Raspberry Pi OS Alternatives
Last Update: 30 January 2023 - MotionEyeOS
Another attempted page save from ventures.tpedersen.net, Broken links are likely.
----- Original Plan -----
This page may be used to chronicle tests of alternative distributions and operating systems on Raspberry Pi computers. Simply playing with more and more options for my PIs and decided to log my antics. This page will morph as I experiment and will likely be notes to self, tailored to my world, but may be useful to others. Expected to be long/slow/low priority project - similar to my AAO OS Alternative quest, will probably be more active in the winter. Suggestions Welcome
.
Summary
(Test Notes & observations below the test table)
2023 Tests - Here we go again!
Jan 2023 - MotionEyeOS - Turns RPI into Video Surveillance System. Nice! Works very well!
Favorites as of 2023
Manjaro KDE Plasma on RPi4 w/SSD - My primary desktop for past 3+ years! Great!
DietPi: Used for remote or server-like projects. HomePi, CutiePi, SentinelPi ...
-----------
2022 Tests
Nov 2022: Mycroft AI via Picroft. Apparently stalled project, but F-U-N! It works too!
MX Linux- Unofficial RPi respin. Looks good! I'll check in on this one again. Notes below
Raspberry Pi OS (Bullseye 64-bit). OK, will keep it running so I have latest/greatest
Comitup - VERY Handy! Niche distro: "Wifi Network Bootstrap for the Raspberry Pi" - notes below
RetroPie - Fun one! Retrogaming (Arcade, PC, Video emulators). Works GREAT - notes below
January 2022 - Current favorites
Manjaro KDE Plasma on RPi4 w/SSD - Has been my primary desktop for a few years now. Runs Great!
Q4OS has been rock-solid for my GramPi users (XP Look-a-Like)
DietPi: is still my GoTo for remote or server-like projects. HomePi, CutiePi
-----------
2021 Tests
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2020 Tests
Arch Linux via RaspArch. I bricked it and aborted testing.
Plasma Big Screen - Quick peek @ Beta. Nice
NEMS Linux - Nagios Enterprise Monitoring Server for RPi.
Very Well done, runs great. Little overkill for our home network
Kano OS - DIY system for kids, REALLY NICE! Future uncertain.
Ubuntu-Mate - Ubuntu on RPI. Aborted tests
Sugar on a Stick - from Sugar Labs & OLPC project. Done, it works
RPI update: Raspberry PI OS (PKA Rasbian) - OK, but more than a name change!
Endless OS 3.7.8 (ARM) - still Preview/Beta(?)
Looked REALLY good, will follow the project and retry w/ next releaseManjaro - Played w/ it a few years ago on x86. Arm now avail.
RPi 4 KDE Plasma Version - LOOKS & WORKS GREAT!
RPi 4 XFCE Version - Seemed nice, but not for me.
openSUSE - Done for now. Not ready, I'll watch for Leap versions
openSUSE RPi4 (XFCE/Tumbleweed) - Works, but rough
openSUSE RPi4 Enlightenment E20 ... Will wait for Leap
Jan 2020 - New Year! Favorites as of 1/1/2020
Buster Raspbian on my PI 4 for now (via Noobs to be safe), Stretch everywhere else
Q4OS: still no RPI Buster version (waited a while for Stretch too)
DietPi: by far the best/easiest for server-like jobs. Struggles with Buster here too, sticking with DietPi Stretch Legacy Image
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2019 Tests
Interesting Project: RPi-QEMU-x86-wine - Runs x86 win apps!
win98-pi image seemed to work - it's win98!
RPi-Stretch-qemu-x86 - in process
FreeBSD 12.0 - Simple curiosity - twas slow, missing a lot
NetPi Plus - Handheld Network probe
Kali Linux 2019.1 just out! Arm is easier now
Fedora 29 - Tried ARMv7 & aarch64. Disappointed.
Mozilla IoT Gateway v0.6.1 - still early, but coming along VERY well.
-----------
2018 Tests
Early 2018: Random OS testing, as usual
Hands down favorite was DietPi - VERY Nice foundationMid/Late 2018: Tested mostly Home Automation distros
No finalist for our Home Automation Cleanup ... yetFind of the Year was Q4OS - used to replace dying windows desktops
Q4OS 2.6 Desktop - Working great for my XP replacement project
Home Automation quest continues (not done yet)
OpenHABian - Not for me, but VERY formidable! Quite a bit of tech-tweaking to get it up and running, but appears to be transforming from config files to GUI for config/maint. Worth a look - I may revisit in the future - My Notes
Added thethingbox.io to my ToDo list - very interesting.
Tagline from site: "A ready to use SDCard for Raspberry Pi featuring Node-RED and The Internet of Things technologies, easy to use with a graphical interface"
Aborted testing Home Assistant via HassOS - too many struggles.
Home Assistant via DietPi is working pretty well
Interesting ThreatPost article: Open MQTT Servers Raise Physical Threats in Smart Homes. Added separate categories for Security documentation & accommodations. Much to learn, will stick to local access/use for now
OpenHABian (openhab.org) - Vendor/Tech agnostic, popular
Home Assistant - Popular/Active project. Two test scenarios:
Home Assistant via DietPi - Add HA to our HomePi
This is my first choice: Use an existing multipurpose Pi for HAHome Assistant via Hass.io (HassOS, new in July 2018)
Read Hass.io 2018 Blog Post for background
Mozilla IoT Gateway Redo - Up and comer? Still has a ways to go
Running list of Raspberry Pi IoT/Home Automation possibilities.
Mr House (I like the name) - looks like perl, an adventure!
PiDome - Looks half-baked, but will keep an eye on it
MajorDomo Home - appears to be active project
Fhem - perl!
MyController.org - appears to be companion proj for DIY mysensors.org
OpenMotics - opensource software and hardware - interesting
Jeedom.com - open source or prebuilt
Smarthomatic.org - Opensource with concentration on devices
HomeGenie.it - Opensource focused on Integration
thethingbox.io - A ready to use RPI image w/ Node-RED and IoT technologies, graphical interface
<Yeeesh! there are more than I thought!>
Home Assistant (via Hass.io) - Home Automation Platform
Built a RPI v1 based Honeypot using Honeeepi - fun one!
Mozilla IoT Gateway to see what Project Things is all about
More Stretch: Worked thru jessie to stretch update, went very well - I'm sold
DietPi - Lightweight/optimized/simplified Raspbian - Great!
Raspbian Stretch - Time to upgrade mi Pi's - looks really good
Parrot OS 3.10 - Security/Pen Testing Distro. Works, will revisit again
-----------
2017 Tests
RPI w/ Touch Screen
Adafuit's PiTFT 3.5 Kernel image - OS worked great. A few notes, will be using for Touch Screen development environment
Re4son's Kali-PI. Preconfigured image that includes TFT Touchscreen interface to Kali Security Tools. See notes: Twas a struggle, aborted for now (using touch screen for another project).
Played with Retropie 4.3 - retro gaming for xmas. Not for me, but it did work (w/ considerable fiddling)
Q4OS tested - Works great on RPI3!
Excellent potential for another RPI project (Desktop replacement)Kali Linux on a RPI 2. Security/Pen Testing tool
Built a Pi based KRACK test gizmo, but tested a number of Kali tools too
Test Table/Scorecard
(Now a google sheet with tabs by year. Sheet is maintained independently from page & test notes)
Notes/Observations
2023 Test Notes
Overall: Works Great! Webcam/Video Surveillance distro - comes as a bootable RPi image .... I forgot abut this thing! It's nice!
Observations: OS development stalled, I'll run it under DietPi, they incorporated the latest MotionEye project (Python)
Tagline: "motionEyeOS is a Linux distribution that turns a single-board computer into a video surveillance system"
Motivation: Started building a wecbam gizmo to watch for Deer in our backyard ... this is MUCH easier!
Install Notes:
Amazingly simple (Download/write image/boot) installation @ https://github.com/motioneye-project/motioneyeos/wiki/Installation
Booted w/ RPI Model B (Very old RPI 1) w/ keyboard/trackpad & monitor. Monitor and Keyboard really not necessary.
Connect via http://<RPiIP> ... pretty darn simple. All config done via web interface
Added a couple of web cams - one via RTSP, the other http://<IP>/video.cgi - VERY easy
ssh uc/pw is same as Admin set up in web gui. Really no reason to ssh into this thing other than to explore Buildroot (embedded OS)
Nice - Samba and FTP pre-installed and working
Works very well, but I'll stop here and install on an existing Dietpi Server - makes more sense in my world
2022 Test Notes
Overall: AI/Smart Speaker sort of a thing! it works, it's easy ... and ... It's fun! I'll keep playing and probably dissect this thing ...
Tagline: "Picroft is a ready-made way to run Mycroft on a Raspberry Pi 3, 3B+ or 4 and is provided as a disk image that you can burn to a Micro SD card."
Motivation: Mycroft AI is an interesting project. Simply curious and may be interested in some of the underpinnings
See Also: https://github.com/MycroftAI
Install Notes:
Everything, including install instructions @ https://mycroft-ai.gitbook.io/docs/using-mycroft-ai/get-mycroft/picroft
Booted w/ RPI3B+, keyboard/trackpad, monitor (with hdmi sound) and usb logitech webcam (for usb mic)
ssh'ed in using pi/mycroft credentials and simply followed prompts
Welcome to Picroft. This image is designed to make getting started with
Mycroft quick and easy. Would you like help setting up your system?
Y)es, I'd like the guided setup.
N)ope, just get me a command line and get out of my way!
Choice [Y/N]: Y
Installed a bunch of stuff ... before hardware setup dialog:
=========================================================================
HARDWARE SETUP
How do you want Mycroft to output audio:
1) Speakers via 3.5mm output (aka 'audio jack' or 'headphone jack')
2) HDMI audio (e.g. a TV or monitor with built-in speakers)
3) USB audio (e.g. a USB soundcard or USB mic/speaker combo)
4) Google AIY Voice HAT and microphone board (Voice Kit v1)
5) ReSpeaker Mic Array v2.0 (speaker plugged in to Mic board)
Choice [1-5]:2
Let's test and adjust the volume:
1-9) Set volume level (1-quietest, 9=loudest)
T)est
R)eboot (needed if you just plugged in a USB speaker)
D)one!
Level [1-9/T/D/R]: 9
The final step is Microphone configuration:
As a voice assistant, Mycroft needs to access a microphone to operate.
Please ensure your microphone is connected and select from the following
list of microphones:
1) PlayStation Eye (USB)
2) Blue Snoball ICE (USB)
3) Matrix Voice HAT.
4) Other USB microphone (unsupported -- good luck!)
Choice [1-4]: 4
I did an alsamixer here to set the default sound card to Logitech cam/mic (c525)
Rebooooot-a-roooooo!
Came right up, tested speaker volume and mic
Went thru pairing per instructions @ https://mycroft-ai.gitbook.io/docs/using-mycroft-ai/pairing-your-device
// I've been here before! These are the Plasma BigScreen guys? or Plasma BigScreen uses Mycroft? //sudo raspi-config to setup Wifi but you also may be able to talk Mycroft into doing it!
Underware
Looks to be built on Raspbian Buster circa 2020. Had to update InRelease stuff to get apt working:
sudo apt-get update --allow-releaseinfo-changeAlso appears to update itself, downloaded zip was marked v20.08 but Mycroft tells me I am on latest, v21.2.2
Release notes for 21.2.1 are @ https://mycroft.ai/blog/mycroft-core-v21-2-1-released/
Hardware
Scattered/limited testing here, not really a typical OS Alternative for the RPI ...
Monitor, USB keyboard, network (eth and wlan) all seem fine right out of the box
Audio-in: Doc mentioned Logitech c525 (camera) for mic - I had one of these, seems to work fine
Audio-out seemed fine via HDMI monitor with speakers. I didn't mess with other audio output options, but would expect some tweaking
RPI3B+ appears to handle the load fine, 16-20% CPU when idling & responsive - snappy comebacks!
Software
Lots to learn/play with here! I am particularly interested in the underpinnings (opensource speech, AI, et al).
See also https://mycroft.ai/initiatives/List of skills @ https://market.mycroft.ai/skills. Easiest to have Mycroft install these via "Hey Mycroft install skill <skill name>"
More? @ https://github.com/MycroftAI/mycroft-skillsLots of how-to-run clues displayed when you ssh into this guy ...
Linux picroft 5.4.51-v7+ #1333 SMP Mon Aug 10 16:45:19 BST 2020 armv7l
The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.
Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
Last login: Mon Nov 28 00:25:28 2022 from 192.168.11.102
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***********************************************************************
** Picroft enclosure platform version: Buster Keaton - Pork Pi
**
2022-11-28 13:51:07.749 | WARNING | 32690 | mycroft.configuration.config:_log_old_location_deprecation:186 |
===============================================
== DEPRECATION WARNING ==
===============================================
You still have a config file at /home/pi/.mycroft/mycroft.conf
Note that this location is deprecated and will not be used in the future
Please move it to /home/pi/.config/mycroft
mycroft-core: 21.2.2 ( master )
***********************************************************************
Mycroft is your open source voice assistant. Full source
can be found at: /home/pi/mycroft-core
Mycroft-specific commands you can use from the Linux command prompt:
mycroft-cli-client Command line client, useful for debugging
mycroft-msm Mycroft Skills Manager, to manage your Skills
mycroft-start Launch/restart Mycroft services
mycroft-stop Stop Mycroft services
Scripting Utilities:
mycroft-listen Activate the microphone to listen for a command
mycroft-speak <phr> Have Mycroft speak a phrase to the user
mycroft-say-to <utt> Send an utterance to Mycroft as if spoken by a user
Mycroft's Python Virtual Environment (venv) control:
mycroft-pip Install a Python package within the venv
mycroft-venv-activate Enter the venv
mycroft-venv-deactivate Exit the venv
Skill Development:
mycroft-msk Mycroft Skills Kit, create and share Skills
mycroft-skill-testrunner Run integration tests on Mycroft Skills
Other:
mycroft-config Manage your local Mycroft configuration files
mycroft-mic-test Record and playback to directly test microphone
mycroft-help Display this message
For more information, see https://mycroft.ai/documentation
***********************************************************************
In a few moments you will see the Mycroft CLI (command line interface).
Hit Ctrl+C to return to the Linux command line. You can launch the CLI
again by entering: mycroft-cli-client
Initializing...
Starting cli
Lots of whining about configuration files in the wrong place during boot up, so I moved a couple per instructions:
$ sudo mv /home/pi/.mycroft_cli.conf /home/pi/.config/mycroft/mycroft_cli.conf
$ sudo mv /home/pi/.mycroft/mycroft.conf /home/pi/.config/mycroft/mycroft.confRandom links and commands (just to keep them around - I'm fumbling around for doc)
MyCroft configuration tool @ https://mycroft-ai.gitbook.io/docs/using-mycroft-ai/customizations/config-manager
Config appears to be stacked - Default, which may be overridden @ Remote, which may be overridden @ User
See current config via: mycroft-config show
Mimic is interesting for TTS (potentially useful for one of my projects). Lots to learn here
Mimic 1
Overview @ https://mycroft-ai.gitbook.io/docs/mycroft-technologies/mimic-tts/mimic-overview
located @ /home/pi/mycroft-core/mimic
List voices via ./mimic -lv
Mimic 2 (may be default in Picroft image). Announcement @ https://mycroft.ai/blog/mimic-2-is-live/
Mimic 3 appears to take more horsepower (RPI4).
Info @ https://mycroft-ai.gitbook.io/docs/mycroft-technologies/mimic-tts/mimic-3
Enough ... I'll play with MANY pieces of this thing! Will also move to RPI4 to see how advanced stuff works (e.g mimic3)
Overall: VERY Impressed, I'll be back ... Just a quick peek @ beta release, testing here/there as I stumbled around
Popular Linux OS. Will test on AAO *and* RPi for the heck of it.
MX Linux Tagline: "Midweight Simple Stable Desktop OS"
RPI Version: This one was listed as an "Unofficial Respin of MX Linux" ... Looks to be active project
Mar 2022 Beta Release info @ https://mxlinux.org/blog/mx-linux-raspberry-pi-respin-ragout2-beta/
Motivation: Seems to be up-and-coming distro, also interested in Fluxbox.
Install Notes:
Testing with Downloaded Initial microsd burn using Raspberry Pi Imager
Working with Beta Version RPi Unofficial Respin - MX-Fluxbox Ragout
Booted right up
Setup Icon on desktop: Raspberry Pi Configurator popped up!
My usual mods: Change Password, Set Hostname, SSH, Localisation
Update notification after reboot ... took a couple of minutes
Software - VERY well equipped right out of the box:
Fluxbox is NICE! Very clean/simple. Tested with March 2022 Beta
RaspOS underneath the sheets ... 32-bit, but apparently sluggish on RPI3. I tested on 2g RPI4, it was fine
MANY preinstalled programs VERY well organized! I'll be checking some of these!
I forgot about Conky! Check out Conky Manager
GKrellM - simple/nice Monitor
Many handy looking "MX" utilities
Looking forward to Pale Moon browser (must have saw it listed somewhere) ... but not here
Just Chromium again
Hardware
Didn't take time to test everything, but should be as good as RaspOS, I'd think
Bluetooth didn't work, I could see devices and some appeared to pair but nothing worked
Probably fiddle-able into working but I didn't mess with it. Odd messages logged ... like:
bluetoothd[896]: input-hog profile accept failed for xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Overall: Works OK but still lags behind Manjaro (my favorite) as a day-to-day 64-bit GUI/Desktop.
Tagline: "Your Raspberry Pi needs an operating system to work. This is it. Raspberry Pi OS (previously called Raspbian) is our official supported operating system."
Motivation: Haven't spent much time on latest RaspOS desktop, decided to give it a try again. Secondly, something bad happened to my 32-bit RaspOS (upgraded to Bullseye, I think). When booted on RPi 4 Ethernet would NOT come up! Decided to start fresh *and* try 64-bit.
Install Notes:
Initial microsd burn using Raspberry Pi Imager (it is nice!)
Official documentation seems to have received an update/facelift @ www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/. Looks better
I think this is the quickstart: www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/getting-started.htmlInitial Boot: Forgot to take note, but I'm pretty sure install forced a password change, setting Local (Country/Language) and forced software update
Still had to walk through GUI Raspberry Pi Configurator:
System Tab: Set Hostname (I may have changed password here too)
Display Tab: Hey! Screen Blanking!! It also seems to work! Turns off backlight when idle (see notes below)
Also a "Headless Resolution" setting here ...
(I'll have to think that one through ... and visit www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/configuration.html#setting-up-a-headless-raspberry-pi)Interfaces Tab: Looks about the same. Enabled SSH & VNC (for me)
Performance Tab: Fan/Fan GPIO and Fan Temp look new! Luckily the new documentation is searchable!
I found this helpful hint in the doc: "Fan: Set the behaviour of a GPIO connected fan" (reminds me of zork!).
I'll keep running my fan via 3.3V for now, it runs constantly but is quiet and seems to idle around 35c ... no sign of throttling. At somepoint I'll look into a fancier setup like: https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2020/raspberry-pi-4-has-fan-now-case-fan
Hardware Tests
Bluetooth: Seems MUCH better (more stable). Only took 2 tries to connected some of these things!
Decided to re-test some of the desktop stuff I use:BT Speaker was MUCH easier than last time - rt-click speaker in menubar. Speaker fell asleep and RPi switched back to Audio Jack
Logitech Triathlon mouse! Paired on the second try - that is pretty good for Raspos!
RPi 4 seems to have very good BT. It sees distant devices that others nearby gizmos don't even list
Power Management: Installed xfce4-power-manager, but seems to monitor BT & wireless device batteries! Nice!
hdmi_blanking (powering off display backlight) appears to be fixed! A long-time personal annoyance. VERY interesting, tho ...
Doc explicitly states that it is NOT fixed on raspberry pi 4 ... per note @ www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/config_txt.html#hdmi_blanking
"NOTE On the Raspberry Pi 4, setting hdmi_blanking=1 will not cause the HDMI output to be switched off, since this feature has not yet been implemented. This feature may cause issues when using applications which don’t use the framebuffer, such as omxplayer."Appears to be set exclusively via raspi-config (or gui Raspberry Pi Configuration) using Display->Screen Blanking option.
There was no sign of "hdmi_blanking" option in /boot/config.txt
Networking:
Network Participation (samba et al) ... MUCH better than Manjaro!
Go->Network in file manager seems to find them all!Ethernet came up fine of fresh install
Wifi seems to work fine
VNC was weird - It looked like I was getting constant connections (127.0.0.1). Took a look at VNC release notes and noticed that 64-bit server was JUST released for rpi4. Updated manually (via vnc download, not apt) and things seem to have settled down. Went from vncserver v6.7 to 6.9
Will keep it running for RPi development
Overall: THIS Looks REALLY Good! Interesting RPi image designed to help with headless RPi installations (no keyboard or Monitor). Offers up a web-based WiFi Access Point at a known location (e.g. http://comitup-xxx.local) that can be accessed to connect the image to available WiFi Networks!
Tagline: "Wifi Network Bootstrap for the Raspberry Pi"
Motivation: I have a number of Raspberry Pi projects that are used by friends and relatives. I either have to carefully pre-configure these for other's WiFi networks or sit down with a keyboard and monitor and physically install the contraptions. My plan was to find code to include in my projects to help with this initial connection conundrum. Comitup offered a preconfigured Raspberry Pi image - PERFECT for initial investigation!
Install/Testing:
Download image from https://davesteele.github.io/comitup/. SHA/PGP sigs and package info thoughtfully provided. I went with Lite version for initial playtime
Burned to an age-old 8g Micro SD using my new fav - Raspberry Pi Imager
Booted up on RPI3B+ w/no Networking (Ethernet)
Boots up WITH comitup running ... Connected to SSID=comitup-xxx from my laptop and selected local WiFi
After initial connect, WiFi is set (but not via wpa_supplicant) and subsequent reboots will continue to connect to specified SSID
RPIOS default user: pi/raspberry
SSH enabled at boot!
Looks to be a plain old RaspOS other than above!
"man comitup" to find my way around - Nice!
Interesting 'Locate' option that blinks LED ... I see the need!
BOTTOM LINE: This thing looks Good! More work to do, but will keep the image around to learn/play.
I THINK I will need to incorporate Comitup into some of my projects rather than starting with this image (DietPi or Q4OS based). This looks doable too
Overall: Probably my 2021 Favorite - finally sitting down to note experiences here.he best find of 2021.
Tagline: "Retro-gaming on the Raspberry Pi"
Motivation: Working on an off-grid entertainment option for our new Camper. RetroPie ended up as foundation for our CamperPi entertainment gizmo. Retro video, arcade and dos games plus a Kodi 'Port' (plug-in) that will be used to serve up movies and music when needed while camping.
Install/Testing:
Used/Supported by video/arcade/computer game enthusiasts. See also: emulationstation.org and www.retroarch.com - worth the visit
Installed using official Raspberry Pi Imager. RetroPie is Listed under "Emulation and Game OS"
My recipe is @ tech.tpedersen.net/raspberry-pi/pi-recipes/camperpi-offgrid-play
Downloads are RPi hardware specific, I used RetroPie 4.7 for RPi1 and Zero.
Buster underpinnings, there is a new version 4.8 based on Bullseye, but I'll stick with what I have for now. It works GREAT!The gizmo takes some getting used to, there is no traditional GUI/Desktop, seems easier to configure/use via gamepad as opposed to Mouse/Keyboard.
// I bought a small rechargeable Keyboard/Track/gamepad thingy - details in CamperPi Recipe //Linux under the sheets - Raspberry Pi OS w/ SSH enabled
Very well documented. Start @ https://retropie.org.uk/docs/#what-is-retropie
Amazing number of emulators and gaming options. Many run original ROM code, others appear to be built as RetroPie (EmulationStation or RetroArch) Plug-In's called "Ports"
Amazing performance on Raspberry Pi Zero W. Gaming + 1080p movies w no studders (or Pi Throttling) even using a 550mA USB power source
// THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR - Something that would run on 12v camper power and NOT burn batteries //Enough of this, I'm knee deep in the Zork Trilogy (Free from infocom-if.org/downloads/downloads.html). Game/ROM options are almost overwhelming
2021 Test Notes
LibreELEC
Overall: So Far, So Good! MUCH better than OSMC for our Media Systems and old devices ...
Tagline: "Just enough OS for Kodi"
Motivation: We have a few "MoviePi" systems kicking around the family, All dedicated Media Servers at this point in time. OSMC has been a headache to maintain, LibreELEC seems to JUST WORK!
Install/Testing
Linux behind the scenes, very minimal but recognizable if you SSH in (default uc/pw=root/libreelec) to look around. I changed root password but didn't mess with any linux underpinnings. Looks like there are facilities to further tweak or secure @ OS level - e.g. README in iptables directory
My recipe is @ hmyttps://tech.tpedersen.net/raspberry-pi/pi-recipes/moviepi-smarttv
Booted right up
Devices I've been struggling with just worked - e.g. Old MCE Remotes
Add-on's that started failing on OSMC worked right out of the gate via LibreELEC
Crackle, YouTube and Google DriveKodi Config is not any easier, but install was MUCH better
Can't seem to turn Monitor (backlight off) when system not in use
Others seem to struggle here - https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/21780-rpi-3-libreelec-8-and-9-samsung-tv-can-t-get-kodi-screensaver-to-turn-off-backli/Initial test using Rpi2 Model B - Impressive performance. Movies seem to play fine! No stutter or pausing
Movie playing off of flash drive (1080p mkv) - 15%-20% CPU
Youtube Video - 15%-25% CPU
Google Drive (mp4) - 15%-20%<Still Testing>
Plasma Bigscreen
Overall: Just a quick peek ... Looks VERY interesting, will revisit once in a while to watch progression
Tagline: "This project is using various open-source components like Plasma Bigscreen, Mycroft AI and libcec with a modified KDE Neon img for the Raspberry Pi 4 to allow easy accessing content-related services on your TV."
Motivation: Stumbled upon this while I was working on a Big Screen Linux project of my own HAD to look!
It looks to be an early Beta. 3-4 months old
Install/Testing
Created SD using Etcher
Booted right up
Started looking around ... but THEN IT STARTED TALKING! Luckily monitor had hdmi audio!
Needed to register device @ home.mycroft.ai AND create an account
Dual Monitors worked, but probably not intended to use duals
seemed to move Big Screen to other monitor when I started an app
Lost primary monitor at some point
Click on second monitor when lost in UI to get back to main desktop
SSH mycroft@<ip>, pw mycroft
FYI: Exit an app using <alt><f4> on keyboard
Arch Linux
Overall: Not for me. I bricked it playing around. Has promise but will take some work. Pretty lean OS, quite a bit of installing and tweaking to make it yours!
Limited GUI help, be prepared to setup via terminal. Not for the novice or faint of heartMotivation: Need a faster LXDE based desktop for a project I'm working on. RaspOS was a pig!
Looks a bit more geeky/techie ... working thru archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv8/broadcom/raspberry-pi-3
RPi was not in website pulldown under platforms, but is listed here - https://archlinuxarm.org/platforms
Install/Testing
Decided to use image from https://sourceforge.net/projects/rasparch/. Had all apps I needed for test
Came up great
Still a quite a bit of terminal tweaking - even with Rasparch preinstalled applications
Pacman familiarity would be helpful!
Samba installed, but didn't see my network ... didn't spend much time in smb.conf to fix, tho
Most RPi hardware appeared to work, didnt finish all tests, tho
I buried the thing with activity - youtube, terminal sessions, many open windows.
Basically bricked it - failed to boot
NEMS Linux
Overall: VERY Nice!. A great way to play with Nagios! Probably an overkill for my needs.
Accidentally overwrote the SD card, didn't record some info. But its definitely worth a look.Motivation: Stumbled upon NEMS by accident, always curious about Nagios, looked like easy way to explore
nemslinux.com said: "Monitor Everything"
"NEMS is the Nagios Enterprise Monitoring Server for Single Board Computers"Started by working thru Nagios Enterprise Monitoring Server for Raspberry Pi.
Install/Testing
Install was painless - Etcher'd an SD card and booted
Headless server after initial install, access via SSH but mainly via browser. MANY Browser-based tools
Skipping a few hardware tests due to nature of this gizmo - e.g. audio, hdmi, etc
<more to come here>
Stumbled upon How to Set Up a Raspberry Pi Network Monitor after a few days of rummaging around on NEMS. Start there! Includes details on NEMS Install/Setup too
In a Nutshell
I did this via ssh was easiest for me, I cut/paste from tutorial to avoid type-o'ing
Watch for html replacement chars used in bash example: < change to < to get command working
Lots of Passwords in here - assign/watch carefully. I got myself all turned around on passwords
Once Cacti Installer came up (in browser) I had to fix a bunch of stuff to push on with tutorial.
Actually a very nice installer, you fix things and refresh page until all is wellHad a timezone error. Found this one to fix it
https://www.seanmancini.com/2019/02/fixing-cacti-timezone-installation-error/Some missing PHP modules ... I guessed at apt-get's here, but these did the trick for me.
sudo apt-get install php-gmp
sudo apt-get install php-ldap
sudo service apache2 restart (to get rid of 'web' errors after package installs)
MySQL system variable errors ... ended up being warnings, I THINK
I had what looked like errors in system variable section ... like collation_server. Fumbled around attempting to fix the all, but noticed that I could push the NEXT button on install page ... and simply 'pushed' on following tutorial ... in the end they were warnings! Installing!!!
Install takes a while. While I was waiting I checked out https://www.cacti.net/ because I HAD NO IDEA what I was doing or what was happening ... Interesting project!
2020 Test Notes
Endless OS
Overall: Looked REALLY good, possibly a little early. Follow project and retry.
VERY interesting OS! Simple, lots of software. May be easier than a Mac!Motivation: Future replacement for our family's Mac? Possibly grandkids first genpurpose compooter
Tagline: "Technology that Enriches Life. Endless OS comes with everything your family needs"See also hack-computer.com. EndlessOs is underpinning for Kids Computer project!
Notes in Raspberry Pi 4 Preview Release | Endless OS 3.7.7~beta1, Late Jan 2020. Downloaded 3.7.8
Install Notes
Downloaded via Torrent on this page endlessos.com/download. Not marked as beta, but ... unsure
Created SD using etcher ... used 32g micro sd due to size of disk image - 19g! Room for expansion!
Came right up, very simple install ... its different
Finding way around was different ... but simple
Looks like ARM version may still be evolving, but most things worked right out of the box
Settings available if you right click on user icon (initials) in lower right
Performance was so so. A youtube video pegs it, some clipping & studders
Stability ... some stumbles.
Seemed to have trouble waking up, even with non bluetooth keyboard/mouse.
I set Suspend & Power Button to off, simply let monitor blank after 15 MinsSettings app refused to run @ one point. Fine after reboot
Struggled to Restart @ another time. Had to power cycle
Didnt like to shut down ... seems to hang
Most Hardware worked
HDMI
No dual monitor options that I could see
HDMI Audio was low vol even when slider maxed. Had to alsamixer it up to hear
Networking
Ethernet worked fine
WiFi works ... but ... had to reconnect after reboot
Bluetooth worked well
it EVEN noticed our Smart TV and tried to pair with it ... will have to play with that!
Apple Magic mouse and keyboard came right up
It DID see BT smart TV ... this may be alternative monitor
Audio/Sound - no option for 3.5mm audio jack, hdmi sound only option
Lots of preinstalled apps. Arranged on desktop like a smartphone
Enough, will download and try again when next version comes out
Manjaro (XFCE)
Overall: Looked good, ran pretty well. Not for me tho. Aborted testing, too excited about KDE/Plasma version (see below)
Motivation: MiPi Project - my X86 Desktops are getting old, RPi 4 SHOULD be suitable replacement
See also Manjaro (KDE) below
Install Notes
Using slow 32g Micro SD again
Downloaded from https://manjaro.org/downloads/arm/raspberry-pi-4/arm8-raspberry-pi-4-xfce/
Etcher to create SD ... yada yada
Booted up fine, same install menu as KDE/Plasma
Bluetooth Keyboard - apple (A1314) and logitech mouse (M720 Triathalon) paired right up!
updated via gui (panel notification), couple of errors.
Not as glitzy as Plasma, basic gui and tools - e.g. System monitor is Terminal with Htop running
Didn't know how to log into network drives - not much time spent on it
Ran thru initial tests, all seemed well - even places where kde/plasma struggled like bluetooth & Openshot editor. BUT ... doesn't have the look and feel I was looking for. I'm used to Cinnamon and Mac OSX
Actually seemed a little less responsive than KDE/Plasma ... surprised.
Manjaro (KDE)
Overall: Wow! Looks really good! Easy to use, surprisingly fast. Possibly my utopia
Currently my top choice in Search for RPi Desktop replacement. Will revisit w/ a better SD card! Antics HEREMotivation: MiPi Project - X86 Desktops are getting old, RPi 4 SHOULD be suitable replacement
Manjaro is apparently well regarded desktop distro. Have played with on x86 in the past - nice
From Manjaro.org: "a suitable replacement for Windows or MacOS"
Tagline: Enjoy the Simplicity" (Exactly what I'm looking for!)Started w/ KDE Plasma version - haven't seen plasma for a long time
Install Notes - have not found Arm install notes ... but haven't really needed them!!
Using slow 32g micro SD ... all I had available
Download from manjaro.org/downloads/arm/raspberry-pi-4/arm8-raspberry-pi-4-kde-plasma/
Oh, oh! Arm Documentation looks like skeleton page ... "This group don't use Wiki."
Created SD using Etcher on x86, of course
Booted RIGHT UP! ARM install menu
Wow! Keyboard List includes the Apple Magic keyboard I plan to use!
Stuck wireless with Logitech initiallyPrompted to add user and additional user groups - unsure how/what power default user has, so I added myself to wheel and power groups
I did get to set passwords during install - including root
Came Right up! Looks really nice!
ssh enabled by default - apparently no root access via ssh
hmmm ... its not apt-get or rpm or yum ... It's Pacman!
Appears to be skeletal RPi config.txt in /boot
Checklist run-down (see table above)
Things look good ... but will do updates first - from gui panel. 241 of them!
Oh Oh! Warnings: Error while configuring (x3), looks like it was working on Germany and japan! I may be OK in USA!
Update looked to be mostly KDE. Plasma from 5.18.1 to 5.18.3
On with checklist ...
Bluetooth - LOOKS like its working .... BUT ...
Apple Magic keyboard detected and connected, but doesn't work - I'll revisit this
Looks like I may have fumbled pairingLogitech BT Mouse (M720 Triathalon) - seems to connect and be avail, but no workie!
I'll revisit this - it sees BT stuff, I should be able to fiddle my way out of this!
HEY! Reboot and Voilà - BT Apple keyboard and Logitech BT Mouse came right up!
Audio - LOOKS good!
VERY Happy to hear HDMI audio - my raspbian/cinnamon stopped working!
3.5mm Audio jack - no go, will revisit this. I can see it in Alsamixer, it'll work
Displays/Dual Monitors - Dual Monitors worked right out of the gates
Something strange - programs appear to pop up on Monitor #2, Not sure why, but behavior seems normal once they are closed/repopened
Everything seems to work as its supposed to! Nice Change!
No Temp Monitor that I could find
Installed cpu-temp-speed, CLI, but it works
WiFi worked fine - looks like it can create a hotspot! Added to my ToDo list to try.
Performance is looking really good - youtube video runs great w/ approx 34% CPU utilization, temp 38C - This is MUCH better than raspbian/cinnamon contraption I've been using!
Apps - Repository looks great - Installed a dozen or so apps that I use, spot checked
Openshot video editor fails at launch - looked repairable: python undefined symbol
EVERYTHING ELSE SEEMED TO WORK *and* performed well!
Installed ksystemlog, did not see log viewer
openSUSE (XFCE)
Overall: Looks nice! Probably a little early.
Motivation: MiPi Project - X86 Desktops are getting old (me too), RPi 4 SHOULD be suitable replacement
openSUSE is pretty well know Desktop world, may try a couple of these
Started with Tumbleweed XFCE from download.opensuse.org/ports/aarch64/tumbleweed/images/
Release info @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSUSE#Distribution
RPi Sing-a-long: https://en.opensuse.org/HCL:Raspberry_Pi4
Install Notes:
Dowloaded from http://download.opensuse.org/ports/aarch64/tumbleweed/images/
Using slow 32g Micro SD PNC - only one I had avail
Imaged SD using etcher.io, worked fine
Booted right up! U/P=root/linux
Started with wireless USB keyboard and trackpad
SSH enabled by default
Ran YaST online update (from start menu) - hmmm? nothing installed
Networking - Ethernet and Wifi - seemed fine right out of the box
Will have to do some fiddling to get other stuff working ... looks to be worth the effort
Stumbled through YaST update, looks like I got alsa, bluetooth stuff & more
Installed blueman - didn't detect bluetooth hardware
Similar for Audio - no hardware detected
Found YaST hardware Info - seemed like a lot of Pi hardware not detected
Enough for now ... I'll revisit when there is a Leap version
Kano OS
Overall: Looks & Works VERY WELL! BUT...Future is uncertain. Will watch and explore using open source parts (Parental controls, for example). Sad if this was killed off, it was pretty well thought out and cool!
Hold the Phone! This Dec 2019 Techcrunch article suggests RPi underpinning is being replaced by Windoze! No wonder install image was Stretch and dated October 2019! I hope it stays alive in opensource community!
I set a watch a couple of threads on community board ...
Motivation: Looking for starter environment for 4 year old.
Install Notes
Created 8g boot SD using Etcher
Install is is VERY cool, it's interactive, designed for kid. Introduces computer while gathering setup info
'Whats your name?" -> user info
Interactive audio test guided me to 3.5mm output
Trackpad setup/test
Background Colors
Personal Icon
Kano World Account - with Parent permission! Nicely done!
Aftermath
Settings->Advanced includes
SSH Client (sshd)
Parental Controls - looks good!
Still Rasbian behind the scenes - apt-get for missing stuff
LXTerminal in Apps under Code tab
Hardware/Software Tests - Pi hardware seems good, some config options are tough to find or non-existent
Seemed to prefer keyboard+trackpad. my K400r was perfect, mouse/keyboard would prob be fine
Insisted on 3.5mm audio during install, easily changed to hdmi
Also forced WiFi during setup, Ethernet would prob work with a tweak or two
No apparent power management
Bluetooth was there and configurable, noticed some devices but didn't see my mouse.
Samba wasn't installed
Very well thought out and easy to use
Performance was good EXCEPT when browsing - Chromium sucks it all up!
Guide to Parental Controls - Slider was hard to see on my display, but it was there! Looks REALLY good!
Apps - Nice library. Prob 50 apps or so
Sort of a combination of local apps and web-based (Kano World)
Easy to add apps to main screen
Standard apps seem to focus on learning to use computer and programming (blocks)
Wow! Original Adventure! plugh! Nice/fun!
Terminal Quest teaches linux commands/terminal use!
Ubuntu-Mate
Overall: Aborted. Will try next beta (64-bit). Couldn't stabilize on my RPI3+. Ended up bricking it
Motivation - Just realized I've never really tried Ubuntu on RPI!
2 possible interests:Looking for starter environment for 4 year old grandkid ... preschool+
If this works, I may be able to install remnants of Edubuntu (ubuntu-edu-preschool)Have been looking for OS capable of replacing my main desktop - MiPi Project
Currently using Manjaro, but has been sort of one step forward, one step back progress
Ubuntu-mate.org/about/ - Also had Experimental 64-bit on website
Install Notes
Etcher'ed a 16g SD
Booted up fine - one goofy message "sdhost-bmc2835 already registered, aborting..."
Installer is nice - came right up
Fumbled with mate preferences, ultimately found raspi-config via terminal
SSh enabled but never got it working
/boot/config.txt appeared to be standard RPI
Very difficult to use - mouse/keystroke delays, but didn't see processors pegged - odd
Ended up rebooting to see if I could regain control but bricked it, wouldn't boot back into GUI
- "EXT4-fs error loading journal" ... didn't mess with it
Sugar OS
Overall: It works, seems dated. Interesting though, I'll keep image around to revisit
OLPC has used Sugar for years, interesting project. Sugar on a Stick (SoaS) for quickstartMotivation: Looking for starter environment for 4 year old.
Sugar is more of a Learning Platform, evolves as child grows. wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/What_is_Sugar
SoaS is bootable image for pi, Fedora based (bad luck with Fedora on RPI in past, but quick way to start)
Should be able to install Sugar on OS of my choice if it works out
Install Notes
Documentation is sort of spread around, will start here:
https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Tutorials/Installation/Install_with_liveinstIt's different! REALLY DIFFERENT!
Friggin Fedora! Re-downloaded to retrace my install steps and hung in Fedora Installer
Problem appears to be Fedora 32 from SoaA download page
Reverted back to Fedora 31 and life was much better
https://archives.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/31/Spins/armhfp/images/Fedora-SoaS-armhfp-31-1.9-sda.raw.xz
Initial setup via Fedora Anaconda
hint: set WiFi here, I fumbled with Net Config in Sugar GUI
Normal Setup, timezone, users ...
Sugar Initial Setup
Create user
Select Grade - options were: Preschool, K-7, High School or Adult
Nav Notes:
Move Mouse Pointer to any corner to reveal Neighborhood, Group, Home, Activity & Journal
Right Click on X-Stickman in middle for Settings, shutdown/restart, etc
List View (upper right icon) to enable/disable other apps. Including terminal, Sys Logs,
Hardware - most appear to work, may have to dig into Fedora to config
Bluetooth - looked like Bluetoothctl was installed, but didn't test/fiddle
Network Adapters
Ethernet worked right out of the gate. Had to boot to switch to WiFi
WiFi worked. Set up is in 'Neighborhood'. But odd - SSID's appeared/disappeared
Networking - different, not samba-like. Peer2peer mesh neighborhood
Looks like Mic and Camera would help for many apps
Apps/Software - see http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/.
Not overly active, many older apps but a few added in past 2 years
Look/Feel is dated
Interesting 'Collections' of apps, like "Preschool"
Preinstalled Apps are interesting, not sure setting 'grade' during setup adjusts
Developer Resources @ https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-docs
Raspberry PI OS
Overall: More than a name change. Should be OK on fresh installs, not sure about upgrading
Motivation: Tagline: "Raspberry PI OS is the new Raspbian" ... BUT ...
... Something changed, I updated (dist-upgrade) my old development RPi and noticed much has changed in official dist *and* some important environmental stuff broke (e.g. Wireless, Sound maybe more. I had to restore DevPi from saved image). Decided to give it a whirl as fresh install.Install Notes - Will follow recommended install @ https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/
Downloaded official RPI Imager (imager_amd64.deb). HEY! No arm version?!
Here Weee GO! "Error: Dependency is not satisfiable: libqt5core5a (>=5.9.0~beta)"
Will do Mint updates first ... was a tad behind. NOPE That didn't fix it!
Ended up attempting install from Mint Repo via Software Manager
Mint version of Imager was flatpak install that DID NOTHING!
"systemd[1496]: Started app-flatpak-org.raspberrypi.rpi\x2dimager-5501.scope."Aborted - created SD using etcher! Yeeesh! This is going to be interesting!
Initial Boot: Welcome to Raspberry Pi dialog
Set Country *and* Language *and* Keyboard
Force Password change
Set up Screen
Set up Wifi (if necessary - I skipped)
Forces Software Update
Ran Raspberry Pi Config GUI before initial reboot
Set Hostname
Enabled SSH (Interfaces tab)
<Customary initial Reboot>
Quick Hardware tests
Bluetooth - Still pretty flaky
paired w/ Mouse (logitech) FIRST TRY!
Apple Magic Keyboard, got pairing code but Connection Failed
"GDBus.Error:org.bluez.Error.Failed: Input/Output error. Try to connect manually"Tried to manually connect - still I/O error
Boot for heck of it - Re-paired keyboard, STILL wouldn't connect
BT is still pretty clumsy: failures, connections, recognizing devices when adding ...
Networking - Seemed fine here
Ethernet worked out of the box
WiFi connected
Audio - A little flaky too! WTF
// I'd guess this is side effect of treating Audio as 2 devices mentioned in release notes: "Internal audio outputs enabled as separate ALSA devices" and blog announcementHDMI Audio worked fine right out of the box
3.5mm Jack Failed
Via GUI taskbar: changed from HDMI to Analog, but still HDMI audio
Reboot and Analog seemed to be working ... THEN couldn't switch to HDMI!
Bottomline - it takes a boot to switch audio sources
Appears to take a reboot after switch to/from HDMI or Analog ... both work after boot
Power Management
DPMS, powering off monitor STILL doesn't work w/o a tweak (pet peeve)
No sign of power management in GUI ... I'm sure I could stumble thru install
Software - Didn't test too much, a few notes:
Browser (chromium) hit me up with Raspberry Pi User Research survey on initial run - That's Fine
BUT ... browser also popped up "Can't Update Chromium". That shouldn't be after updates!Noticed "Raspberry Pi Diagnostics" under Accessories ... only 1 option: SD Card speedtest
Bookshelf app is new - See Blog Announcement, you can download RPi books and magazines
Networking
(samba) worked fine
Side Note: WiFi was fine on clean install, but goofed upped on the Pi I have been using and upgrading for years. Possibly 2 network managers?
Other RPI's: Booted SD on a few other versions of the RPI, just for heck of it. VERY quick tests!
RPI3B+: Original test machine, couple of minor issues (see above). idle @ 37C w/ fan & heatsinks
RPI4: Booted fine, Dual Monitors worked, temp seemed good - 35C w/ fan and heatsinks
RPI3: Booted fine, seem to work fine. idle temp around 45C heatsinks only
RPI2: Booted/Worked time. WiFi via Edimax adapter worked fine, 37C w/ heatsinks only
RPI1: Booted! Slow/unresponsive at times. Wifi via Edimax adapter seemed to drop/reconnect.
2019 Test Notes
RPi-QEMU-x86-wine
Overall: Lost interest. There was some potential on RPI4, but not for my project. RPI4 is too Hot!
Motivation: Learning experience: QEMU+Wine. IF it works, I'll add x86 emulation to Pi 4 GramPi!
QEMU info @ https://www.qemu.org/
RPI 4 thread to watch @ https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1507593
Install Notes:
win98-pi.zip = "Raspbian Lite based image which boots straight into Windows 98 (qEmu)"
Started with win98-pi.zip image, flashed 8g SD using Etcher
Whoa! It IS win 98! My mouse (or trackpad) didnt work, but I looked around with win keyboard!
No network, Win 98 Second Edition 4.10.2222A, actually RUNS PRETTY WELL on Pi 3B+!
SSH server is running - pi/raspberry login
Impressive, but not what I was looking for ... will retry with other image!
FreeBSD 12.0
Overall: it runs, takes a lot of work. Not for the faint of heart ....
Motivation: Haven't played with FreeBSD for decades! RPI is a simple way to check it out.
Started w/ this doc - https://wiki.freebsd.org/FreeBSD/arm/Raspberry%20Pi
Install Notes:
Started with RPI2 image, Etcher seemed to work fine to create SD
Boots very sloowwly
Came up fine - default users were root/root or freebsd/freebsd
Ethernet and SSH came up after install ... that was nice
Quite plain-jane (CLI), but may play with installing GUI
VERY little pre-installed - even had to install package management ... Sloooow
Didn't bother to test audio
wifi - some futzing. See handbook config-network-setup & network-wireless.
EDIMAX usb was detected, but I had to do some tweaking/configuring to get it rollingInstalled wpa_supplicant
pkg install wpa_supplicantcreated minimal /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
# cat /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
network={
ssid="<ssid>"
psk="<passkey>"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}dmesg to see device info and find adapter
rtwn0 on uhub1
rtwn0: <Realtek 802.11n WLAN Adapter, class 0/0, rev 2.00/2.00, addr 4> on usbus0
rtwn0: MAC/BB RTL8188CUS, RF 6052 1T1RAdded interface using ifconfig
ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev rtwn0bring it up: Ifconfig wlan0 up
and a boot or two during the process
x/gui ... reserve some time, it's like the good old days: /handbook/x11.html
Got x11 installed and working, but never found a display mgr to try.
gnome3, kde5, xfce4 in handbook, but not found in repositoryGave up
NetPi Plus
Overall: May require a tweak or two - but nice! Came up nicely ... nice suite of pre-installed net tools.
Prob not for me - pretty small screen, but I'll dig into design and tools, lots to learn here.Motivation: Stumbled upon this - looking for a probe like gizmo to keep an eye on our internet connection
Looks like site is being recovered from a hit - rebuild in process, not all images downloadable at this point - will test w/ stuff that's there initially, may need to revist ...
Nice/Simple - designed for small touchscreen ... too bad it wasn't not MY Touchscreen. Hardware dependent
Install Notes:
Hardware is a tad specific - I'll need to tweak to get my TFT display working, but that's OK
SSH & VNC seems to work in meantime - VNC seems to be good representationRaspbian Stretch under the hood
'Stealth' mode hangs my Pi - may dig in later
'Active' Mode - Ping, Trace Route, Speed Test, ETH0/WLAN details, Note pad with popup keyboard & network diagramer/eye test
'Pen Test' Mode - Port Scan, Wireshark, Wardrive (no worky)
<still playing>
To replace Kuman 3.5in LCD by my Adafruit PiTFT Plus 3.5 (P2411B) ...I stumbled thru the following with this sing-a-long from adafruit - https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pitft-3-dot-5-touch-screen-for-raspberry-pi/overview
First: Switch back to HDMI
cd ./LCD-show/
./LCD-hdmi
Then ... sing-a-long @ https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pitft-3-dot-5-touch-screen-for-raspberry-pi/overview
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adafruit/Raspberry-Pi-Installer-Scripts/master/adafruit-pitft.sh
chmod +x adafruit-pitft.sh
sudo ./adafruit-pitft.sh (installs PiTFT)Finally, reboot and calibrate as needed.
Kali 2019.1
Overall: Aborted - I accidentally overwrote the Kali sd card, never finished testing. Will retry in future...
It came up nicely, a little light in terms of available tools - significant subset of Kali from what I sawMotivation: Interested in a RPI-based network security probe, simply to watch over 'things' on our network
Install Notes:
Whoops! Shot one of my toes off right out of the gate!
Download RPI images from www.offensive-security.com/kali-linux-arm-images instead of main download page. First image (kali-linux-light-2019.1-armhf.img) did NOTHING!
Started with image marked Kali Linux RaspberryPi 2 and 3. Will play with on RPI 3 & RPI2
Created 8g sd boot using my new favorite - Etcher.io - and image=kali-linux-2019.1-rpi3-nexmon.img.xz
Came right up on RPI3 - some prompt to create windows or something - I clicked on 'default'
Oh! I See! Initial dialog was probably for setting up xfce panel and such! Pretty much a blank desktop w/ app menu via right mouse click ... I should read those messages! There is a Panel icon is setting to put things right - remember to save setting when you logoff
SSH was live right out of the box
No Audio, first glance thru /boot/config.txt looked like much/all commented out
Software? Attempted to apt-get a few familiar tools - nothing found yet. It is what it is? Vim?
MetaSploit came right up - I've been interested in this for a long time. Much to learn
Abort - I'll redo this one in the future
Fedora 29
Overall: Didn't go well ... Quite unstable/wobbly. Odd hangs & periods where it was painfully slow.
I even backtracked, started over w/ aarch64 image ... I must have done something wrong!
Motivation: Working on a separate Redhat project, need to bring myself back up to speed, Pi will be handy.
Also my first/fav flavor of Linux a looong time ago, well deserving of a RPI boot!Reads:
StackExchange PiDora vs Fedora ARM thread (circa 2015, updated in 2017)
Settled on Fedora Arm over PiDora, which seemed a tad stale
Install notes - https://arm.fedoraproject.org/
Yikes! MANY flavors - KDE, Xfce, LXDE, Mate, Sugar ... Chose default: Fedora Workstation
Arm Doc is here -> https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM
Tried both armv7 and aarch64 images on RPI3 B+
Used etcher.io to create SD's
This thing was VERY slow/nonresponsive at times. Updates Hard to tell what was going on?
It settled down over time and was quite usable, but VERY strange/slow episodes.Ghastly slow/buried Pi with first run of firefox. Couldn't even get monitor up to see what was going on
Killed FireFox, fired-up monitor and relaunched FF - ran fine, of course! Watched pot! Updates?
Still a tad slow (jerky mouse pointer) after clean boot. nothing obvious, settled down after a few
Odd hang in middle of the night - on signon screen clock display was alternating between two times approx an hour apart.
Stability & Performance skitzy - I ran monitor and log viewer most of the time. Hard to tell what was going on
Hardware
Ethernet: worked out of the box, but some odd messages during boot - link not ready BS
Bluetooth: Flakey
Fumbled getting BT Apple Keyboard working, had to connect USB kb initially
BT Speaker seemed to make BT struggle for its life before dying - system log "Hardware error"
Power Management: Good! Even showed battery levels for BT keyboard *and* put monitor to sleep
BUT ... Auto Screen Lock screwed me, could not get login screen up had to bootAudio: HDMI sound worked out of the get-go, no obvious access to 3.5mm jack.
BT speaker was a fail - recognized as audio (headphones), seemed to try hard to pair, but no worky
2018 Test Notes
Honeeepi
Overall: Great way to experiment with a variety of Honeypots - I'll keep mine running for a while
Project is a little stale (older OS & tools), no changes since 2016
If/when I deploy a honeypot, I'll probably build one with latest/greatest version of selected toolsThere is more here than doc describes - found a number of additional tools (see list below)
Moved mine to a RPI v1 Model B w/ edimax wifi adapter, works fine
Motivation: Have had a Honeypot on ToDo list for a very long time - curious, interested in learning more
Notes - singing along @ https://redmine.honeynet.org/projects/honeeepi/wiki
Image didn't boot on PI Zero (of course) ... worked fine on RPI 3 via ethernet
Switched to RPI 1 Model B, works fine with USB WiFi (edimax adapter)
dhcp and ssh (@ port 9002) on by default
Hmmm? Had to sudo apt-get install raspi-config ... Doc mentioned it, but it wasn't there
Had a couple of unscheduled reboots - may have been my impatience on RPI 1
32g SD is probably an overkill for testing/playing, I re-imaged with a 16g SD for my purposes
Apps/Addons appear to come from raspbian repo (jesse), I found what I needed to play
Commandline WiFi setup (I forgot) @ https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/wireless/wireless-cli.md
Honeypot playtime - quite a few preinstalled tools - even some that were not in doc
Glastopf v3.1.3-dev: Web App HoneyPot - project is winding down, glastopf.org -> mushmush.org
Came right up on Honeeepi ... Played a little, may revisit
Marked as 'Maintenance' status on mushmush.org
Know Your Tool paper is interesting - how it works
Github project @ https://github.com/mushorg/glastopf
Looks like snare is new web app honeypot used in conjunction with tanner ('the brains')
Conpot v0.5.1: Industrial Controls Honeypot - very interesting - more @ http://conpot.org/
Honeeepi includes a number of ICS templates - meter, ipmi, tank monitor, etc
Seemed to fire up and run, but I need to learn MUCH more
Github project @ https://github.com/mushorg/conpot - seems to be active/current
Dionaea v0.1.0: Captures attack payloads and malware. Looks interesting (for IoT?), but will take effort
Seemed to run initially, but aborted on subsequent attempts - need to play more
Project may have changed hands - https://www.honeynet.org/project/Dionaea, but lots-o broken links
This doc looks pretty good - https://dionaea.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
Github project @ https://github.com/DinoTools/dionaea
Cowrie v2016/08/22 : Telnet and SSH (and more?) Honeypot.
Seems to run right out the box, some research and fiddling to do. I trapped myself accidentally!
Homepage & Doc @ http://www.micheloosterhof.com/cowrie/
Github project @ https://github.com/micheloosterhof/cowrie
Kippo: Bruteforce SSH Honeypot
Was in doc, but no sign of Kippo on honeeepi I downloaded
Github project @ https://github.com/desaster/kippo
Did not attempt to install yet
Amun v0.1.1: A Python Honeypot - Looks like an old project (last update 2014)
HowTo not in Honeeepi doc - worked off of files in /honeeepi/amum and got it running - no testing
Start w/ instructions in INSTALL file - will take some poking to really play
Project appears to be @ https://sourceforge.net/projects/amunhoney/
Honeyd v1.6d: Honeypot Daemon - virtual hosts w/ various personalities (OS, apps, etc)
Was not listed in Honeepi doc, but installed and seems to work
Start @ /honeepi/honeyd/README and/or man honeyd
Old project - circa 2007 - website is alive @ http://www.honeyd.org
Snort v2.9.7.0 GRE (Build 149) - Intrusion Detection
Noted in honeeepi doc but no instructions - it does seem to be installed and functional
A long road, but start @ snort.org there is a lot to this one
Right/wrong or not knowing any better, here's what I ran to test
sudo snort -d -h 192.168.1.0/24 -l /home/pi/log -c /etc/snort/snort.conf
ntopng v2.5.160924 - Traffic Analysis (nice)
Also noted in honeepi project notes but no instructions - it also DOES seem to be there & work!
Looks like a trial license - runs for a few minutes? Mine ran beyond expiration
Doc @ https://www.ntop.org/support/documentation/documentation/
To get it rolling
Start the service via sudo service ntopng start
point browser to http://<honeeepi-ip>:3000
login as admin/admin
Stop via sudo service ntopng stop (of course)
<Still sniffing around ... quite a bit on here ... possibly more to come>
Odds-N-ends
Nice list of Honeypots @ https://github.com/paralax/awesome-honeypots
Mozilla Things Gateway
Overall: Early, but looks VERY promising!
Gateway is still under development (Experimental), but definitely worth following this project
I'll keep my IoT gateway alive and continue playing as the project matures
Gateway Remote Access appears to be well thought out - has been a DIY obstacle for me
I need zigbee & z-wave for my smart world - wonder if there is a combo USB
Experimental - Announced in Feb 2018
Motivation: Ongoing attempt to tame our 'Smart Home' - too many hubs & apps and untrusted cloud collectors/controllers
Notes as I go - https://iot.mozilla.org/gateway/
Quick/Small download and painless sd create via etcher
Booted right up
It's headless, OS access not intended - no login or ssh or GUI by default
You can add file called 'ssh' to boot partition if you really need to poke around
I initially logged in via Ethernet cable, but looks like I should have connected to its WiFi Hostspot
Accessed via http://gateway.local
Created https://<myhub>.mozilla-iot.org during initial setup (bookmark/remember it)
RPI V2 w/ EDIMAX WiFi adapter seemed to work fine ... but I'll redo on RPI3 for bluetooth
RPI3 redo - this time following the instructions(!) and a WeMo Switch to see how this thing works
Setup via phone by connecting to "Mozilla IOT Gateway" SSID
Did an update just to get the witches out - updated to 0.3.1
RPI3 redo AGAIN - this time I WILL REALLY follow instructions
Etcher.io is really nice! It even burns sd using zipped image
Didn't forget to update - back to 0.3.1
Reclaimed my domain from previous install - that took a while
Odd behavior on macbook via chrome (coudnt access menu) - switched to linux desktop, chrome worked fine.
Crap! No WeMo! Current hardware support @ github.com/mozilla-iot/wiki/wiki/Supported-Hardware
Installed GPIO adapter for time being
how2 @ github.com/mozilla-iot/wiki/wiki/Configuring-GPIO-for-use-with-the-gpio-adapter
Hooked upped my breadboard, will play with gateway like this for a while
DietPi
Overall on DietPi: Works GREAT! I think it may be my new starting point for Raspbian PI projects!
Working on a couple of server-like projects, DietPi seems like a great quick-start - Looks nice!
Lightweight/Optimized OS: "Give your single-board computer lightweight justice."
Interesting comparison to Rasbian Lite
Install guide @ http://dietpi.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9#p9
Versions for a wide variety of Single Board Computers - some very interesting alternatives on web site
Notes
Very small/quick download (like 80M zip file) contains image, hash and readme
Booted up and dropped me right into install menu, quite nice- EVEN via SSH!
Appeared to expand FS automatically, looks like much will be done
username/pw: root/dietpi
DietPi-Config is quite nice - quick setup/customization. Notes
Display - GPU/RAM memory split is nice + LCD Panel addon (but not mine)
Audio - Quite a few soundcards preset
Performance tune is nice - Overclock profiles!
Network/NAS setup in config seems handy
Tools/Benchmarks in config: great idea for tweaking!
Software installs
Nice collection of 'Optimized' software - Desktops, Remote access, etc
Additional software in menu appears to be subset of Raspbian repository
I installed favorite loose-ends manually using sudo apt-get
Some VERY interesting optimized software - actually distracted me from initial project
RPi-Monitor: web interface system stats. More info rpi-experiences.blogspot.fr/p/rpi-monitor.html
Shairport-sync preinstalled *and* functional! Huge time saver for HomePi and CutiePi updates
MotionEye: web interface & surveillance for your camera - DietPi Notes
Home Assistant: open-source home automation platform
CloudPrint: print server for google cloud print - It's CUPS!
Remot3.it: (Weaved) access your device over the internet (one of my favs)
<there are A LOT of great packages in here - Full Details & Doc HERE>
Notes from testing
Audio - use dietpi-config to change soundcard/output options (e.g. hdmi to 3.5mm)
Little bump w/wifi - seemed to have dropped connection, re-ran install while wired ... will revisit
Network shares - Little fumbling to turn on ... samba appears to be option in dietpi-config
Multiple GUI desktops offered, I used LXDE, worked great on RPI v2
Still no sign of power management (DPMS, specifically)
Rebooted my test SD (8g) on a PI Zero just for the heck of it ... quite impressive
RPi-Monitor, MotionEye (w/camera), Home Assistant and Remot3.it installed and running
Idles around 2%-10% CPU (not counting htop)
Running approx 15% CPU with MotionEye (streaming video)
Shairportsync wouldn't run - blew-up (illegal Inst) - I didn't mess with it
Simply a quick little test, but performance looked very promising
Raspbian Stretch
Overall on Stretch: Time to Upgrade. Looks REALLY good. Raspbian is coming along nicely!
Current release of RPI official OS, played w/ this a few months ago - time to revisit and upgrade!
Notes
Decided to start via NOOBS. Wanted to see other OSes offered up during install - Nothing of interest
Install is VERY EASY via NOOBS
Hardware/peripherals worked right out of the box - even a bluetooth speaker
Noticed FTP feature in GUI file manager - VERY Handy feature!
Stumbled upon a nice jessie to stretch update HowTo, seemed to work well
Parrot OS
Overall on Parrot: Looked GOOD on RPI 2! A little light on preinstalled tools, will revisit again
I will Redo this one with a larger SD (8g was tight) and test using a RPI 3
listed as 'experimental' on downloads page ... https://www.parrotsec.org/download-other.fx
Still digging around for readme/release notes, etc - https://cdimage.parrotsec.org/parrot/iso/arm/rpi/
Parrot Security Project @ https://www.parrotsec.org/index.php
"... GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian designed with Security, Development and Privacy in mind."I've been waiting for this one! Switched to Parrot for security testing a while ago on my netbook.
nice selection of security tools - better than Kali, IMHO
Install notes
Initial tests on RPI2 w/ Edimax Wifi adapter and 8g SD, will redo on PI 3 if I decide to keep it around
Automatically expanded filesystem on initial boot
Firefox kept rolling over (crash) when it first came up
upgraded to see if FF would settle (apt-get upgrade) - Took hours!
Firefox still crashing, installed FF ESR (atp-get install firefox-esr)
Firefox settled down after reboot - not sure if reboot or ESR install or combination fixed it
Updates/Software
Had to set a root password - strange authentication errors during AutoUpdate & some app startups
(sudo passwd root). Default password supposed to be toor, but I had to set itStrange warning when software installed, supposedly simply an FYI sort of warning
W: http: aptMethod::Configuration: could not load seccomp policy: Invalid argumentLooks like a well stocked software repository - Synaptic Software MGR is easy
No sound via hdmi or 3.5mm jack - didn't fiddle with it, but noticed that alsa stuff was installed
Performance was respectable - even on RPI V2! Very responsive/usable
One little glitch/hang that forced a reboot late in install - when futzing with Firefoxes. No details
Pretty tight on 8g SD card! I'd say 16g minimum if you are planning on capturing traffic
Apps
Appears to be subset of tools that normally come pre-installed w/ Parrot ... will dig more
Rats! No OpenVAS vulnerability scanner, it was nice to have it preinstalled on Parrot
Quick test of a few apps that would be handy on this thing
Wireshark seemed to work. Watched net traffic on ethernet and wifi (edimax usb)
Nmap/Zenmap worked fine
Etherape OK
many more to test here
Mozilla Things Gateway
Overall - This thing looks GREAT! Still early/preview state, but I'll probably buy a Zigbee adapter when the next version is released. Looks like a potential Smartthings Hub replacement. I'll Keep testing this one
Main site = Mozolla Things Gateway
This is a redo of some testing earlier in year (see below)
Started from scratch - noticed new release of Things Gateway - 0.6.1 (oct 2018)
Motivation: Smartthings is a POS! Latest version of Moz Gateway supposedly handles ST Sensors w/ Zigbee Adapter, of course. Have also been looking for an easy GPIO interface and/or roll-your-own.
Couple of good reads:
Original Web-of-Things overview @ https://hacks.mozilla.org/2017/06/building-the-web-of-things/
Things Framework to build your own @ https://iot.mozilla.org/things/
Web Thing API Draft Specification @ https://iot.mozilla.org/specification/
Install notes
Singing along with https://hacks.mozilla.org/2018/02/how-to-build-your-own-private-smart-home-with-a-raspberry-pi-and-mozillas-things-gateway/
Pretty simple install/boot -
Raspbian, Resizes fs on first boot
Acts like an AP - Connect to "Mozilla IoT Gateway" SSID to setup WiFi
BUT ... never asked for password, consequently never came up on our WiFiLogged in as pi/raspbian and raspi-config to get it on our WiFi network
Ack! Reflashed, I must have done something wrong!
Razin Frazin - worked better last time ... connected it to a wire to get thru initial setup & WiFi config
Logged in as pi/raspberry and enabled ssh (raspi-config) - had a feeling it would be handy!
Added subdomain because I want to see how tunneling will work ...
email confirmation request failed like this:
This site can’t provide a secure connection
api.mozilla-iot.org sent an invalid response.
ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR
Connect to gateway.local via browser - nope, that didn't work w/ chrome or safari. Connected via http://<ip>
** Correction: Connecting using https://gateway.local works fine ... my network issue **Initial scan for things (+) came up empty
Add-ons - quite a few listed, selected the following
DateTime Adapter seemed useful (sunrise/sunset, etc)
GPIO Adapter! I'll need that!
Homekit
Philips Hue
Wemo
Nice UI!
Still needs some technical tweaks, but simple, browser-based and easy to use!
Rules/Automation seems to be VERY simple - nice UI!
Security looks pretty well thought out. I need to think it thru a bit, but looks pretty good!
Remote access info @ https://github.com/mozilla-iot/wiki/wiki/Gateway-Remote-Access
Seems to use pagekite.net
Our World/Things ( See also https://github.com/mozilla-iot/wiki/wiki/Supported-Hardware)
Use Settings/Add-ons to find/add Adapters for your world ... some interesting Add-ons in here!
Detected a couple of things - Didn't spend a lot of time here
GPIO - this will be important for me. Singing along with instructions
@ https://github.com/mozilla-iot/wiki/wiki/Configuring-GPIO-for-use-with-the-gpio-adapter
and @ https://www.npmjs.com/package/onoff (this looks nice btw)Pretty easy setup - when they say 'pin' they mean GPIO#
I'm going to
WeMo - Found the Switch, didn't find motion detector
HUE (old/original bridge) - took its time, but found HUE bridge and bulbs.
Some granular controls like color, but didnt see others - brightness, etc
Smartthings - No Smartthings hub adapter BUT Moz gateway supports a number of smartthings adapters directly - IF you have a Zigbee Adapter. THIS IS VERY APPEALING because smarthings sucks!
Apple Homekit - appears to interface with Homebridge (I have to think that thru too!)
Q4OS 2.6
Overall: Couple of little bumps, but is working great now! I like Q4OS a LOT! Waited a quite a while for the Scorpion Release on RPI. Focused on a complete desktop environment on the ARM architecture
Motivation: Trinity Desktop was GREAT start for my XP look-a-like project.
Notes as I go
Etcher.io is really the way to go to burn OS images to SDs. It even burns from zip file
SD booted right up and resized filesystem (using a 16g SD)
Login was default raspbian: User=pi, PW=raspberry
Nice initial startup, detected hardware, set language, forced password change
Chose "Full Featured ..." desktop from Desktop Profiler Menu. 540M
Profiler does all package installs ... looks to be Stretch
Ack! Profiler exited with error code 70 aft approx 10 mins.
"Please try again in a few minutes". Looks like something failed to download
Reran Profiler, ran fine
Performance was pretty good EXCELLENT on RPI3B+. Very Usable!
Seemed a little sluggish initially, but actually did quite well running youtube video (chromium) while tweaking, installing and testing. RPI3 avg load probably around 50%
Q4OS struggled the last time I tested it, could be Raspbian Stretch
Installed RPI-Monitor to keep an eye on it while I test ... Nice utility BTW
https://rpi-experiences.blogspot.com/p/rpi-monitor-installation.htmlRan a quite a few tests on GUI watching utilization and temp on Pi3B+
... seems good with video/audio streaming on Chromium, Firefox ESR not so good
Even tested hangouts using a usb webcam - possibilities!
Running thru normal Raspbian config per https://www.q4os.org/dqa010.html
Audio - HDMI Audio worked right out of the box, prepare to tweak to get other stuff working
Did not get bluetooth speaker working - but confident it can be done
Did not figure out how to switch to 3.5mm output - tried to force via raspi-config ... failed
Did not spend a lot of time playing with Kmix
WiFi works, but is quirky - I had to set it up using raspi-config,
desktop tray/app thingy (TDENetworkManager?) doesn't seem to work ... I just hid it
I set a wifi network via raspi-config to get wifi working
There is a PowerSave feature! I've been looking for Monitor power off capabilities (DPMS)!
Odd - shows battery state(?) *and* 84% charged?
Monitor didn't shut off, will keep putzing here
Got it! Stumbled my way into thru rpi /boot/config.txt file using https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/config-txt/README.md.
Lots of interesting stuff in here ...
hdmi_blanking=1... this did the trick, turns off HDMI.
This is not a Q4OS feature/option, essentially RPI BIOS equivalent. How2 is now Here
Network Participant
Windows shares worked right out of the box
Network printers worked fine too - CUPS 2.2.1
USB - Worked great
Automounted removable drive
Webcam worked right out of the box - tested with VLC Media Player
(Logitech HD Webcam C525, Portable HD 720p* - $40 via Amazon.com in Mar 2014)Standard USB Mouse/Keyboard seem fine too ... will need these for my little proj
Config/Usage
Struggling with kmenuedit: Attempting to adjust Start Menu. May be my Trinity Desktop IQ
If you unlock panel (right click on start) you can switch between Menu styles - I liked 'kickoff' best
VERY easy to use if you dumb it down, remove unnecessary icons and such
So far so good! OK GOOD GREAT! on RPI3B+
Had VERY good experience on support forum - Figured out WiFi glitch, very responsive
OpenHABian
Overall: Abandoned this one for now, may revisit in the future. It is complicated, partially due to transition-in-process from v1 (raw config files) to v2 (GUI helpers). Project is very active, I'll revisit in the future
Looks Formidable! Backed by openhabfoundation.org
Main Website @ https://www.openhab.org/
Some fun quotes from Doc:
"A home automation enthusiast doesn't have to be a Linux enthusiast!"
"The good news: openHABian helps you to stay away from Linux - The bad news: Not for long..."
Motivation: Decided to fireup OpenHAB up to compare/contrast with Home Assistant
Working though setup @ https://www.openhab.org/docs/installation/openhabian.html#quick-start
Notes as I go
Misc Hardware/Test notes
WiFi - worked fine, config using openhabian-config - there is no raspbian-config
TFT Touch Screen: Didn't test, but there is potential, see this note
@ community.openhab.org/t/raspi-7-touch-display-as-openhab-gui-how-to/4113Bluetooth - there is a Binding
Installation takes a while (and a couple of reboots, if I recall)
v 2.3.0-1openhabian
Installing with no monitor ethernetted to our 'things' network segment to see if it discovers things
UI not responsive during install, so I took a peek via ssh openhabian@<myip> (pw=openhabian)
Looked like install died
2018-03-13_22:53:35_UTC [openHABian] Starting the openHABian initial setup.
2018-03-13_22:53:35_UTC [openHABian] Storing configuration... OK
2018-03-13_22:53:35_UTC [openHABian] Changing default username and password... OK
2018-03-13_22:53:36_UTC [openHABian] Setting up Ethernet connection... OK
2018-03-13_22:53:36_UTC [openHABian] Ensuring network connectivity... OK
2018-03-13_22:53:36_UTC [openHABian] Waiting for dpkg/apt to get ready... OK
2018-03-13_22:53:57_UTC [openHABian] Updating repositories and upgrading installed packages... FAILED
2018-09-06_12:04:05_UTC [openHABian] Initial setup exiting with an error!
REBOOT w/ no ssh peeking! Seemed to work fine this time
Chose "Standard Package (Recommended)" via UI @ http://<ip or host>:8080
Initial screen:Log Viewer @ http://<ip or host>:9001 - all seemed fine
Link to Help @ https://www.openhab.org/docs/installation/openhabian.html
Link to Homebuilder tool
Link to BasicUI Tool
HABPanel - dashboard builder. Looks nice
ssh openhabian@<myip>
sudo openhabian-config
doc @ https://www.openhab.org/docs/installation/openhabian.html#openhabian-configuration-toolStepped thru all items
Password must be > 10 (and hint for me)
Updated everything - "Upgrade System" appears to be to latest/greatest
Apply Improvements - Stepped thru all of these, looked like all were already installed on RPI image
Optional components - installed stuff that looked interesting or useful
(All installed stuff shows up on OpenHab start screen @ http://<ip or host>:8080)Log Viewer
Mosquitto (w/ a password)
Influxdb and Graphana - looks cool and seems to run @ http://<ip or host>:3000
but no clue yet. More info @ https://community.openhab.org/t/13761/1Node-RED - installed as root eventho it attempted to scare me off! I want to learn
Potential useful notes from installYou can now start Node-RED with the command node-red-start
or using the icon under Menu / Programming / Node-RED
Then point your browser to localhost:1880 or http://{your_pi_ip-address}:1880
System Settings - Hostname, Locale, Timezone. More here too
Backup/Restore - just to see. Setup Amanda Backup
More setup via browser interface @ http://<ip or host>:8080 using Paper UI
Working thru www.openhab.org/docs/installation/openhabian.html#first-steps-with-openhabConfiguration/System - Turned on Inbox Auto Approve and Item Linking/Simple and set regional settings (Lang, TZ, Region, etc)
Configuration/Bindings for a few of our 'Things' - WeMo was easy to test here
Took a read thru 'Concepts' section of doc
Never saw anything in my "Inbox", but managed to discover Hue and WeMo things and manually add to Control screen by selecting Channels and setting Room Name
Still a little Confusing - but I'm stumbling along making progress. LOTS of Doc. Recommendations for new users may help.
Config Tutorial @ www.openhab.org/docs/tutorial/configuration.html
Looks like I have to Create a Sitemap - time for ssh and an editor.
File Locations vary - found mine via
$ set | grep OPENHAB_CONF
OPENHAB_CONF=/etc/openhab2Used Home Builder to create sitemap, items and dashboard. Odd utility, no save button ... create, then copy/past into correct config file
Our World/Things (Configured using Paperui)
Philips Hue Hub (v1) - Configuration>Bindings: Added hue Binding
Bridge was discovered came up fine. Had to manually select 'Channels' for each bulb in Configuration>Things dialog to get them listed in Control Section of UI, but they work!WeMo - Configuration>Bindings: Added WeMo Binding. Motion and Switch worked fine
Switch - Detected switch - manually set Channel to get it to show up in Control area of UI.
WeMo Motion - Set Channel to get it to Control area,
GPIO - Hmmm, time to get the editor out to whip together some .cfg files
Cameras - No Bindings that I could see, some outside work on IP cameras tho on github @ github.com/thhart/openhab2-addons/tree/master/addons/binding/org.openhab.binding.camera
Smartthings - Didn't Test. Possibly Doable using Binding from project @ https://github.com/BobRak/OpenHAB-Smartthings/tree/master/org.openhab.binding.smartthings
Nest - Looks doable, there is a binding. I didn't go thru the motions to test
HomeKit - Binding exposes OpenHAB as HK Hub, didn't test this
Did not test Automations, but there is a facility
Enough for now - Will make a note and revisit this one in the future
Home Assistant (Hass.io)
Overall: A tad disappointing, more of a struggle to get this going than Hass via Dietpi. Aborted
Dietpi version simply worked better and has many nice features wrapped around (e.g. backups, autoupdate)Dedicated Pi running Hass.io (the new HassOS) - apparently the traditional way to run Home Assistant
Interested to compare/contrast config effort here vs Dietpi/Hass
Based on complexity of Home Automation a dedicated Pi probably makes sense
Testing on RP3 w/ 16g SD. 32g SD recommended, 16g seemed fine for testing
Motivation: Cleanup our home automation, utilize older switches and sensors built into our home *and* attempt to control cloud chatter (privacy)
Notes
Hass.io seems to have gotten major re-work in July 2018 - new OS under the hood
Installation: Singing along with https://www.home-assistant.io/hassio/installation/
Downloaded 32bit version because it was marked 'Recommended' on Installation Page
32-bit didn't work for squat, 'initializing' for hours! never came upDownloaded 64-bit version, came right up. Etcher is a nice way to flash these SD's
Wired connection to our 'Things' segment and booted so it could discover stuff
Hass is @ http://<yourip>:8123
Hass.io Add-on's are nice! Not quite as techie as dietpi version
Turned on ssh via web interface! Nice
Added the Configurator Add-on. @ http://<yourip>:3218 by default
Web-based config editor - pretty nice, it also checks yaml
Alpine Linux package management is different. apk to add stuff, but only to running instance, package will disappear after reboot if you don't also run ibu .... interesting!
My pass thru /config/configuration.yaml
Used this for to find location long/lat - https://www.latlong.net/
Timezone from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones
"America/Chicago" seemed to be validAdd name to platform 'yr' so it displays "Weather" on top of page ...
# Weather prediction
sensor:
- platform: yr
name: Weather
Server restarts seem to be required for configuration.yaml mods - to restart follow menu:
Configuration->general. Will take you to Configuration and Server ControlOur World/Things
Detects 'things' I hadn't intended to include in home automation....
# Discover some devices automatically
discovery
ignore:
- rokuHad to tell Discovery Component to ignore Roku, could not find way to ignore our TV
Philips Hue Hub (v1) - Bridge was discovered came up fine
WeMo Switch detected and functioned right out of the box
WeMo Motion detected and functioned right out of the box
GPIO: FAILED(?!?!) using the exact GPIO syntax that was working on HA on Dietpi - WTF!
Retried using switch example in documentation - STILL failed
------
Pop up on mainscreen:
invalid config
The following components and platforms could not be set up:switch.rpi_gpio
Please check your config.
------
Camera: Never figured out howto define local USB cam. JUST worked on Hass on Dietpi
Home Assistant (DietPi)
Overall - Testing Paused. Looks pretty good, but lots of tweaking that will need to be redone on hass.io.
My gut feel is that Home Assistant will deserve a Pi of its own, not simply a service on an existing Dietpi box.
Will take what I've learned to Hass.io and see if its any easierHome Assistant using an existing DietPi (Home Assistant is a DietPi option)
Install took a while - HASS is Python
Appears to be v0.73.1
Web interface came up GREAT, also discovered a few of our 'Things'
Configuration is a tad complicated (yaml) - it's a techie gizmo, you will tweak
Discovery is a little flaky (just me?) - sometimes things show, other times not?
Motivation: I need to cleanup Home Automation in our home - also investigating using RPI GPIO to interface an existing (old) home security system - many hardwired sensors. Curious if I can use existing Dietpi box
Notes as I go...
Switched from RPI 3 to RPI 2 w/ edimax Wifi adapter - added to an existing dietpi system. Seems OK
Came right up, discovered a couple of wifi 'things' (like WeMo, Roku, Sony TV!)
// discovered devices seemed to work right out of the box - turned on the TV in chromecast mode //Access via browser @ http://<ip or host>:8123
Walked through UI config options - looks like it will be brute force mods to config files
Attempting to sing-a-long with links in "Welcome Home!" box on web interface
Configuring Home Assistant: Hmmm, dietpi not listed, this will not be as easy as hass.io
Doesn't seem to match https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/configuration/found only 1 config file @ /mnt/dietpi_userdata/homeassistant/configuration.yaml
Shot a toe off with first mod to configuration.yaml (setting timezone!)
Had to restore original yaml file to get it back up and running - probably my tyep-o'sRuns as a service on dietpi: journalctl -u home-assistant.service to see whats up
yaml appears to get complicated, plenty of samples but lots of rummaging around
Displays "failed to call service homeassistant restart" when I restart via web frontend, but does seem to restart
Web UI is a tad confusing - "Discovered" vs "Configured"
Have to be a careful editing yaml. I'm steering clear of tabs
Looks like many devices are registered and working on multiple hubs!
e.g. Hue Lights via Smartthings or HA, WeMo too! Not sure if this is good or bad yet
Our World/Things
Detected a few 'things' I didn't expect - these seem to be detected each time, not added to yaml
Smart TV - periodically discovered
Roku
Philips Hue Hub (v1) - Bridge was discovered came up fine. playing with config
WeMo Switch detected and functioned right out of the box
WeMo Motion seems to take a bit to be detected (motion?), but worked
GPIO: It works BUT ... I had to make a little tweak to user homeassistant and add him/her to the gpio group. I noticed this in Manual Install documentation
The Mod was simple:
usermod -a -G gpio homeassistant
My test yaml:
# GPIO - an led in GPIO 4 and a push button @ GPIO2 in my breadboard
switch:
- platform: rpi_gpio
ports:
4: Blue Light
binary_sensor:
- platform: rpi_gpio
ports:
2: Button
Cameras:
Remote stream from network mjpeg didn't work, but I think its my net/cam
Local Cam (usb web cam) - seems to work out of box
My ToDo's
Automations ... just beginning to play w/ automations and scripts
Check "Porosity" of Home Assistant on DietPi using Hass.io Porosity Guide
Dashboard looks promising - https://appdaemon.readthedocs.io/en/stable/DASHBOARD_INSTALL.html
EASY UI for family - a BIG Button on screen to turn on Coffee in morning!
Need z-wave/zigbee adapter - looking at this one because it does zigbee+z-wave and may work with Home Assistant and/or OpenHAB - GoControl Linear HUSBZB-1*
Smarthings looks doable, may be kludgy/cloud chatty.
ST Thread @ community.smartthings.com/t/home-assistant-can-now-control-smartthingsGithub project @ https://github.com/stjohnjohnson/smartthings-mqtt-bridge
Cameras/motion detection: http://queen.run.montefiore.ulg.ac.be/~barbette/home-assistant-live-camera-feed-and-motion-detection-with-a-usb-camera-using-motion/
2017 Test Notes
Kali
Overall on Kali: Works great, very usable, even on RPIV2!
Tested 2017.2 and 2017.3 releases
Kali is a Security (Pen testing) distro with many useful security tools
My Project-at-hand: A test device that can be plugged into local net to check our IoT 'things' for KRACK vulnerability.
Initial plan - RPI 2 w/ TFT touchscreen - aborted, See StickyFingers Kali-PI below
Simply testing Kali on RPI as I work thru this project
Random observations/notes
Performance on RPI2 is remarkably good - testing via GUI, browser with 3-4 tabs and 2 terminal windows. Very responsive
Have used Kali (PKA Backtrack) in the past, excellent pentesting/security distro.
Image Name = Kali Raspberry PI w/TFT: Tried twice and failed to get it to boot - Aborted
Image Name = RaspberryPi 2 / 3: retried with kali-2017.2-rpi3-nexmon.img image
Much better! It Booted! It works!
Default U/P=root/toor, using default config
Singing along with https://docs.kali.org/kali-on-arm/install-kali-linux-arm-raspberry-pi:
Remember to reset root password - passwd
reset ssh host keys:
root@kali:~ rm /etc/ssh/ssh_host_*
root@kali:~ dpkg-reconfigure openssh-server
root@kali:~ service ssh restart