Content → Command Stations → RocNet

• RocNet Protocol | RocNetNode
  • RocNetNode Setup | RocNetNode Configuration | Installer package
  • GCA-Pi01 | Pi01CAN | GCA-Pi02 | GCA-PI03 | GCA-PI04 | GCA-Pi05 | GCA-Pi06 | GCA-PI07 | GCA107 Relay board | RocDisplay | Fast Clock
• Setup ESpeak (DE) | Setup Sound (DE)

“Raspberry Pi" is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

To make the Raspi RocNetNode Plug&Play an installer package which contains all what is needed to configure and operate is provided.

The installer target is Raspbian and will not install on Debian.

• SD Card Setup

The following error will occur when trying to install on Debian:

dpkg: error processing rocnetnode-xxxxx-raspbian-armhf.deb (--install):
package architecture (armhf) does not match system (armel)

It is strongly encouraged to use Raspbian because it is optimized for the Rasberry Pi and has therefor better performance.

sudo raspi-config

• enable SSH for remote maintenance
• optional: change password
• enable I2C interface for communication with the PIxx
• enable serial interface for RFID communication

• https://rocrail.net/software/rocrail-snapshot/

With ssh or a direct connection:

wget https://wiki.rocrail.net/rocrail-snapshot/RocNetNode-armhf.deb
sudo apt install ./RocNetNode-armhf.deb
sudo reboot

Note: The default keyboard layout is used which is English. (QWERTY)

Upgrades are, especially after the first roll out, sometimes necessary to fix bugs and to add extra functionality.
Its done in just a four steps:

sudo service rocnetnoded stop
wget https://wiki.rocrail.net/rocrail-snapshot/RocNetNode-armhf.deb
sudo apt install ./RocNetNode-armhf.deb
sudo service rocnetnoded start

At shutdown "Rocview & Server" a second question is asked to shutdown all RocNetNodes in case RocNet is one of the controllers in the Rocrail server.

See: RocNetNode Configuration → Shutdown

sudo service rocnetnoded stop

This is not the preferred way to shutdown RocNetNode because it does not report it to the Rocrail server and at worst case it could be loss of configuration settings.
But sometimes an unwanted power off happens and should normally not lead to any problem.

sudo cp ~/Rocrail/rocnetnode/package/rocnetnoded /etc/init.d/rocnetnoded
sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/rocnetnoded
sudo chmod 755 /opt/rocnet/rocnetnode.sh
sudo update-rc.d rocnetnoded defaults

To re-install afterwards a modified rocnetnoded script it has to be removed first:

sudo update-rc.d rocnetnoded remove

Otherwise the command does do nothing than show warnings only.

The RocNetNode can be manually started and stopped with the service command:

sudo service rocnetnoded stop

The last line in file /etc/hosts: (127.0.1.1 raspberrypi)

127.0.0.1	localhost
::1		localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
fe00::0		ip6-localnet
ff00::0		ip6-mcastprefix
ff02::1		ip6-allnodes
ff02::2		ip6-allrouters

127.0.1.1	raspberrypi

must be deleted.
This is needed to retrieve the real IP address of this node.

See: I2C preparations

Remove the modules from the /etc/modprobe.d/raspi-blacklist.conf by commenting them out (insert # at the beginning of the following lines):

# blacklist spi and i2c by default (many users don't need them)

#blacklist spi-bcm2708
#blacklist i2c-bcm2708

Add them in /etc/modules:

# /etc/modules: kernel modules to load at boot time.
#
# This file contains the names of kernel modules that should be loaded
# at boot time, one per line. Lines beginning with "#" are ignored.
# Parameters can be specified after the module name.
snd-bcm2835
i2c-bcm2708
i2c-dev

Get the I2C tools:

sudo apt-get install i2c-tools

Check bus 1 with 2 x GCA-Pi02:

pi@raspberrypi ~ $ sudo i2cdetect -y 1
     0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f
00:          -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
10: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
20: 20 21 22 23 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
30: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
40: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
50: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
60: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
70: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --    

1. Can both the Rocrail server and the RocNetNode be installed on the same Raspberry Pi?
   • Yes.
2. I2C stopped working after an Raspbian update
   • http://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=675658#p675658

• http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads
• 
• http://downloads.raspberrypi.org (Also previous Raspbian versions.)
• https://www.realvnc.com/en/connect/download/viewer/

The components used for basic I/O are the MCP23017 and the Adafruit 16 channel LED/Servo board. The Adafruit board is based on the PCA9685. Datasheets are readily available for both. There are many different I2C chips available but most are available only in surface mount.

• The Adafruit board is available at http://www.adafruit.com/products/815

Security of the Rpi (Raspberry Pi) is a topic that is not well covered. Since the Rpi runs a standard version of Linux, security measures for Linux also apply to the Rpi. Some of the measures that should be taken are:

1. Change the default password for 'pi'.
2. Turn off unneeded services such as cups (print), etc.

There are other preventative measures that could or should be taken but is well outside the scope of this reminder.