Difference between revisions of "Installation"

Latest revision as of 20:38, 8 March 2026

Template:Note

Recommended: Pre-configured microSD Card Image (V1)

Step 1: Download and Flash the Image

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

Step 2: Boot and Connect

Insert the flashed microSD card into the Raspberry Pi
Power on the device
Wait approximately 2 minutes for boot
Connect to the WiFi network "bcMeter" with password: bcMeterbcMeter

Step 3: Configure

Open a browser and navigate to http://bcmeter-XXXX.local (where XXXX are the last 4 hex characters of the MAC address, shown on the device label)
The bcMeter interface will appear
Follow on-screen instructions

Advanced: Manual Setup via SSH (V1)

Use the Raspberry Pi Imager to write Raspberry OS 64-bit LITE to the microSD card. Do not install the Desktop variant.

Configure with username bcmeter and password bcmeter.org. Enable SSH and WiFi.

SSH Installation

ssh bcmeter@bcMeter
# or: ssh bcmeter@bcMeter.local

# Download and run installer
wget -N https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bcmeter/bcmeter/main/install.sh && sudo bash install.sh

This runs an unattended installation taking a few minutes.

Current Platform (V2)

The V2 bcMeter comes with firmware pre-installed. Setup only requires:

Plug in power
Connect to the "bcMeter" WiFi hotspot
Open http://bcmeter-XXXX.local (XXXX = last 4 hex chars of MAC address)
Follow the Welcome Screen

See Setup for detailed instructions.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Note|1='''Legacy V1 Documentation''' — This page documents software setup for the bcMeter V1. The current V2 bcMeter comes pre-configured and is set up via the [[Setup#Welcome Screen|Welcome Screen]]. These instructions are preserved for V1 users.}}
-== Recommended: Use of preconfigured microSD Card image==
+== Recommended: Pre-configured microSD Card Image (V1) ==
-. Download the file image [https://bcmeter.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/bcMeter_tar.gz here], unzip it and use [https://www.balena.io/etcher/ Etcher] to copy it to your microSD card. <br>
-. 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>
-'''If it is refused to save the wpa_supplicant directly by the text editor, copy the file over to your PC, edit it there and copy back.'''
-. 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 bcMeter or bcMeter.local
-== Alternative: Manual Set Up the microSD Card ==
+=== Step 1: Download and Flash the Image ===
-=== Download Image ===
+# Download the bcMeter image file [https://bcmeter.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/bcMeter_latest_img.zip here]
-[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>
+# Unzip the downloaded file
-'''Make sure to download the Lite''' image and '''not''' Desktop / Desktop and recommended software!
+# Use [https://www.balena.io/etcher/ Etcher] to flash the image to your microSD card:
+#* Insert your microSD card
+#* Open Etcher and select the image
+#* Select your microSD card as target
+#* Click "Flash!" and wait for completion
-=== Configure Raspberry OS ===
+=== Step 2: Boot and Connect ===
-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.'''
+# Insert the flashed microSD card into the Raspberry Pi
-<br>On Linux you see additionally rootfs, we can ignore this.
+# Power on the device
+# Wait approximately 2 minutes for boot
+# Connect to the WiFi network "'''bcMeter'''" with password: <code>bcMeterbcMeter</code>
-=== Enable SSH Access ===
+=== Step 3: Configure ===
-'''On Windows,''' open Notepad and create a new an empty file just called „ssh“ on the new boot partition. <br>
+# Open a browser and navigate to <code><nowiki>http://bcmeter-XXXX.local</nowiki></code> (where XXXX are the last 4 hex characters of the MAC address, shown on the device label)
-'''On OSX''', open the text editor and save the file just as "ssh" to the new boot partition.
+# The bcMeter interface will appear
-<br><br>
+# Follow on-screen instructions
-Alternatively, you can simply do that in Linux/OSX in terminal by navigating to the /boot partition of the microSD Card and enter
+== Advanced: Manual Setup via SSH (V1) ==
-      touch ssh
-=== Enable WiFi access ===
+Use the [https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/ Raspberry Pi Imager] to write '''Raspberry OS 64-bit LITE''' to the microSD card. Do '''not''' install the Desktop variant.
-After the image is written to the microSD-Card, 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.
+Configure with username <code>bcmeter</code> and password <code>bcmeter.org</code>. Enable SSH and WiFi.
-This file contains the credentials needed to connect to your WiFi. Add as many Networks as you like.
+=== SSH Installation ===
-<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.'''
+<pre>
-Copy / paste the following. Make sure quotes are pasted correctly.
+ssh bcmeter@bcMeter
+# or: ssh bcmeter@bcMeter.local
-      ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
+# Download and run installer
-      country=de
+wget -N https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bcmeter/bcmeter/main/install.sh && sudo bash install.sh
-      update_config=1
+</pre>
-      network={
-      ssid="YourWiFiName"
-      psk="Password"
-      }
+This runs an unattended installation taking a few minutes.
+== Current Platform (V2) ==
-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.
+The V2 bcMeter comes with firmware pre-installed. Setup only requires:
-=== Configuring the Raspberry Pi to be a bcMeter via SSH remote access and WiFi ===
+# Plug in power
+# Connect to the "bcMeter" WiFi hotspot
+# Open <code><nowiki>http://bcmeter-XXXX.local</nowiki></code> (XXXX = last 4 hex chars of MAC address)
+# Follow the [[Setup#Welcome Screen|Welcome Screen]]
-Put microSD-Card in Raspberry and boot it up (takes up to a minute)
+See [[Setup]] for detailed instructions.
-Log into the raspberry via terminal on Linux/OSX
-      ssh pi@raspberrypi
-Or any terminal client on Windows (for example Putty) with the following default credentials
-address: raspberrypi
-login name: pi
-login passwort: raspberry
-'''(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.)'''
-.	Being logged in, enter
-       wget -N https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bcmeter/bcmeter/main/install.sh && sudo bash install.sh