Setup your SD card from a disk image that already has Stretch Lite, Node.js and our software installed. This is the same setup as in the From Scratch option, except we did most of the work for you so that you can skip ahead for instant gratification!

SD Card

Download our compressed disk image which is pre-configured as follows.

Download disk image

Unzip 2018-07-19-reelyactive-pi.tar.xz to obtain the 4.0GB disk image: 2018-07-19-reelyactive-pi.img

Transfer the image to an SD card of at least 4GB. There's finally a friendly, cross-platform way to do this using Etcher:

First Connection

Complete the following in order:

1. insert the SD card in the Pi
2. connect the Pi to your PC via a network cable
3. apply power to the Pi
4. wait about one minute for the Pi to boot

From the command line, ssh into the Pi as follows:

ssh pi@10.0.50.100

The default password will be berryinsecure. You're now connected to the Pi.

raspi-config

Configure the Pi by running the following from the command line:

sudo raspi-config

From the text-based menu, complete the following:

1. Select the option to Change User Password. Choose a password that cannot be easily guessed, but is nonetheless straightforward to enter from the command line next time you'll ssh in.
2. Select the option to Expand Filesystem under Advanced Options. This will ensure that all of the available space on the SD card is available.

Select Finish, then select Yes when asked to reboot.

SSH back into the Pi once the reboot is complete (using the new password). The Pi is ready!   Skip ahead to Start Sniffing!

This is the same setup as in the Quickest option, only starting from scratch using the latest Stretch Lite image and the most recent versions of Node.js and our software.

SD Card

Download the latest Raspbian Stretch Lite image from www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/.

Transfer the image to an SD card of at least 4GB. There's finally a friendly, cross-platform way to do this using Etcher:

Basic settings

Enable SSH (it is disabled by default) by browsing to the root of the /boot folder of the SD card and running from the command line:

sudo touch ./ssh

Disable consistent network device naming (introduced in Stretch) by editing the cmdline.txt file in the same /boot folder:

sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt

Paste the following to the end of the first line of the file and save:

 net.ifnames=0

Enable Ethernet static fallback so that you can directly connect the Pi to your PC and SSH in to a known IP address. Browse to the root of the / folder of the SD card and, from the command line open the dhcpcd.conf file for editing:

sudo nano /etc/dhcpcd.conf

Paste the following lines at the bottom of the file and save:

 
# Define static profile
profile static_eth0
static ip_address=10.0.50.100/24
static routers=10.0.50.1
static domain_name_servers=10.0.50.1

# Fallback to static profile on eth0
interface eth0
fallback static_eth0
                

This will configure the Pi to use IP address 10.0.50.100 when it is connected to Ethernet without DHCP.

First Connection

Complete the following in order:

1. insert the SD card in the Pi
2. connect the Pi to your PC via a network cable
3. apply power to the Pi
4. configure your PC's Ethernet adapter to use an address in the same subnet as the Pi (ex: 10.0.50.101)

From the command line, ssh into the Pi as follows:

ssh pi@10.0.50.100

The default password will be raspberry. You're now connected to the Pi.

dnsmasq

Configure the Pi to act as a DHCP server on the Ethernet port when no external DHCP server is available. From the command line, run the following:

 
sudo apt-get install dnsmasq
sudo mv /etc/dnsmasq.conf /etc/dnsmasq.default
                

This will install the dnsmasq software. Configure the DHCP server by creating and editing the new dnsmasq.conf file:

sudo nano /etc/dnsmasq.conf

Paste in the following lines and save:

 
interface=eth0
dhcp-range=10.0.50.2,10.0.50.99,255.255.255.0,12h
                

This will configure the Ethernet interface to serve IP addresses in the range from 10.0.50.2-99 using DHCP, with a 12-hour lease. Restart the service from the command line for changes to take effect:

sudo service dnsmasq restart

raspi-config

Configure the Pi by running the following from the command line:

sudo raspi-config

From the text-based menu, complete the following:

1. Select the option to Change User Password. Choose a password that cannot be easily guessed, but is nonetheless straightforward to enter from the command line next time you'll ssh in.
2. Select the option to Expand Filesystem under Advanced Options. This will ensure that all of the available space on the SD card is available.
3. Select the option for Serial under Interfacing Options. Select No to a login shell being accessible over serial. Select Yes to enable the serial port hardware.
4. Select the option for I2C under Interfacing Options. Select Yes to enable the ARM I2C interface.

Select Finish, then select Yes when asked to reboot.

SSH back into the Pi once the reboot is complete (using the new password). The Pi is ready!

Take this beginner-friendly route if you intend to run your Pi as a multi-purpose computer with mouse and keyboard attached. Otherwise we highly recommend the other options which are optimised for performance.

SD Card

The Pi's filesystem resides on an SD card. If your Pi came with a prepared SD card, lucky you, you get to skip this step!

The Quick Start Guide suggests an 8GB class 4 SD card, which we encourage you to purchase from an established vendor. If the card doesn't come formatted as FAT32, you'll need to do so (read the INSTRUCTIONS-README.txt included in the NOOBS ZIP file).

Download NOOBS and unzip the contents to the root folder of the SD card. You're all set!

Initial Boot

Connect the following to your Pi:

• the prepared SD card in its slot
• a USB keyboard in one of the USB ports
• a USB mouse in another USB port
• a monitor via the HDMI port

Then power the Pi through a high-quality USB power source (ex: phone charger). Follow the instructions on screen to install the Raspbian operating system. This procedure will take some time. Perhaps enjoy a slice or two of delicious raspberry pie while you wait?

Connect to Network

After Raspbian boots, connect the Pi to the Internet via either WiFi or Ethernet using the on-screen tools. The Pi is ready!

Run pi-suite

From the command line on the Pi, where you should still be in the ~/reelyActive/pi-suite folder, execute the following:

sudo node pi-suite

The console output should include a line that says Browse to your Pi at http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the IP address of your Pi in place of the x values. Copy the link and open it in your browser.

Become a bubble!

The bubblescape is a visualisation of all the BLE devices sniffed by your Pi. Fancy yourself as a bubble? Install reelyApp on your Android or iOS device to experience the following:

Once you've finished your initial exploration of the various webpages displaying the live data, press Ctrl-C to terminate the execution of pi-suite before proceeding with the next steps.

What's a Reel-Pi HAT?

A HAT is Hardware Attached on Top. We've created, as open hardware, a HAT which connects to the Pi header and provides a direct interface to our reel, allowing you to daisy-chain our reelceivers.

Check it out on Upverter

Enable serial port hardware

The Reel-Pi HAT communicates using the Pi's hardware serial port, which is disabled by default, but can easily be enabled with raspi-config. From the command line on the Pi, run sudo raspi-config and then configure as follows:

• Select Interfacing Options — Serial
• Select No to disable the login shell over serial
• Select Yes to enable the serial port hardware
• Accept to reboot the Pi

Run pi-suite-reel

From the command line on the Pi, where you should still be in the ~/reelyActive/pi-suite folder, execute the following:

sudo node pi-suite-reel

The console output should include a line that says Browse to your Pi at http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the IP address of your Pi in place of the x values. Copy the link and open it in your browser.

Become a bubble!

The bubblescape is a visualisation of all the BLE devices sniffed by your Pi. Fancy yourself as a bubble? Install reelyApp on your Android or iOS device to experience the following:

Once you've finished your initial exploration of the various webpages displaying the live data, press Ctrl-C to terminate the execution of pi-suite before proceeding with the next steps.

Connect your starter kit

Connect your starter kit to any free USB port on the Pi taking care to respect the reelceiver directionality, as shown in the video.

Run pi-suite-pareto

From the command line on the Pi, where you should still be in the ~/reelyActive/pi-suite folder, execute the following:

sudo node pi-suite-pareto

View the data in Pareto

Browse to pareto.reelyactive.com and log in with the credentials provided when you purchased the starter kit.

View the data on your Pi

The console output should include a line that says Browse to your Pi at http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the IP address of your Pi in place of the x values. Copy the link and open it in your browser.

Become a bubble!

The bubblescape is a visualisation of all the BLE devices sniffed by your Pi. Fancy yourself as a bubble? Install reelyApp on your Android or iOS device to experience the following:

Once you've finished your initial exploration of the various webpages displaying the live data, press Ctrl-C to terminate the execution of pi-suite-pareto before proceeding with the next steps.

Unfortunately that means you have no Bluetooth Low Energy radio on which to listen, as indicated in the Hardware Prerequisites section. May we suggest you purchase a starter kit?

The Pi can easily be pre-configured to connect to multiple WiFi networks. This feature is useful if the Pi is moved to different locations, each with their own WiFi credentials. To pre-configure WiFi credentials, from the command line, open the wpa_supplicant.conf file for editing with the command sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf and paste the following block of code, once for each network, at the bottom of the file.

 
network={
  ssid="ENTER_SSID_HERE"
  psk="ENTER_PASSWORD_HERE"
  key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}
                

Don't forget to enter the SSID and password for each network with much care! Although networks commonly use a pre-shared key (PSK) for authentication, as specified in the example above, it may be necessary to tweak the settings as discussed in details here.

Ethernet fallback ensures that you can always directly connect to your Pi at a known static IP. The Pi will assume the static IP on its Ethernet port in the absence of a DHCP server. To enable Ethernet fallback, from the command line, open the dhcpcd.conf file for editing with the command sudo nano /etc/dhcpcd.conf and paste the following lines of code at the bottom of the file.

 
# Define static profile
profile static_eth0
static ip_address=10.0.50.100/24
static routers=10.0.50.1
static domain_name_servers=10.0.50.1

# Fallback to static profile on eth0
interface eth0
fallback static_eth0
                

When all else fails, to log on to the Pi, directly connect your computer to the Pi via Ethernet, set your computer's IP address to 10.0.50.101, and ssh pi@10.0.50.100

Scheduled reboots ensure that the Pi will eventually recover from any soft failure. To force daily reboots via a cron job, from the command line, open the crontab file for editing with the command sudo nano /etc/crontab and paste the following line of code above the closing #.

 
0  5    * * *   root    reboot
                

The 5 signifies 5am. Adjust this and the other parameters as your application requires.

Enable additional features such as data logging by editing pi-suite.js with the command nano ~/reelyActive/pi-suite/pi-suite.js or pi-suite-pareto.js with the command nano ~/reelyActive/pi-suite/pi-suite-pareto.js.

Simply comment or uncomment the desired options by adding or removing two backslashes at the start of each concerned line. Press Ctrl-X to save the file and exit.