Raspberry Pi 3 Setup

The steps I took get my Raspberry Pi 3 up and running.

Upgrade Jessie

Run the following commands to upgrade Jessie to Pixel, which includes Chromium with hardware video support:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install -y rpi-chromium-mods
sudo apt-get install -y python-sense-emu python3-sense-emu
sudo apt-get install -y python-sense-emu-doc realvnc-vnc-viewer

Change Password

Run the following command, then enter the current password and a new password twice to confirm:

passwd

Setup SSH

Launch the Raspbery Config:

sudo raspi-config

Go to 9 Advanced Options then A4 SSH and choose <Enable>.

Open the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file and add the following:

PermitRootLogin no
ClientAliveInterval 30
ClientAliveCountMax 5

Then restart the SSH service:

sudo service ssh restart

Disable Automatic Desktop Login

Run the configuration command:

sudo raspi-config

Go to 3 Boot Options then B3 Desktop and choose <Ok>.

Setup Display

Ensure the display works nicely over HDMI:

sudo nano /etc/boot.txt

Add the following lines to the bottom of the file:

hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16
hdmi_ignore_cec_init=1
hdmi_ignore_cec=1
hdmi_drive=2
gpu_mem=128

In order to disable HDMI CEC you also need to drop a config file on the recovery partition:

sudo su
mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt
echo hdmi_ignore_cec_init=1 >> /mnt/config.txt
umount /mnt
exit

Now reboot the system:

sudo reboot

Install Kodi

Update repositories and install Kodi packages:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install kodi

Create a Kodi shortcut on the desktop that boots in standalone mode (avoids blackscreen on exit):

touch ~/Desktop/kodi-standalone.desktop
nano ~/Desktop/kodi-standalone.desktop

Add the following contents to the file:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Kodi
GenericName=Media Center
Comment=Manage and view your media
Exec=kodi-standalone
Icon=kodi
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=AudioVideo;Video;Player;TV;

Install FAT32, ExFAT and NTFS File System Support

Install the following packages:

sudo apt-get install exfat-fuse exfat-utils ntfs-3g

Mount NAS

Ensure the CFIS packages are installed:

sudo apt-get install cifs-utils

Create a credentials file for the username and password:

touch ~/.smbcredentials
nano ~/.smbcredentials

Add the following contents, replacing the username and password:

username=username
password=password

Change the permissions of the credentials file:

chmod 600 ~/.smbcredentials

Make a directory to mount the NAS to:

sudo mkdir /media/NAS

Test you can mount the NAS manually:

sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.0.x/NAS /media/NAS -o credentials=~/.smbcredentials,vers=1.0

Any mounting problems can be found by checking the logs:

tail -f  /var/log/kern.log

You can find out your users UID and GID with these commands:

id -u username
id -g username

Alternatively you can just use your username and group instead.

Now update the /etc/fstab file to auto mount the NAS as read-only:

//192.168.0.x/NAS /media/NAS cifs credentials=/home/username/.smbcredentials,_netdev,x-systemd.automount,iocharset=utf8,sec=ntlm,ro 0 0

Or for full read and write add this to the /etc/fstab instead:

//192.168.0.x/NAS /media/NAS cifs credentials=/home/username/.smbcredentials,_netdev,x-systemd.automount,iocharset=utf8,sec=ntlm,rw 0 0

Note: Update the lines above with your own NAS IP address, mount directory, username, UID and GID accordingly. For devices running older versions of Samba you may need to add ,vers=1.0 after ro or rw above.

Now run this to mount the NAS:

sudo mount -a

Create a handy symlink to the NAS on the desktop:

sudo ln -s /media/NAS ~/Desktop/NAS

Mount USB Drive

Find the UUID of the USB drive:

sudo blkid
ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid/

The output should look something like the following. Note the UUID value:

/dev/sda1: LABEL="USB DRIVE" UUID="1234-5678" TYPE="exfat" PARTUUID="ffffffff-01"

Make a directory to mount the USB drive to:

sudo mkdir /media/USB-Drive

Test mounting the drive manually to make sure it works:

sudo mount -t exfat -o uid=pi,gid=pi UUID=1234-5678 /media/USB-Drive

Now add the following to the /etc/fstab to auto mount the USB drive:

UUID=1234-5678 /media/USB-Drive exfat defaults,nofail,uid=1000,gid=1000,dmask=000,fmask=111 0 0

Note: Update the line above with your own UUID, mount directory, file system, UID and GID accordingly.

Now run this to mount the USB drive:

sudo mount -a

Create a handy symlink to the USB drive on the desktop:

sudo ln -s /media/USB-Drive ~/Desktop/USB-Drive

To repair an exFAT drive on Windows run the following command:

chkdsk.exe /F Z:

Note: Replace Z: with the relevant drive letter.

Create EXT4 Drive

You can format a partition as EXT4:

mkfs.ext4 /path/to/mount -L YourLabel

You can also change the drive label afterwards:

e2label /path/to/mount YourLabel

And you can easily mount it in the /etc/fstab as follows:

UUID=1234-5678 /media/USB-Drive ext4 defaults,auto 0 0

Backup NAS to USB Drive

First, create a directory to store the backup logs in:

mkdir ~/Backups

Then create an rsync ignore file, this will exclude unneccesary Windows and macOS files from being backed up:

touch ~/Backups/rsync_excludes.txt

And add the following contents:

$RECYCLE.BIN
$Recycle.Bin
._*
.AppleDB
.AppleDesktop
.AppleDouble
.com.apple.timemachine.supported
.dbfseventsd
.DocumentRevisions-V100*
.DS_Store
.fseventsd
.PKInstallSandboxManager
.Spotlight*
.SymAV*
.symSchedScanLockxz
.TemporaryItems
.Trash*
.vol
.VolumeIcon.icns
Desktop DB
Desktop DF
hiberfil.sys
lost+found
Network Trash Folder
pagefile.sys
Recycled
RECYCLER
System Volume Information
Temporary Items
Thumbs.d

Do a dry run (the -n flag) to ensure the correct files are being backed up:

rsync -rtvun --exclude-from="$HOME/Backups/rsync_excludes.txt" /media/NAS/ /media/USB-Drive/

Next, create a script to handle the backups:

touch Backups/backup.sh

With the following contents:

#!/bin/bash

BACKUP_DIR="$HOME/Backups"
BACKUP_LOG="$BACKUP_DIR/nas_backups_`date +'%Y-%m-%d'`.txt"
BACKUP_EXCLUDES="$BACKUP_DIR/rsync_excludes.txt"
BACKUP_LOG_DAYS=7

/usr/bin/rsync -rtvu --log-file="$BACKUP_LOG" --exclude-from="$BACKUP_EXCLUDES" --delete-after /media/NAS/ /media/USB-Drive/
find $BACKUP_DIR/nas_backups_*.txt -mtime +$BACKUP_LOG_DAYS -exec rm {} \;

Once you're happy it works you can add it to your user's crontab:

crontab -e

Add the following contents to it to run it every night at 1am:

SHELL=/bin/bash

0 1 * * * $HOME/Backups/backup.sh

You can add the --exclude option to exclude a specific pattern of files or directories, and the --delete-after option to ensure files deleted from the target are also removed from the destination.

You can see the last backup log by viewing the file contents:

cat ~/Logs/nas_backups_YYYY-MM-DD.txt

You can see what environment variables are available in the cron environment by adding the following to your crontab (you'll need to add whatver * * * * * you want):

env >> $HOME/Backups/cron_env.txt

You can also ensure any macOS hidden "dotfiles" are deleted by create a dotfiles.sh script:

touch dotfiles.sh
chmod +x dotfiles.sh

And then adding the following contents to it:

find /media/NAS -not -path "*ExcludeDirectory*" -iname ".*" -type f -exec rm -rf {} \;

Note: The filesystem must be writeable for this to work.

You can also add this to the crontab:

0 1 * * * $HOME/Backups/dotfiles.sh

Setup Steam Controller

The following instructions should allow you to use the Steam Controller wirelessly.

Download and install the Steam Controller Python drivers:

cd ~/
git clone https://github.com/ynsta/steamcontroller.git
cd steamcontroller
sudo pip install libusb1
sudo python3.4 setup.py install

Now create the file rules file:

sudo touch /lib/udev/rules.d/99-steam-controller-perms.rules
sudo nano /lib/udev/rules.d/99-steam-controller-perms.rules

Then add the following to it:

# This rule is needed for basic functionality of the controller in
# Steam and keyboard/mouse emulation
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="28de", MODE="0666"

# This rule is necessary for gamepad emulation; make sure you
# replace 'pgriffais' with the username of the user that runs Steam
KERNEL=="uinput", MODE="0660", GROUP="group", OPTIONS+="static_node=uinput"

Note: Replace group with the group of user (e.g. pi).

Now reload udev:

sudo udevadm control --reload

Start the driver and your controller should work:

sc-desktop.py start

To start the driver automatically at the desktop create the file:

touch ~/.config/autostart/Steam-Controller.desktop
nano ~/.config/autostart/Steam-Controller.desktop

Add the following contents to the file:

[Desktop Entry]
Exec=sc-desktop.py start

You can also install an on-screen keyboard:

sudo apt-get install florence

And then create a shortcut to it on the desktop:

touch ~/Desktop/keyboard.desktop

Then add the following contents to the file:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Keyboard
Exec=florence
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Icon=florence

Install Steam Link

sudo apt update
sudo apt install steamlink

Install Docker

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

Install Pi Hole

curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash

Install DNS over HTTPS

Follow Pi Hole's official instructions: https://docs.pi-hole.net/guides/dns-over-https/

Install Useful Packages

sudo apt-get install tree screen tmux

Notes

You can see the icons available for desktop shortcuts in /usr/share/pixmaps/

raspberry-pi-3-setup
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Raspberry Pi 3 Setup

Upgrade Jessie

Change Password

Setup SSH

Disable Automatic Desktop Login

Setup Display

Install Kodi

Install FAT32, ExFAT and NTFS File System Support

Mount NAS

Mount USB Drive

Create EXT4 Drive

Backup NAS to USB Drive

Setup Steam Controller

Install Steam Link

Install Docker

Install Pi Hole

Install DNS over HTTPS

Install Useful Packages

Notes

Links

← Metadata

Owner

Metadata

raspberry-pi-3-setup raspberry-pi-3-setup copied to clipboard

Metadata

Raspberry Pi 3 Setup

Upgrade Jessie

Change Password

Setup SSH

Disable Automatic Desktop Login

Setup Display

Install Kodi

Install FAT32, ExFAT and NTFS File System Support

Mount NAS

Mount USB Drive

Create EXT4 Drive

Backup NAS to USB Drive

Setup Steam Controller

Install Steam Link

Install Docker

Install Pi Hole

Install DNS over HTTPS

Install Useful Packages

Notes

Links

← Metadata

Owner

Metadata

raspberry-pi-3-setup
raspberry-pi-3-setup copied to clipboard