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Elsewhere

Build

Livestream picture frame

Render of the current Elsewhere design

Parts

Part Link Quantity Unit Price Price
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W Adafruit 1 $15.00 $15.00
Pimoroni HDMI 10" IPS LCD Screen Kit Adafruit 1 $139.95 $139.95
HDMI Ribbon Cable, 30 cm Adafruit 1 $2.75 $2.75
HDMI Plug Adapter Adafruit 1 $6.50 $6.50
Mini HDMI Plug Adapter Adafruit 1 $6.50 $6.50
ATXRaspi R3 LowPowerLab 1 $17.95 $17.95
Jumper Wire LowPowerLab 4 $0.74 ($2.95 for 4) $2.95
D-Ring Picture Hanger, M4 2
USB-C Panel Mount eBay 1 $6.29 $6.29
USB-C to Micro USB Adapter Amazon 1 $6.99 $6.99
Micro USB Splitter Cable Amazon 1 $6.79 $6.79
microSD Card, 32GB Amazon 1 $7.99 $7.99
Female to Female Dupont Wire, 30cm Amazon 6 $0.08 ($8.99 for 120) $0.48
M3 Standoff, 10mm McMaster-Carr 8 $1.24 $9.92
4-40 Socket Head Screw, Low-Profile, 1/4" McMaster-Carr 2 $1.55 (Pack of 10) $3.10
M3 Socket Head Screw, Low-Profile, 12mm McMaster-Carr 8 $0.11 (Pack of 25) $0.22
M3 Socket Head Screw, Low-Profile, 6mm McMaster-Carr 8 $0.30 (Pack of 25) $0.60
M2.5 Socket Head Screw, 6mm McMaster-Carr 18 $0.06 ($6.00 for 100) $1.08
M2.5 Socket Head Screw, 4mm McMaster-Carr 18 $0.30 ($7.43 for 25) $5.40
M2.5 Socket Head Screw, 10mm McMaster-Carr 2 $0.07 ($6.54 for 100) $0.14
M2.5 Nut McMaster-Carr 2 $0.08 ($7.18 for 100) $0.16
M2.5 Washer, 0.5mm McMaster-Carr 6 $0.03 ($2.57 for 100) $0.18
M4 Socket Head Screw, Low-Profile, Partially Threaded, 10mm McMaster-Carr 2 $1.48 $2.96
M4 Washer, 0.8mm McMaster-Carr 2 $0.04 ($3.14 for 100) $0.08
M4 Locknut McMaster-Carr 2 $0.08 ($7.67 for 100) $0.16
M2.5 Standoff, 6mm Digi-Key 18 $0.34 ($16.95 for 50) $6.12
Laser-Cut Parts Ponoko $118.99
Controller Board Oshpark 1 $3.49 ($10.45 for 3) $3.49
Micro SD to Micro SD Extension Cable, 25cm AliExpress 1 $3.00 $3.00
$375.74

Wiring

Photograph of a recent version of Elsewhere showing the internal wiring

Software Installation

  1. Install Raspberry Pi OS Lite (Bullseye).

  2. Add the package repository to /etc/apt/sources.list:

    deb [trusted=yes] http://packages.inseven.co.uk/raspbian/ ./
  3. Update the dtoverlay property in /boot/config.txt to:

    dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d

    (See https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=324835.)

  4. Add fbcon=map:2 disable_splash=1 to /boot/cmdline.txt.

    These changes are as follows:

    • fbcon=map:2 – Redirects the console during boot to ensure it doesn't appear on the HDMI display.
    • disable_splash=1 – Disable the boot splash screen.
  5. Disable the Serial Port and SPI:

    sudo raspi-config
    • Disable Serial Port
      • Interface Options
      • Serial Port
      • Login Shell: No
      • Serial Port Hardware: No
    • Disable SPI
      • Interface Options
      • SPI
      • Enabled: No
  6. Reboot:

    sudo reboot
  7. Update and upgrade Raspbian, and install Elsewhere:

    sudo apt update
    sudo apt upgrade --yes
    sudo apt install elsewhere --yes
  8. Assuming everything has gone to plan, Elsewhere should now be running.

Unattended Upgrades

  1. Enable all unattended upgrades by uncommenting the following lines in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades:

    Unattended-Upgrade::Origins-Pattern {
            // ...
            "origin=Debian,codename=${distro_codename}-updates";
            "origin=Debian,codename=${distro_codename}-proposed-updates";
            // ..
    }
    
  2. Reboot:

    sudo reboot

Troubleshooting

Device takes too long to shutdown and ATXRaspi doesn't cut power

  • Re-enable the console by removing fbcon=map:2 from /boot/cmdline.txt.
  • Check the the shutdown logs; are any services taking a long time to stop?

Tailscale doesn't takes too long to stop

Customise the Tailscale service to shorten the shutdown timeout:

  • Override the service:

    sudo systemctl edit tailscaled.service
  • Add the following section:

    [Service]
    TimeoutSec=5
    

Builds

Elsewhere is an iterative project, meaning I've put together a number of prototypes along the way. The most recent one still has the 4:3 aspect ratio, and has been happily showing us views from the ISS for the last few months.

Elsewhere showing a livestream of Earth from the ISS