Playing with Pi-Star: Revisions – Recent
Jan 20, 2020
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the The awkward current status of Pi-Star note.
Jan 14, 2020
Revised 5d) DMR configuration
Revised the notes under the DMR Master bullet point, especially to add "It's important to note that your SelfCare settings are saved per master server. If you change to a new master server, you need to re-enter settings you want to use."
- ☆ DMR Master (a master server connects you to the rest of the system):
- If you want to use only a specific system – Choose a BrandMeister (BM) or DMR+ master, or the TGIF Network
. In this case, everything is simpler as you'll see only options specifically for the selected system.
- Note: If you use BrandMeister SelfCare:
- It's important to note that your SelfCare settings are saved per master server. If you change to a new master server, you need to re-enter settings you want to use..
- You can turn on Pi-Star's BrandMeister Manager module, which gives you access to key BrandMeister settings in Pi-Star's Admin view. For more info, see: Pi-Star's BrandMeister Manager module. See also Using the BrandMeister API by Vladimir, AC2F.
- You can turn off sending APRS info via BrandMeister. For more info, see the note: Prevent sending APRS info via BrandMeister.
- Note: If you use BrandMeister SelfCare
- If you want to use only a specific system – Choose a BrandMeister (BM) or DMR+ master, or the TGIF Network
Jan 05, 2020
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the The awkward current status of Pi-Star note to add a link to more info about the release candidate issues: Pi-Star 4.1 release candidate problems.
Jan 01, 2020
Happy new year!
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the The awkward current status of Pi-Star note to reflect that as of Jan 2020, Pi-Star's status is that the 3.4.x codeline is aging, while the beta 4.1.x codeline isn't quite ready for prime time.
Dec 21, 2019
Happy solstice day!
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the The awkward current status of Pi-Star note to reflect that, while progress is being made on resolving some of the outstanding 4.1.0 release candidate issues, unfortunately, some fairly significant issues remain. 4.1.x is definitely not ready for primetime yet.
Dec 20, 2019
Revised release number
Noted the release of dashboard version 20191220:
Minor fix to the Wireless Configuration country code field.
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the The awkward current status of Pi-Star note to reflect that progress is being made on resolving some of the outstanding 4.1.0 release candidate issues.
Revised 4) Booting up Pi-Star
Updated image #5:
Overview of Pi-Star Auto AP boot-up steps for a new wireless network:
Revised 4e) If using Auto AP and setting up a new WiFi connection
- Click Save (and connect). When Auto AP is active, this step will only save; it won't connect. Wait a few moments for it to save (PSK field will turn white again), power off your Pi-Star hotspot, and then restart it.
- While the hotspot is restarting, reconnect your computer to the regular WiFi network you're using.
- After the hotspot restarts, Pi-Star will connect to the new WiFi network you added. On a Windows, Mac, or Linux-based computer (not the hotspot itself) that has WiFi enabled, open the Pi-Star dashboard by navigating again to: http://pi-star/ or http://pi-star.local/.
Dec 19, 2019
Revised release number
Noted the release of Pi-Star version V4.1.0-RC7:
Changes to startup process to improve connecting to WiFi.
Dec 17, 2019
Revised the Introduction section
Renamed the The current status of Pi-Star note to The awkward current status of Pi-Star, and slightly revised the note itself.
Revised 5d) DMR configuration
Added a note to DMR Master > If you want access to multiple systems simultaneously:
- Note 4: If you're comfortable tweaking Pi-Star expert settings, you can customize how DMRGateway is configured. See Github: g4klx / DMRGateway / Rewrite Rules. For example configurations, see the Pi-Star User Forum topic DMRGateway for a dumb smart person, especially the post by VE3RD dated Dec 16, 2019.
Dec 7, 2019
Revised the Introduction section
Renamed the Status of Pi-Star note to The current status of Pi-Star, and slightly revised the note itself.
Revised 12) Pi-Star – Summary thoughts
Updated section to reflect the current status of Pi-Star more accurately.
Dec 6, 2019
Revised release number
Noted the release of dashboard version 20191206:
Added the ability to set the country code in the Wireless Configuration section.
Revised 4e) If using Auto AP …
Perform this step when you start Pi-Star for the first time or when you need to connect to a new WiFi network, for example, when traveling.
- If you're not already in Configuration view, click the Configuration link and log in with your Pi-Star user name and password.
- In the Configuration view, scroll down to the Wireless Configuration section.
- To add or modify your WiFi network connections, click Configure WiFi.
- Select your country code and then click Scan for Networks. Wait 10 secs.
Note: If the scan doesn't find the network you want, you can add it manually, as discussed below: 5k) Wireless Configuration.
- In the list of networks found, select the one you want.
- PSK: Type the wireless network password. The PSK field will turn green.
- Click Save (and connect). When Auto AP is active, this step will only save; it won't connect. Wait a few moments for it to save (PSK field will turn white again), and then reboot Pi-Star. (If you're unable to reboot, power the hotspot off and back on again.)
- While the hotspot is restarting, reconnect your computer to the regular WiFi network you're using.
- After the hotspot reboots, Pi-Star will connect to the new WiFi network you added. On a Windows, Mac, or Linux-based computer (not the hotspot itself) that has WiFi enabled, open the Pi-Star dashboard by navigating again to: http://pi-star/ or http://pi-star.local/.
If you can't re-open the dashboard, see the note Trouble re-opening the dashboard after updating.
Revised 5k) Wireless configuration
★ 5k) Wireless Configuration
- To add or modify your WiFi network connections, click Configure WiFi.
- You then have two options:
Scan for WiFi networks- Select your country code, and then click Scan for Networks. Wait 10 secs. If the scan doesn't find the network you want, you can add it using the manual method described next.
- In the list of networks found, select the one you want.
Important! Some radio/modem boards require the WPA or WPA2 security standard, and won't work with WEP.
- Select your country code, and then click Add Network.
- SSID: Type the wireless network name. Note: A space in the network name can cause problems with connecting to some routers.
- Select your country code, and then click Scan for Networks. Wait 10 secs. If the scan doesn't find the network you want, you can add it using the manual method described next.
- PSK: Type the wireless network password. The PSK field will turn green.
- Click Save (and connect). It may not look like anything is happening, but give it time until it's finished and the PSK field turns white again.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Auto AP note: If you're setting up a wireless connection using Auto AP, this step will only save; it won't connect. Wait a few moments for the save to complete, and then power your hotspot off and back on again.
- While the hotspot is restarting, reconnect your computer to the regular WiFi network you're using.
- After the hotspot reboots, Pi-Star will connect to the new WiFi network.
- Optionally, you can add additional wireless network connections. If you have multiple wireless network connections, when you boot up Pi-Star, it will scan each one in turn based on its priority until it finds one to connect to:
- Be patient, each connection attempt takes about 40 seconds.
- The first wireless network connection you add is given an ID of 0 and a priority of 100. For each additional wireless network connection you add, the ID is increased by one and the priority is decreased by one. Thanks to Bob, N0YWB, for his post in the Pi-Star Users Support Group explaining how this works.
- For more info, see: Manually adding WiFi settings to RPi.
Dec 4, 2019
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the Status of Pi-Star note.
Nov 22, 2019
Revised release number
Noted the release of dashboard version 20191122 ^ :
"Updated MMDVMHost to the current build."
Revised 6e) Some great places to start playing with Pi-Star
Slightly changed the section title from "A great place" to "Some great places" and added:
Ham Radio DMR Nets
Speaking of Telegram groups, there's another good group there for finding nets, Ham Radio DMR Nets, which has a quite comprehensive list of active DMR nets. Each net is displayed an hour before it goes live, making it easy to keep track of what's going on: https://t.me/HamRadioDMRNets
Nov 19, 2019
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the Status of Pi-Star note.
Revised formatting
Introduced a new icon for "Open in a new tab":
Nov 13, 2019
Revised release number
Noted the release of dashboard version 20191112 ^ :
Minor UI changes.
Nov 9, 2019
Revised release number
Noted the release of dashboard version 20191108 ^ :
Minor UI changes.
Nov 8, 2019
Revised release number
Noted the release of dashboard version 20191107 ^ :
Looks like additional improvements to ARIA handling on the Configuration page.
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the Status of Pi-Star note again.
Revised 2) Downloading Pi-Star
Revised the note and moved it above the screen capture:
Note: The regular Pi-Star RPi image doesn't support the new RPi 3B+, 3A+, or 4B; however, Pi-Star v4.1 supports them: Pi-Star Beta Downloads ^ .
Nov 5, 2019
Revised 8) Updating Pi-Star
Added a link to Andy Taylor's GitHub to the introductory paragraph:
One of the nice things about Pi-Star is that it's updated on a regular basis to add new features, options, and fixes, as well as to add hostfile updates that have been pulled from upstream sources (to view the changes, see GitHub ^ ). There are three ways to update Pi-Star: one automated and two manual:
Revised release number
Noted the release of dashboard version 20191105 ^ :
Looks like some improvements to ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) handling on the Configuration page. Update Nov 7: Confirmed by the developer who posted that he's working on an "issue with screen readers for users with limited sight…."
Nov 2, 2019
Revised 5c) General Configuration > Node Type
Added Note 2:
- Note 1: The Node Type controls each mode's SelfOnly setting in Expert Editor > MMDVMHost.
- Note 2: If you're using Node Type = Public and DMR, Jason, KE7FNS, posted in the Pi-Star User Forum about how to create white lists or black lists of users that can access your hotspot ^ .
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the Status of Pi-Star note again.
Nov 1, 2019
Revised release number
Noted the release of dashboard 20191101 ^ :
Looks like some styling changes to dashboard.
Oct 23, 2019
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the Status of Pi-Star note again.
Oct 21, 2019
Revised document information section
Consolidated links to PDFs & standalone articles and Upgrading to V4 article, and added links to translations:
More:
PDFs ^ ·
Upgrading to Pi‑Star V4.1 ^
Most up-to-date version: amateurradionotes.com/pi-star.htm
Translations:
简体中文 ·
Español ·
हिंदी ·
русский ·
日本語 ·
韓国語
Oct 20, 2019
Revised 5b) MMDVMHost Configuration
Added note about new OLED setting:
- LogoScreenSaver: 0 = off (blank screen) or 1 = on (logo displayed).
Oct 16, 2019
Revised release number
Noted the release of dashboard version 20191016 ^ :
Changes related to MMDVMHost.
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the Status of Pi-Star note again.
Revised 6a) Dashboard view
Updated the notes:
Hint: Click on a callsign to open the related QRZ page (or other linked page).- Bandwidth: The dashboard is optional and takes a lot of bandwidth. If you have a metered data plan, you might want to run Pi-Star without it most of the time.
- Src (source): Displays RF (Radio Frequency) when you transmit from your radio to the hotspot, which then sends it as data over the internet. Displays Net (internet) when data is being received from the internet by the hotspot, which then retransmits it as RF to your radio.
- Loss: Indicates data quality loss on data coming in from internet.
- Modes & cross modes: When enabled, their info is displayed in left column.
Oct 12, 2019
Updated the logo
Pi-Star Digital Voice Software has a fresh logo. Nice!
Revised the Introduction
Pi-Star is great digital voice software for hotspots and repeaters. It can handle DMR, D-STAR, and YSF, as well as P25, NXDN, POCSAG, and some cross modes when used with a multi-mode digital voice modem that supports those modes.
Revised 8) Updating Pi-star
Revised Update notes:
mount: / is busy or mount point is busy – The Update process automatically switches Pi-Star into Read-Write (rw) mode, writes the updates, and then switches Pi-Star back into Read-Only (ro) mode. Occasionally, the process will fail to complete the switch back to ro mode, and a message is displayed: mount: / is busy or mount point is busy.
When this happens, it typically doesn't work to manually switch Pi-Star back into ro mode using the "rpi-ro" command. To fix this, there's a few things that can work: re-run Pi-Star Update, run Pi-Star Upgrade (even if you're on the latest version), reboot Pi-Star, power off the hotspot and then restart it. Whenever this happens, I always re-run the Pi-Star update until it finishes normally.
Update: Jason, KE7FNS, has found at least a partial root cause for this issue and a workaround solution for that cause, which he shared in his Pi-Star User Forum post ^ :
First, run the restart service command:
sudo systemctl restart systemd-udevd.service
followed by:
rpi-ro
I've tried this several times, and found it to work most of the time.
Oct 11, 2019
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the Status of Pi-Star note.
Oct 8, 2019
Revised all references to the RPi 4B
I had been mistakenly referring to the new Raspberry Pi 4B as the 4B+. Have now corrected that everywhere. Apologies!
Oct 4, 2019
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the Status of Pi-Star note.