Getting started with your DIY Edition

Hi @earth,

Have you seen this guide:

Should cover almost everything there is about setting up the RPi3.

best
Peter

HI Peter,

Iā€™m about to switch to the RPi3, and was wondering about the SD Card for the RPi. Do I just make a copy of the one that came with my 4G LTE version of the dongle and use it on the RPi3?

Searched a bit through the forums here and was not too sure on what to do. Would it be better to use the image that can be downloaded?

The reason I ask is because of the comment above that the image is optimized for the zeroā€¦

Thanks
Sandi

ā€œPlease note: The AutoPi always needs power through the OBD connector, to function properly. Powering the board through the micro usb power plug on the Raspberry Pi could damage your board.ā€

Oh boy. Now that would have been some useful information in the ā€œGetting Started with Your DIY Dongleā€ guide. Hopefully, my DIY dongle has survived. Now the question is this: Is the Rpi3B powered through the dongle or does it still need a separate 5v power source?

I have now gone back and read ALL the guides and realized that my entire thread is moot. I have been assuming that the DIY dongle was receiving power through the Pi3B via the autopi adapter for the dongle, the way every other HAT does. Apparently not so. So, the dongle was going to sleep, just like it is designed to do when the power source is less than 12.5V. Sorry for the trouble, guys. I look forward to seeing a more complete guide for the Pi3B conversion.

Also, though it is probably more work for you, it would be really nice to see the autopi program as an installable app add-on to Raspbian, so that it could be run alongside other programs, such as media server, navigation, cameras, TPMS, etc., and be selectable from one of the pre-packaged GUIs already available. Just install the program via apt-get and install the hardware, the pi finds it, then set it up. Would be really nice. I would be willing to pay a few bucks for such an application, in addition to the cost of the hardware.

Just a thought.

Iā€™ll try getting the dongle up again from my vehicle.

Sorry about the frustration, guys. It appears I fried my dongle. Even connected to my truck (2005 Dodge) it will not remain booted up. The hotspot gets an IP address, but my Mac and iphone cannot find the hotspot. I do not think it is transmitting. I can no longer connect to the Internet via the dongle. This is with the latest image and nothing else. I decided to try it with my pizerow, but ruined the connector trying to solder it to the pi. Sometimes you just have to step back and take a deep breath.

Giving up for today.

Also, just a note for anyone else following the thread, when I connected via the OBD port with no other power to the Pi3B or monitor, the monitor would not function. I could see the Pi was getting power, via the red and green lights, but the 7" Pi Touchscreen would not function. I tried running 5v power to the monitor only and still no joy. Going to disconnect the pi from the monitor tomorrow and reconnect the Pi/autopi combo to the OBD and see what happens. Like I said before, itā€™s possible I already damaged the autopi by connecting things to 5v power via the Pi3B, as Iā€™m no longer getting a hotspot showing up.

Ok. Today, some good news and some not-so-good news.

I tried the autopi/pi3b combo without the touchscreen monitor connected using the obd cable in my truck and still no joy. Did not get the hotspot, although I could see the unit was receiving power via the indicator lights.

I repaired the socket for my pizerow and installed the pizero on the DIY dongle and connected it to my truck via the OBD cable. AND IT WORKED PERFECTLY!!! HOORAY!!!

I also rebooted my pi3b and it functions perfectly as well, so itā€™s ok. However, my autopi dongle cannot receive my home network wifi in the driveway, so I cannot connect to the cloudā€¦yet.

So, my autopi DIY dongle is ok. Whew!

This seems to indicate the issues of compatibility with the pi3b still exist. I will work with the pizero and learn how to use the autopi while the compatibility issues are resolved, then try again.

I appreciate your work and patience. I know thereā€™s a lot going on.

Tony

Hi!

Iā€™m not being able to make this work, on the very most basic aspects.

First, power. The guide says that we should connect the microusb to the piā€™s data port. Shouldnā€™t it be to the power entry? How is the raspberry pi supposed to get power? Either way, Iā€™ve tried both ways, neither worked, the pi isnā€™t getting power from the car through the HAT as it should. What might I be missing?

Bypassing this issue and trying to test my pi and my autopi.core image in my home, Iā€™ve connected the pi to a microusb power source and tried to follow the instructions of this guide. The wifi access point was available, and I was able to connect to it. However, connected to it, when I try to open local.autopi.io it is a non-existing address. (Maybe because thereā€™s no internal dns to resolve it and I would need to still be connected to the internet?)ā€¦
After opening it a first time it finally showed something, but it seems to also require being connected to the internet because it uses a redirect to my.autopi.io ?
Is there an assumption that Iā€™m able to connect to both the wifi access point and the internet simultaneously? how?

Thanks for the help!

Hi @luisfaceira ,

Thank you for your message.

So the AutoPi is actually supposed to connect to the USB out on the Raspberry. Connecting it to the Power out on the Raspberry could both damage your Raspberry and your AutoPi.

The AutoPi powers from the vehicle, directly through the OBD port. The AutoPi then powers the Raspberry, so you should never connect an external power supply to your Raspberry Pi while its connected to your AutoPi, this will damage you AutoPi and could damage your Raspberry. If you want to power your AutoPi, when its not connected to your car, you should use this cable:

https://shop.autopi.io/products/obd-ii-power-cable-8/

See details on how here:

About your setup directly with the Pi. With the image, the Pi will work in both client mode and hotspot mode at the same time. From the local gui you can connect the AutoPi to your local WiFi hotspot and thereby get on the internet.

If the issue persist, then please reach out to support@autopi.io or maybe you can open up a seperate issue thread here:

https://community.autopi.io/c/troubleshooting

Best
Peter

Screenshot_20181129-232435
How long does it take to load the API?

It seems you are accessing it via the IP, is there any reason why you are not using local.autopi.io?

Best regards
/Malte

Because it wonā€™t show up with that link :thinking:

When you are connected to the hotspot of the device?
The local API should load in seconds :slight_smile:

Hmm - that should work.
In the meantime, can you try to enable developer tools in your browser, and see in the console or in the network, what is happening?

It is probably throwing errors because it pings the local.autopi.io hostname to check if the API is ready, so itā€™s likely caused by the hostname issue.
Iā€™l look into that.

There was an update, i think that fixed it :slight_smile:

Hi, at least the second option to add ā€œtime.sleep(0.01)ā€ does not hinder the reboot to be triggered during the apt-get upgrade process. I will try the jumper next.

Also same issue with the jumper, RPI3 shuts down during the upgradeā€¦

Is there a pin-out for the DIY board? Itā€™s not clear what each GPIO pin connection is for and whatā€™s going across the USB connection. Thanks!

Hi @davidbitton,

See this:

best
Peter