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    A New Chapter for MagicMirror: The Community Takes the Lead
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    Fozi

    @Fozi

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    Best posts made by Fozi

    • Drrrrums, please! My first MagicMirror.

      Hi community fellows,

      after 6 weeks of research, trial & errors I just finished my frist MM! And I am quite satisfied with the result.
      Before I go into details I want to thank @michmich and the whole community for the inspiration and help to accomplish that project. THANK YOU!

      So here the details of my MM built:
      MM is running on a Raspbery Pi 3 B+ which I had laying arround.

      For the frame I took two Ikea RIBBA frames that I attached together to have enough depth for the display. They are bound together by wooden dowels, as I was afraid that glue would not be sufficient to hold the weight. The overall weight of the MM is 9.5 kg.

      0_1574008495322_IMG_7536_.jpg

      The display is a used 24" iiyama ProLite X2481HS-B1monitor which I got on ebay. This monitor has a VA panel which has a far better contrast than common TN displays. Dismantling the housing was extremely easy. For the display mount inside the frame I made a simple smaller frame which I screwed into the outer frame.

      The mirror glas is 500x700x4mm Pilkington MirroPane Chrome Spy. At the beginning I felt a bit concerned if the 4mm glas could hold weight of the display (3.5 kg). But it is no problem at all.

      The RPi is powered by a 3000mA supply to have enough power. Internally I took a junction box to wire the display and the RPi, as only one power cable should go out.
      0_1574008934300_IMG_3157_.jpg

      0_1574008985077_IMG_8760_.jpg

      Last but not least, I also drilled two holes in the lower frame bar for a PIR-sensor (AM312) and a push-button to switch on the news stream for “Tagessschau in 100 sek.” (German news) via MMM-Podcast2.
      0_1574009333459_IMG_0609-1_.jpg

      I also tried to implement Alexa control but didn’t succeed. Thus I took my Echo Dot and put it into the frame and attached it via USB to the RPI. As the power supply delivers 3000mA the Echot Dot is easily powerd via USB by the RPi.
      0_1574009496130_IMG_4066_.jpg

      Here a list of the modules which I currently use:
      MMM-withings
      MMM-Podcast2
      MMM-DarkSkyForecast
      MMM-DWD-WarnWeather
      Snille/MMM-Sonos
      MMM-MyCalendar
      MMM-MyCommute
      MMM-PublicTransportHafas
      MMM-PIR-Sensor
      MMM-Remote-Control
      MMM-Buttons

      So, this is a screenshot of all modules in action, except the Dilbert module (MMM-Comics) which I disabled again as I am investigating currently a memory leak with that module.
      0_1574009806532_2019-11-12-214325_1080x1920_scrot.png

      And here a few real images:
      0_1574009880072_IMG_3588_.jpg

      Here a picture with the “Tagesschau in 100 sek.” which plays after pushing the push-button and executed by MMM-Podcast2 and MMM-Buttons.
      0_1574009910245_IMG_3197_.jpg

      Thats’s all for now and I am pretty happy with the result of v1.0. But I already have some ideas for next releases.

      Best regards,
      Fozi

      posted in Show your Mirror
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • UPDATE: Replaced my PIR-Sensor with a Doppler Microwave Sensor.

      Preface:
      I’ve already described in detail how to reduce the sensor range of the RCWL-0516 sensor by building it into a cardboard box, which is wrapped in a aluminum foil (Option 1). But I found another more advanced solution (Option 2) by replacing a specific resistor on the sensor with an adjustable trimmer resistor. This option requires some soldering, but thats’s not as difficult as it might appear. I also enhanced this tutorial with your feedback to have everything in one place.

      Disclaimer: I’ll take of course no responsibility or liability, if anything breaks on your sensor, RPi or mirror. But I think this is a self-evident matter.

      Like many of us, I have a PIR-Sensor installed on myMM to switch the display on and off and to save power while it is not in use.
      For my MM i had an AM312 sensor mounted under the lower frame, bar pointing to the ground. That position was not ideal due to the limited viewing angle of 50 deg to the front. So I had to stand rather close to the mirror to switch the display on.
      Further, such a PIR-sensors looks like an wart on the frame, especially when you have no real options to mount it unobstursively and it messes up the hole design.

      While looking for an alternative, I stumbled over the RCWL-0516 microwave sensor, which detects motion via the Doppler principle. This sensor has following characterisics:
      (more details here)

      • it is rather small and thin and can be placed secretly everywhere inside the mirror
      • very cheap (ca. 1-2€)
      • easy to install with 3 pins
      • works without any modifications with MMM-PIR-sensor module
      • works through glass
      • works omni-directional (360 deg)
      • has a typical range of ca. 7m

      But the last two bullets (omni-directional radiation and detection, long sensor range) are two issues you have to be aware of.
      The RCWL-0516 works even through walls and can detect motions in adjacent rooms, which of course produces false positives and switches the display on when not desired.

      So how to limit the range?

      There are posibilities to replace the SMD resistor with a trimmer poti (200 Ohms and less) between GND and antenna as described here, but this requires some soldering skills as the SMD resistor is quite tiny.

      Option1: The “Magic Box”:
      I went a different way by putting the sensor in a small card box and wrapping some adhesive aluminum tape around it to damp the radiation around the sensor, except the front where the sensor points to the glass.
      I made some test and found out that putting the aluminum tape directly on the sensor (of cours with a thin isolation layer inbetween) reduces the sensitivity of the sensor to about 1-2 cm, which renders the sensor useless.
      Thus I figured there must be an air gap between the sensor and the aluminum tape of ca. 1cm. So I made a simple frame of card board, which holds the sensor inside the center of the box to provide enough space. I put the sensor intentionally in the middle of the box instead of directly to the “front” side to reduce the radiation and detection angle a bit more.

      Here a some pictures of the housing:
      0_1575206304844_IMG_7635.JPG
      You see, the front-side of the box is NOT covered with aluminum tape. This side will be pointing to the mirror glas. All other five surfaces of the box are taped.

      0_1575206395166_IMG_7636.JPG
      This is the backside.

      0_1575206479416_IMG_7638.JPG 0_1575206490495_IMG_7639.JPG
      The simple frame construction which holds the sensor in the center of the box…

      like this…
      0_1575206552938_IMG_7641.JPG

      0_1575206590027_IMG_7642.JPG
      The box is then put inside the frame with the untaped side facing to the glass.

      Cross-section through the box:
      ||                                |
      ||               ||               |
      ||  1 cm gap     ||   1cm gap     |
      ||                                |
      taped          sensor         UN-taped 
      backside                      front to the mirror
      

      Wireing of the sensor:
      0_1575815813639_Bildschirmfoto 2019-12-08 um 15.36.12.png
      0_1575817604663_Bildschirmfoto 2019-12-07 um 09.42.07.png

      You only use Vin (5V), Vout and GND. CDS (for applying a photo diode) and 3V3 (delivers 3.3V output) remain unused. For Vout you can use also oher GPIO pins (labeled “Digital I/O” in the 2nd diagram), in case GPIO_4 is already used.

      The ferrite bead is optional. It is a left over from the PIR sensor I had attached. If you may need one, you can dismantle an old VGA cable and use that one.
      And thats it!

      The sensor is wired like any conventional PIR sensor to the the RPi with Vin = 5V, GND and a Vout=I/O-Pin of your choice.
      As mentioned, before you can continue to use your favourite PIR module, like e.g. MMM-PIR-Sensor without any modifications.

      Option 2: Replacing the antenna to GND resistor:

      On the sensor is a tiny SMD resistor soldered, wich is labeled with "221 (=220 Ohm).
      To reduce the sensor range this resistor can be replaced with a smaller resistor value. The smaller the resistor, the shorter the range.
      As the room layouts, characterisics of the walls (dry wall, concrete, stone, wood walls, tiles,….) differ from home to home and individual requirements, we’ll take an adjustable trimmer resistor to find the fitting value.

      What we need:

      • Soldering iron and some soldering braid
      • Trimmer resistor, e.g. 3296 W201 with 200 Ohm (max. resitor value)
      • Multi-meter, which can measure resistors
      • Small screwdriver
      • angled header pins

      First we remove the “221” labeled resistor on the resistor (see red arrow)
      0_1575816626354_50913813-c91fc400-1467-11e9-91eb-9bc852344a86.jpg

      This requires some soldering skill, but with a little exercise it can be removed very easily. There are hundreds of great tutorials on youtube, which you can follow. I used this simple method:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjswgMtwXaw

      Before we solder the trimmer resistor, I’d recommend to adjust roughly the resistor value, as later it might be quite cumbersome. Take a multi-meter, which can measure electric resistors and adjust it to 150 Ohm. This value reduces to sensor range to ca. 1m. From there, you can then in creas or decreace the resistor until it fits you.

      The next step is to solder the trimmer sesistor on the sensor like this. The third pin remains unused an can be clipped away later if desired.
      0_1575816792887_IMG_7653_2.jpg

      Then solder the header pins on the left where you connect the sensor with the GPIO of the Rpi
      0_1575817258338_IMG_8448_2.jpg
      The CDS (for applying a photo diode) and 3V3 pin (delivers 3.3V output) remain unused.

      Then connect the sensor to the RPI
      0_1575817365564_Bildschirmfoto 2019-12-08 um 15.24.21.png

      Again, you only use Vin (5V), Vout and GND. CDS (for applying a photo diode) and 3V3 (delivers 3.3V output) remain unused. For Vout you can use also oher GPIO pins (labeled “Digital I/O” diagram above), in case GPIO_4 is already used.

      The ferrite bead is optional. It is a left over from the PIR sensor I had attached. If you may need one, you can dismantle an old VGA cable and use that one.

      In the last step you mount the sensor in the frame, start MM and adjust the resistor with a small screw driver a few turns to more or less range. Probably you’ll need a second person, which moves outside the room to test if the range is good enough while you adjust the trimmer.

      Conclusion?
      Option 1:
      The sensor inside that box works just as desired for me. I made “exhaustive tests” with my daughters jumping around in the adjacent rooms and floors and had no false positives. This of course applies to the layout of our house and your milage may vary. But I think that this simple approach could be useful for others, too.

      Option 2:
      This a more advanced and sophisicated approach, which works in my setup also as desired. Of course it depends very much on how your rooms are layed out and what characteristic your walls have. And you need a bit excercise in soldering. On the other hand you need no extra space inside the frame for the “Magic Box”.

      Now it’s up to you which option you want to go. Start with Option 1 and see how your results are, and if you wish then go on with Option2.

      posted in Tutorials
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • A whole lot upgrades to my MagicMirror, finally!

      Dear fellows,

      some time has passed by since I’ve worked on my MagicMirror v1.0, because personal and professional things had to be prioritezed. But never the less, I continued to upgrade my MM to v2.0 and I am happy to present you my results today!

      The major upgrade concerns the frame itself. As much as I like the simplistic RIBBA design with the narrow borders, it has a few drawbacks when it comes to adding sensors, which cannot be mounted properly behind glass or just don’t work there. This is true e.g. for the Grove gesture sensor, which needs a free sight to trigger it.

      Further, I thought of some LED strips and wanted to make some space inside the frame and to relocate the RCWL-516 Doppler sensor. Although it works flawlessly behind glass, I didn’t like the position it was mounted to.
      So I decided to add covers on the top and the bottom of the frame which should enclose the gesture and Doppler sensors neatly.

      But the question was, what design should the covers have, what material and how to accomplish the needed cut out for the gesture sensor?
      After quite some research, I concluded to manufacture them myself - as 3D printed parts. To keep it short: I bought a Creality Ender 3 Pro 3D printer for Christmas and started learning how to print things (…but this is a totally different story…).
      Since my print bed is not large enough I had to divide the covers into three equally long pieces and print them separately. To hide the cut edges I printed additionally some T-shaped covers and glued them over the edges.
      IMG_8067.jpg

      IMG_8066.jpg

      IMG_8065.jpg

      Last but not least I added an SD card extension to the RPi, which I mounted behind the lower cover. That way, I can easily access the SD card for e.g. backups without hanging the whole mirror up and down every time.
      IMG_8069.jpg

      Everything is now there where and how it should be, but I currently postponed the LED stuff to a later point in time.

      What I really love is the gesture sensor! It recognizes 9 different gestures and with the MMM-GroveGestures module you can configure various actions to be excecuted.
      For example, I now can do a swipe gesture to the left to switch to the next page or to the right to the previous page. Alternatively I could ask Alexa to do so, too, but I prefer the gestures. Another use case is when I want start (or stop) the Tagesschau 100 sek. video podcast (german news flash). I simply do a clockwise gesture and the video starts playing (…or stops, of course). There are certainly plenty of more options I could do, but for now its sufficient for my needs…any ideas are of course welcome.

      While I mainly just rearranged the position of a few modules on the first page and added the MMM-COVID19-SPARKLINE module, I added a dedicated page which displays the status of a few of my Homematic, Netatmo and Philips Hue components and the RPi status. A third page provides a live video stream from the web cam I mounted to my 3D printer to check my prints remotely :smiling_face_with_heart-eyes:
      IMG_8073.jpg

      IMG_8074.jpg

      IMG_8075.jpg

      If you want to print the covers or adopt them to your own RIBBA frame, I uploaded the stl and f3d files to thingiverse (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4263344) to your convenience.
      In that course, I also found a neat mount for the Echo Dot to mount it properly inside the frame.
      IMG_8079.jpg

      IMG_8071.jpg

      IMG_8070.jpg

      Following MMMs were added:

      • MMM-GroveGestures (Thank you to @sean)
      • MMM-Tools (Thank you to @sean again)
      • MMM-Homematic (Thank you to the unknown developer)
      • mmm-hue-lights (Thank you to @michael5r)
      • MMM-Netatmo (Thank you to @CFenner)
      • MMM-pages (Thank you to @edward-shen)
      • MMM-page-indicator (Thank you to @edward-shen again)
      • octomirror-module (Thank you to @shbatm)
      • MMM-COVID19-SPARKLINE (Thank you to @skelliam)

      Thanks for reading and #StayHealthy #StayHome
      Fozi

      posted in Show your Mirror
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: UPDATE: Replaced my PIR-Sensor with a Doppler Microwave Sensor.

      @cowboysdude
      You only use Vin (5V), Vout and GND. CDS (for applying a photo diode) and 3V3 (delivers 3.3V output) remain unused. For Vout you can use also oher GPIO pins (labeled “Digital I/O” in the 2nd diagram), in case GPIO_4 is already used.

      The ferrite bead is optional. It is a left over from the PIR sensor I had attached. If you may need one, you can dismantle an old VGA cable and use that one.
      Here the wireing diagram:

      0_1575707860693_Bildschirmfoto 2019-12-07 um 09.36.59.png
      0_1575708199060_Bildschirmfoto 2019-12-07 um 09.42.07.png

      posted in Tutorials
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: MMM-Tool stopped displaying in 2.17.1

      @mmrize Thanks a lot for your response!
      After reading through my emails this morning, I deeply regret that you had to hand over ownership and maintenance of your modules. Apparently, your regrets are partially deeper than mine, when you see what happened to your babies.

      Last night, after @swvalenti pointed me to the new owner’s forum, I opened there an issue and requested support. A very nice guy tried to help me late at night, but in the end the owner himself closed and locked publicly my issue in an unexpected, rude and passively aggressive manor (see last comment in thread), of course without solving the issue.

      So, I solved quickly the issue by myself by kicking out the module from my config, as well as any other module maintained by the new owner. I am sorry, that it unfortunately hit your module, cause I liked it and I had it installed from the very beginning.

      Anyways, live goes on :sun_with_face:

      posted in Troubleshooting
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: UPDATE: Replaced my PIR-Sensor with a Doppler Microwave Sensor.

      Hi folks,

      sooner than expected I modified the sensor with a trimmer resistor.
      For that I also updated my initial post and enhanced the tutorial, where now both options are described. Enjoy and give me your feedback, how that works for you.

      posted in Tutorials
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: Regions

      @Mykle1 ouh damned…your concerns are absolutely justified. Haven’t hought of that. Thanks for pointing me to that.:thumbs_up_light_skin_tone:

      posted in Core System
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: MMM-RAIN-MAP (new: version 2.x)

      @Jalibu the module is still running fine. No problems whatsoever.

      posted in Utilities
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: Total Newbie 24" MagicMirror (Munich, Germany)

      @thedoorsfanatic that look great!
      BTW, I live close to Munich, too😁

      posted in Show your Mirror
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: UPDATE: Replaced my PIR-Sensor with a Doppler Microwave Sensor.

      @lavolp3 I have placed the sensor inside the box along the center axis, so that there is a gap of ca. 1cm to the front and the back of the box.
      the UN-taped frontside is directly touching the glass. The top, bottom as well as the left and right side are taped, too. Only the front is not taped.
      In the scetch below you can see how I adjusted the sensor inside the box as seen from the side.
      Two reasons why I set the sensor in the middle of the box:

      1. Direct contact with the tape prohibited fully the detection.
      2. The taped top, bottom and lateral sides reduce the detection angle like a funnel compared to having the sensor mounted directly to the untaped front.

      An additional resistor is not necessary, as it goes in high state when motion is detected (just like a PIR).

      Hard to say what the detection range really is after that mod. My bathroom is really small but I would guess that if should be 2m or mor to the front.

      Cross-section through the box:
      ||                                |
      ||               ||               |
      ||  1 cm gap     ||   1cm gap     |
      ||                                |
      taped          sensor         UN-taped 
      backside                      front to the mirror
      
      posted in Tutorials
      FoziF
      Fozi

    Latest posts made by Fozi

    • RE: my Netatmo weather module has not been working

      @sil3ntstorm you’re welcome!

      posted in Troubleshooting
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: my Netatmo weather module has not been working

      @sil3ntstorm Yeah, Netatmo have changed the refresh token and access token mechanism.
      This is the solution:

      1. Disable or delete your current app with clientID, client secret, refresh token, etc. and create a new app.
      2. There you’ll receive a new clientID and client secret, which you insert in config.js
      3. In the section “Token Generator” you select the scope
      read_station
      

      and click on “generate token”.
      4. Then you should receive a new access token and refresh token
      5. Enter the new refresh token in config.js
      6. And now the special “trick”: add the attribute accessToken in the module configuration, like that:

      accessToken: "xxxxxxxxxxxxxx|yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy",
      

      Netatmo requires now a valid accessToken during authentication.

      Save the config.js and restart the mirror. Everything should work now.

      posted in Troubleshooting
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: How to turn off Raspberry Pi LEDs

      @GuestMirror Try this in bootconfig.txt

      # Turn off PWR LED
      dtparam=pwr_led_trigger=none
      dtparam=pwr_led_activelow=off
       
      # Turn off ACT LED
      dtparam=act_led_trigger=none
      dtparam=act_led_activelow=off
       
      # Turn off Ethernet ACT LED
      dtparam=eth_led0=4
       
      # Turn off Ethernet LNK LED
      dtparam=eth_led1=4
      
      posted in System
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: Raspberry Pi 3B+ low voltage

      @sdetweil LOL…right, I do the same:beaming_face_with_smiling_eyes:
      I tried to explain to @N6NG that the amperage the PSU delivers is not decisive for his problem, esp. for the RPi, which practically never reaches the max power spec of a PSU. It is the linearity and constancy of the voltage.
      I see too many post e.g. on reddit, where people have similar problems with their 3D printers and attached RPis and unfortunatelly every time the get the advice to get a PSU with higher amps.

      @N6NG : Oh, by the way…If you are using a USB extension cable, then remove it and plug the PSU directly into the RPi. Depending on the quality of the extension cable (which is commonly low), there might be a voltage drop of due to the resistance of the cable, which results in lower input voltage on the RPi.

      posted in Hardware
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: Calendar randomly stops updating itself

      @sdetweil Yeah, I see… When I setup calendar quite some time ago I remember that I had some trouble, too.
      What I did -I cant’t remember why because it is undocumented- was to change
      from

      timeFormat: "absolute",
      

      to

      timeFormat: "HH:mm",
      

      That is a shot in the dark, but might help, too.

      posted in Troubleshooting
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: Calendar randomly stops updating itself

      @outlying Just for assurance:
      The calendar URLs you’re posting are the real ones or just abbreviated for privacy here?

      posted in Troubleshooting
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: MMM-Spotify having trouble with authentification

      @Jack_Gregorski Are you using a free or premium account? The free account will not work. See https://github.com/skuethe/MMM-Spotify#restrictions

      posted in Troubleshooting
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: Raspberry Pi 3B+ low voltage

      @N6NG The key is to have a power supply which provides constantly and reliably the specified VOLTAGE. Thus, the warning states “Low Voltage”. The amperage, which the power supply can provide is of secondary interest.
      The PSU can deliver a much higher amperage than the 2.5A, but that doesn’t mean that the RPi will also draw them. This is the maximum amperage that the PSU could deliver. The RPi draws only as much current (amperage) as currently need (depending on attached USB devices, read/write cycles to SD card, processor loads, Wifi usage, etc.), while voltage remains constant. So, the power and amperage drawn from the PSU varies lineraly over time (at constant voltage).

      For example:
      Power = voltage x amperage, also known as P=U x I
      The maximum deliverable power for the RPi is: 5V x 2.5A = 12.5W.
      But as said before, the RPi doesn’t consume that much power. Usually it hovers something around 1W - 3W, depending on usage (or calculated in amperage 0.2A - 0.6A).

      That said, amperage is sufficiently provided by the PSU, what you want is constant voltage at minimum 5V. Higher amperage will not solve the problem. You could also try to find a PSU which provides 5.1V or 5.2V for the RPi. That small increase in voltage can be handled easily by the RPi. A search on Amazon might be successful.

      EDIT: And stay away from mobile phone chargers connected to the RPi with a USB cable. That will hardly work reliably.

      posted in Hardware
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: MMM-WeatherBackground

      @bhepler Your update for OpenWeatherForecast works with me! Thanks for your effort!

      posted in Utilities
      FoziF
      Fozi
    • RE: Default weather module not showing after MM update

      @sdetweil I updated with your script and had no issues at all. Everything is fine.

      posted in Troubleshooting
      FoziF
      Fozi