2.0 on Raspberry Pi?

[Steve Christy]

I saw in an older post that v2.0 was supposed to run on a Raspberry Pi but haven't seen anything since. Is it possible to run it on a Pi? 

I have set up piratebox on a Pi running Raspbian. I know there is a piratebox image to run ArchLinux, but it doesn't support my wifi card as an access point and I had already created the custom hostapd needed to run it on Raspbian. So, if I can install Librarybox 2.0, I'd love to, on my current Raspbian if possible but I can switch if needed. I am willing to beta test or install manually also.

Thanks!

[Jason Griffey]

We don't have the RPi image yet, but it's on the roadmap. Matthias and I are talking about possible dev goal priorities, and I expect I'll be throwing a poll out to the community as well to see where your priorities are.

I definitely want to get one up and running for the RPi, just have to get the next round of goals decided.

jason

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[Steve Christy]

Ok. Thanks for the quick response. 

If I were going to roll my own from the code on Github, what would that entail? I know it would be replacing the www directory as well as changing a bunch of scripts but I don't know how much different the setup of librarybox is compared to piratebox. Would it be better to download the v2 image file and extract the necessary files?

[Matthias Strubel]

Hi,

yes, it is my fault that I'm not done with a proper image yet. I wanted to create some Menu-entries for the raspian boot-up menu.. but that was removed in default-bootup and they changed the stack raspian too much (desktop with alot unneeded packages). Then we focused the work upon a stable mesh feature.

As some of you might noticed, PirateBox 1.0 has a new RPi image running. I made this last week based upon arch-linux. The image works quite handy, but it still needs more work -by-hand- compared to the OpenWRT solution.

Those are the things Jason and I need to discuss, what is important, and what we need to see on the RPi image.

just to give you a small update.

Matthias

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[Steve Christy]

Matthias, 

  I finally got the RPi arch-linux image running on my Pi. I had to copy over my hostapd binary and get the service to start on boot but now all is working. Actually, I like how fast it boots compared to the Raspbian image. I need to test between the two systems (Raspbian and Arch-linux) and decide which is better for our purposes. 

Thanks!

[Bennett Kobb]

Thank you for the update. I would also like to see a RPi 2.0 version.

[Matthew Payne]

Any more news on an image for the RPi?

Would love to get LibraryBox running on some of the spare ones that I have here!

Matt

[Matthias Strubel]

Hi Matt,

I'm sorry that work stalled.. but I'll continue work on it soon.

Matthias

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[Graham Bird]

Did anything happen on this?  The Pi2 would be a great platform for LB

Cheers

[Jason Griffey]

The RPi image for LibraryBox is probably in the 80% range of "done". Unfortunately it's a very different codebase, and Matthias has been working on it...but it's not going to be out simultaneously with the 2.1, it doesn't appear. We haven't given up, and it's still planned! But we can't promise a delivery right now.

Jason

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[johann...@gmail.com]

Is there any raspberry progress? :=)

[Matthias Strubel]

Sorry, no :,-(

On 22 Jan 2016, at 13:21, johann...@gmail.com wrote:

Is there any raspberry progress? :=)

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[GeoDirk]

Hi Matthias,

I'm interested in helping out on getting this port complete.  I finally was able to get my hands on a Pi Zero and Pi 3 after long waits.  I would love to see the Pi Zero be the new LB device of choice now that TP-Link started their lock down of the firmware.

What would be the best approach to starting to help out?

- GeoDirk


On Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 2:21:12 AM UTC-6, Matthias Strubel wrote:

Sorry, no :,-(

[Jason Griffey]

Hey GeoDirk!

I <3 the Pi Zero, but it has the same problem that all Pi's before the 3 did....no onboard wireless. And driver support for "insert random wifi dongle here" is _terrible_.

That said, I totally do want to move to the RPi3 as a supported platform, because I would really love to have access to the BTLE stack as well. :-)

I'm starting to put together a new list of recommended hardware for the LibraryBox, which will include the GL-iNet routers as a "stable" platform and the RPi3 as the "experimental" platform. I outlined where the code for this port on the Piratebox side lives, as well as pointers at other bits of code, in our Google Summer of Code pitch:

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/gsoc/LibraryBox

I don't think the RPi3 port will be happening as a part of the GSoC (no students bit on that one), although there is the possibility of having someone working on the BTLE idea. 

I'm _very happy_ to throw whatever support I can at you if you do want to help with this. LMK what I can do.

Jason Griffey

Creator & Director

The LibraryBox Project

http://librarybox.us

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[Matthias Strubel]

Hey GeoDirk,

Hey Jason!

I would love to see the LibraryBox project on a Pi!

I think, as Jason pointed out, the most significant and helpful things are located in the GSOC letter. Inside the PirateBox project, Stylesuxx worked out a solution for that crappy USB-wifi dongle thing! This is something you can adapt for LibraryBox too.

I think you have a few steps to master:

  a) Get the LibraryBox itself running without an automated build. https://github.com/LibraryBox-Dev/LibraryBox-core make step should throw out a tar file containing the sources (not *img.tar.gz)

  a.1) The most problematic part will be the proftpd server, I guess. The most packages should already available on the default PirateBox-RPi ; try it out.. it is a good starting point.

  b) Integrate LibraryBox into such an automatic build. This will help you later ALOT, because it sorts out manual errors.

  c) Make it easy. One of the main features from LibraryBox over PirateBox are the much easier configuration. I already started on a menu, which you can invoke on the box iteself: https://github.com/LibraryBox-Dev/package-arch-librarybox-config (archlinux package file definition are in this repository).

Mesh won't work together with LibraryBox-OpenWrt.. and depending on the USB dongle maybe not on every stick.

Caution: the script mentioned in step c assume a different network configration (bridged) then it is on PirateBox. This is because I want an easier way to make use of the ethernet port on the RPi-B model. This may inco-operate.

Let me know If you want to know more.

best regards

Matthias

 

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[GeoDirk]

So what is the "official" distro that you are looking to port this to?  I've only taken a quick glance but it looks like the Piratebox port is on Arch Linux and the LB page looks like Wheezy.  Which one do you guys want to settle on?

Is USB WiFi support really that bad on pre-version 3 devices?  I thought that the ~$9 Edimax el-Cheapo one was what a lot of people were using?

[Matthias Strubel]

As we try to stay closely together between piratebox and LibraryBox, archlinux is the preferred distribution.

Jason, do you have a preference?

As cheaper as more problematic. The tiny ones work reliable as a wifi client. The AP mode support is the problematic part.

Regards Matthias 

On 07 Apr 2016, at 14:18, GeoDirk <geo...@gmail.com> wrote:

So what is the "official" distro that you are looking to port this to?  I've only taken a quick glance but it looks like the Piratebox port is on Arch Linux and the LB page looks like Wheezy.  Which one do you guys want to settle on?

Is USB WiFi support really that bad on pre-version 3 devices?  I thought that the ~$9 Edimax el-Cheapo one was what a lot of people were using?

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[Jason Griffey]

I agree completely that we should concentrate on moving the projects more closely together as far as codebase, so arch is probably the right answer.

The issues with wifi support come from the no-name wifi dongles that people pick up and try...it's MUCH better than it used to be when we started just a few years ago, but I can say I'm much more comfortable telling people that an install will work for them on the RPi3 with the built-in chipset. 

As I said upthread, I'm totally comfortable doing a "recommended" and "experimental" labeling for these, where the RPi3 is the recommended and the Tiny install comes with a "this works if you use THIS SPECIFIC USB wifi adapter". 

SO EXCITED,

Jason

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[GeoDirk]

My only concern with RPi Arch is that it is now being distributed without an image file.  You have to do all sorts of Linuxy command prompt things just to write the image to the MicroSD card (see: https://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv6/raspberry-pi).  No longer can you just fire up Windows and have the DiskImager write out the card.  I think that will end up being a huge obstacle and intimidate most people.  Common folk tend to not have Linux or Mac boxes laying around to do those commands.

I suppose that we could make an image file for them that could be used under Windows that wrapped up Arch and LB together.  But before we head down that road, one last check that is the direction you want to head...

[Matthias Strubel]

You'll find an automated build process for the images in one of the GSOC previously linked repositories :)

And I think we would prefer shipping prebuild images... maybe in addition with a general instruction how to install it on other plattforms :)

2016-04-07 22:04 GMT+02:00 GeoDirk <geo...@gmail.com>:

My only concern with RPi Arch is that it is now being distributed without an image file.  You have to do all sorts of Linuxy command prompt things just to write the image to the MicroSD card (see: https://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv6/raspberry-pi).  No longer can you just fire up Windows and have the DiskImager write out the card.  I think that will end up being a huge obstacle and intimidate most people.  Common folk tend to not have Linux or Mac boxes laying around to do those commands.

I suppose that we could make an image file for them that could be used under Windows that wrapped up Arch and LB together.  But before we head down that road, one last check that is the direction you want to head...

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[GeoDirk]

OK then.  I'll proceed with Arch as being the standard.

[Jason Griffey]

As Matthias said, since one of the design conceits of LibraryBox from the beginning has been "make this easier", shipping prebuilt images is the preference. We want the easiest possible implementation for people that want to use the thing. :-)

J

On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 10:21 AM GeoDirk <geo...@gmail.com> wrote:

OK then.  I'll proceed with Arch as being the standard.

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[Jakob Jochmann]

Awesome you guys. I was about to head down this road with little to no experience. To instead have someone who actually knows arch prepare an image that we can just plug into a vanilla rpi3 is pure awesomesauce!

[Steve Christy]

If I can jump in here, I would also love it if you have the two branches you mentioned - one recommended with pre-built image and one experimental. Having a pre-built that is easy to install will help those that don't know/desire to use the command line, etc. 

However, the experimental branch is what I am interested in. The reason is that I did use Arch Linux to get LibraryBox 1 running on a Pi, but I ended up ditching it and got it running on Raspbian because it was much easier for me (from background experience with Debian, etc.). I was then able to get it working with both wifi and bluetooth capabilities and add other software to customize that we wanted (yes, we aren't only using it as a straight LibraryBox). I am willing to help with the experimental branch to use with other versions of RPi (Rpi2, Pi Zero, etc.) Just let me know what I can do to help.

Steve

[Jakob Jochmann]

Hey Steve,

I'm highly interested in these "other uses" you speak of. I also want to expand the functionality of vanilla librarybox for several different use cases. Could you elaborate a bit and perhaps even share the image you created (and the setup for which it works) for me to dive in and see what else one can do with it?

Cheers,

Jakob

[Steve Christy]

Jakob,

Unfortunately, I don't have any image files and have since used the Raspberry for other projects, so I don't have any thing to help with. I developed it from scratch as a "one off" device. Since it was over a year ago, I don't remember even for what configuration it worked (it was for whatever version of Raspbian was current at the time). I do remember having quite a hard time getting both bluetooth and the wifi to work at the same time and having to compile hostapd from scratch on the Pi to get it working. I may have a backup somewhere of the setup, but will have to see.

In our case, we used it as a LibraryBox for simple file distribution but also included a web server for delivering a local site with data while holding conferences. This allowed us to distribute resources (LibraryBox) and also point people to the website during the conference, even when there was no Internet connection (this was for a new site we had developed, to allow us to train our employees on it's use while without a live Internet connection). 

We did have some thoughts about other use cases, but they kind of dropped off the radar when other projects took over. Sorry I can't help you more.

Steve

[GeoDirk]

I pledged for a couple of these to see how they work for the Zero:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1991736672/iot-hat-for-raspberry-pi-a-must-have-for-pi-zero?ref=hero_thanks

We'll see if these WiFi can be converted to an AP.  Seriously cheaper design than the Pi 3 if this works.

[Jason Griffey]

Oooooh. That looks amazing. If they are actually using the same chipset as the RPi3, that's huge.

I worry a bit about worldwide availability, but if that works.....that's very, very nice.

Jason

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[PaulS]

Hi... new to the group but I'm an experienced software guy and am very interested in running LibraryBox on the RPi 3.

I've experimented with an RPi2 (various combinations of Raspbian Jesse, Lighttpd, MySql, Python, Nginx, Phpbb, Wordpress) and used an MR3020 as an access point to the web server on the Pi.  I'm also working on using a 12V to 5V power converter to be able to power both the Pi and the MR3020 from a 12V battery that can be recharged with solar.

Sounds like the RPi LibraryBox work might be ramping up again, with the GSOC work, and I see there's a new LibraryBox-dev repo that is targeting the RPi.  Sounds good!

I don't have much extra time but may be able to help out some.

  Paul

[PaulS]

Are you still planning to base the RPi implementation on ArchLinux to stay close to the PirateBox codebase?   

[Morgan Gangwere]

I'm working on this as part of Summer of Code.

Nope. Not going for ArchLinux, it's going to definitely be debian, for
the purposes of stability. There's also a new frontend that's pretty
slick if I do say so myself.

On Mon, Jul 24, 2017 at 8:10 PM, PaulS <psebb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Are you still planning to base the RPi implementation on ArchLinux to stay
> close to the PirateBox codebase?
>

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[Jason Griffey]

Sorry for the delay in reply!

Alexandra is maybe....75% of a project at this point. It needs a fair amount of work, but the bones of the thing are pretty good. Just haven't' had either time or funding to find someone to work on it. 

It needs some work on mobile access (has issues with iOS captive portal mediation) as well as installation cleanup and general stress-testing and bug squashing.

Jason

On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 4:03 PM Jakob Jochmann <ja...@jochmann.me> wrote:

Any updates on this? I sleuthed your repo and saw you created Alexandria. Is it production ready or worth using as the foundation for a new project?

Thanks!

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[PaulS]

I've had a chance to work on this lately... and have got the Alexandria codebase that Morgan put together running on an RPi-B using the latest Raspbian Stretch Lite OS and accessed from my iPad Mini -- see the home page image below.  

Morgan did a great job putting this framework together last year, and thanks for making the code available on Github!  I'm glad he chose the DebianRaspbian OS approach since that's what I'm familiar with (and seems most common on the RPi.)

I was able to run the install scripts (mostly) but then finished up with a manual install since my configuration is a bit different than the standard:

- some differences due to Raspbian Stretch (/etc/interfaces not really used anymore)

- using an MR3020 AP (since I had one - from an old LibraryBox!) connected by Ethernet to the RPi instead of using wifi dongle (thus I don't need to run hostapd or DHCP)

I'll try to clean this up some and get the "official" install scripts to run and share my code if others want to go in the RPi direction with LibraryBox.

Then I'm going to move on to convert my setup to a wifi community-based blog by incorporating the flask-blogging module (which should not be hard since Alexandria already uses Flask as its dynamic web site framework.

Paul

[Morgan Gangwere]

The best place to re-define network interface configuration is in bin/ConfigEngine/Generators/network.py

After working with Nginx more, I think it's safe to say lighttpd is a better way to go. That was definitely a moment of young naiveté showing: I had configured it for my own work and after seeing how simple getting the captive portal shenanigans configured was with Lighttpd, I should have gone with lighttpd; ah well, hindsight is a dish best served 8 months later in public. Since the whole thing is built on Flask, this does make configuring lighttpd and Flask easy enough (Flask can be a FastCGI server) -> http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/1.0/deploying/fastcgi/#configuring-lighttpd

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[PaulS]

Yeah, I've used Lighttpd on the RPi before and wondered if it might be a better option than Nginx -- I might switch my setup to Lighttpd.

Do you have details about how you configured Lighttpd to handle the captive portal stuff?

  Paul