raspberry pi picture frame that creates a slide-show from images in google drive. This repo includes gdrive_frame as a submodule. Below are instructions for setting up a raspberry pi for use w/this repo.
this has been tested to work w/the following hardware (but obviously, slight variations should work... i imagine):
- 8GB - 32GB MicroSD Card
- Raspberry Pi 3
- Raspberry Pi 3 Power Adapter
- PiTFT 320x240 2.8" Resistive Touchscreen
USB WiFi Dongle(turns out the Pi 3's got built in WiFi)- Case Base and Faceplate Pack (optional)
download raspbian (i went with "Raspbian Stretch with desktop"). b/c i'm on Ubuntu i just used the easy-peasy Startup Disk Creator to get it on a card, but other instructions can be found on the raspberry pi site
keep in mind u'll need not only a keyboard/mouse but also a screen u can plug into the PI's HDMI port (the little screen won't work until after the next step).
also make sure u've got the WiFi dongle plugged in. when u boot up the Pi for the first time it'll run u through a welcome wizard (this will include setting up the WiFi if the dongle is in). This process will end by asking u to reboot, NOTE: for me the WiFi doesn't work until after this initial reboot.
As documented in the adafruit tutorial in order to get the PiTFT screen working u've got to run the following:
cd ~
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adafruit/Raspberry-Pi-Installer-Scripts/master/adafruit-pitft.sh
chmod +x adafruit-pitft.sh
sudo ./adafruit-pitft.sh
then just follow the instructions:
- choose '1' for 'select configuration' (assuming u've got the screen mentioned above)
- choose '1' again for rotation
- when it asks 'Would you like the console to appear on the PiTFT display' say no
- when it asks 'Would you like the HDMI display to mirror to the PiTFT display?' i'd say yes to dev on a second monitor (that tiny 2.8" screen's not the best for deving)
- reboot (or finish the rest of the steps first, which i'd recommend)
assuming 11 is the latest, run:
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_11.x | sudo -E bash -
then
sudo apt install -y nodejs
b/c there's a submodule make sure to use --recursive when cloning:
git clone --recursive https://github.com/nbriz/rpi_slideshow.git
then cd into the gdrive_frame submodule && install the dependencies
cd rpi_slideshow/gdrive_frame
npm install --only=prod
then as per the gdrive_frame README instructions, copy the .env template && edit to include ur credz:
cp .env.template .env
then install the root project's dependencies
cd ../
npm install
then test it all out by running. if u currently have chromium open (say b/c u're following this tutorial) it won't launch in kiosk mode. u'll have to quit chromium before running the server to see it launch in kiosk mode.
node server
then alt-tab ur way back to the terminal to cntrl+c the process. (or click the quit-app button in the GUI)
check out pm2's quick start guide for more details on pm2, but the gist is:
install pm2
sudo npm install -g pm2
then, assuming ur in the rpi_slideshow directory, create the service
pm2 start server.js
u can stop the service at any time by running:
pm2 stop server
then make sure pm2 itself starts on startup, if u run pm2 startup it will tell u to run:
sudo env PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin /usr/lib/node_modules/pm2/bin/pm2 startup systemd -u pi --hp /home/pi
by default the screen will go blank after about 10 mins of no user input. u can just tap the screen to bring it back, but that kind of kills the whole digital picture frame vibe. so to disable this run sudo nano /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf, scroll to the bottom and include in that file the following:
[SeatDefaults]
xserver-command=X -s 0 -dpms
for remote access i installed TeamViewer's Host for Raspberry Pi. u'll need to have created a TeamViewer account beforehand in order to grant u're account "easy access" to the Pi
when run via node server (or node server dev to avoid kiosk mode), rather than pm2 start server, u'll have access to lots of logging in the terminal. so if/when we need to debug the app it should be launched that way.