Step-by-step procedure to connect the NRF24L01+ to the GPIO pins and use the Raspberry as a Serial Gateway (MySensors 1.x)
-
Thanks for this thorough guide, it works perfect :)
-
@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/ttyUSB20I also attached a partial screen capture showing that it was working before 8-)
Any idea on why is this happening and how to solve it?
Southern regards and happy new year to all!
@Scala I have the same error as you. Worked perfectly first time, and after reboot the "/dev/ttyMySensorsGateway: No such file or directory" error message appear. Did you solve this?
-
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 ?@MrRikkie Did you solve this issue? I got the same error as you..
-
hi
when that run this code
:sudo /etc/init.d/PiGatewaySerial starterror:
[....] Starting PiGatewaySerial (via systemctl): PiGatewaySerial.serviceFailed to start PiGatewaySerial.service: Unit PiGatewaySerial.service failed to load: No such file or directory.can you help me??
-
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](/uploads/files/1448223387663-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 installIf 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 constantYou'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 := 3F000000VERIFY 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_LOWIf 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 wiresIf this happens, double-check your wiring and correct any problems. Press Ctrl+Z and type
sudo killall PiGatewaySerialto 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 startto start the gateway as a background process. Verify that it started correctly by running
sudo cat /dev/ttyMySensorsGatewayYou 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-gwserialEnable 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/ttyUSB20And change /etc/rc.local from this
exit 0to this
ln -s /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway /dev/ttyUSB20 exit 0OTHER 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 errorpi@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 foundyou 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.
TROUBLESHOOTING
If you get this errorpi@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 foundyou have probably forgotten to run sudo make install. Read the instructions again, and follow them this time :-)
In my case I did need simply to restart. I did "make install" but I did need to restart ;) ;)
-
-
I know this thread is ancient, but why it was needed to add
sudo ln -s /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway /dev/ttyUSB20into rc.local if you could just change a line in makefile from
TTY_NAME := /dev/ttyMySensorsGatewayto
TTY_NAME := /dev/ttyUSB20and create "proper" name from the start
-
Hi,
I plan using a gateway with Mydomoticz and this solution seems great. However, I might want to use later signing or the high Amplifier NRF24 or even the version 2 which seem not suitable for this project.
How easy is it to start with this gateway, then migrate to an external ethernet gateway ?
I saw this gateway can be uninstalled, but should I then modify anything on sensors to move them to new gateway ? will I lose log datas in Domoticz ?br,
Ricorico94 -
Hi,
I plan using a gateway with Mydomoticz and this solution seems great. However, I might want to use later signing or the high Amplifier NRF24 or even the version 2 which seem not suitable for this project.
How easy is it to start with this gateway, then migrate to an external ethernet gateway ?
I saw this gateway can be uninstalled, but should I then modify anything on sensors to move them to new gateway ? will I lose log datas in Domoticz ?br,
Ricorico94@ricorico94 welcome to the MySensors commu ity! All you need to do when switching from raspberry pi gateway to ethernet gateway is change the "hardware" configuration in Domoticz.
However, if you are just starting out, don't use this gateway. It works for MySensors 1.x only. Use the new raspberry pi gateway instead.
