Author: <span class="vcard">andy</span>

CouchDB 2.0 on Raspberry Pi

Posted on December 22, 2016 by in Raspberry Pi

The Apache Software Foundation has released CouchDB version 2.0.  CouchDB 2.0, is a “distributed” version of CouchDB, a mature NoSQL, document-oriented data-store that is accessable via a RESTful JSON API. Developers can take advantage of CouchDB’s offline capability and reliable data sync for web, mobile and IoT apps at (any) scale.

[NOTE: September 2017 — CouchDB 2.1 and Raspbian Stretch have been released.  Check out updated instructions in this blog post]

Current Raspbian (November 2016) can “apt-get install” version 1.4 and I have previously written about getting CouchDB 1.6 running on the R-Pi.  I have now installed version 2.0.0 on an R-Pi 3 and am sharing the process.  It is pretty straightforward to get CouchDB 2.0 running on the R-Pi. It takes a combination of the R-Pi specific 1.6 install and the “generic linux” 2.0 install to get things running.

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R-Pi Clock Radio – Zeroed!

Posted on September 10, 2016 by in Raspberry Pi

clock_radio_20160909_smallWe had a really old alarm clock in our bedroom.  Really old.  The LED number segments, which were a nice dim red in color, had been dying at the rate of 1 segment a year and it was getting hard to read the time.  My wife finally had enough of my “I’ll get a new one real soon” excuse and bought a new big, bright, blue LED clock to replace the old clock.  It was blue … and *really* bright … even in its dim-mode 🙁  It had to go!

My converted 1942 Crosley Radio was collecting dust on my workbench.  I had finally received a Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero4U USB hub to play with but was already lusting after the new R-Pi Zero with camera port.  I recently upgraded the audio-output on my Mac from an old USB HiFiMan Express DAC to  a Schiit Modi DAC.   Hmmmmm, seemed like I had the ingredients to make a BIG clock “radio” with alarm(s) and great stereo audio?

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MongoDB 3.2.10 running under Arch Linux ARM 64 bit

Posted on May 27, 2016 by in ODROID

ODROID C2 SBC

I use MongoDB as my database of choice as you can tell by my blog entries.  Under current Raspberry Pi OSs, MongoDB is limited by 32 bit binaries. Databases are restricted to 2GB.

The Raspberry Pi 3 sports an ARMv7 processor that supports 64 bits.  At this time (May 2016) there is no official OS support for 64 bits.  Raspbian and Arch Linux are only available with 32 bit support.  I expect that we WILL see 64 bit support sometime in the future 😉

While waiting, I looked around and found MongoDB 3.2.6 3.2.10 in the Arch Linux ARM aarch64 package repository.  I also found out that the ODROID C2 single board computer supports aarch64.  This SBC costs $40 and has better specs (for my DB purposes) than the R-Pi 3.  It has a 4-core ARMv8 processor running at 2GHz, 2GB of RAM and gigabit ethernet. It also supports WAY fast eMMC Flash storage in addition to Micro SD.  Android and Ubuntu are the officially supported OSs but Arch Linux ARM (64 bit) can be installed as well.

[UPDATE: 23 Mar 2017] If you prefer to use the default Ubuntu Linux for ODROID C2 as opposed to Arch, you can now install official MongoDB 3.4.  See this blog post.

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Using Python with MongoDB on Raspberry Pi 2 & 3

Posted on March 3, 2016 by in Raspberry Pi

mongodb plus pythonI’ve written about getting MongoDB running on the Raspberry Pi 2. View my other posts where you can get binaries (3.0.9) or learn how to compile from scratch (3.0.7). The mongo shell works great but you may want/need to code in Python, especially for device control or data logging, etc.

PyMongo is a Python distribution containing tools for working with MongoDB, and is the recommended way to work with MongoDB from Python. You can either use Python 2 or Python 3. Python 3 did not come on the minimal Raspbian Jessie image but can be installed using “sudo apt-get install python3”.

To install the appropriate PyMongo for MongoDB 3.0.x you can do the following from the command line. Note you could use “python3” where I use “python”, depending on your preference. I normally use the default Python 2.7.

Instructions after the break: (more…)

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MongoDB 3.0.9 binaries for Raspberry Pi 2 & 3 (Jessie)

Posted on January 30, 2016 by in Raspberry Pi

I’ve received feedback that some folks are having problems compiling MongoDB 3.0.7 per my instructions AND it takes a long time 😉

MongoDB 3.0.9 just became available but needs quite a few changes to source in order to compile on the Raspberry Pi.  I worked through MongoDB build scripts for ARCH ARM Linux and managed to “translate” for Raspbian (Jessie) Linux on the R-Pi 2.  Rather than creating patch files and writing instructions for building from source, I am providing my compiled binaries.  PLEASE do not post links to my binaries!  Feel free to download for personal use from this site.

[NOTE: I have compiled version 3.0.14 and created binaries for Raspbian Jessie for the R-Pi 2 & 3. NEW: I have also created 3.0.14 binaries for the R-Pi 3 running Raspbian Stretch that will also work on the new R-Pi 3B+.  I have confirmed that the instructions in this blog entry work with the new binaries.]

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MongoDB 3.0.7 on Raspberry Pi 2!

Posted on December 25, 2015 by in Raspberry Pi

MongoDB logoI have successfully compiled MongoDB version 3.0.7 and tools on the Raspberry Pi 2.  Full instructions are after the break — click on “more“.  As usual I found great help from the Linux community for getting this to work on ARM7.  mongo, mongod, mongos, and tools are all working great.  The WiredTiger Engine does NOT work under 32-bit ARM but, AFAIK, all other components do 🙂

NOTE: I have made MongoDB 3.0.9 binaries available for Raspbian (Jesse) for R-Pi 2 – here.

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Node.js v4 & v5 on Raspberry Pi 2

Posted on November 8, 2015 by in Raspberry Pi

Node.jsI had been experimenting with the world of Javascript on the server-side using Node.js.  I “fell off the horse” when Node.js had an identity and direction crisis and io.js was forked.  Node.js and io.js have reunited and the latest supported version is v4.2 with v5.0 just released.  The latest “apt-get” version of Node.js as of 15 September 2015 is (something like) 0.6 on Raspbian Wheezy.  Not current enough IMHO. I also wanted to take advantage of the ARMv7 processor in the Raspberry Pi 2.  The best way forward was to figure out how to compile the latest version from source.  NOTE that instructions have been updated for Raspbian Jessie and later versions of node.js.

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CouchDB 1.6 on Raspberry Pi

Posted on September 4, 2015 by in Raspberry Pi

CouchDB_logoPer its website, Apache CouchDB™ is a database that uses JSON for documents, JavaScript for MapReduce indexes, and regular HTTP for its API.  One of its very cool and powerful features is that you can even serve web apps directly out of CouchDB.

CouchDB is available for Raspberry Pi via a simple, “apt-get install couchdb” BUT you’ll be installing version 1.2.  The latest stable version as of 1 September 2015 is 1.6.1.  While 1.6.1 is the latest, I found an excellent how-to for installing 1.6.0 at the blog, “Playing JEE on the Pi“.  The big difference between 1.6.0 and 1.6.1 is the fix of an admin password hash issue.  If you are using admin passwords, be aware that start-up under 1.6.0 could be an issue.  I have not yet had time to upgrade the install process for 1.6.1.

In any case, you can find very easy to follow install instructions in an article, “Installing CouchDB 1.6.0 on the Raspberry Pi” on the “Playing JEE on the Pi” blog.  Follow the instructions carefully and you’ll end up with:

pi@Pi-2 ~ $ which couchdb
/usr/local/bin/couchdb
pi@Pi-2 ~ $ couchdb -V
couchdb - Apache CouchDB 1.6.0

Note: if you have installed an older version of CouchDb using “apt-get” you should uninstall first!  You’ll see a few warnings with the new build and install but everything will install and function correctly.  Failure to uninstall a previous version will result in permission issues and incorrect start-up.

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MongoDB on the Raspberry Pi 2

Posted on February 20, 2015 by in Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi 2 After purchasing a Raspberry Pi 2, I decided to move some of my projects to it.  I also added an external 2.5 inch USB drive via a USB hub.  I store various sensor information in a MongoDB database and needed everything to run on the R-Pi 2.  I chose to stick with the well-supported Debian Linux port, Raspbian Wheezy, as opposed to ARCH Linux that I used on my old R-Pi B+, as the R-Pi 2 has a quad core ARMv7 processor that requires a new kernel.

UPDATE (30 January 2016):  I’ve compiled MongoDB 3.0.9 and tools for R-Pi 2 Raspbian (Jessie).  Check here.

UPDATE (25 December 2015): Instructions for compiling MongoDB 3.0.7 and tools for R-Pi 2 running Raspbian Jessie are now available.  Check here.

UPDATE (8 November 2015): If you are running Raspbian Jessie, you can “apt-get install mongodb”.  This will result in an install of MongoDB v2.4.  Good enough for most uses and you get a working mongo shell 😉  If you want MongoDB v2.6.3, read-on!

I was back to hunting for a compatible MongoDB binary — or instructions on how to compile from source.  Research showed that MongoDB does not compile for ARM after version 2.6.3 🙁  Searching the ‘net led me to the “facat’ blog.” This blog shows how to cross-compile MongoDB 2.6.3 for ARM.  Precompiled binaries are also available.  NOTE that the mongo shell does NOT work correctly on the R-Pi.  “mongod”, the server, does work fine and can be accessed programmatically or via a mongo shell from another (non-R-Pi) computer.  I use “mongo” on my Mac to connect to “mongod” running on the R-Pi 2.

more after the break

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MathTerms does not launch under iOS 8 or 9

Posted on October 1, 2014 by in iPad

Unfortunately, I am hearing reports that MathTerms does not run under iOS 8.  I had tested it with prerelease versions of iOS but it fails to load and run under the latest iOS 8.0.2.  I am investigating and looking to fix…

In the meantime, I have suspended downloads from iTunes.

UPDATE:

Unfortunately, I have not found a “quick-fix” for MathTerms for iPad.  I would really like to rewrite and enhance much of it, to enable working on iPhones as well as iPads.  Alas, I do not currently have the time to do this.  My day-job is taking all my time and energy.

I’ll try to work on a new version during the holiday season.  No guarantees 🙁

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