Support Information for Network Builders

Raspberry PI Operating System Issue

The latest Raspberry OS released Oct 11 2023, "Bookworm", changes some features that we haven't figured out yet. We have it working on the Raspberry PI 4B but not on the 3B or 5.

Until we get it all figured out, we suggest using the old system with Bullseye which is "Raspberry PI OS Other" then "Raspberry PI OS (Legacy)" or it'll break the installer. See details here:

NinoTNC Control Panel Chat Service
TARPN-HOME Web Application BBS on your PI
Radios + Wiring Power & Backup BPQ Extensions
QT-Term Debug a Poor Link Cabinetry
SSH to Raspberry PI tarpn host Minicom Access with Python
Ham Radio Dealers Parts/Tools/Antennas TNC-PI (discontinued)

Oscilloscope

Site Construction -- think about the details

Raspberry PI resources

G8BPQ Resources

If you are in a terminal session to the Raspberry PI, control C can cancel many operations including a G8BPQ node test session.

To shut-down the PI, you must give a command tarpn shutdown and then watch the lights on the PI. The left two LEDs will go out, then the green LED will blink rapidly and then go out, leaving just the red power light. Now the Raspberry PI is ready to be powered off.

You can change the hostname after-the-fact and many other options by running
sudo raspi-config
You can run this via a SSH session from your workstation. Use the cursor keys to select Advanced.

If you ever try to reboot your Raspberry PI and it hangs instead of coming up, you may need to update the firmware on the PI.
Skip this if you don't have a reliable robust Raspberry PI power supply. Update your firmware by downloading the Hexxeh firmware updater using
sudo apt-get install rpi-update
and then run it using
sudo rpi-update.
You will need to do a reboot after running the install. Don't do this unless you have a robust power supply since a power-off during the update could be bad.

tarpn update will download the latest TARPN custom scripts and applications. it will temporarily kick your node off the air however.
tarpn updateapps will update the OS and many installed drivers, applications including the G8BPQ node software, and utilities. This can only be run if the node is not running .