Monthly Archives: October 2021

General Updates

I have not decided on what parts to use for the Raspberry Pi tricorder but with the release of the Raspberry Pi W 2, it looks like it could be a fine choice!

In Kootnet Sensors news, I have been enhancing and refining sections. For instance, I’m using Python’s scrypt to create password hashes. It’s much more secure, especially due to adding a randomly generated “salt” to the user’s password that’s generated every time a password is changed. Unfortunately, I can’t convert old passwords to the new format, so it just re-sets the username/password to default. Normally I would never dream of doing that to a userbase, but I don’t really have a large user base per se… so reset!

I am now working on re-doing my whole update system. It’s actually pretty much done now, I just need to tweak it a bit and test some more. With the updates being done in Python instead of bash scripting, I was able to add some nice features, such as MD5 checksum verification of downloaded update files, which, should prevent bad downloads from breaking the install. This also allowed me to down 3 bash scripts to just 1 Python script and 6 Linux service files to just one. I also have the Python update script run from a separate Python virtual environment, which allows a “clean install” to be done (remove all program files and main Python virtual environment before re-installing).

There are a few other things I wanted to do as well, such as changing the Web Portal login from HTTP basic to something a bit more modern.

I am trying to make it so the next release will be version 1.0.0, as a lot of the program is pretty decent as far as the backend goes. Guess we’ll see if that happens 🙂

Until next time!

Kootnet Sensors Beta.34.150

I have released an updated version of Kootnet Sensors that fixes a few bugs, improves performance and adds a few other features and refinements.

Here are a few of the changes.

  • Enviro+ display works again
  • On program boot, logs and configurations are zipped and saved in the database along with Running version, hostname, ip and the date
  • Added table for database information (Will be used in future updates)
    • Added type of database (Main, MQTT, Sensor Checkin)
  • Updated database uploading to be more consistent with expetections
    • Uploading a zip will use the database name in the zip
    • Uploading multiple databases in a single zip will add all valid databases using their file names
  • Added instructions on how to run Kootnet Sensors manually by downloading the source code
    • Updated code to allow easier running of Kootnet Sensors outside of expected linux service folder
    • Creates and uses data, configurations and python virtual environment in the users home directory
  • Visual adjustments to the Web Portal.

In other news, I have made contact with someone who’s willing to try and make a 3D printable tricorder case to put around some Raspberry Pi hardware and sensors. So I’ll be working on that in order to attempt the creation of a working StarTrek-themed tricorder!
To start, I’ll have to figure out what screen and buttons I should use, along with which model of Pi.

Until next time!

Kootnet Sensors Beta.34.145

Kootnet Sensors version Beta.34.145 is out! I have updated all the channels and links to reflect the new version. I have also created Raspberry Pi images so you can flash it directly to an SD card and boot up with it pre-installed (like you would flash a normal Raspbian OS image). I’m just in the process of uploading the images to my web server, after that I’ll create links on my main pages to them. This should resolve any installation issues that might arise due to unresponsive servers or stale apt-get cache.

In other Kootnet Sensors news, I have created deb installers for older versions of Kootnet Sensors and posted them in the “Releases” section on GitHub. This was done mostly for nostalgia since you wouldn’t want to start with an older version … especially the much older ones. Still, it’s neat to see how the program has progressed over the months/years. The older versions I have created installers for include Alpha.24.x up to Alpha.28.x. I also added a missing one for Beta.31.x.

That’s it for now. I’ll post again when I get the Raspberry Pi images online.

Still working on Beta.34.x

So a bit more delay, I had family over and didn’t get as much work as I wanted to be done on the project. That being said, it’s coming along nicely. I’m just tweaking a little bit more and going through different sections double checking code.

Thanks to checking code all over, I re-worked the web portal notification system and added notifications for things like updates being run. I also enhanced the TCT (Terminal Configuration Tool) by adding the running version to the top of the menu, changing the operations a bit to have nicer output (easier to read and or more informational output during operations) and adding small changes like auto restarting the service after changes are done that require it (except for a few where you might want to check things before re-initializing).

So long story short, I want this release to be checked through a bit more before release. So it will be a bit longer. I’m still hoping to have it out by the end of this week, but I seem to keep finding sections I want to refine … so … we’ll see ^_^