reef-pi :: An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi.

[Ranjib]

Sorry for butting in out of nowhere but it might be easier to tie into the api provided by dropbox or google drive. It would be pretty simple to add that as the backup target, and the user would just use that auth system vs. trying to roll one independently. Just zip it up and send it with a cron entry.

I stumbled upon this project on accident. After I homegrew something similar using node-red and python on the RPi.

you dont need the api, just configure the google driver cli (mentioned in earlier post) and set up a cron job to take backup.
In my past three years experience, I felt even this is more that what I need. In most cases, all I need is a one-time backup after i set everything up. I rarely change the settings once the controller is dialed in (like light schedule, dosing schedule, temperature sensors etc...).

 

[Bigtrout]

I probably dont even need that much either...and it takes 15 minutes to set everything back up...by the time I have a major fail I bet there will be a new version of reef pi anyways ;)

The major fail point will be the SD card, so as cheap as they are, I built a second card as a spare with everything ready to go.

I setup my reef pi, such that my relays are wired Normally closed, if reef pi goes down, my equipment outlets are ON, meaning the only thing I lose is light control, and the way I did my lights, the manual switch still works, the heaters and pumps still work as if reef pi wasnt there.

 

[Mandelstam]

Maybe I've missed this in the documentation but is there a possibility to add a safe shutdown button to the Reef-Pi? A button that will run the shutdown sequence and do a proper shutdown instead of just cutting the power? It's not a super big deal but it would be nice to be able to safely shut it down on the spot if you have to pull or plug in 3.5mm sensor plugs for instance.

 

[dmolavi]

Maybe I've missed this in the documentation but is there a possibility to add a safe shutdown button to the Reef-Pi? A button that will run the shutdown sequence and do a proper shutdown instead of just cutting the power? It's not a super big deal but it would be nice to be able to safely shut it down on the spot if you have to pull or plug in 3.5mm sensor plugs for instance.

There is, but it isn't straightforward. I plan on doing it on my setup.
For shutdown: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=216586#p1332042
also this: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=206921#p1281172

 

[Des Westcott]

Maybe I'm missing the point, but why can't Reef-Pi email you the backup at a schedule of your choice. Same email address as you use for alerts. How big would the file be if it's just a backup of your settings / config?

 

[Ranjib]

Maybe I've missed this in the documentation but is there a possibility to add a safe shutdown button to the Reef-Pi? A button that will run the shutdown sequence and do a proper shutdown instead of just cutting the power? It's not a super big deal but it would be nice to be able to safely shut it down on the spot if you have to pull or plug in 3.5mm sensor plugs for instance.

there is , you can just click on the Configuration ->Admin -> Poweroff

 

[Ranjib]

Maybe I'm missing the point, but why can't Reef-Pi email you the backup at a schedule of your choice. Same email address as you use for alerts. How big would the file be if it's just a backup of your settings / config?

it absolutely can.. we have to just agree that this is a good idea
- Do we think its ok to have backups in email
- What if the data is big, and we fail to emal? A popular way to configure alerts is via sms , and specify sms gateway as email address.

 

[Kremins]

Is there any way to set up auto start of equipment for when the reef-pi is rebooted or in case of a power outage?

 

[Ranjib]

Is there any way to set up auto start of equipment for when the reef-pi is rebooted or in case of a power outage?

reef-pi should bring them to their expected state, if you had kept them on/off via UI, its should come back to exactly same state upon startup. Is it not working as expected?

 

[Kremins]

reef-pi should bring them to their expected state, if you had kept them on/off via UI, its should come back to exactly same state upon startup. Is it not working as expected?

I had not realized it does that. I'll test it tonight.

 

[Des Westcott]

it absolutely can.. we have to just agree that this is a good idea
- Do we think its ok to have backups in email
- What if the data is big, and we fail to emal? A popular way to configure alerts is via sms , and specify sms gateway as email address.

Can we figure out what the settings / setup file backup size is on a reasonably complex build?

I didn't realise people setup email to SMS alerts. That isn't a network option here in SA.

Could a feature be written to try make the file size smaller to work with SMS's?

As long as the file gets sent somewhere and the backup exists, figuring out how to access it is better than wishing you had it [emoji23]

Maybe make the addition of a valid email address part of the login process and "hardwire" ReefPi to send an email only when configuration is changed?

Just throwing ideas out. That last one came to me while I was typing this. Haven't really thought it through.

Des

 

[stefanm]

Can we figure out what the settings / setup file backup size is on a reasonably complex build?

I didn't realise people setup email to SMS alerts. That isn't a network option here in SA.

Could a feature be written to try make the file size smaller to work with SMS's?

As long as the file gets sent somewhere and the backup exists, figuring out how to access it is better than wishing you had it [emoji23]

Maybe make the addition of a valid email address part of the login process and "hardwire" ReefPi to send an email only when configuration is changed?

Just throwing ideas out. That last one came to me while I was typing this. Haven't really thought it through.

Des

There's a service that Gmail offers, check if it's available in South Africa.

 

[stefanm]

How to do macros? Example, I have want to turn 3 pumps off for 10 minutes for feeding, glass cleaning or water change etc.. there doesn't seem to be any option for this or am I missing something?

 

[Mendeln]

Well that's one of the obstacles, since any remote connection will require passwords for login unless we use SSH keys. Not a fan of storing passwords in scripts or in files for execution.

Still mulling things in my head, the easiest would be to have an additional USB thumb drive and write the files locally. That would be easy for most of the pi's except the zeros since they are micro USB.

:)

Isn't there a way to store the password similar like in the wpa_supplicant.conf file?
I mean the wpa_passphrase tool at https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/wireless/wireless-cli.md

 

[KevinDodge]

Is anyone else able to run "make deb" on a MAC and have it work. I get errors when trying to package everything up.

 

[KevinDodge]

So I am attempting to try and run a newer version of reef-pi to see if it resolves my PCA9685 issues. If I build against "master" the UI doesn't come up. So I backed off to a commit before the translation code. In this version it appears that you have to add the PCA as a "Driver". Every time I attempt to add it the UI suggests address "68". When I save I get an error "Failed to create. Error: remote I/O error". I assume I don't have the correct i2c address. Anyone know how to figure out the correct address?

 

[Ranjib]

Is anyone else able to run "make deb" on a MAC and have it work. I get errors when trying to package everything up.

I develop exclusively on Mac. You need ruby , Andy run bundle install (to install fpm), before building Debian package

 

[Ranjib]

So I am attempting to try and run a newer version of reef-pi to see if it resolves my PCA9685 issues. If I build against "master" the UI doesn't come up. So I backed off to a commit before the translation code. In this version it appears that you have to add the PCA as a "Driver". Every time I attempt to add it the UI suggests address "68". When I save I get an error "Failed to create. Error: remote I/O error". I assume I don't have the correct i2c address. Anyone know how to figure out the correct address?

You have to run “npm install “ to get all ui related packages, followed by ‘make ui-dev’ which will start webpack.

On developer machine (Mac or windows or Linux) check the dev-mode under configuration, to stub out all i2c calls. If you are getting the error in raspberry pi, then check if i2c is enabled , and check the i2c address is indeed in use by i2cdetect -y 1

 

[Ranjib]

Regarding the pca9685 frequency issue , @Michael Lane pointed out a possible bug in the driver where we are setting the frequency after wake up call... I’ll get back to this during weekend.

 

[hotdrop]

Would it be possible to get reef-pi split off into its own form catagory? 514 pages on 1 topic makes it difficult to search and understand