Pyssel

During the years it has been a lot of tinkering..... So in this post I will make a list with links to products, software and blogposts describing my daily use. Since the family is Apple users it started up with HomeKit and an Apple TV as the Home hub..... Now I'm moving towards the new standard => Matter over Thread .

Updated 2026-08-06 ! I have got some questions installing, just,  Signal K (SK) so will do a summary with links. Signal K is the hub to receive data, from different devices in different data formats, and send it on to different equipment, or databases, in different formats. Most common for standard marine equipment are the old NMEA 0183 and the newer NMEA 2000 protocol which is also handled.  Besides the SK "hub" function developers  have  created  plugins  for different purposes. This is due to that  SK is open-source ! Sharing is caring ! In this post you can check the devices I'm using connected to the SK server and also my setup.

As a Mac and Linux user it was 20 years ago I used Windows.  But having an old Actisense NGT-1 , NMEA 2000 interface, where I had to update the firmware made it impossible to avoid.  Of course I could have used some friends Windows PC but it's not the same challange.  😉 Linux Bottles is a free tool that lets you run Windows programs and games on Linux. It makes Wine easy to use by organizing separate virtual environments, called bottles, with a simple screen. And maybe Windows don't need an any intro ..... ? Bottles Key Features Virtual Environments: Keeps each Windows app safe and separate in its own container, Flatpak, (bottle). Easy Fixes: Automatically downloads needed Windows files like .NET and Visual C++. Gaming Ready: Works well with game stores and Proton layers.  Main Tools Runner Manager: Changes the compatibility layer version easily. Task Manager: Checks and stops programs that freeze. Backup Tool: Saves and restores your virtual bottles. Sh...

I have to admit that Proxmox(PX) simplifies your life ! 😎  So why this confession ? Well, I started up in the  Virtual Machines(VM) world with Linux KVM/QEMU and despite the  Virtual Machine Manager GUI the PX GUI helps you a lot. Not to forget that PX have built in administration of Linux containers, LXC. So this post will be a short introduction to why PX, Home Assistant(HA) setup in PX and a quick tour for containers.

When migrating a Proxmox(PX) install from a standard Intel server to a Mac Mini(MC) i got some problem. The MC booted from the USB, using the PX ISO file , but it froze direct after I had selected the installation method . So after searching the net it ended up with first installing Debian 13, which worked very well, and after that adding the PX software. Please note !!! that if you have a Mac with the T2 security chip , like the Mac mini 2018, you can’t boot, by default, from en external or removable media without changing security. Another thing, for Mac:s, is a utostart after power failure which is descibed in this post .

 Updated 2026-07-10 !  This post is for both Windows and Mac users !   I have been running Linux, Raspberry Pi OS , since several years but almost just the Lite version (without Desktop). But when my old MacBook Air "gave up" , with Mac OS, it came naturally to use Ubuntu Desktop since it's also based on the Debian Linux distribution and the most used Linux distribution. So it ended up with installing Ubuntu latest LTS (UOS) ! (Above link is now UOS 26 LTS which I have not tested)

 Updated 2026-07-09 ! I have done several posts Blogging about how to keep an old MacBook Air(MBA), mid 2011(A1369), with SSD disk "alive". I have used the fantastic software package OpenCore Legacy patcher to upgrade the Mac to the latest Mac OS.  A while ago i tested Mac OS  Sequoia (15.3), on the mentioned Mac, but I had to admit that it was to much for the 14 year old companion. I really like the Mac and everything works, after a battery change , so it ended up with installing   Ubuntu latest LTS (UOS) ! (Above link is now UOS 26 LTS which I have not tested) Ubuntu on  Mac Mini (2018) and MacBookAir (2010)  ?

 Updated 2026-07-05 !  After testing Home Assistant (HA) for a while, I’ve realised it could improve my home automation, despite that I'm mainly using Apple HomeKit. When I tested HA with Node-RED and some other "Add-ons", on a Raspberry Pi 3 (RPi), I found that its resources wasn’t enough. The following setup could be any computer but I recently bought an Apple Mac Mini M4, replacing my 2018 (M18) model, so the M18 was really a great candidate for my HA setup. I have converted to HA running on Proxmox !   😀

Updated 2026-06-30 I found this amazing application,   AIS-catcher , just scrolling around on Youtube and  it includes "all" you need for an AIS receiver staying ashore or installed on a boat. It is compatible with a wide range of Software Defined Radios (SDRs). These include RTL-SDR dongles (such as the ShipXplorer AIS dongle and RTL SDR Blog v4), AirSpy (Mini/R2/HF+), HackRF, SDRPlay, SoapySDR, and file/network input (ZMQ/RTL-TCP/SpyServer).