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Showing posts from May, 2021

HomeKit bridge with Z-Wave

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Updated 2021-05-21 ! These devices are available for Apples HomeKit. The devices are Bluetooth, BLE, or WiFi connected so it could be a limited range in Your house. The Z-Wave solution have a smarter setup running on a type of network called a " mesh network ". One Z-Wave product will pass the signal along to another (“hop”) until the final destination is reached. Every device, not battery charged, acts as a messenger; the more devices you have, the more powerful and strong your network is. Raspberry USB SSD boot made simple ? Check link  
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Popular posts, last 30 days

OpenPlotter V3, install guide

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Updated 2024-03-01 ! OpenPlotter(OP), a Boat Navigation application, is really a nice and simple installation of OpenPlotter (OP) OpenCPN (OC) SignalK (SK)  and other supporting applications for Your boat. An overall information about the OP package is found here . Install guide for the new stable OP, version 4, is found here .
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OpenPlotter v4 , install guide

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Updated 2025-12-01 ! OpenPlotter(OP), a Boat Navigation application, is really a nice and simple installation of OpenPlotter (OP) OpenCPN (OC) SignalK (SK)  and other supporting applications for Your boat. An overall information about the OP package is found  here   and you can watch the OP v4 progress  here .
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iCloud drive sync, or mount, with a Linux, Ubuntu, device

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Updated 2025-01-23 ! With my project to keep a MacBook Air 2011(MBA) alive , Ubuntu installed, i searched for a solution where my iCloud drive(iCD) was  continuous synced with my MBA. This must work both ways so even a file change made on MBA should be replicated to iCD. rclone now, 2025-01, works with iCloud !! Setup below !! Before "rclone" was working with iCloud I solved my sync between iCD and MBA with Syncthing (ST). Check below. ST doesn't sync with iCloud so the work around here was to use my MacMini, Mac OS, as the "Middle man". It's always on and synced with iCD.
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Raspberry headless install with WiFi

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Updated 2023-10-17 ! To make a headless, without monitor, keyboard and mouse, install of Raspberry Pi OS on a Raspberry Pi(RPi) with built in WiFi and no LAN cable connection, please follow the instructions below. For example the RPi Zero and Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ don't have any LAN cable port so the setup is quite usable. To make an active WiFi connection at first boot You have to use the "Advanced options" in Raspberry Pi Imager or create, old way, a configuration file called " wpa_supplicant.conf ".
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Home Assistant with VirtualBox or Proxmox or Linux KVM ???

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 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 !   😀
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HomeKit bridge with Ring

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With HomeBridge installed on a Raspberry Pi, (RPi), You just install the homebridge-ring plugin and the Ring accessories will appear in Apple HomeKit This post will cover the Ring video doorbell but is a guide for other Ring products. Prerequisites Homebridge Ring doorbell Ring account
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Raspberry Pi OS Lite with GUI, RDP, VNC, Chromium

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Updated 2025-10-02 ! I like the Raspberry Pi(RPi), with Raspberry Pi OS Lite (no Desktop is included), headless operation, and then adding the software You need. Until now I haven't had a use case where I needed a Desktop but now was time.  Why don't use the Raspberry Pi OS with Desktop ?? In that package there is a lot of software I don't need and I really want to optimize the RPi. I think that the less software You install the happier RPi will be... 😉
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NMEA WiFi gateway

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Updated 2023-11-06 ! I have searched for a solution transmitting the NMEA data, from the navigation network, via WiFi, to for example  iSailor  or other Tablet/Phone applications. Most of these applications just accepts NMEA0183(N1) but many boats are also using SeaTalk 1(ST1) and NMEA2000(N2K). This post will cover, kept compact, my best findings covering both a DIY and a commercial approach to handle the different protocols.
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NetworkManager UI and access point, hotspot

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Updated 2023-10-12 ! In a former post I shared some thoughts about how to start using NetworkManager (NM), on a Raspberry, and here I will continue with additional examples that can help with network setup. NMTUI is NetworkManager text UI which can handle the most common tasks in a easy way. An access point or hotspot will be configured. " sudo nmcli connection edit xxxx " is a command that guides you throw a change of parameters.
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IVT, Bosch heat pump easy integration, Home Assistant

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Updated 2026-03-27 ! In search of the optimal solution on how to interface our IVT Heat pump,   first try here , I stumbled over   a nice integration   for Home Assistant(HA). A first quick setup is shown at the right. Please note !!! This integration stopped working with HA 2026.3.4 and the XMPP protocol(IVT) !!! But this one still works and can supply HA with data. The first obstacle was that it was HA which I knew about but never used.  So it was "back too school" and doing  a blog post  about a HA Core install.
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