loxberry on full Raspbian

[J V]

I got myself a Raspberry to play around with LoxBerry (too much problems sticking to docker/virtual machines due to my older hardware).

The standard Loxberry uses the "lite" version of Raspbian. I would like to try it on a full Raspbian (so that e.g. it can run a browser to the Loxone or other things on a small touchscreen to make it double as central control point); I'm guessing I need the steps described here:
http://www.loxwiki.eu/pages/viewpage...ageId=20874582
Yesterday I tried using the prerelease (it is a Raspberry 3B+), just to see how far it would go when blindly following the instructions. Most of the procedures went without issues but somehow some things did not work out: Apache loaded but not the loxberry website (just the default apache page) and somehow my system got messed up in a weird way, it had dead wifi due to a blanked wifi country and did not allow me to set it again. But that was just blindly following the instructions using a vnc from a mobile (due to lack of a better keyboard at hand - of course you want to try a new toy that just arrives, even if you have to pull weird stunts for it ). I'll go again using a proper keyboard/display and log what I'm doing and how it goes; I need to try more and different things before I can even start thinking of asking a question on it.

But perhaps: any particular known things to be aware of when trying this?

Thanks!

Jörg

[Christian Fenzl]

Hi Jörg,

we know best that image creating is cunning! That's the reason the LoxBerry-Core team officially only supports the own image.

Your current image has likely missed the LoxBerry Apache configuration, or lost the symlinks for it.


Things that are important:

• Take time, read carefully!
• Take special care of the user that the commands should run as (some run as root, some as loxberry).
• Follow exactly the command sequence from top to bottom. Nothing before, nothing after.
• The setenvironment.sh script creates all the symlinks to LoxBerry's configuration.
• As LoxBerry has a fixed Apache configuration, other web applications using Apache, that are not considered in the LoxBerry Apache configuration, may not run at all.

Good luck!
Christian

[J V]

Thanks!
It was more just a quick attempt, but there is not much you can do when your only interface is vpn client on a mobile phone. I may have messed up some steps.
I tried again today but had problems pulling in an apt-get update in the process... it kept failing on getting 2 files (I'm suspecting an issue with the raspberry mirror site)... so no point in continuing. I will have to try again tomorrow.
I'll keep trying this, as I learn more as I go (and fail ).
Perhaps an easier option would be to do it the other way around, and and an XClient to a Loxberry image, but I will first try the way I'm doing it now.

[J V]

Strange question... during the setenvironment.sh, the script stops twice, leaving me in vi. I exited with saving, but I'm not sure if it had the correct effect. It may be a consequence of the fact that it failed to start the apache server but I'm unsure why... at the moment (it is running...): the first time it ends up in vi just after writing that apache failed to start, the second time it happens just before starting lighttpd deamon...
(I did change the defaults.vim file as per instructions, but I'm running it from an xterm rather than an SSH session, so not sure if that makes a difference)

[J V]

Just wanted to add that it appears to be running (I can connect to localhost on the Chromium browser on the rapsberry and I see the loxberry interface).
Still have to clean up some stuff and continue (log settings, etc.), but it seems I managed to get it on the full raspbian using the instructions
I'm not sure how much more I'll be able to test, as I'm not within reach of my loxone...

If I can comment one thing: I did all the apt-gets as the very first thing (even before adding the loxberry user) and then made an image of my sd card: that way I do not need to download things when I want to start over (quite often I get errors in the download, so I have to retry a couple of times).

[J V]

Somewhere along the way it stopped seeing the wifi country and does not allow me to set it.. As a result, wifi is not functional.... I'll go again from the last working point to find at which step I lose it...

[J V]

Ok, it is something in the setenvironment.sh script. It not only kills the wifi, but also the bluetooth: when clicking the bluetooth logo. It does not autoconnect with the bluetooth mouse, and trying to make it connect pops up "no usable services on this device". But I can re-pair the mouse with it.

wlan0 is missing from ifconfig report... but "ifconfig wlan0" up adds it. the command "iwlist wlan0 scan" shows the available wifi networks, but I still cannot connect...

dmesg shows "wlan0: link is not ready"
looking further

I'll try the other way around: execute setenvironment.sh in parts and see when it breaks. Might be easier to use that to localize where it goes wrong. It will take a bit of time, as I would restore the SD card every time it goes wrong (and restoring takes about 45 minutes)... But I'm on it... I'll report back here.

(I know there is no official support for installing Loxberry this way, but I use this thread as a resource and will post the solutions here eventually. I hope it helps other people to do it)

[svethi]

Hello Jörg,

you should follow the instructions step by step and never change a loxberry script with every update these files would be overwritten und executed.
Loxberry uses it's own config files. To setup the wifi you schould use the network widget of the loxberry.
Also the apache uses special configurations and environment variables. The apache only start up after a restart of the LoxBerry. After all steps of the image creation are done, you have to restart/reboot the loxberry. On the first start it creates an blank configuration and do some last stuff. Only at this point the LoxBerry should work well.

Greating
Sven

[J V]

you should follow the instructions step by step and never change a loxberry script with every update these files would be overwritten und executed.

Yes, I full realize that. Current changes are for me to learn things and what each thing in the config file does.

Loxberry uses it's own config files. To setup the wifi you schould use the network widget of the loxberry.

I actually haven't tried that one... I just noticed that the raspberry lost wifi, and I could not reach it over the network. The LoxBerry webinterface runs on localhost (so I can reach it from the Raspbian), but I kept trying the wifi tool in the system tray (which claims the wifi country is not set, but in the raspberry config, it does not listen to the settings). I will try the loxberry web widget just to see if that one allow me to configure the wifi and perhaps fixes it. (thanks, I did not think of using that one) Still, I want to know (for myself) why it behaves the way it does.

Also the apache uses special configurations and environment variables. The apache only start up after a restart of the LoxBerry. After all steps of the image creation are done, you have to restart/reboot the loxberry. On the first start it creates an blank configuration and do some last stuff. Only at this point the LoxBerry should work well.

Apache works..

Thanks!

[J V]

Just tried it and indeed, the Loxberry network tool works for the wifi. So I still don't fully get why it gets lost, but at least it is not a problem for the functionality.

[svethi]

The LoxBerry initial setup also use a blank network setup that overwrites the existing one. But you should be able to use your own default. Please read the doku for this option.

[J V]

Very stupid problem.... what is the default web-interface administrator? I found the secure pin code on the FAQ... or do I just generate a new one as indicated in the FAQ as for a forgotten password?
edit: something must have gone wrong earlier... I did it again and now I got the chance to enter the password in the wizard and I got the screen with the passwords and pin code.

edit: Just saw your reply (forgot to refresh the page)... My German is a bit rusty so I'm already happy I manage to get where I am now. For sure I will check it out. In a way, the wifi issue will not be important as at home it will be connected via ethernet, and then the fact that the wifi is controlled through the webinterface is actually very good. But I sort of got focused - or rather side-tracked - on it.

[J V]

The issue I had with the setenvironment.sh script (where it stops in vim) only seems to occur when it is run on an x-terminal on the rapsberry. When run from an external client (e.g. putty on another computer), the script completes just fine. If it occurs, just saving the file makes the script continue and it looks to be ok. So it may have to do with the terminal behaviour.

While I have not been able to test everything, it is possible to install TVHeadend next to it. The TVHeadend webinterface is still available when you specify its portnumber. A TV tuner is on the way, but it means it may be no problem running TVHeadend on a Loxberry; both web-interfaces are still accessible.