August 7, 2021
Running a Python Script on Boot with Systemd
This short blog post details how you can run a python script on boot using systemd.
Tag: Raspberry Pi
February 27, 2021
MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor Case Temperature Drop review
Today I am showing the temperature drop over time while using the MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor Case.
February 20, 2021
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 18 Raspberry Pi Temperature Monitoring
This post builds on my previous posts in the Raspberry Pi Cluster series by starting to log temperature with the RaspberryPiVcgencmd Python module.
February 6, 2021
Fixing Raspberry Pi MySQL Access Denied for user root with non root user
This blog post talks about how you can log in as root to your MySQL database with a non-root user on your Raspberry Pi.
January 30, 2021
How to install a MySQL Server on a Raspberry Pi
This blog post explains the steps you need to perform to install a MySQL server on a Raspberry Pi.
January 16, 2021
Updating the RaspberryPiVcgencmd library to Python 3
This post talks quickly about the updates performed to the RaspberryPiVcgencmd library for porting to Python 3.
December 19, 2020
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 17 InfluxDB Machine Stats Monitoring
This post builds on my previous posts in the Raspberry Pi Cluster series by performing a small refactor and storing cluster vitals data to InfluxDB.
December 5, 2020
Installing InfluxDB on a Raspberry Pi
Today I am writing a quick describing how you can install InfluxDB on a Raspberry Pi
November 21, 2020
Rsync Entire Raspberry Pi to Windows
This post includes a short snippet to copy your entire Raspberry Pi filesystem to Windows using Rsync.
November 7, 2020
Reviewing the MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor Case and benchmarking it
Here I talk about adding the MakerHawk Raspberry Pi 4B Armor case to my Raspberry Pi. In addition I run some benchmarks over it to see how much of an effect on temperature it has.
October 24, 2020
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 16 Python 3 Codebase Refactor
This post builds on my previous posts in the Raspberry Pi Cluster series by improving the codebase for Python 3.
October 10, 2020
Moving the Raspberry Pi Cluster to a Raspberry Pi 4B 4GB
Today I am talking about moving the Raspberry Pi Cluster primary node to a Raspberry Pi 4B 4GB model. I also discuss the improvements that the Raspberry Pi 4B has made over previous generations.
May 8, 2019
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 15 A more complex webserver
This tutorial focuses on improving the webserver to display information about the slaves connected to the master using python Bottle.
April 17, 2019
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 14 A simple webserver
This tutorial focuses on creating a simple webserver that displays the status of the master using python Bottle.
March 23, 2019
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 13 Abstracting Slave Code
This post builds on my previous posts in the Raspberry Pi Cluster series by abstracting the slave code so it is ready for more complex slaves.
March 6, 2019
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 12 Automatic Start with rc.local
This post builds on my previous posts in the Raspberry Pi Cluster series by creating a script which automatically starts the slave and master with rc.local.
February 16, 2019
Using the Nano Editor with a Raspberry Pi
Today I talk about the Nano editor which can be used to edit files on the Raspberry Pi over SSH.
January 30, 2019
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 11 Automatic Slave Reconnection
This post builds on my previous posts in the Raspberry Pi Cluster series by modifying the slave to automatically reconnect to the master when the connection is lost.
January 16, 2019
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 10 More Advanced Connection Handling
This post builds on my previous posts in the Raspberry Pi Cluster series by improving the connection code so it wont crash when the master or slave disconnects.
January 2, 2019
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 09 Multi Slave Master
This post builds on my previous posts in the Raspberry Pi Cluster series by changing the master so that it accepts multiple slaves connecting to it.
December 19, 2018
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 08 Slave Helper Functions
This post builds on my previous posts in the Raspberry Pi Cluster series by adding a number of slave helper functions. This update will begin the process of fully automating the slaves.
December 5, 2018
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 07 Sending data to the Slave
This post builds on my previous posts in the Raspberry Pi Cluster series by adding the ability to receive data from the master. In this update, I will be adding a way for the slave to request data and have it returned by the master.
October 17, 2018
Adding a Creator CI20 to the cluster
This post talks about the Creator CI20 and explains the differences between it and the Raspberry Pi.
April 5, 2018
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 06 Sending Slave Details to the Master
This post builds on my previous posts in the Raspberry Pi Cluster series by changing how the slave sends messages. From now on the slave will send useful information about the system to the master. The master will also be configured to receive messages of many types.
March 21, 2018
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 05 Talking to nodes with JSON
This post builds on my previous posts in the Raspberry Pi Cluster series by changing the format of the data I send. In this tutorial I am now sending data as JSON to allow a richer set of messages to be sent.
March 10, 2018
Raspberry Pi Tutorial Website online now!
This post talks about the new page on my website with linking to all my Raspberry Pi Cluster tutorials.
February 10, 2018
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 04 Configuration Files with ConfigParser
This post builds on the third step to create a Raspberry Pi Cluster Node to store our configuration settings in a config file. Here we move all the configuration settings in our script into a useful .cfg file using the python ConfigParser.
December 20, 2017
Backup a Raspberry Pi with Rsync
I am going to upgrade our previous Raspberry Pi backup script that previously used Secure Copy to one that uses rsync. The primary reason for this is that rsync will only copy new or changed files over. This post goes through the reasons why you might want to use rsync instead of scp when performing a
December 16, 2017
Storing Bitcoin price data with a Raspberry Pi
This post goes through the process of collecting and storing bitcoin price data using python, crontab, and a Raspberry Pi.
December 9, 2017
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 03 Basic node communication between two nodes
This post builds on the second step to create a Raspberry Pi Cluster Node to create a hello world application across two different scripts. Here we will create a socket connection between the two and use it to send a message to the master.
December 2, 2017
Adding Heatsinks to Rasperry Pi Cluster
Today I am adding some heat sinks to the Raspberry Pi Cluster and why you might want to.
November 29, 2017
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 02 Packaging common functionality
This post builds on the first step to create a Raspberry Pi Cluster node to package the common functionality that will be shared between master and clients.
November 22, 2017
Compressing Raspberry Pi backups automatically
Today I will be improving the basic script used to backup my Raspberry Pi’s so that it compresses the files after they have been copied. This will allow me to store several backups instead of having a single copy stored on my computer. This assumes you have followed the first tutorial to create a Raspberry
November 4, 2017
Upgrading Raspbian Jessie to Raspbian Stretch
This post describes how you can upgrade Raspbian Jessie, version 8, to Raspbian Stretch, version 9. Raspbian Stretch was recently released and while they recommend installing from fresh you are able to upgrade the versions. Here I follow the steps of upgrading the Raspberry Pi’s in my cluster including some of the common problems that
November 1, 2017
Raspberry Pi Cluster Node – 01 Logging Liveness
This post describes how to make a simple python script that logs the node is alive every 10 seconds.
October 21, 2017
Virtualized Raspian OS with Virtualbox
This post walks you through the process of installing the Raspberry Pi OS, Raspbian, with VirtualBox. I am going to use this at times to test my software running on the OS that the Raspberry Pi Cluster runs.
September 30, 2017
Grant sudo access for a user with Raspberry Pi Raspbian
This blog post describes how you can enable sudo for any user on the Raspberry Pi OS, Raspbian.
August 30, 2017
Creating a Raspberry Pi backup script with scp and Bash on Windows
This post describes a simple way to keep backups of a Raspberry Pi or any other Linux computer.
August 5, 2017
Add a new user account in Raspbian Raspberry Pi
For my cluster project I will add a new user to each Raspberry Pi. This is so the user I use for all other systems will be the same on the Raspberry Pi’s. This post describes how to add another user to Raspbian OS.
July 8, 2017
A comparison of Raspberry Pi B Models
Since the first Raspberry Pi was released in 2012 there have been a number of changes to their design. Since I plan to include a number of different models in my cluster I will review and test each model to find its weakness and strengths.
July 5, 2017
Cloning a Raspberry Pi SD Card to another
To set up my cluster I want to create single SD card image then run this same image on multiple Pi’s. This means I wont need to set up each Raspberry Pi at a time. One of the ways you can do this is by taking an image of the raspberry Pi then flashing that
July 1, 2017
Updating the Raspberry Pi Cluster without logging in to every Pi
The Raspberry Pi foundation have recently updated their Raspbian image. This brings bugfixes and upgrades to the Raspberry Pi. In this blogpost I share how you can run a command on your Raspberry Pi without logging in (this is mostly true although you still do “log in” just not in the typical way). This includes
June 28, 2017
Veracrypt Error device-mapper: reload ioctl Error Fixed
When trying to mount an encrypted drive using Veracrypt I encountered this error: chewett@bunker-master2:/mnt$ veracrypt /dev/sdc1 gen500 Enter password for /dev/sdc1: Enter PIM for /dev/sdc1: Enter keyfile [none]: Protect hidden volume (if any)? (y=Yes/n=No) [No]: Error: device-mapper: reload ioctl on veracrypt2_0 failed: No such file or directory I did some research and found out that
June 17, 2017
Overview of the Raspberry Pi Cluster
Now I have the power supply and built the stacking system I can show off the clusters initial state. Every Raspberry Pi in the cluster Here are the 7 initial Pi’s that are to become part of the cluster. Each have been given a codename to designate its position in the cluster. The Raspberry Pi designed “M” will be
June 14, 2017
Raspberry Pi Read-only file system Fix Solved
If you are getting “Read-only file system” on your Raspberry Pi when mounting drives there is a simple fix. chewett@bunker-master2:/mnt/wd500$ touch test.txt touch: cannot touch ‘test.txt’: Read-only file system I noticed this happening when I tried to mount and work on my external hard drive. This is formatted with the NTFS filesystem. I did some
June 3, 2017
Stacking Raspberry Pi’s
The stackable Raspberry Pi case purchased allows stacking Raspberry Pi B+ and Raspberry Pi 2/3 but I was planning to modify this to stack older Pi’s. Stacking the Raspberry Pi (256 MB) The original Raspberry Pi does not have any mounting points. This makes it quite hard to stack using my chosen stacking solution. Therefore for the time
May 31, 2017
RaspberryPiVcgencmd A python library to access Raspberry Pi vcgencmd command
To access some of the lower level aspects of the Raspberry Pi’s config you can use the built in command vcgencmd. This is a useful on the command line but to easily access it in a program you need to parse the output. I am planning to use this command to store data like the
May 24, 2017
Powering a Raspberry Pi Cluster
The Raspberry Pi doesn’t come with its own power supply so you need to decide how to power it. The recommendation from the Raspberry Pi website is that they have “found that purchasing a 2.5A power supply from a reputable retailer will provide you with ample power to run your Raspberry Pi”. After doing some research
May 20, 2017
Create a Samba Share on Raspberry Pi Cluster
Something I want to do with my Raspberry Pi Cluster is mount a hard drive and share it like a windows share. To do this I am going to set up Samba on a Raspberry Pi. Installing the required packages To run samba as a service we need to install a couple packages. Running the
May 17, 2017
Installing Raspbian onto a Raspberry Pi
Here I suggest some recommended steps to install Raspbian on top of their install guide. Choosing an OS for the Raspberry Pi One of the main ways to install a Raspberry Pi OS is to download a disk image called NOOBS. This lets you choose to easily install a number of different OS’s. If you want to
April 23, 2017
Stacking multiple Raspberry Pi’s
For the Raspberry Pi cluster I wanted to make sure that they are neatly stored to keep them easy to reach. Why nicely storing them is important Each Raspberry Pi requires a power and network cable. When using a single raspberry pi the cables are not an issue but I am planning to use five as a baseline
October 26, 2016
VCHI initialization failed Raspberry Pi Fixed
If when running vcgencmd on a raspberry pi you get VCHI initialization failed then you need to add the video group to your user. The vcgencmd tool requires you have this group role so without it, it will give VCHI initialization failed. To add the user group to your user you can run: sudo usermod -aG
October 16, 2016
Building a Raspberry Pi cluster
Today’s blog marks the official start of my Raspberry Pi cluster project. Here I will be documenting the process of assembling, building, and running a small cluster. This blog will include both code snippets, hardware diagrams and the results of various projects using the cluster. Aims of the project The Raspberry Pi cluster will be looking into distributed
February 20, 2013
IRC client on Raspberry Pi – Screen and irssi
A IRC client lets you connect to a IRC server enabling you to join chatrooms on that server. IRC servers do not by default store logs while you are not logged in. This can be annoying if you wish to keep informed of whats going in on the chatroom. One solution to this is to never
January 22, 2013
Raspberry Pi!
During Christmas I got a raspberry pi and I have been waiting to start playing around with it for ages. Finally I decided to order the remaining pieces for it such as the power cable and SD card. Since I didn’t have a HDMI TV around I decided to plug it into the router and