. Please report this to project@drogon.net”.

Instead use npm install wiring-pi inside your MMM-PIR-Sensor folder. This will install the updated version(2.44) which you can verify with gpio -v.

Then issue command sudo usermod -a -G gpio pi
Then sudo chmod u+s /opt/vc/bin/tvservice && sudo chmod u+s /bin/chvt

The guide says to reboot here but after that, it still wasn’t working for me. Then I stumbled on some excellent advice from the forums here from @JamesMM with @strawberry 3.141 contributing.

Their focus was on the node_helper.js within the module. These are their edits.

First, rename the current file. mv node_helper.js node_helper_backup.js

Now, create a new file called node_helper.js using sudo nano node_helper.js

Copy and paste this code

'use strict';

/* Magic Mirror
 * Module: MMM-PIR-Sensor
 *
 * By Paul-Vincent Roll http://paulvincentroll.com
 * MIT Licensed.
 */

const NodeHelper = require('node_helper');
const Gpio = require('onoff').Gpio;
const exec = require('child_process').exec;

module.exports = NodeHelper.create({
  start: function()
{
    this.started = false;
},

  activateMonitor: function()
{
    if (this.config.relayPIN != false)
    {
        this.relay.writeSync(this.config.relayOnState);
    }
    else if (this.config.relayPIN == false)
    {
        // Check if hdmi output is already on
        exec("/opt/vc/bin/tvservice -s").stdout.on('data', function(data) {
            if (data.indexOf("0x120002") !== -1)
                exec("/opt/vc/bin/tvservice --preferred && chvt 6 && chvt 7", null);
        });
    }
},

  deactivateMonitor: function()
{
    if (this.config.relayPIN != false)
    {
        this.relay.writeSync(this.config.relayOffState);
    }
    else if (this.config.relayPIN == false)
    {
        exec("/opt/vc/bin/tvservice -o", null);
    }
},

  // Subclass socketNotificationReceived received.
  socketNotificationReceived: function(notification, payload)
{
    if (notification === 'CONFIG' && this.started == false)
    {
        const self = this;
        this.config = payload;
        self.timer = null;
        self.onState = 0;

        // Setup value which represent on and off
        const valueOn = this.config.invertSensorValue ? 0 : 1;
        const valueOff = this.config.invertSensorValue ? 1 : 0;

        //Log.info('PIR: ' + this.name);

        //Setup pins
        this.pir = new Gpio(this.config.sensorPIN, 'in', 'both');

        if (this.config.relayPIN)
        {
            this.relay = new Gpio(this.config.relayPIN, 'out');
            this.relay.writeSync(this.config.relayOnState);
            exec("/opt/vc/bin/tvservice --preferred && sudo chvt 6 && sudo chvt 7", null);
        }

        //Detected movement
        this.pir.watch(function(err, value) {
            if (value == 1)
            {
                clearTimeout(self.timer);
                if (self.onState != 1)
                {
                    self.sendSocketNotification("USER_PRESENCE", true);
                    if (self.config.powerSaving)
                    {
                        self.activateMonitor();
                        self.onState = 1;
                    }
                }
            }
            else if (value == 0)
            {
                if (self.onState != 0)
                {
                    self.timer = setTimeout(function(){
                        self.sendSocketNotification("USER_PRESENCE", false);
                        if (self.config.powerSaving)
                        {
                            self.deactivateMonitor();
                            self.onState = 0;
                        }
                    }, self.config.offDelay);
                }
            }
        });

        this.started = true;

    }
    else if (notification === 'SCREEN_WAKEUP')
    {
        this.activateMonitor();
    }
}

});

This creates a new config called offDelay and it is in configurable in milliseconds.
Reboot your pi.

Then add the modules configuration to MM’s config.js. I used this but obviously adjust it to your own needs.

	{
		module: 'MMM-PIR-Sensor',
		config: {
			sensorPIN: 22,
			powerSaving: true,
			offDelay: 30000,
		}
	}

The offDelay of 30000 is 30 seconds.

[Mykle1]

@StacheEnthusiast

I like people who write guides! I don’t use a PIR sensor but I do appreciate the time and effort you put in on everyone’s behalf.

[StacheEnthusiast]

@Mykle1

Thanks!

[DavA]

I followed your guide but i still get version 2.25 when i use npm install wiring-pi.
Any ideas why?

[SvenT]

This post is deleted!

[greenwaydev]

This post is deleted!