BridgeX Modified

I created this repository as a reference for anyone wanting to setup a BridgeX on a Raspberry Pi Zero 1.1/2 W, but theoretically it should work on just about anything.

It basically is an upgrade to using @abandonware/bleno, @abandonware/noble and @abandonware/bluetooth-hci-socket which allows NodeJS 12+ (I'm using 20.5.1 with NVM) to be used inconjunction with the latest Raspbian OS.

I will try to document my process and guide through the installation, feel free to message me if you have any questions. I will also make quality of life changes throughout the codebase, as there is a lot of unneccesary or unused portions.

Raspberry Pi Zero 1.1 W and original img

If you're wanting to use the original bridgex.img with the Pi0W, you can simply run sudo npm rebuild --unsafe-perm --build-from-source in /usr/lib/node_modules/ to get it running and you don't need this repo.

Installation

Note: I've tested this with Raspbian OS 11 on a Raspberry Pi Zero 1.1 W & Pi Zero 2 W & Pi 3b+, Raspbian OS 10 on a Raspberry Pi Zero 1.1 W & Pi 3b+

1. Clone the repository in home directory git clone https://github.com/TacoDelPaco/BridgeX
2. Run npm rebuild --unsafe-perm --build-from-source in the root of the project directory
3. Run npm start or node node_modules/@xyo-network/bridge.pi/bin/start.js

Everything should be running, although you may want to put it in a screen or tmux to be able to run in the background. The web side of things also doesn't work, as it requires more steps which I include in the next section.

Configuration

Note: Be sure and edit <Pi Username> in each file to whatever you set the Raspbian OS username to when setting it up/formatting

After installing, the following steps continue setting up the BridgeX to automatically start and run the webserver but is not required.

1. Create a file sudoedit /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart and paste the following:

#@lxpanel --profile LXDE-pi
#@pcmanfm --desktop --profile LXDE-pi
#@xscreensaver -no-splash
@xset s off
@xset -dpms
@xset s noblank
@chromium-browser --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars --kiosk --app=file:///home/<Pi USERNAME>/BridgeX/bridge-client/loader.html

2. Create a symbolic link sudo ln -s /home/<Pi Username>/BridgeX/node_modules/@xyo-network/bridge.pi/bin/start.js /usr/bin/xyo-pi-bridge
3. Create a file sudoedit /usr/local/bin/xyo-bridge-start.sh and paste the following:

#!/bin/bash

sudo PORT=80 STORE=/home/<Pi Username>/BridgeX/bridge-store STATIC=/home/<Pi Username>/BridgeX/bridge-client /usr/bin/node /usr/bin/xyo-pi-bridge

4. Set executable permissions on previous file sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/xyo-bridge-start.sh
5. Create a file sudoedit /etc/systemd/system/xyo-bridge.service and paste the following:

[Unit]
Description=XYO Bridge Service
After=network.target

[Service]
User=root
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/xyo-bridge-start.sh
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

5. Run sudo systemctl enable xyo-bridge && sudo systemctl start xyo-bridge

You should now have a fully automated BridgeX running on an updated NodeJS, OS, Pi02W, etc. 🎉

Depending on your Pi's hostname you should be able to visit it via http://raspberrypi.lan (might require Bonjour) or http://raspberrypi.local with the default password geohacker.

Wireless issues

If you notice your Pi's wireless timing out/disconnecting after some time, you may need to disable wireless power managment.

Run sudoedit /etc/rc.local and add before exit 0:

/sbin/iwconfig wlan0 power off

Bluetooth issues

Note: Try these at your own risk, I have mostly everything running on all of my Pi's and it seems fine but your mileage may vary

I've been experimenting with options to help with Bluetooth errors, here are a few things that may or may not help (in no particular order):

• Run sudoedit /usr/local/bin/xyo-bridge-start.sh and add NOBLE_MULTI_ROLE=1 after sudo or before PORT=80
• Run sudoedit /boot/config.txt and make sure otg_mode=1
• Run sudoedit /boot/cmdline.txt and add dwc_otg.microframe_schedule=1 dwc_otg.speed=1 before the rootwait parameter

Note: If your Pi's Bluetooth is segfaulting, you might need to disable Bluetooth and reboot

• Run sudo systemctl disable bluetooth and sudo reboot

As noted in the Bleno README. After rebooting, BridgeX seems to re-enable Bluetooth but the error stopped occuring 🤷

Also, sometimes you don't need to reboot - only if you're noticing the Noble scanner to unendingly loop in which case you can simply run sudo systemctl stop xyo-bridge; sudo systemctl stop bluetooth; sudo systemctl start xyo-bridge and wait a few minutes then run sudo systemctl start bluetooth

NVM / sudo / sudoless

Note: Be sure and edit <Pi Username> in each file to whatever you set the Raspbian OS username to when setting it up/formatting

Running nvm, you'll need to update where node is referenced and also sudo won't work, so you'll need to either allow sudo or configure your Pi to allow access with node.

Running with nvm

You'll need to edit wherever node is linked and replace it with a static link to the NVM version you're using. It seems you no longer have to edit /usr/bin/xyo-pi-bridge.

Run sudoedit /usr/local/bin/xyo-bridge-start.sh and change where node is referenced:

#!/bin/bash

sudo PORT=80 STORE=/home/<Pi USERNAME>/BridgeX/bridge-store STATIC=/home/<Pi USERNAME>/BridgeX/bridge-client /home/<Pi Username>/.nvm/versions/node/<Node Version>/bin/node /usr/bin/xyo-pi-bridge

Running with sudo

Run nano ~/.nvm/nvm.sh and paste the following at the end of the file:

alias node='$NVM_BIN/node'
# possibly adding an alias for npm as well?
# alias node='$NVM_BIN/npm'
alias sudo='sudo '

Running without sudo

Note: This method does not require NVM

Run the following command:

sudo setcap cap_net_bind_service,cap_net_raw+eip $(eval readlink -f `which node`)

This grants the Node binary cap_net_raw & cap_net_bind_service privileges, so it can start/stop BLE advertising and listen on port 80.

You can then edit the following files to switch from using root:

1. Run sudoedit /usr/local/bin/xyo-bridge-start.sh and remove sudo
2. Run sudoedit /etc/systemd/system/xyo-bridge.service and update User=root to User=<Pi Username>

Note: The above command requires setcap to be installed sudo apt install libcap2-bin

⌐◨-◨ maintained by Taco

Made with 🔥 and ❄️ by XYO