Raspberry Pi 3 in the House... and Running JMRI!

[railnerd]

Why apologize? You are in the DCC/Electronic forum and the info is model-railroading-related. You are in perfect compliance! 

I had assumed, from the complaining that this was an a different topic area   

Since we're in the geek zone, I'll also drop that I have hacked together a quick and dirty RaspberryPi-based MQTT to JMRI gateway which should allow generic IoT things like Wemos (http://www.wemos.cc) to connect to a layout.

Sensors, Turnouts, or Lights can been linked MQTT topics. With a bit more hacking, you can create web apps that display coordinated indications or other things— or just use the existing JMRI panel sharing stuff to wiggle WiFi devices.  A current detector or IR detector could be wired to inputs, and turnout control or LEDs could be attached to outputs.

For the uninitiated the Wemos is a $4 WiFi arduino-like thingamabobs. Very similar to the Adafruit HUZZAH (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2471), or Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP8266 (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2821) that includes a few more bells and whistles at a much higher price.

Eventually I'll write this up, but the day job has been very busy lately.

-Dave

[jdcolombo]

So for those of us who are not linux geeks, but have an extra monitor lying around and like the idea of running JMRI on a $40 computer dedicated to this task, how about a step-by-step tutorial on how you did this.  Something like this:

1.  Buy Raspberry Pi3 board, case, [and whatever other bits and pieces you need] from supplier X and/or Y [LINKS].
2.  Put board in case and attach power supply.
3.  Plug in power supply and monitor, and turn on.
4.  Run [WHATEVER YOU NEED TO RUN TO GET DEBIAN INSTALLED]
5.  You will now see a desktop (?).  Run [BROWSER] by [CLICKING SOMEWHERE ON DESKTOP?].
6.  Download Linux version of JMRI and [WHAT?  UNPACK USING WHAT PROGRAM?  HOW?]
ETC.

Screen shots would be helpful.

John C.

[Ian MacMillan]

Very nice. I've been wanting to pick up one to work on some projects and JMRI would be peffective. I'm currently running it on a network and a small box would be perfect.

[C855B]

So for those of us who are not linux geeks, but have an extra monitor lying around and like the idea of running JMRI on a $40 computer dedicated to this task, how about a step-by-step tutorial on how you did this. ...

I'm thinking of doing a how-to video. There was only one setup step that was directly Linux, and that was updating the OS with two command-line entries. Everything else was through the GUI. The whole thing is designed for noobs, and you don't have to mess with the fiddly-bits if you don't want to.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

So for those of us who are not linux geeks, but have an extra monitor lying around and like the idea of running JMRI on a $40 computer dedicated to this task, how about a step-by-step tutorial on how you did this.  Something like this:

1.  Buy Raspberry Pi3 board, case, [and whatever other bits and pieces you need] from supplier X and/or Y [LINKS].
2.  Put board in case and attach power supply.
3.  Plug in power supply and monitor, and turn on.
4.  Run [WHATEVER YOU NEED TO RUN TO GET DEBIAN INSTALLED]
5.  You will now see a desktop (?).  Run [BROWSER] by [CLICKING SOMEWHERE ON DESKTOP?].
6.  Download Linux version of JMRI and [WHAT?  UNPACK USING WHAT PROGRAM?  HOW?]
ETC.

Screen shots would be helpful.

John C.

I, too, would LOVE this. I'm a .NET developer. Linux scares me

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I'm thinking of doing a how-to video. There was only one setup step that was directly Linux, and that was updating the OS with two command-line entries. Everything else was through the GUI. The whole thing is designed for noobs, and you don't have to mess with the fiddly-bits if you don't want to.

Honestly, when it comes to tech stuff, I'd MUCH rather have an article with screenshots (or not) and code samples than a video. It allows me to go at my own pace.

[C855B]

Duly considered. Yeah, I'm sort of that way with vids, too.

I have just ordered another to better document the "fresh out of the box to running" process.* There was one step at the very beginning where I was distracted while it was booting, and before I had a chance to see what was transpiring, it had already made a couple of default setup decisions for me which happened to be correct. I glanced up to see that it was already fully booted into Raspbian, and ready to go to work.

If anybody is interested, they're back in stock at Allied, the official US distributor:

  http://www.alliedelec.com/raspberry-pi-raspberry-pi-3-model-b-kit-white/70883953/

This kit includes the Pi3, pretty case, the boot system on a MicroSD, and power supply. While the bare board is $35, the other stuff is what makes it plug'n'play. Heed the "back in stock" comment. These things go incredibly fast. When I ordered just a few minutes ago, they had 582 in stock. Earlier this week, it was something like 1700. Don't skip the power supply. It has some sort of weird miniature flat connector (...could it be micro-USB? I dunno...) you're unlikely to have rattling around in a junk drawer.

Something else to be aware of - no VGA. The monitor interface is HDMI only, so you'll need a semi-modern TV or monitor and an HDMI cable. What's nice is there is a setting to turn on/off overscan, so it is compatible with older TVs with HDMI that assume overscan. Keyboard and mouse are regular USB, and Bluetooth is included if you wanted to configure it after initial setup.

I have to say that I am still impressed with this thing. So far it does everything that my (older) Mac does in running JMRI.

* - As to "screen shots"... well, they're going to be phone snaps. The setup process means that screen captures aren't possible. Oops.

[C855B]

Additional thought:

If, in anticipation, you happen to browse to the how-to page for JMRI on Raspberry Pi, you can ignore 90% of what's on the page - most of step 1, and all of steps 2 and 5. The really grody Linux minutia is no longer necessary. Thank goodness. 

[railnerd]

Additional thought:

If, in anticipation, you happen to browse to the how-to page for JMRI on Raspberry Pi, you can ignore 90% of what's on the page - most of step 1, and all of steps 2 and 5. The really grody Linux minutia is no longer necessary. Thank goodness. 

Yeah, I was thinking of saying the same thing…   that page needs an update.

-Dave

[Iain]

I, too, would LOVE this. I'm a .NET developer. Linux scares me

I thought about responding, but, then I realized I only know how to do command line.

[John]

http://www.palmettodiv.org/sites/palmettodiv.org/files/using_a_raspberry_pi_rev2.pdf

[railnerd]

http://www.palmettodiv.org/sites/palmettodiv.org/files/using_a_raspberry_pi_rev2.pdf

Unfortunately, while that is a great overview, the link to the SD-card image doesn't seem to be in the presentation.

-Dave

[C855B]

Slightly dated. The Pi3 has WiFi and Bluetooth on-board.

[pdx1955]

This thread is quite timely because I before this had no idea that the Pi existed. I've been considering signalling in the few isolated locations to be more of a standalone system, but those seem to be long-of-tooth (and frankly very complex) and having the signal logic computer-based is the way to go. Tam Valley's LEDecoders would see to be a good way to start as they are JMRI-ready. I'd been considering repairing an old laptop, but this way would cost much less than the base repair fee. Alternatively, going into my hellish crawl space and going 3/4's the length of the house to pull a USB cable to the garage from the nearby main computer wasn't very appetizing either.

I have a spare USB keyboard/mouse and the main computer (not to mention most of the TV's) have a unused HDMI port so setting up a portable decoder programming station in addition to the layout programming track would be very easy with a purchase of a Digitrax PR3. The Pi is small enough that it could go under or next to the layout in a convenient space when used in layout operations. I would just need to locate and find a good place for a HDMI monitor to mount for the PanelPro use. I saw some 7" touchscreens that can be configured (using the GPIO pins) with the Pi but that seems a bit small to use PanelPro effectively - does anyone know what is a good workable size without getting too big?

[jdcolombo]

OK.

Ordered a starter kit.  I too would love to have Steve's image file, though I suspect it isn't too hard to get Linux to run a specific program on boot.  Still, where can I find Steve???

I can already see that I'm going to end up with a passel of Pi's for all sorts of things .  .  .

John C.