5 ms·

1x Raspberry Pi 3 installed in my car within the internal network as a bastion box and to run software that let's my interact with the entertainment system 1x

1x Raspberry Pi 3 installed in my car within the internal network as a bastion box and to run software that let's my interact with the entertainment system 1x Raspberry Pi 3 running Home Assistant with a Z-Wave USB Dongle (Home Automation) 1x Raspberry Pi 3 running OctoPrint (Host/remote-control for 3D Printer) 1x Raspberry Pi 3 running FullPageOS (Full-screen Chromium in kiosk mode) displaying a server statusboard in our home office Next project: 1x Raspberry Pi Zero W to run Unifi Controller I have a couple of original Model B+ sitting around unused right now - just not powerful enough for any of the above projects. (Update: Formatting)

exhilaration 7y ago
FYI - I had to buy a Pi 3B+ to run Unifi Controller, the forum posts said the Zero W didn't have enough juice.
- thecodemonkey 7y ago
  Boo! Might have to reconsider then. I used the Pi Zero W for FullPageOS for a while but performance was absolutely terrible, recently switched it out with the Raspberry Pi 3. The Pi Zero really has an awesome form factor, but many of the projects I come up with either require more performance (i.e. needing a Rasperry Pi 3) or are simply better suited for a microcontroller such an ESP32 or ESP8266.
  - tjoff 7y ago
    I guess it depends, but having the unifi controller on wifi isn't always the best of idea. If you misconfigure the wifi or just change the ssid/password the controller looses access as the settings are applied. And now you can't even connect to the controller to fix it.
    - thecodemonkey 7y ago
      I’m using an Ubiquiti gateway but not for access points (yet). So that’s not currently a problem. But that’s good to know!
- wil421 7y ago
  When I used my Pi 3b+ it was flakey for UniFi. I bought a bunch of their cameras and got a cloud key gen 2 plus. Haven’t looked back and now I have a Pi for a few other things in my new house.
- myelin 7y ago
  Seconding this... it'll just barely run on the Zero W, but you need 64-bit Java to remotely access your controller through unifi.ubnt.com, and there'll be long delays whenever the database needs any maintenance. (I set up a Zero with the Unifi Controller -- connecting to the LAN using a Chromecast Ethernet Adaptor -- about a year ago, and had this problem, so I switched to a 3B, and all is well now.)
godot 7y ago
I didn't know about FullPageOS, very cool. For a full stack web developer, this can give you a wide range of use cases for a Pi. Thanks!
MikeKusold 7y ago
> 1x Raspberry Pi 3 installed in my car within the internal network as a bastion box and to run software that let's my interact with the entertainment system Can you go in more depth about this? How did you integrate it with the entertainment system, and what do specifically do you do with it?
- wil421 7y ago
  Seconded. Please tell us more. I believe Ford has some open stuff you can connect a laptop to.
  - thecodemonkey 7y ago
    Tesla. I probably don’t have to say much more. Here’s an older video with some interesting details: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KX_0c9R4Fng https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KX_0c9R4Fng
    - ex3ndr 7y ago
      I have a tesla and didn't find a way to talk to infotaiment system from my RPI. what you are exactly doing?
      - true_tuna 7y ago
        It sounds like Tesla locked down the dangling Ethernet so you have to piggyback an existing device to get an authenticated connection to the vlan.
  - lwansbrough 7y ago
    That "open stuff" generally speaking is either an ODB-II port (which as I understand it is generally limited in diagnostics and communication in modern cars) and the other is the C2 Radio harness (which plugs into the back of the infotainment system.) These systems exist on all modern cars. The C2 radio port gets you direct access to the vehicle's CAN-Bus system, which itself is generally segmented into a high frequency (safety critical systems: drivetrain, drive-by-wire steering if applicable, braking, etc) and a low frequency system (door locks, sound system, windows, etc.) If you reverse engineer your vehicle's CAN protocol (each manufacturer uses their own codes on a standard CAN transport protocol), you can issue commands to it directly from your Pi.
brianm 7y ago
Unifi controller on a pi zero might be a bit painful on the memory front. It wants the controller (java app) and mongo, both of which like to eat up memory.
MisterTea 7y ago
> Next project: 1x Raspberry Pi Zero W to run Unifi Controller Ugh, have fun with the dependency issues. An easy alternative is to run a Unifi docker image. Currently running it from a Debian VM when needed but looking to move it to an alpine vmm on my OpenBSD APU2. The Linux image is the same as the cloud key so you can roll your own cloud key and use the unifi app. Here is the image I use though there are others: https://hub.docker.com/r/jacobalberty/unifi/ https://hub.docker.com/r/jacobalberty/unifi/
- jimnotgym 7y ago
  I found it easier to just buy the cloud key...
  - lostlogin 7y ago
    I’ve never owned a cloud key, but the docker path is really quite painless and makes migrations nice too.
- Falcorian 7y ago
  It is a nightmare! I just finished fighting with it this weekend. The controller only officially supports ARM 32, and the mongoDB dependency only supports ARM 64. In the end I I used a 64-bit Ubuntu, 64-bit mongoDB from the mongoDB repo, and downloaded the controller deb from the Unify site, which is apparently architect agnostic.
- CameronBanga 7y ago
  Take a look at Hostifi if you want your own server at a reasonable cost without having to deal with the management.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
iamroot 7y ago
> 1x Raspberry Pi 3 installed in my car within the internal network as a bastion box and to run software that let's my interact with the entertainment system Can you go in more depth about this? How did you integrate it with the entertainment system, and what do specifically do you do with it?
lostlogin 7y ago
You’re clearly better at this than me, so this might be unneeded: Docking the UniFi Controller avoids the dependency hell and upgrade pain that sometimes occurs, and makes an afternoons pain into a 5 minute exercise.

exhilaration 7y ago

FYI - I had to buy a Pi 3B+ to run Unifi Controller, the forum posts said the Zero W didn't have enough juice.

thecodemonkey 7y ago
Boo! Might have to reconsider then. I used the Pi Zero W for FullPageOS for a while but performance was absolutely terrible, recently switched it out with the Raspberry Pi 3. The Pi Zero really has an awesome form factor, but many of the projects I come up with either require more performance (i.e. needing a Rasperry Pi 3) or are simply better suited for a microcontroller such an ESP32 or ESP8266.
- tjoff 7y ago
  I guess it depends, but having the unifi controller on wifi isn't always the best of idea. If you misconfigure the wifi or just change the ssid/password the controller looses access as the settings are applied. And now you can't even connect to the controller to fix it.
  - thecodemonkey 7y ago
    I’m using an Ubiquiti gateway but not for access points (yet). So that’s not currently a problem. But that’s good to know!
wil421 7y ago
When I used my Pi 3b+ it was flakey for UniFi. I bought a bunch of their cameras and got a cloud key gen 2 plus. Haven’t looked back and now I have a Pi for a few other things in my new house.
myelin 7y ago
Seconding this... it'll just barely run on the Zero W, but you need 64-bit Java to remotely access your controller through unifi.ubnt.com, and there'll be long delays whenever the database needs any maintenance. (I set up a Zero with the Unifi Controller -- connecting to the LAN using a Chromecast Ethernet Adaptor -- about a year ago, and had this problem, so I switched to a 3B, and all is well now.)

godot 7y ago

I didn't know about FullPageOS, very cool. For a full stack web developer, this can give you a wide range of use cases for a Pi. Thanks!

MikeKusold 7y ago

> 1x Raspberry Pi 3 installed in my car within the internal network as a bastion box and to run software that let's my interact with the entertainment system Can you go in more depth about this? How did you integrate it with the entertainment system, and what do specifically do you do with it?

wil421 7y ago
Seconded. Please tell us more. I believe Ford has some open stuff you can connect a laptop to.
- thecodemonkey 7y ago
  Tesla. I probably don’t have to say much more. Here’s an older video with some interesting details: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KX_0c9R4Fng https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KX_0c9R4Fng
  - ex3ndr 7y ago
    I have a tesla and didn't find a way to talk to infotaiment system from my RPI. what you are exactly doing?
    - true_tuna 7y ago
      It sounds like Tesla locked down the dangling Ethernet so you have to piggyback an existing device to get an authenticated connection to the vlan.
- lwansbrough 7y ago
  That "open stuff" generally speaking is either an ODB-II port (which as I understand it is generally limited in diagnostics and communication in modern cars) and the other is the C2 Radio harness (which plugs into the back of the infotainment system.) These systems exist on all modern cars. The C2 radio port gets you direct access to the vehicle's CAN-Bus system, which itself is generally segmented into a high frequency (safety critical systems: drivetrain, drive-by-wire steering if applicable, braking, etc) and a low frequency system (door locks, sound system, windows, etc.) If you reverse engineer your vehicle's CAN protocol (each manufacturer uses their own codes on a standard CAN transport protocol), you can issue commands to it directly from your Pi.

brianm 7y ago

Unifi controller on a pi zero might be a bit painful on the memory front. It wants the controller (java app) and mongo, both of which like to eat up memory.

MisterTea 7y ago

> Next project: 1x Raspberry Pi Zero W to run Unifi Controller Ugh, have fun with the dependency issues. An easy alternative is to run a Unifi docker image. Currently running it from a Debian VM when needed but looking to move it to an alpine vmm on my OpenBSD APU2. The Linux image is the same as the cloud key so you can roll your own cloud key and use the unifi app. Here is the image I use though there are others: https://hub.docker.com/r/jacobalberty/unifi/ https://hub.docker.com/r/jacobalberty/unifi/

jimnotgym 7y ago
I found it easier to just buy the cloud key...
- lostlogin 7y ago
  I’ve never owned a cloud key, but the docker path is really quite painless and makes migrations nice too.
Falcorian 7y ago
It is a nightmare! I just finished fighting with it this weekend. The controller only officially supports ARM 32, and the mongoDB dependency only supports ARM 64. In the end I I used a 64-bit Ubuntu, 64-bit mongoDB from the mongoDB repo, and downloaded the controller deb from the Unify site, which is apparently architect agnostic.
CameronBanga 7y ago
Take a look at Hostifi if you want your own server at a reasonable cost without having to deal with the management.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

iamroot 7y ago

lostlogin 7y ago

You’re clearly better at this than me, so this might be unneeded: Docking the UniFi Controller avoids the dependency hell and upgrade pain that sometimes occurs, and makes an afternoons pain into a 5 minute exercise.