[Version 2 Release] RaspberryPints - Digital Taplist Solution

So, I ended up going down the tablet route. I found this full HD 10.6" tablet on Amazon for only $139. It looked like good specs and I've kinda wanted a tablet for a while, so I figured I might just kill two birds with one stone.

Only problem, once I tried to display in any of the browsers, is that even though the display is 1920x1080, Android browsers like to restrict the resolution INSIDE the browser. And every browser was different (I tried Chrome, Firefox, Dolphin).

I beat my head against the wall a bit trying to figure out how to force these browsers into the viewport resolution I wanted, but to no avail. Firefox has an advanced feature to set the width, but I still couldn't get the height right. Then, after more googling, I found that you can code the viewport size right into a website header and effectively force the browser into what you want.

So I added the below line into the "head" portion of index.php:

Code:

<meta type="viewport" content="width=1920, height="1080">

Now it's all set. I run Dolphin in full-screen mode with my RaspberryPints webserver set as the home page, and it loads beautifully.

Just thought this might help some of you trying to do the same.

 

Thanks guys, I downloaded a older version with jessie, and got RaspberryPints running, now I just need to get my flow meters.

For anyone else who is going back and using a archived version of raspberian, before you can do the

sudo apt-get update

you first need to

sudo nano /etc/host

go to the bottom and enter

93.93.128.193 mirrordirector.rasbian.org
93.93.128.191 archive.raspian.org

before doing this I was unable to update or download any packages

 

Could anybody help me out, I`ve just soldered up my alamode Board, and i have a RPI2+ And a RPI3, as far as i have understod the RPI2+ would be the way to og, Also, What Version of OS should i download, I started to read through the post in here but after Reading almost 100 post i noticed the remaining 2699 post, As English is not my native Language, i would appriciate all the help i can get. Thanks in advance.

regards
Thetra from Norway

 

Tried installing RPints over the weekend with no success. Did this:
sudo apt-get -y install apache2 php5 mysql-client mysql-server php5-mysql phpmyadmin

as directed on the RPints page. Problem is, PHP5 is no longer available and PHP7 has some different issues for integration.

Anyone have a solution?

 

I have installed RPints on both and find the RPI3 to be much faster.

As for OS go with Jessie (https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/NOOBS/images/NOOBS-2017-07-05/), as it is already thoroughly documented (I haven't gotten around to posting my Stretch notes yet).

This because you are using Stretch NOOBS, which is PHP7 and until someone posts instructables for Stretch you are better off using Jessie which is still PHP5: https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/NOOBS/images/NOOBS-2017-07-05/

Cheers,

Kal

 

Finally got around to building a house for my RPints kit:

3 Flowmeters per XLR 5 pin connection so room for up to 9 meters

Connections for temp logging probes and PIR (code for both courtesy of @day_trippr)

Easy access to USB ports for hot cloning SD card (another brilliant post courtesy of @day_trippr)

All that's left is to buy a decent LCD monitor with VESA mount to tidy up the top of my kegerator.

 

Hey there’s and biggie, I just installed RasberryPints yesterday. Use the version of NOOBS kaljade just referenced and

 

As we have been advising you are best going back to Raspbian Jessie at this time.
Also, review my post here for installation notes to get RaspberryPints working on Jessie.

And I would definitely go with the RPi2B as you can easily get the Alamode working atop an RPi2B. Atop an RPi3, not so easy...

Cheers!

 

Thanks for this it helped me sort out the resolution on my "stop gap" tablet solution until I eventually fork out for a dedicated LCD screen. For my three tap setup on a Nexus 10 the magic line worked out to be:

PHP:

<meta name="viewport" content="width=1280, height=800">

What I ended up doing was making a copy of my 'index.php' file that I renamed 'nexus.php', and I just point my tablet to /nexus.php so that the forced resolution is only on that device.

Cheers,

Kal

 

Thank you all for the suport, i have managed to get further, but now this weird thingy happens when i test the script. It Writes out this when blowing into the flowmeter.

Capture by Thetra posted Nov 23, 2017 at 11:48 PM[/GALLERY Window oopen ;)

EDIT: Never mind,, i brainfarted so loud that my ears popped, Had to have a

 

Love It, But could i ask, How did you manage to get it in liters? Also how did you get the wicked font on the header? Looks super Nice all of it.

 

Thanks!

Changing to litres (Aussie spelling) can be done two ways - the easy way or the slightly harder way:

1. The easy way is changing these two lines in your index.php file: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...-taplist-solution.487694/page-15#post-6427341
2. The slightly harder way (which I chose) is to change the values everywhere (admin pages, database, index.php, pours.php, etc).

As for the font it's called Metal Macabre and you can download it free here: https://www.dafont.com/metal-macabre.font as I only wanted to use it in the header I just created an image file with text I wanted on my local machine then inserted the following in my index.php:

PHP:

                <div class="HeaderCenter">
                    <?php if($config[ConfigNames::UseHighResolution]) { ?>           
                        <a href="/brewery"><img src="img/logo/centre.png" height="200" alt=""></a>
                    <?php } else { ?>
                        <a href="/brewery"><img src="img/logo/centre.png" height="100" alt=""></a>
                    <?php } ?>
                </div>


Let me know if you get stuck?

Cheers,

Kal

 

Have tried to get this piece of crap to work for a couple of days and no luck. The instructions appear to be so out of date and inaccurate, that installing this is impossible. Too bad. Seemed like a promising little gadget.

 

Did you try the link in the second post of this forum to the updated instructions?

Also, make sure you use the previous version of NOOBS here: https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/NOOBS/images/NOOBS-2017-07-05/ as the latest version uses PHP-7 and this was built on PHP-5, then be sure to update your sources as per @Dawk_ia instructions:

 

Yes, time passes and OS and applications change, but in spite of it all we've managed to guide quite a few folks through the build process.
I encourage you to give it another try, and if you run into a wall along the way give us a chance to help.

As kaljade said, download a Raspbian Jessie kit from here https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/NOOBS/images/NOOBS-2017-07-05/

Reference Dawk_ia's note here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...-taplist-solution.487694/page-77#post-8148063

Reference my post here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...-taplist-solution.487694/page-67#post-8040187

Cheers!

 

I've found this forum to be immensely helpful in getting my Raspberry Pints build going.
I'm having difficulty with uploading to the Alamode board in Step #9 and would appreciate any ideas.

My environment:
* RPI2B
* Installed NOOBS from the NOOBS_2017_07_05 image (running Jessie)
* I've loaded the alamode-setup with ease. Used dos2unix to be able to run ./jessie-setup.
* RPints is installed successfully on Step 8. I can access the database and add beers/kegs/taps.
* I've set 'enable_uart=0' in /boot/config.txt (I've also tried using enable_uart=1)
* in /boot/cmdline.txt I've removed 'console=serial0,115200'
* in "Raspberry Pi Configuration" I've toggled "Serial" to be disabled.

Yet, when each time I open Arduino IDE, it shows "AlaMode on COM1" and the TOOLS -> Serial Port menu selection remains grayed out.

 

I rebooted and started the AlaMode setup instruction from scratch.
I now have the ability to select the Serial port in Arduino IDE to be /dev/ttyS0.
In /boot/config.txt, I have set enable_uart=1 to get this to work.

New problem: On upload of raspberrypints.ino in Arduino IDE, the upload fails with this error:
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding

I'm not finding much good direction for this error. Has anyone seen this?
I do not yet have the flowmon service running.

 

Probably a stupid question as you seem highly capable, but are you supplying power to the Pi directly, or via the Alamode?

 

I do have the power plugged into the Alamode.

With a fresh mind this morning, I found the problem. I had the flow meters attached to the AlaMode board while I was trying to upload. Unplugging the flow meters allowed the upload to complete successfully.

I found a hint to the issue here:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions...vrdude-stk500-recv-programmer-is-not-respondi

 

Nice work! Now that you can upload a sketch, you should upload @day_trippr's modified version that gives you a success LED signal when a pour is registered (I've slightly modified it further on mine to make it blink 5 times, but the original credit is all his).

 

Installed and sort of going... on my main tap list page, I get this message.. obviously where the header should be..


Notice: Undefined index: headerTextTruncLen in C:\xampp\htdocs\RaspberryPints-2.0.1\index.phpon line 90

Notice: Undefined index: headerTextTruncLen in C:\xampp\htdocs\RaspberryPints-2.0.1\index.phpon line 91
...


I'm running RPints version 2.0.1 on a PC(win7ult), XMAPP install (PHP5).. anybody know what I need to change in the code? Also... in the Personalize page under Taplist header, the "Truncate To: (# characters)" field will not accept a value.. The two are obviously related, I would think.. hoping someone has some experience with this issue

Thanks in advance!


Big side question.. has anybody attempted the flowmeters/arduino with the PC install.. I might be pushing my luck.. then again it's probably buried in this thread somewhere..

 

Don't have anything off the head for the errors, haven't seen anything similar on a Raspbian-based implementation.

I don't recall anyone trying to hook flow meters up with a PC host running the R'Pints application.
That said, as long as you use an Arduino UNO or equivalent hooked to a host USB port it should work (obviously the Alamode is a non-starter in this configuration)...

Cheers!

 

Has anyone tried copying the MySQL database from one SD card to a different SD card?

 

Yes, I backup my DB overnight, thanks to yet another of @day_trippr's brilliant posts: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/index.php?posts/8083979

 

Thanks @kaljade , I'm actually looking for how to migrate the beer list from my raspberry pi (wheezy) to an odroid (jessie). I tried using phpmyadmin to export the beers.sql file and import the file on the odroid but I was unable to get it running on the odroid.

 

Not sure if this is what you mean, but this is my "moving house post", that I posted after migrating my RPints instance from RPi2 Wheezy to RPi3 Jessie: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/index.php?posts/8078606

 

Ghost pours

I've got a problem where I'm getting random pours of different amounts. Its mainly on one tap and I've recently rewired my system so I'm not yet positive its isolated to one meter. However I've seen posts here before with this problem but don't recall how anyone fixed it. I suspect is my wiring (or possibly a bad meter) but wondered if there is any way to help track down the issue.

Its lots of 1-2 ounce pours with a random 200+ pour as well so overnight a keg will go from half full to over poured by 1000 ounces. I can remove the entries via the database but obviously this is a pain to keep doing.

Note that when I do pour from that tap is does register correctly.

Any ideas before I start re-wiring that meter.

 

I had lots of ghost pours and finally gave up on the Raspberry Pints. I suspect it's an issue with the temperature varying but could never prove it. It wasn't unusual to all my kegs empty overnight with ghost pours. Hopefully someone has resolved the issue. I'm curious.

 

No need to re-wire. If you're registering pours, you're wired up correctly. Temperature changes and bubbles coming out of suspension seem to be the culprit. You definitely need a fan inside of your cooler to move air around. I and others have also found that if you coil your excess beverage lines neatly on top of the keg and have your flow meter horizontal, you'll minimize the phantom pours.

Occasionally, like once every three or four kegs, I'll get a huge phantom pour or a group of pours right together. The rest of the time I'll get a tick or two on the meter. By the time I'm at the end of the keg, all of the ticks add up to a pint or so. If I'm not being lazy, I'll delete the ticks near the end of the keg and I'll end up with a surprisingly accurate accounting of what's really happened. It is funny how much joy I get out of having the keg kick within a pint one way or the other of what 'Pints is telling me.

 

Well I'm inside a fridge with taps out the door so hopefully temp change isn't all that much but it is an old fridge (although I can check it). That particular keg is REALLY foamy with a lot of air in the line and I suspected that might be part of it. I've also got my taps relatively close in height to the top of the keg and thought all the air moving around could be contributing. I would think most systems have the taps higher than the kig height so most air would flow toward the tap - mine seems to have air on every little up spot of the tubing.

Just seems odd if I haven't done anything with it or pour any beers in a couple days I'm still getting ghost pours. I would think the system would have stabilized. I swapped out the keg to another tap and put in an empty one with star san just to have something on it - we'll see if that settles that down or not...and if the tap I moved it to has problems then its just the keg/beer.

 

Hey all,
I'm jumping into this to build a RasPints system and have a couple quick questions getting started after searching the forum a bunch. i'm trying to get it up and running first and then add bells and whistles later (for once, I'm not giving in to feature creep). I'm generally following @day_trippr 's post from 8/17.

- Raspberry 2 or 3? I like the onboard WiFi of the 3, for sure.
- Stretch, or some previous version of jesse?
- I'm was thinking of using a kindle fire as the monitor- the 8" version 7 ones are $30 now..cheaper and sleeker than most Rpi specific monitors. Theres some instructables on how to do this, would this add..a ton of problems, you think?
-Is there any reason not to build this out of a PiZero + arduino mini, to keep it wee? Hell, is there any good reason not to use a logic level shifter going right into the Pi's GPIO?

I'm sure I'll have more questions coming up- I'm a little constrained as it's a suprise gift so I have to find a creative way to test it ( I don't have a tap setup, it's a gift for the BF )

 

Hey there, welcome to our little corner of the interwebs! I can talk with some authority on the first two questions, I've setup RPints on both a RPi2 & RPi3 and definitely prefer the performance of the 3. As for OS although I have gotten Stretch to work for RPints (flowmeters still a work in progress on the Pi3), Jessie is still a supported version and ships with PHP5 out-of-the-box so much easier to get up and running.

Hope this helps and I think your BF is going to love it, but I doubt you'll be able to resist the feature creep urge forever.

Cheers,

Kal

 

awesome, thanks. I'm definately using flow meters- is there a problem only with the Stretch + Rpi3 combination, or with the Pi3 in general?
The biggest things I want with this build (though I'm sure he'll hack at it, too):
-get the whole thing as nice and put together as possible for a gift, though I'm sure there will always be a bit more to do (he's more than capable)
-easy viewing and editing of beers , i like the beer color add in and will ask questions about that later, i'm sure (he has a 3 tap setup at the moment, but has..a significant cellar)
-ease of install and use of flow meters (I got the adafruit ones- any different hardware needed from the 'official' list because of this change?

I notice that in the parts list they only list the barbs, but in the photo there's something that goes from the male threaded flow meter to the barbs, looks a little like an air fitting. What's this called, and what size should I get? Are they available anywhere but online, hydroponics stores maybe? Are most keg setups the same size tubing?

 

I can only comment on my setup which is using an alamode with swissflow meters, the issue with Stretch + RPi3 is probably only an alamode issue but I haven't tested it with a uno, Jessie + RPi3 = no trouble. There are definitely more knowledgeable folks than I here on the adafruit meters, but you will definitely need to edit your pours file to suit the different hardware.

 

cool, thanks. I'm definitely skipping the alamode, it seems like a weird choice to begin with. I have about a bajillion arduinos kicking around anyways. I would imagine the swissflow meters wouldn't be a factor in what install you're doing since they work on the same principle(?). I'm much, much more comfortable in hardware than I am in things like PhP or MySql, im dreading that part. Is that basically an online database you loginto from a local network and change some part of a spreadsheet to add a new beer?

What are the problems you *have* encountered with the Pi3? I downloaded the pre-stretch jessie just to be safe- is there any major plusses to Stretch, anyways? and thanks!

 

Generally speaking from an IT point of view you are far better off with a mature/stable distro release than being on the bleeding edge helping them find all the bugs, so Jessie is a much better choice for the time being and once the bugs are ironed out it's safe to upgrade, that said the main issue is the alamode which you aren't using but to get it up and running on Stretch even with an arduino you still need to either: a) install both PHP5 & PHP7 in parallel as RPints uses PHP MySQL which was deprecated in PHP7; or b) wait for someone to rewrite RPints using PDOs instead.

Once you are up and running most functions are controlled in the UI so you don't need to have PHP or MySQL chops per se, but part of the install instructions walk you through installing phpMyAdmin, whereby you can make minor database tweaks (if you so desire).

The great news is that despite the original project being long abandoned by the original developers, we have an amazing community here that will help you every step of the way to get your RPints setup up and running!

Cheers,

Kal

 

The original concept was "tuned" toward a compact footprint, which meant using the Z-space. And there was an intention to enable use of a Centipede board stacked on top of the Alamode for expanding the number of taps beyond the 8 available with just the Alamode.

Wrt the RPi3, the crux of the issue is the onboard wifi and Bluetooth commandeered the hardware UART leaving a bit-banged "software" UART for users to connect serial devices. Weak, and frankly a regrettable move that saddles everyone with higher power consumption if either of those devices isn't being used. If you want Bluetooth or Wifi, plug in the appropriate dongle, imo. RPi2B Forever!

Aaaanyway...If you use an Uno R3 or functional equivalent you'll avoid that (only known) problem with the RPi3 wrt R'Pints...

Cheers!

 

interesting! For right now I'm using Pi2 as I have them sitting around and the 3 hasn't come yet. so the main problem is power consumption? Not anything that i'd have to change some code with?

Also- I'm building this at my house, it will live at his house. Am i shooting myself in the foot with step 3 by assigning a static IP somewhere not his house?

 

You can just repeat Step 3 again when you give it to him, so low impact.

 

There's no "power problem" with the RPi3, just a "power penalty" if one is not using both the onboard WiFi and Bluetooth adapters.
Eg, if you use just the WiFi, you're still powering the Bluetooth module. Given the scope of RPi applications, that can matter.

btw, "performance" and "RaspberryPints" isn't a thing. An RPiB runs RaspberryPints just fine, though screen updates might take a full second. An RPi2B can update the display in an unnoticeable blink if the thread has the right-of-way.
I have R'Pints, 3 instances of BrewPi, and a 6 channel temperature logger all running on an RPi2B and it is as smooth as puppy poo

fwiw, imo anyone going a similar route should remember they are basically building an appliance, not a desktop workstation.
Among other things, don't take a running complex and start doing software updates just because they exist.
eg: I haven't done an apt get upgrade on my production system or its backup clone in at least a year.

Also, always have a working backup SD card. Always...

Cheers!