Difference between revisions of "Installation"

Latest revision as of 19:38, 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
-== Advanced: Manual headless Set Up the microSD Card ==
+=== Step 1: Download and Flash the Image ===
-'''Only continue if you really need and want to setup the system manually!
-'''=== Download Image ===
-Use the [https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/ Raspberry Imager] tool to write Raspberry OS LITE (very important - not Desktop!) to your card. Configure the tool to work with username pi and choose any password.<br><br>
+# Download the bcMeter image file [https://bcmeter.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/bcMeter_latest_img.zip here]
-Enable SSH and WiFi in the tool.
+# Unzip the downloaded file
+# 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
-After finishing, eject the microSD Card from the PC and put it into the Raspberry Pi.
+=== 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: <code>bcMeterbcMeter</code>
-=== Configuring the Raspberry Pi to be a bcMeter via SSH remote access and WiFi ===
+=== Step 3: Configure ===
-Put microSD-Card in Raspberry and boot it up (takes up to a minute)
+# 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)
+# The bcMeter interface will appear
+# Follow on-screen instructions
-Log into the raspberry via terminal on Linux/OSX
+== Advanced: Manual Setup via SSH (V1) ==
-      ssh pi@raspberrypi
-or alternatively if connection is refused
-      ssh pi@raspberrypi.local
+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.
-Or any terminal client on Windows (for example Putty) with the following default credentials
+Configure with username <code>bcmeter</code> and password <code>bcmeter.org</code>. Enable SSH and WiFi.
-address: raspberrypi
+=== SSH Installation ===
-login name: pi
+<pre>
+ssh bcmeter@bcMeter
+# or: ssh bcmeter@bcMeter.local
-login passwort: raspberry
+# Download and run installer
+wget -N https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bcmeter/bcmeter/main/install.sh && sudo bash install.sh
+</pre>
-'''(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.)'''
+This runs an unattended installation taking a few minutes.
-.	Being logged in, enter
+== Current Platform (V2) ==
-       wget -N https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bcmeter/bcmeter/main/install.sh && sudo bash install.sh
+The V2 bcMeter comes with firmware pre-installed. Setup only requires:
+# 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]]
+See [[Setup]] for detailed instructions.