Difference between revisions of "Installation"

Latest revision as of 11:38, 11 March 2025

Recommended: Use of preconfigured microSD Card image

Step 1: Download and Flash the Image

Download the bcMeter image file here
Unzip the downloaded file to extract the image
Use Etcher to flash the image to your microSD card:
- Insert your microSD card into your computer
- Open Etcher and select the extracted image file
- Select your microSD card as the target
- Click "Flash!" and wait for the process to complete

Step 2: Boot and Connect

Insert the flashed microSD card into your bcMeter device
Power on the device
Wait approximately 2 minutes for the device to boot completely
On your computer or mobile device, connect to the WiFi network named "bcMeter"
- Use password: bcMeterbcMeter

Step 3: Configure Your Device

Open a web browser
Navigate to bcmeter.local
The bcMeter configuration interface will appear
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete your device setup

Troubleshooting

If you cannot connect to the "bcMeter" WiFi network, try rebooting the device
If the web interface doesn't load, ensure you're connected to the correct WiFi network
For additional help, consult the bcMeter documentation

Advanced: Manual headless Set Up the microSD Card

Use the Raspberry Imager tool to write Raspberry OS 32bit LITE (very important - not Desktop!) to your microSD card. Configure the Raspberry Pi Imager tool to configure the image with username and password, for simplicity we use "pi" and "raspberry".

Also enable SSH and WiFi in the tool.

After finishing, eject the microSD Card from the PC and put it into the Raspberry Pi.

Configuring the Raspberry Pi to be a bcMeter via SSH remote access and WiFi

Put microSD-Card in Raspberry and boot it up (takes up to a minute)

Log into the raspberry via terminal on Linux/OSX or cmd.exe on Windows

     ssh bcMeter@bcMeter

or alternatively if connection is refused

     ssh bcMeter@bcMeter.local

Or to use with dedicated ssh client, like putty:

address: bcMeter

login name: bcMeter

login passwort: bcmeter.org (or whatever you chose)

If connections is refused, check connection first and then try to add .local to hostname (raspberry.local)

Then just download the bcMeter install script by entering

      wget -N https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bcmeter/bcmeter/main/install.sh && sudo bash install.sh

This will take you through a mainly unattended install procedure which will take a few minutes

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-== Recommended: Use of preconfigured microSD Card image==
+== Recommended: Use of preconfigured microSD Card image ==
-. Download the file image [https://bcmeter.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/bcMeter.img.tar.gz here], unzip it and use [https://www.balena.io/etcher/ Etcher] to copy it to your microSD card. <br>
+=== Step 1: Download and Flash the Image ===
-. After the process is complete, a new drive is visible in Windows Explorer or Mac OS Finder called '''/boot'''. Here you find '''wpa_supplicant.conf''' - open that file with any notepad application and change the WiFi credentials to your needs. Dont use Word or Office since they might change the quotation marks. Enable plain text mode in OSX Text Edit (SHIFT+COMMAND+T). <br>
+# Download the bcMeter image file [https://bcmeter.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/bcMeter_latest_img.zip here]
-. Eject the microSD card and put it into the raspberry pi and boot it up. After 1-2 Minutes it should be logged into the WiFi with hostname raspberry or raspberry.local
+# Unzip the downloaded file to extract the image
+# Use [https://www.balena.io/etcher/ Etcher] to flash the image to your microSD card:
+#* Insert your microSD card into your computer
+#* Open Etcher and select the extracted image file
+#* Select your microSD card as the target
+#* Click "Flash!" and wait for the process to complete
-== Alternative: Manual Set Up the microSD Card ==
+=== Step 2: Boot and Connect ===
+# Insert the flashed microSD card into your bcMeter device
+# Power on the device
+# Wait approximately 2 minutes for the device to boot completely
+# On your computer or mobile device, connect to the WiFi network named "'''bcMeter'''"
+#* Use password: '''bcMeterbcMeter'''
-=== Download Image ===
+=== Step 3: Configure Your Device ===
-[https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/operating-systems/#raspberry-pi-os-32-bit Raspberry Pi OS '''Lite'''] and use [https://www.balena.io/etcher/ Etcher] to copy it to your microSD card <br><br>
+# Open a web browser
-'''Make sure to download the Lite''' image and '''not''' Desktop / Desktop and recommended software!
+# Navigate to [http://bcmeter.local bcmeter.local]
+# The bcMeter configuration interface will appear
+# Follow the on-screen instructions to complete your device setup
-== Configure Raspberry OS ==
+=== Troubleshooting ===
+* If you cannot connect to the "bcMeter" WiFi network, try rebooting the device
+* If the web interface doesn't load, ensure you're connected to the correct WiFi network
+* For additional help, consult the [https://bcmeter.org/documentation bcMeter documentation]
-With the image copied over to the microSD-Card, Windows and OSX now see a new drive/partition named '''„boot“ visible in Explorer or Finder.'''
+== Advanced: Manual headless Set Up the microSD Card ==
-<br>On Linux you see additionally rootfs, we can ignore this.
-=== Enable SSH Access ===
-'''On Windows,''' open Notepad and create a new an empty file just called „ssh“ on the new boot partition. <br>
+Use the [https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/ Raspberry Imager] tool to write Raspberry OS 32bit LITE (very important - '''not''' Desktop!) to your microSD card.
-'''On OSX''', open the text editor and save the file just as "ssh" to the new boot partition.
+Configure the Raspberry Pi Imager tool to configure the image with username and password, for simplicity we use "pi" and "raspberry".<br><br>
-<br><br>
+Also enable SSH and WiFi in the tool.
-Alternatively, you can simply do that in Linux/OSX in terminal by navigating to the /boot partition of the microSD Card and enter
+After finishing, eject the microSD Card from the PC and put it into the Raspberry Pi.
-      touch ssh
-=== Enable WiFi access ===
-Using the same method as above, put a file called wpa_supplicant.conf  in the same partition (/boot). This contains the credentials needed to connect to your WiFi. Add as many Networks as you like.
+=== Configuring the Raspberry Pi to be a bcMeter via SSH remote access and WiFi ===
-<br><br>'''In OSX Text Editor we need to press SHIFT+COMMAND+T first. This enables the plain text mode which is needed and stripes all formattings etc. ''' But using terminal / nano here is again a good idea.
-'''Be sure to edit the parameter „country“ correctly, else the pi may not be able to connect to your WiFi.'''
-Copy / paste the following. Make sure quotes are pasted correctly.
-      ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
-      country=de
-      update_config=1
-      network={
-      ssid="YourWiFiName"
-      psk="Password"
-      }
-Save the file and eject the microSD Card from the PC. This file will be removed from this place as soon as the raspberry has read it. If your Raspberry does not connect to your WiFi, you can repeat this process as often as necessary. If the file is still there after an attempted boot, there has something more severe gone wrong.
-== Configuring the Raspberry Pi to be a bcMeter via SSH remote access and WiFi ==
 Put microSD-Card in Raspberry and boot it up (takes up to a minute)
-Log into the raspberry via terminal on Linux/OSX
+Log into the raspberry via terminal on Linux/OSX or cmd.exe on Windows
-       ssh pi@raspberrypi
+       ssh bcMeter@bcMeter
+or alternatively if connection is refused
+      ssh bcMeter@bcMeter.local
-Or any terminal client on Windows (for example Putty) with the following default credentials
+Or to use with dedicated ssh client, like putty:
-address: raspberrypi
+address: bcMeter
-login name: pi
+login name: bcMeter
-login passwort: raspberry
+login passwort: bcmeter.org (or whatever you chose)
-'''(For some mobile hotspots it is required to add .local to the hostname (e.g. raspberryp.local). Try this first if no connection is possible.)'''
+'''If connections is refused, check connection first and then try to add .local to hostname (raspberry.local)'''
-.	Being logged in, enter
+Then just download the bcMeter install script by entering
         wget -N https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bcmeter/bcmeter/main/install.sh && sudo bash install.sh
+This will take you through a mainly unattended install procedure which will take a few minutes