HOWTO - Make a BrewPi Fermentation Controller For Cheap

[wbarber69]

It might not be the problem. Also they make Ethernet wifi dongles too. Are you using the dongle that came with the kit, who makes it.

 

[indianajns]

Its a Canakit RasPi. Using the Wifi USB dongle that came with it.

 

[wbarber69]

Is it the often recommended edimax dongle that so many others are using?

 

[indianajns]

No, its this guy.... http://www.canakit.com/raspberry-pi-wifi.html

 

[wbarber69]

Seems like the only info I can find for this is that some raspberry pis have problems powering the wifi dongle, especially if it is far away or blocked from your router. Causing the dongle to need more power and not being able to get enough power over USB. The most common fix is to use a powered hub to power the wifi dongle.

 

[indianajns]

Something like this will work as a powered hub ya think? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00552PMN8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[wbarber69]

Actually I've had a great experience with this cheap little bastard.

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10307&cs_id=1030702&p_id=10065&seq=1&format=2

But it doesn't have a power supply included…

 

[indianajns]

Cant beat that price! I'll get this and, I assume a 5v power supply..

 

[wbarber69]

Yes but one with a barrel connector smaller than the one on your arduino. I think it's 2.5mm?

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I will say that these Ethernet over power adapters are the best thing ive probably ever bought(and im 100% serious) and would seriously consider them for your ferm chamber rather than screwing with wireless or pulling cable. I went in totally skeptical and have been blown away by the performance and how it just always works. Ive been using them for about 5 years now i guess since thats when i got my house.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ULOZ5W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

You plug one in near your router, plug a ethernet cable into it and now your entire house's power lines are basically ethernet ready. You can plug the other adapter anywhere else and plug a cable into it and have internet. They all work with eachother just fine and dont have to be used just in pairs.

I use five of these, two in my office, two for my media PC's and one next to the router in my garage. They are stupid simple you literally just plug them in and they sync and work and have gone down maybe once every 6-9 months if that which just requires me unplugging and replugging them in. My crappy router crashes way more.

If you dont have an easy way to wire your house i highly suggest it, i have a 2 story house and didnt want to deal with pulling wire and crap through walls. The best part about these is the flexibility, when we move our office to the other room i dont have to worry about not having internet wires pulled there, as long as there is a power outlet there is internet.

YOu cant plug them into surge protectors/etc they have to go directly into the wall, also ill preface and say if you have an overly large house and try to go from one side to the other you may have issues depending on your wiring, or if you have a really old house you know has ****ty electrical from previous experience it might not work as well. Granted i think this was more an issue with the older models like i have not these newer 300+Mb ones

For me and everyone i know that has them though they work great. I only have the old 100Mb versions and have no issues with internet speeds as 100Mb is way faster than your going to get any internet out here in the US, and its more than fast enough to stream full blu-ray quality video. I have no trouble maxxing out my 30Mb Down/Up FIOS using them from any PC.

They work especially well in apartments or rentals and stuff where you obviously arent allowed to destroy the walls and pull ethernet cable.

For $43(or $54 if you want the power passthrough version which i recommend so you dont lose a power outlet) it cant be beat.

 

[balrog]

I will say that these Ethernet over power adapters are the best thing ive probably ever bought(and im 100% serious) and would seriously consider them for your ferm chamber rather than screwing with wireless or pulling cable. I went in totally skeptical and have been blown away by the performance and how it just always works. Ive been using them for about 5 years now i guess since thats when i got my house.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ULOZ5W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

You plug one in near your router, plug a ethernet cable into it and now your entire house's power lines are basically ethernet ready. You can plug the other adapter anywhere else and plug a cable into it and have internet. They all work with eachother just fine and dont have to be used just in pairs.

I use five of these, two in my office, two for my media PC's and one next to the router in my garage. They are stupid simple you literally just plug them in and they sync and work and have gone down maybe once every 6-9 months if that which just requires me unplugging and replugging them in. My crappy router crashes way more.

If you dont have an easy way to wire your house i highly suggest it, i have a 2 story house and didnt want to deal with pulling wire and crap through walls. The best part about these is the flexibility, when we move our office to the other room i dont have to worry about not having internet wires pulled there, as long as there is a power outlet there is internet.

YOu cant plug them into surge protectors/etc they have to go directly into the wall, also ill preface and say if you have an overly large house and try to go from one side to the other you may have issues depending on your wiring, or if you have a really old house you know has ****ty electrical from previous experience it might not work as well. Granted i think this was more an issue with the older models like i have not these newer 300+Mb ones

For me and everyone i know that has them though they work great. I only have the old 100Mb versions and have no issues with internet speeds as 100Mb is way faster than your going to get any internet out here in the US, and its more than fast enough to stream full blu-ray quality video. I have no trouble maxxing out my 30Mb Down/Up FIOS using them from any PC.

They work especially well in apartments or rentals and stuff where you obviously arent allowed to destroy the walls and pull ethernet cable.

For $43(or $54 if you want the power passthrough version which i recommend so you dont lose a power outlet) it cant be beat.

+1 on this solution (I got the ones I use at NewEgg, sometimes on sale for $25 a pair ). You really can't beat the simplicity. As Fuzze says, observe the power strip avoidance; but I have to wholeheartedly agree with the "stupid simple". My Dell lappy wireless on Debian was spotty, and I had zero issue using powerline network. Use them for my Tivo and anything in the basement, where some enterprising previous owner thought it a good idea to finish the ceiling with chicken-wire lathe, plaster, and two layers of sheet rock. The bastage.

 

[mmmooretx]

Greetings! Decided to go down this path and have read maybe 50 pages of this thread, will do some more, later. I went back and forth and decided to go with the full BrewPi setup (UNO Arduino's) my blend of parts came from my local Fry's (RaspberryPi B+ $35), Amazon, and BrewPi (I liked their cases), but utilized 10 amp SSRs. My fermenters are Blichmann sanitary 14 gallon units (2) in 13 CF freezers, pictures later. I am a Linux noob but would like to set up a cron script to back up my RPi & BrewPi software periodically to my WD cloud (1 TB), help along these lines would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

[wbarber69]

Greetings! Decided to go down this path and have read maybe 50 pages of this thread, will do some more, later. I went back and forth and decided to go with the full BrewPi setup (UNO Arduino's) my blend of parts came from my local Fry's (RaspberryPi B+ $35), Amazon, and BrewPi (I liked their cases), but utilized 10 amp SSRs. My fermenters are Blichmann sanitary 14 gallon units (2) in 13 CF freezers, pictures later. I am a Linux noob but would like to set up a cron script to back up my RPi & BrewPi software periodically to my WD cloud (1 TB), help along these lines would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance

All the information you need to glean from this thread can be found on the original post. At the bottom are links to critical thread posts detailing different features. Backing up the pi is better done by saving an image of your sd card once you're satisfied with the setup. Otherwise there really isn't anything to backup.

 

[thekraken]

Greetings! Decided to go down this path and have read maybe 50 pages of this thread, will do some more, later. I went back and forth and decided to go with the full BrewPi setup (UNO Arduino's) my blend of parts came from my local Fry's (RaspberryPi B+ $35), Amazon, and BrewPi (I liked their cases), but utilized 10 amp SSRs. My fermenters are Blichmann sanitary 14 gallon units (2) in 13 CF freezers, pictures later. I am a Linux noob but would like to set up a cron script to back up my RPi & BrewPi software periodically to my WD cloud (1 TB), help along these lines would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance

I would look into adapting a backup script like this one: https://www.jan-muennich.de/linux-backups-time-machine-rsyn and back up the data in the /var/www/data and /home/brewpi/data directories.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Greetings! Decided to go down this path and have read maybe 50 pages of this thread, will do some more, later. I went back and forth and decided to go with the full BrewPi setup (UNO Arduino's) my blend of parts came from my local Fry's (RaspberryPi B+ $35), Amazon, and BrewPi (I liked their cases), but utilized 10 amp SSRs. My fermenters are Blichmann sanitary 14 gallon units (2) in 13 CF freezers, pictures later. I am a Linux noob but would like to set up a cron script to back up my RPi & BrewPi software periodically to my WD cloud (1 TB), help along these lines would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance

Being a Linux noob shouldnt matter, as long as you follow the instructions installing to a RPI is as simple as a half dozen commands once you have Raspbian installed.

As others have said other than one backup of the micro sd card when you get it all up and working there isnt really a need to back anything up, i suppose if you dont want to lose your previous beer logs you may want to back those up?

 

[wbarber69]

You could rework some of the steps here and make an almost automatic file backup using Dropbox…

http://raspi.tv/2013/how-to-use-dropbox-with-raspberry-pi

 

[bufford]

Me again! I am so very thankful that members like day_trippr, FuzzeWuzze and wbarber69 can help a noob like me get this far. So I got everything running to the point of flashing my arduino and then I have issues again. I try to reprogram the arduino from the web interface. It starts when I try to download the .hex as my arduino is a mega 2560. It doesn't matter which .hex I choose this is the error that I get.

**** Arduino Program script started ****

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/brewpi/brewpi1/brewpi.py", line 620, in
{'settings': restoreSettings, 'devices': restoreDevices})
File "/home/brewpi/brewpi1/programArduino.py", line 71, in programArduino
boardsFile = loadBoardsFile(arduinohome)
File "/home/brewpi/brewpi1/programArduino.py", line 45, in loadBoardsFile
return open(arduinohome + 'hardware/arduino/boards.txt', 'rb').readlines()
IOError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/usr/share/arduino/hardware/arduino/boards.txt'
Sep 15 2014 17:38:02 Notification: Script started for beer 'My First BrewPi Run'
Sep 15 2014 17:38:29 Warning: Cannot receive version number from Arduino. Your Arduino is either not programmed or running a very old version of BrewPi. Please upload a new version of BrewPi to your Arduino.

 

[bufford]

If it makes any difference I have 2 of the exact same model. They are sainsmart mega 2560 (developer?)and are brand new with no file ever loaded to them. I read FuzzeWuzze's post about a blank program to get them to run but didn't know if that applied to a brand new board?

 

[wbarber69]

Did u use install script or did you go for a manual install…

 

[bufford]

I used the web based install script.

 

[wbarber69]

Where did you download the hex file from

 

[wbarber69]

Open up this script file and edit it to your board specs. Then run it

sudo python /home/brewpi/programArduinoFirstTime.py

 

[day_trippr]

Open up this script file and edit it to your board specs. Then run it

sudo python /home/brewpi/programArduinoFirstTime.py

Help the guy out if you think you're on to something.
What edits would you make for a mega2560 board?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

import os
import sys
from configobj import ConfigObj

import programArduino as programmer
import BrewPiUtil as util

# Read in command line arguments
if len(sys.argv) < 2:
sys.exit('Usage: %s <config file full path>' % sys.argv[0])
if not os.path.exists(sys.argv[1]):
sys.exit('ERROR: Config file "%s" was not found!' % sys.argv[1])

configFile = sys.argv[1]
config = ConfigObj(configFile)

# global variables, will be initialized by startBeer()
util.readCfgWithDefaults(configFile)

hexFile = config['wwwPath'] + 'uploads/brewpi-uno-revC.hex'
boardType = config['boardType']

result = programmer.programArduino(config, boardType, hexFile, {'settings': True, 'devices': True})

print result

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd think if there was any relief to be found in editing BrewPi files,
/home/brewpi/settings/config.cfg might be a more likely place to take a shot...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

scriptPath = /home/brewpi/brewpi1/
wwwPath = /var/www/brewpi1/
port = /dev/brewpi1
altport = /dev/null
boardType = uno
beerName = test05
dataLogging = active
profileName = Sample Profile

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

...though I don't know what you'd replace the 'uno' with for a 2560...

Cheers!

 

[wbarber69]

I wanted to help but I don't know all the critical info for his specific board

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Im asking the BrewPi guys, ill let you know what i hear back.

 

[wbarber69]

The beginnings of my ds2413 piggy back board

 

[day_trippr]

Im asking the BrewPi guys, ill let you know what i hear back.

I found a thread on the BrewPi forum from 2013 that indicates you'd have to compile the AVR source file to build a new hex file for the Mega 2560...

Cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

Yes but one with a barrel connector smaller than the one on your arduino. I think it's 2.5mm?

Mine arrived yesterday, and that is one tiny fricken' barrel connector receptacle! I took it to the only remaining electronic component supply store in the area where they have a "check the fit" rig for barrel coax plugs and sockets. The 1.3mm ID/3.5mm ID fit - though tight - where none of the others was even close.

I picked up a pair, got them home, popped the blister packs and...they didn't fit, the ID was too small by a hair. &%#@!!

Dug through my tiny drill bit collection and found one that was slightly bigger than the hole and reamed that sucker out. Then they fit nicely.

The OD seems like a correct fit, but it could be a little skinnier before it doesn't touch the outer contact. I'm guessing the center pin is actually 1.35 or 1.4mm. And there are a few different OD/ID plugs on the market, including OD 3.4 with IDs of 1.3, 1.35 & 1.4; and OD 3.5 with an ID of 1.35. Someone else will have to figure that one out, I can't get a caliper in there


Anyway...Like the other cheapo hub I've been using for months, this one works fine with a pair of Unos plugged in and running BrewPi.

But if I plug a non-Uno device into the hub, eventually there are problems. Just as I was typing this reply the two BrewPi instances started reporting errors, then recovering (two examples from each instance below).

Fortunately the configuration I've been using for months (hub with Unos, mini KB transceiver in the other RPi USB port for emergencies, and hardwired network) works without issue.

If anyone gets a multi-Uno conflguration running on a hub, try plugging in a nic or mini-KB transceiver and see what happens over time. This only took 4 hours to fail (on a system that literally hadn't even hiccupped in a couple of months)...

Cheers!

-------------------------------------

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/brewpi/brewpi2/brewpi.py", line 674, in
ser.write('l')
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/serial/serialposix.py", line 485, in write
raise SerialException('write failed: %s' % (v,))
serial.serialutil.SerialException: write failed: [Errno 5] Input/output error
Sep 16 2014 21:01:10 Notification: Script started for beer 'test05'
Sep 16 2014 21:01:21 Found BrewPi v0.2.4, running commit 2a6f7f05 build 40, on an Arduino standard with a revC shield on port /dev/brewpi2

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/brewpi/brewpi2/brewpi.py", line 674, in
ser.write('l')
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/serial/serialposix.py", line 485, in write
raise SerialException('write failed: %s' % (v,))
serial.serialutil.SerialException: write failed: [Errno 5] Input/output error
Sep 16 2014 22:45:12 Notification: Script started for beer 'test05'
Sep 16 2014 22:45:23 Found BrewPi v0.2.4, running commit 2a6f7f05 build 40, on an Arduino standard with a revC shield on port /dev/brewpi2


Sep 16 2014 18:56:29 Fresh start! Log files erased.
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/brewpi/brewpi1/brewpi.py", line 674, in
ser.write('l')
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/serial/serialposix.py", line 485, in write
raise SerialException('write failed: %s' % (v,))
serial.serialutil.SerialException: write failed: [Errno 5] Input/output error
Sep 16 2014 21:01:10 Notification: Script started for beer 'test05'
Sep 16 2014 21:01:21 Found BrewPi v0.2.4, running commit 2a6f7f05 build 40, on an Arduino standard with a revC shield on port /dev/brewpi1

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/brewpi/brewpi1/brewpi.py", line 686, in
for line in ser: # read all lines on serial interface
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/serial/serialposix.py", line 456, in read
raise SerialException('device reports readiness to read but returned no data (device disconnected?)')
serial.serialutil.SerialException: device reports readiness to read but returned no data (device disconnected?)
Sep 16 2014 22:45:11 Notification: Script started for beer 'test05'
Sep 16 2014 22:45:23 Found BrewPi v0.2.4, running commit 2a6f7f05 build 40, on an Arduino standard with a revC shield on port /dev/brewpi1

 

[wbarber69]

Hmm… never seen error messages like that. The only problem I ever had with hubs was the arduinos puking up garbage commands. I ran my old hub with my mini keyboard dongle for a little while but it never disconnected the UNOs. Although I don't think I ran it for hours like that to be sure. I have had rock solid performance out of this hub using 4 arduinos and my keyboard dongle attached to the pi. Although I am using the pi b+. I don't think it would make much of a difference what model you run, but I have seen some people complaining about certain pi revisions with crappy fuses on the USB lines that have been know to limit voltage throughput and caused a bevy of problems for some.

 

[day_trippr]

Hmm… never seen error messages like that. The only problem I ever had with hubs was the arduinos puking up garbage commands. I ran my old hub with my mini keyboard dongle for a little while but it never disconnected the UNOs.[...].

Not long enough to know, then.

Unlikely it's a power problem, everything other than the dongle is on individual warts, and the dongle is powered by the hub's wart...

Cheers!

 

[wbarber69]

The only problem I have with the monoprice hub is the awkward cable arrangement I'll have to shove into a box somehow.

 

[akira7799]

After 1790 posts to this thread (read over a week's time) I'm convinced that this is a project for me. I'll try to keep a build log and let everyone know how my project progresses.

Thanks to Fuzzy et al., for the great info.

Dave

 

[wbarber69]

Making more progress with my 1-wire board. Got all the 1-wire connections hooked up testing out the temp probes. Each arduino is controlling 2 relays using a ds2413 right now I only have 1 probe hooked up to each for testing. I'm running in fridge constant mode right now and each one is performing great, despite my horrible soldering job.

 

[wbarber69]

Door/light relay shield soldered up and working. Basically instead of using the arduino to control the lights I used another relay board and by grounding the input pins through the door switch it activates the relay and by using a diode attached to the same pin I can bring that 1 door pin wire back to the arduino so I can log door open/closed and brewpi will still react accordingly and I have instant on/off of the interior lights.

 

[robfar]

Brewpi has been running great for a couple of months on my home network, so I thought I would try getting it on the web. I signed up for a duckdns.org account and followed Fuzze's and day_tripper's instructions on setting up .htaccess. With the changed apache default file, I get an Internal Server Error with no prompting for password on the home network and nothing outside. With the apache file put back to AllowOverride=None, I get my brewpi graph at http://[I]mybrewery[/I].duckdns.org on my home network, but not outside of it.

When I run apache, I get a message, but from what I've been able to find, it isn't serious:

pi@fermtemp /usr/bin $ sudo apache2ctl -k graceful
apache2: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 192.168.1.20 for ServerName

This is my apache default file:

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster@fermtemp

DocumentRoot /var/www
<Directory />
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride None
</Directory>
<Directory /var/www/>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride All
Order allow,deny
allow from all
</Directory>

ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/
<Directory "/usr/lib/cgi-bin">
AllowOverride None
Options +ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>

ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log

# Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit,
# alert, emerg.
LogLevel warn

CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Thoughts?

 

[wbarber69]

It's just because your network isn't on a domain and you never setup the host name for it. It's not an error…

 

[aubiecat]

This one of the best threads on this entire site. I really appreciate the hard work you guys have put into this and helping everyone out. I wish all internet communities were this good.
Having said that, I am throwing up the white flag. I give up! BrewPi and Debian have smacked me down. I am a true blue linux Noob with a capital N. I am at loggerheads with this problem and I for the life of me figure it out.

I keep getting these error messages:
E: Unable to locate package python-psutil
E: Unable to locate package python-git
E: Unable to locate package arduino-core

I actually have the BrewPi webpage up with the red "Script No Running!" warning. My Uno is wired correctly and ready to go.
It's so frustraiting because I am so tantalizingly close. It's probably something very simple but I just can't find it.
Just for the sake of being able to get a BrewPi system up and running I broke down and purchased an PRI, which will be here tomorrow or Saturday.
I still want to know how to get it running on a Debian PC.
If nothing else this thread has turned me on to the Linux operating systems.

 

[wbarber69]

You probably need to install those packages

 

[robfar]

Okay, fixed the hostname and I get no message from apache. I see my brewpi site on my home network with no password prompt. Outside the LAN (my phone with wi-fi turned off) I still get a "not available."

 

[wbarber69]

sudo apt-get install arduino-core
sudo apt-get install python-git
sudo apt-get install python-psutil