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  3. Step-by-step procedure to connect the NRF24L01+ to the GPIO pins and use the Raspberry as a Serial Gateway (MySensors 1.x)

Step-by-step procedure to connect the NRF24L01+ to the GPIO pins and use the Raspberry as a Serial Gateway (MySensors 1.x)

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nrf24raspberry piraspberryraspberry nrf24l01 gpiogateway
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  • D Offline
    D Offline
    den2k
    wrote on last edited by
    #43

    Solved my own problem. Using the following command did the trick.

    sudo chown -h pi:pi ttyUSB20

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • D Offline
      D Offline
      den2k
      wrote on last edited by
      #44

      weird. Permission Denied problem again.

      What is the USER : GROUP that is needed for this to work?

      martinhjelmareM 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • mfalkviddM Offline
        mfalkviddM Offline
        mfalkvidd
        Mod
        wrote on last edited by
        #45

        @den2k I think your best chance is to post in the Home Assistant category. I don't have any experience with Home Assistant unfortunately.

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        • J jpbabou

          Hi
          something is missing..

          Is there a problem with the repository
          Tks a lot for your job!

          pi@domoticjp ~ $ sudo git clone https://github.com/mysensors/Raspberry.git
          Cloning into 'Raspberry'...
          remote: Counting objects: 273, done.
          remote: Compressing objects: 100% (3/3), done.
          remote: Total 273 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 270
          Receiving objects: 100% (273/273), 215.00 KiB | 0 bytes/s, done.
          Resolving deltas: 100% (114/114), done.
          Checking connectivity... done.
          pi@domoticjp ~ $ cd Raspberry/librf24-bcm
          -bash: cd: Raspberry/librf24-bcm: No such file or directory
          mfalkviddM Offline
          mfalkviddM Offline
          mfalkvidd
          Mod
          wrote on last edited by
          #46

          @jpbabou said:

          Hi
          something is missing..

          Is there a problem with the repository
          Tks a lot for your job!

          pi@domoticjp ~ $ sudo git clone https://github.com/mysensors/Raspberry.git
          Cloning into 'Raspberry'...
          remote: Counting objects: 273, done.
          remote: Compressing objects: 100% (3/3), done.
          remote: Total 273 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 270
          Receiving objects: 100% (273/273), 215.00 KiB | 0 bytes/s, done.
          Resolving deltas: 100% (114/114), done.
          Checking connectivity... done.
          pi@domoticjp ~ $ cd Raspberry/librf24-bcm
          -bash: cd: Raspberry/librf24-bcm: No such file or directory
          

          The guide has been updated to reflect the updated in the MySensors Raspberry repository now. Thanks @jpbabou !

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • D den2k

            weird. Permission Denied problem again.

            What is the USER : GROUP that is needed for this to work?

            martinhjelmareM Offline
            martinhjelmareM Offline
            martinhjelmare
            Plugin Developer
            wrote on last edited by martinhjelmare
            #47

            @den2k

            Hi!

            Have you added the user that runs homeassistant to the dialout group? This group is usually owner of serial ports.

            Check default group of serial port (change for your port below) after connecting it:

            pi@martin-pi:~ $ ls -l /dev/ttyUSB0 
            crw-rw---- 1 root dialout 188, 0 dec 18 03:21 /dev/ttyUSB0
            

            Check groups that user pi is in:

            pi@martin-pi:~ $ groups pi
            pi : pi adm dialout cdrom sudo audio video plugdev games users input netdev spi i2c gpio
            

            If pi runs homeassistant, which should be the case, and is not in dialout, add pi to dialout:

            sudo adduser pi dialout
            

            Changing owner of a port will only work until you disconnect it. Default owner will be restored upon reconnect, if you haven't written a special udev rule.

            Edit:
            According to the readme in the mysensors raspberry repo (https://github.com/mysensors/Raspberry), the group of the device is tty. So you should probably use that, and not dialout. But you will know, when you check with ls -l.

            1 Reply Last reply
            1
            • mfalkviddM mfalkvidd

              Note: This guide is only applicable to MySensors 1.x. For MySensors 2, use this guide.

              I noticed that a step-by-step procedure to connect the NRF24L01 to the GPIO pins and use the Raspberry as a Serial Gateway was listed in the document for MySensors 1.6.

              Since I have three gateways configured this way, and I need to set up 3 more for covering different offices around the world, and I had already written the instructions in Swedish for Datormagazin, I thought I'd help out.

              This is the first draft. Any feedback is welcome.


              INTRODUCTION
              The radio module NRF24L01+ is cheap and power efficient, but it is unable to communicate with regular wifi. The bridge between NRF24L01+ nodes and the "computer world" is called a Gateway. You can use other types of gateways, but connecting the NRF24L01+ module directly to the Raspberry Pi is a simple and cheap alternative.

              Wiring Things Up
              Connect the NRF20L01+ radio module to the Raspberry Pi like this:
              raspi_mysensors[1].png

              Raspberry Pi NRF24L01+ Color
              6 / GND GND Black
              1 / 3.3V DC VCC Red
              22 / GPIO25 CE Orange
              24 / GPIO 8 CSN/CS Yellow
              23 / GPIO11 / SPI_CLK SCK Green
              19 / GPIO10 / SPI_MOSI MOSI Blue
              21 / GPIO9 / SPI_MISO MISO Violet

              The IRQ pin on NRF24L01 is not currently used.

              For a comprehensive view of the Raspberry Pi pins, see http://pinout.xyz/

              You should also connect a decoupling capacitor to the radio. See this guide.

              COMPILING THE GATEWAY
              Login to your Raspberry Pi (using SSH or open a terminal on the graphical console) and run these commands:

              git clone https://github.com/TMRh20/RF24.git
              cd RF24
              make all && sudo make install
              cd ..
              
              git clone https://github.com/mysensors/Raspberry.git
              cd Raspberry
              make all && sudo make install
              

              If you get the following error:

              pi@raspberrypi ~/RF24 $ make all && sudo make install
              g++ -Wall -fPIC -Ofast -mfpu=vfp -mfloat-abi=hard -mtune=arm1176jzf-s -march=armv7-a -D BCM2835_PERI_BASE=0x -c RF24.cpp
              gcc -Wall -fPIC -Ofast -mfpu=vfp -mfloat-abi=hard -mtune=arm1176jzf-s -march=armv7-a -D BCM2835_PERI_BASE=0x -c bcm2835.c
              bcm2835.c: In function ‘bcm2835_init’:
              bcm2835.c:1207:28: error: invalid suffix "x" on integer constant
              
              

              You've probably run into the problem discussed in this thread. People have had luck with different solutions. The simplest is to make the following change to ~/Raspberry/librf24-bcm/Makefile

              #IOBASE := $(shell cat /proc/iomem | grep bcm2708_vcio | cut -f 1 -d "-")
              IOBASE := 3F000000
              

              VERIFY THE GATEWAY
              Run sudo /usr/local/sbin/PiGatewaySerial. The output should look like this:

              pi@raspberrypi ~/Raspberry $ sudo /usr/local/sbin/PiGatewaySerial
              Starting PiGatewaySerial...
              Protocol version - 1.4
              Created PTY '/dev/pts/1'
              Gateway tty: /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway
              ================ SPI Configuration ================
              CSN Pin          = CE0 (PI Hardware Driven)
              CE Pin           = Custom GPIO25
              Clock Speed      = 8 Mhz
              ================ NRF Configuration ================
              STATUS           = 0x0e RX_DR=0 TX_DS=0 MAX_RT=0 RX_P_NO=7 TX_FULL=0
              RX_ADDR_P0-1     = 0xe7e7e7e7e7 0xc2c2c2c2c2
              RX_ADDR_P2-5     = 0xff 0xc4 0xc5 0xc6
              TX_ADDR          = 0xe7e7e7e7e7
              RX_PW_P0-6       = 0x00 0x00 0x20 0x00 0x00 0x00
              EN_AA            = 0x3b
              EN_RXADDR        = 0x07
              RF_CH            = 0x4c
              RF_SETUP         = 0x23
              CONFIG           = 0x0e
              DYNPD/FEATURE    = 0x3f 0x06
              Data Rate        = 250KBPS
              Model            = nRF24L01+
              CRC Length       = 16 bits
              PA Power         = PA_LOW
              

              If the NRF24L01+ isn't correctly wired, the following error will be shown

              pi@raspberrypi ~ $ sudo /usr/local/sbin/PiGatewaySerial
              Starting PiGatewaySerial...
              Protocol version - 1.4
              Created PTY '/dev/pts/2'
              Gateway tty: /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway
              check wires
              

              If this happens, double-check your wiring and correct any problems. Press Ctrl+Z and type

              sudo killall PiGatewaySerial
              

              to get rid of the non-functioning Gateway. Then run sudo /usr/local/sbin/PiGatewaySerial again

              If all is well, exit PiGatewaySerial by pressing Ctrl+C. Then run

              sudo /etc/init.d/PiGatewaySerial start
              

              to start the gateway as a background process. Verify that it started correctly by running

              sudo cat /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway
              

              You should see the message "Gateway startup complete". Exit by typing Ctrl+C.

              MAKE THE GATEWAY AUTOSTART
              To make sure the Gateway is started when your Raspberry Pi boots up, run the following command:

              sudo make enable-gwserial
              

              Enable the gateway for use with Domoticz
              Domoticz (and maybe other home automation systems) has trouble reading from the default path created by PiGatewaySerial. You might need to run the following command:

              sudo ln -s /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway /dev/ttyUSB20
              

              And change /etc/rc.local from this

              exit 0
              
              

              to this

              ln -s /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway /dev/ttyUSB20
              exit 0
              
              

              OTHER NOTES

              • The 3.3V power on the Raspberry Pi is rated for a maximum of 50mA. A regular NRF24L01+ only needs 15mA, but if you are using a power amplified version you might exceed what the Raspberry Pi can output. In that case, an external power supply might be required. If you use an external power source gnd must be connected to the Raspberry Pi's gnd.

              • Connecting the NRF24L01+ directly to your Raspberry Pi will prevent you from using the Raspberry Pi's gpio ports for other things, like a Z-wave board.

              • A user experienced slow data transfer compared to USB-to-Serial(ttl)<-->MySensors Gateway connection, especially on OTA firmware update. If you think this will cause a problem for you, an ethernet gateway might be a better alternative.

              As always, I stand on the shoulders of giants. Related posts:

              • http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1151/tutorial-raspberry-pi-nrf24l01-direct-connection
              • http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1974/domoticz-as-controller-and-a-gateway-for-mysensor-nodes-running-on-a-raspberry-pi-2

              TROUBLESHOOTING
              If you get this error

              pi@Domoticz3:~/Raspberry$ sudo /etc/init.d/PiGatewaySerial start
              [....] Starting PiGatewaySerial (via systemctl): PiGatewaySerial.serviceFailed to start PiGatewaySerial.service: Unit PiGatewaySerial.service failed to load: No such file or directory.
               failed!
              

              or this error

              pi@raspberrypi ~ $ sudo /usr/local/sbin/PiGatewaySerial
              sudo: /usr/local/sbin/PiGatewaySerial: command not found
              

              you have probably forgotten to run sudo make install. Read the instructions again, and follow them this time :-) User @sineverba reported that a reboot of the Pi after running make install helped.

              S Offline
              S Offline
              Scala
              wrote on last edited by
              #48

              @mfalkvidd Hi there and thanks for a great and super detailed step-by-step tutorial.

              I've got mine running in no time with your instructions, but after a couple of minutes I've got the following error:

              2015-12-30 20:51:30.356 Error: MySensors: Unhandled sensor (sub-type=32), please report with log!
              2015-12-30 20:52:01.390 Error: Serial Port closed!... Error: End of file
              2015-12-30 20:52:02.315 MySensors: retrying in 30 seconds...
              2015-12-30 20:52:31.319 MySensors: Using serial port: /dev/ttyUSB20
              2015-12-30 20:52:31.320 Error: MySensors: Error opening serial port!
              2015-12-30 20:52:32.321 MySensors: retrying in 30 seconds...
              2015-12-30 20:53:01.324 MySensors: Using serial port: /dev/ttyUSB20

              I also attached a partial screen capture showing that it was working before 8-)

              2015-12-30 21_18_13-Domoticz - Opera.png

              Any idea on why is this happening and how to solve it?

              Southern regards and happy new year to all!

              ronnyandreR 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • mfalkviddM Offline
                mfalkviddM Offline
                mfalkvidd
                Mod
                wrote on last edited by
                #49

                You are using a sensor type that your version of Domoticz doesn't support. What type os sensor is it? Which version of Domoticz are you using? Upgrading Domoticz might solve the problem (if the newer version supports this sub-type).

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • Sander TeunissenS Offline
                  Sander TeunissenS Offline
                  Sander Teunissen
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #50

                  When I try to run the init.d script:

                  sudo /etc/init.d/PiGatewaySerial start
                  

                  I get the following error:

                  [....] Starting PiGatewaySerial (via systemctl): PiGatewaySerial.serviceFailed to start PiGatewaySerial.service: Unit PiGatewaySerial.service failed to load: No such file or directory.
                   failed!
                  

                  No such file or directory.... Obviously a missing folder or file, but I am not savvy enough to debug this.... Any help appreciated..

                  mfalkviddM 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • Sander TeunissenS Sander Teunissen

                    When I try to run the init.d script:

                    sudo /etc/init.d/PiGatewaySerial start
                    

                    I get the following error:

                    [....] Starting PiGatewaySerial (via systemctl): PiGatewaySerial.serviceFailed to start PiGatewaySerial.service: Unit PiGatewaySerial.service failed to load: No such file or directory.
                     failed!
                    

                    No such file or directory.... Obviously a missing folder or file, but I am not savvy enough to debug this.... Any help appreciated..

                    mfalkviddM Offline
                    mfalkviddM Offline
                    mfalkvidd
                    Mod
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #51

                    @Sander-Teunissen my guess is that you forgot the sudo make install part of the installation instructions.

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                    0
                    • Sander TeunissenS Offline
                      Sander TeunissenS Offline
                      Sander Teunissen
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #52

                      @mfalkvidd Yesterday I stopped trying and shutdown the Pi. This morning I tried the same again and it works !!
                      Pretty sure I haven't done anything else.
                      Thanks anyway.

                      Sander

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                      1
                      • MrRikkieM Offline
                        MrRikkieM Offline
                        MrRikkie
                        wrote on last edited by MrRikkie
                        #53

                        Hello, If followed the instruction and everything seemed to work without any problem.
                        However when I enter the command : sudo cat /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway
                        I get the message : cat: /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway: No such file or directory
                        Does anybody have any idea how to solve this ?

                        mfalkviddM ronnyandreR 2 Replies Last reply
                        0
                        • MrRikkieM MrRikkie

                          Hello, If followed the instruction and everything seemed to work without any problem.
                          However when I enter the command : sudo cat /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway
                          I get the message : cat: /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway: No such file or directory
                          Does anybody have any idea how to solve this ?

                          mfalkviddM Offline
                          mfalkviddM Offline
                          mfalkvidd
                          Mod
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #54

                          @MrRikkie what output did you get when you ran sudo /etc/init.d/PiGatewaySerial start ?

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                          0
                          • MrRikkieM Offline
                            MrRikkieM Offline
                            MrRikkie
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #55

                            @mfalkvidd said:

                            sudo /etc/init.d/PiGatewaySerial start

                            No output and no error message. Just a new command line.
                            pi@raspberrypi ~ $ sudo /etc/init.d/PiGatewaySerial start
                            pi@raspberrypi ~ $

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                            0
                            • Sander TeunissenS Offline
                              Sander TeunissenS Offline
                              Sander Teunissen
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #56

                              When I

                              ls -l ttyMySensorsGateway
                              

                              I get

                              lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan  3 20:21 ttyMySensorsGateway -> /dev/pts/0
                              

                              It's all root. This results in all kinds of acessability issues. I followed all instructions exactly. Anyone any ideas how to change this ?

                              Sander.

                              martinhjelmareM mfalkviddM 2 Replies Last reply
                              0
                              • Sander TeunissenS Sander Teunissen

                                When I

                                ls -l ttyMySensorsGateway
                                

                                I get

                                lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan  3 20:21 ttyMySensorsGateway -> /dev/pts/0
                                

                                It's all root. This results in all kinds of acessability issues. I followed all instructions exactly. Anyone any ideas how to change this ?

                                Sander.

                                martinhjelmareM Offline
                                martinhjelmareM Offline
                                martinhjelmare
                                Plugin Developer
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #57

                                @Sander-Teunissen

                                Try writing a udev rule to set owner of the device (ttyMysensorsGateway) at boot. If you don't need to use the link you could write a rule that names the pts device to the same name every boot, I think. At least for usb devices this works. Haven't tried it in this particular case.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • Sander TeunissenS Sander Teunissen

                                  When I

                                  ls -l ttyMySensorsGateway
                                  

                                  I get

                                  lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan  3 20:21 ttyMySensorsGateway -> /dev/pts/0
                                  

                                  It's all root. This results in all kinds of acessability issues. I followed all instructions exactly. Anyone any ideas how to change this ?

                                  Sander.

                                  mfalkviddM Offline
                                  mfalkviddM Offline
                                  mfalkvidd
                                  Mod
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #58

                                  @Sander-Teunissen said:

                                  When I

                                  ls -l ttyMySensorsGateway
                                  

                                  I get

                                  lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan  3 20:21 ttyMySensorsGateway -> /dev/pts/0
                                  

                                  It's all root. This results in all kinds of acessability issues. I followed all instructions exactly. Anyone any ideas how to change this ?

                                  The permissions for a soft link are not used (and if they were, any user would be allowed to do anything since everything is rwx). The permissions for the target is used instead. So it is the result of

                                  ls -l /dev/pts/0
                                  

                                  you need to worry about.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  1
                                  • ahmedadelhosniA Offline
                                    ahmedadelhosniA Offline
                                    ahmedadelhosni
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #59

                                    Hello @mfalkvidd , I read the topic again but I am a bit confused. Normally we have a sketch on the Arduino board to enable signing for example or implement our desired code. I don't understand how to edit this before compiling ?

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                                    0
                                    • mfalkviddM Offline
                                      mfalkviddM Offline
                                      mfalkvidd
                                      Mod
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #60

                                      Sorry @ahmedadelhosni, I haven't tried to compile the Raspberry gateway for signing. @Anticimex will probably chide me for that, and rightly so :)
                                      It should just be a matter of modifying MyConfig.h to enable signing, as per the instructions in http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1021/security-introducing-signing-support-to-mysensors but maybe the MySensor files in the Raspberry repo haven't been updated with the signing features.

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                                      • AnticimexA Offline
                                        AnticimexA Offline
                                        Anticimex
                                        Contest Winner
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #61

                                        The signing backends are updated for multi arch support thanks to @tbowmo and his SAMD gateway project, but they still assume Arduino compatible api:s for io, so if the raspberry repo/port provide that, it should work. If not, it should just be a matter of adding support for the raspberry spi:s for setting pin direction and states and (if sw backend is to be used) provide a random number generator. The code is C/C++ and hw independent in other aspects.

                                        Do you feel secure today? No? Start requiring some signatures and feel better tomorrow ;)

                                        1 Reply Last reply
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                                        • AnticimexA Offline
                                          AnticimexA Offline
                                          Anticimex
                                          Contest Winner
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #62

                                          If anyone would like to add support for rPi to the signing backends, I suggest using a Linux generic approach using sysfs to handle io. Same for rng (using an appropriate device node, rpi has a hw rng that should be used).
                                          If the design is Linux generic and uses proper design to abstract raspberry board specifics, it opens up for reuse by any hw that uses a Linux kernel :)

                                          Do you feel secure today? No? Start requiring some signatures and feel better tomorrow ;)

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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