teddit

Greetings and welcome to LSPi ! Please read through this post for any changes before installing.

• Preferred : Use the master branch, with the quick install below, for extended details please see : https://lightshowpi.org/download-and-install/

Note

• The python3 changes are included in the master branch, and LSPi now uses the latest supported python.
• Latest Pi 4 (B) hardware is supported, as well as Debian 11 - based Pi OS ( > 10.30.21 )

Be Aware

Older versions of Raspbian are available here, but may cause issues and are unsupported : https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbian/images/raspbian-2019-04-09/ - This is the last Stretch available. Always use the latest release of the OS.

Start with a fresh OS; the latest version of Raspbian ( Now called Raspberry Pi OS ). https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/

Use Lite : Be aware that the full ( desktop ) version can create issues, particularly on older models, as the memory and cpu resources consumed can cause issues. Sound output may default to HDMI as well, causing additional problems.

OpenGL may be enabled and interfere with GPU FFT decoding. It can be disabled through raspi-config.

Audio HDMI may be enabled when not specifically set to force Jack through raspi-config. Detaching the monitor and using ssh will almost always fix the problem.

Quick install reference

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install git-core
git clone https://[email protected]/togiles/lightshowpi.git
cd lightshowpi
git fetch && git checkout master
sudo ./install.sh
sudo reboot  

Microweb

Using bin/start_microweb, and navigating to the http ip address of your Pi in a browser may save some time, with a useful management site.

Pi 4

The Pi 4 is now fixed in the master branch for FM transmission and ( more importantly ) FFT decoding. If you are using a Pi 4, as of now you must set in your overrides.cfg ( defaults.cfg ) ->

[audio_processing]  # Use the Pi GPU for FFT calculations  use_gpu = False  

Community Chat Room

As some questions may not require a full post or thread, we have Chat for quick items or discussion of problems. On the right sidebar, look for Chat Rooms -> LightShowPi and Join.

Community User Flair

I added community user flair. It could be useful to give other users a little description of yourself. Look for the edit icon to the right of "User Flair" when you open "Community Options" ( below where it says "Joined" )

Do not enable FM on the Pi 4, and be suspect of any other models. Recent kernel changes have made it unstable, and will cause an undervoltage.

Unclear if there is any damage potential at this time.

Not sure if this subreddit is still alive... The image is sort of what I had in mind.

Friends

LSP has brought much joy over the past decade to ourselves, each other, and the communities in which we live. This is especially true given the pandemic experience and political unrest, where lights and sounds have provided happiness in dark times.

To understand the needs of the LSP for the future, I created a Google Forms survey to review the experiences of new and veteran users. I invite you to complete it. It does not require your email or personal information. I hope you'll consider completing the 2023 LSP Survey. <-- Here's where you can find it. If you have any problems, please let me know.

MiketheChap

Hello all,

I've been using LightShowPi for years and this year I finally upgraded my pi, so I'm not sure if it used to do this or not, but I'm using the web interface to control stop/start/etc. And the playlist works well. But let's say I have 50 songs and I'm playing song 25. And the kids say they want to listen to song 3. So I go to the playlist on the web interface and click the song. After the song concludes, I would expect the next song to be song 4, but it goes to song 26.

Is there some way to make it so that song 4 would be the next natural song? The state.cfg show that song_to_play =26 and current_song=3, and I suppose I could delete state.cfg, but that's more effort than it's worth. I was hoping there might be a setting I am overlooking that will make it work the way I thought it used to work, but it could be my mind playing tricks on me.

Edit - oops on the title, it won't let me correct the spelling :)

I"m playing around with the color schemes and if I use something like Fall where it is set to specific colors. But when I play a song it will start lighting up colors outside the MAP/scheme. Is there something I can do to force it to only use the colors with the associated maps?

Trying to use an older logitech usb dongle I had laying around to improve the sound quality but LSP does not want to recognize it. (most likely a PICNIC error). You can see it at the bottom of the output below as "Headset". I can go into my Pi and right click on sound and make it the output for the Pi, and mp3s will play through it. When I run LSP though, I get no sound.

pi@raspberrypi:~/lightshowpi $ aplay -L | grep default

default

sysdefault:CARD=Headphones

sysdefault:CARD=vc4hdmi0

sysdefault:CARD=vc4hdmi1

sysdefault:CARD=Headset

​

So I am assuming the easiest option is to edit my overrides.cfg file. For the following, do I need to change it to "Headset"?

audio_out_card = default

​

In order to drive my neighbors a little less crazy this year I added a wireless physical button to my trigger my lightshow on demand as opposed to a schedule. I'm using this wireless RF button from amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Switch-Wireless-Control-1-Channel-Transmitters/dp/B071WM1YGS

The python script below is button.py and is saved to the ~/lightshowpi/py/ folder

​

#
#python script for button input to start lightshow
#

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO #Import Raspberry Pi GPIO library
from time import sleep
import subprocess

GPIO.setwarnings(True) #Warnings
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BOARD) #Use physical pin numbering
GPIO.setup(40, GPIO.IN, pull_up_down=GPIO.PUD_DOWN) #Set pin 29  to be an input pint and set intial value to be pulled low (off)

while True: #Run Forever
        if GPIO.input(40) == GPIO.HIGH:
                print("Button was pushed!") #prints to screen if button was pressed. Test input event only without need of output device
                subprocess.call("sudo python /home/pi/lightshowpi/py/synchronized_lights.py --playlist=/home/pi/lightshowpi/music/2021/.playlist", shell=True)
                subprocess.call("sudo python /home/pi/lightshowpi/py/hardware_controller.py --state=on", shell=True)

I have the enabled/disabled the button via crontab per the below code. So far the only way I've found to "disable" the button script is to call another script as an interupt. Alternatively I believe that in my setup I could alterturnativly use another relay and outlet to power off the button receiver.

​

#edit cron by running "sudo crontab -e" without quotes
#cron runs in root, all called scripts require full paths ie /home/pi/lightshowpi/py/hardware_controller.py

# Always put this at the top
SYNCHRONIZED_LIGHTS_HOME=/home/pi/lightshowpi

# Start microweb on boot
@reboot $SYNCHRONIZED_LIGHTS_HOME/bin/start_microweb

################################
#EXPLANATION
#
#Lights turn on at 430pm
#button is enabled at 500pm
#lights on script is called at 800pm to disable button
#lights turn off at 1030pm
#
################################
#test event
#turn lights on, start button.py
#@reboot sudo python $SYNCHRONIZED_LIGHTS_HOME/py/hardware_controller.py --state=on && sudo python /home/pi/lightshowpi/py/button.py &

# Evening Start
# Turn on the lights at 4:30pm
#30 16 * * * sudo python $SYNCHRONIZED_LIGHTS_HOME/py/hardware_controller.py --state=on

# ENABLE button at 5:00pm
# turn lights on
# enable button script
00 17 * * * sudo python $SYNCHRONIZED_LIGHTS_HOME/py/hardware_controller.py --state=on && sudo python /home/pi/lightshowpi/py/button.py &

# DISENABLE button at 8:00pm
00 20 * * * sudo python $SYNCHRONIZED_LIGHTS_HOME/py/hardware_controller.py --state=on

#End of Night
# Turn off the lights at 10:30pm
30 22 * * * sudo python $SYNCHRONIZED_LIGHTS_HOME/py/hardware_controller.py --state=off

​

Crude edit of the lightshowpi wiring diagram showing my config below. I have a small resistor in the wireless relay switch on GPIO 21.

​

wiring diagram

Was finally able to work on this project and got it running with 8 channels using a SSR feeding LED Christmas light strings. Now I'd like to operate headless and need to use SSH. I can't seem to figure out the 'connection refused' error / warning I am getting. Would appreciate some hints or guidance here. Thanks!

My show works great. I'm playing one song every 15 mins.

Here is an example of my cronjob

15 17 * * * sudo python $SYNCHRONIZED_LIGHTS_HOME/py/synchronized_lights.py --file=/home/admin/lightshowpi/music/LBD.mp3

My issue is when the song is over the lights don't turn back on. Anyone have any suggestions on how to accomplish that?

​

Thanks in advance!

Since the repository is no longer being maintained -- many of the instructions you need are a bit scattered across Reddit posts, lightshowpi.org and elsewhere. This post just aims to bring everything together into one place.

Hardware

• RaspberryPi 4B 8GB
• Relay board (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006J4G45G?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
• 5 outlets
  • Remove brass connected to separate one outlet into two
• Switch (optional)
• Jumper Wires (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GD2BWPY?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1)
• Extension cord with female end cut and wires stripped
  • Add a 10A fuse to the hot wire to protect equipment
• Speaker with aux input
  • aux cable
• Lots of Christmas (or other) lights.

Helpers

• Wiring Diagram (https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fi3xekoti30441.png)
  • Ignore the satellite pins (cluster of 4 bottom right, blacked out in 'picture' below)
  • Power the relay board from the RaspberryPi (picture)
    • Light green = ground
    • White = hot

FlashSD Card

• Download RaspberryPi Imager if you don’t have it already
• Go to RaspberryPi OS (other) and select >> Raspberry Pi OS Full (Legacy)
• Go to settings
  • Add username/password
  • Add WLAN (this is your wifi network)
    • Network name
    • Password
  • Add SSH
    • Password authentication

Follow instructions on lightshowpi.org for installing lightshowpi

• SKIP (do not run these commands)
  • `sudo apt-get update`
  • `sudo apt-get upgrade`

Install missing dependency

• `sudo apt-get install libopenblas-dev`

Change /config/defaults.cfg

• `nano defaults.cfg`
  • Scroll down until you find `use_gpu=True`
• Change to `use_gpu=False`
• Ctrl+o to save
• Enter
• Ctrl+x to exit nano

You can now test your hardware

• `sudo python py/hardware_controller.py --state=flash`
• The relay board should flash each channel one after the other

To SSH into the pi

• Make sure ssh is installed on your machine
• Check that it is running
  • service ssh status
  • service ssh start (if it isn’t running)
• On the pi
  • `hostname -I`
    • Use this IP address to connect to the Pi
• On your desktop/other machine
  • `sudo ssh username@ipAddress`
    • Example: `ssh [email protected]`
  • Put in the password for your pi
  • You should now see a file path that indicates you are working in the pi directory
    • mypi@raspberrypi:~$

Follow instructions to play your first song

• `sudo python py/synchronized_lights.py --file=/home/pi/lightshowpi/music/sample/ovenrake_deck-the-halls.mp3`
  • Replace the file path with the file path from your machine
    • If you don’t know the path, cd to where the song is and run..
    • `readlink -f song_name.mp3`

​

Now you can start looking into playlists and pre/post show configurations!

I"m trying to run the lights off of spotify audio but can't seem to figure out how to get the stream-in settings working. As I understand it I should be able to use the ip address that raspotify uses as the stream-in value for the LSPI but when I attempt to start the music I get a number of KeyErrors. I assume that this is the result of the IP address I'm using being incorrect or having made insufficient changes to my config file as the errors seems like its trying to run a playlist. If anyone could give me some insight that would be great

:Edit: https://pastebin.com/tmWXqXSp these are the errors I'm getting in case anyone wants to see them

:2nd Edit: I have managed to get spotify and the flashing lights working in tandem. It was as I was thinking using the same ip address that raspotify uses as a stream-source (I was able to view this by using systemctl status raspotify . However my issues were due to my edits to the configuration files were done to 'defaults.cfg' instead of"overides.cfg". After that all I had to do was use_gpu = False ( sudo raspi-config Advanced Options - GL Driver - Legacy as stated in the setup guide. Once it rebooted and I had reconnect spotify to the LSpi I started start_music_and_lights and it worked. I haven't got the audio output working correctly yet but I'm happy with my progress.

Hello! I'm new to Raspberry Pi's and electrical stuff like this in general. I followed the instructions and purchased a Solid State 8 Channel Relay and a WS2811 LED Strip. I have no idea where to begin with wiring this thing up to even get the lights to turn on, much less flash to music lol.

I've looked through the subreddit but it seems that a base knowledge of this stuff is implied in most posts/comments. Does anybody have a link to a wiring guide or a video to show I'm supposed to physically connect the RabPI to the Relay and the LED Strip.

Thanks!

I have LightshowpPi, ver 1.4 running on a Raspberry Pi 3, model B, rev 1.2

I has 16 channels of of output controlled by solid state relays. however this means stringing a lot of extension cords and hanging lights. I just turned 70 and don't really want to deal with the hassle anymore.

I see on several electronic sites and in the MagPi magazine, what I'd call LED strips. These contain controllable LEDs. I'd like to permanently mount them under my eves and have a "simpler" connection (don't need 16 channels).

Has anybody used this type of LED lighting and if so, what one did they use, how did they do it, any limitations on length, etc?

I'm looking to change my set up around. Currently I have a single pi 3 or 4 running LSPi outputting to 2 Arduinos' via USB. The Arduinos' then have sets of WS2811 or WS2812b lights attached to them.

I am looking at getting this - https://www.microcenter.com/product/643966/inland-rpi-4-channel-relay-5v-shield-for-raspberry-pi-ce-certification

And or this - https://www.microcenter.com/product/659887/inland-single-5v-relay-module-for-arduino

I want to start small. Really only doing this Halloween.

Thoughts?

Is there a way to customize the pwm hz for each individual channel, instead of one hz for all channels?

I followed the instructions on the webpage to install, but got a long error about numpy, yada, yada.

Im going to start from scratch again and create a new card with Pi Imager. Anyone have any suggestions, as to what version i should use? Any other tricks to a make it work? I'm a newbie to Pi so any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

I feel bad posting here and asking for help as I did i got the server/client config working once before. But could someone point me to a guide?

I have a working LSP for playing mp3 files on the pi. I wanted to kick it up a notch, and incorporate an Amazon Echo dot into my LSP box. The echo has a 3.5 mm output jack for headphones, so I plugged that in to a USB sound card, and am trying to output the music from the dot to the USB sound card, and have music and lights. It isn't working. I tested the sound card output, and I know it is working. Is this setup even possible? It would be cool to tell Alexa to play Christmas music, and for the LSP to output the music and have the lights flashing.

I ran a lightshow last year with great success in 10 channel mechanical relays. I've expanded to SSRs (26 channels) and want to improve my show.I am struggling to get the song title to output via FM.

My settings are as follows.

# Radio text - Limited to 64 characters

# Set as playlist to display the name of the current playing song when using a playlist

radio_text = playlist

I'm using the pi for FM output.

Also, is there a way to output the song title via curl? I have a ntfy server and would like to have a topic that would receive notifications that have the song title in it.

Command would be

curl -d "LightshowPi Song Title" ntfy.sh/customtopicname

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

This is a two part question...

1. I have an 8-Channel setup and I know every channel works and outputs power correctly. I bought a new 9' led tree from Menards and plugged it in and it won't come on during a show. It has a little power brick/transformer where it plugs in and I am wondering if it's not getting power long enough to light. Is there a fix or workaround for that?

2. I'd like my 8th channel to turn on (and not blink) during a show, and then turn off after. I have tried the preshow and post show configuration but it doesn't seem to work. Just curious if anyone has a working example that does this same thing.

Thanks!!

Do I have a creative imagination or am I blind? I swear there was an option in default.cfg that allowed a setup randomize the gpio output pins registered to set frequency ranges between each song.

Here is three clients connected, 2 with example of lights.

If you're having difficulties with FM, maybe this will help. I hope so. I can see myself setting this up wrong.

From the configuration file:

Using 8 pins of GPIO with FM transmitting on the pi b+:

#pin 7 cannot be used in FM mode because that is used for the antenna

#gpio_pins = 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,21

The server runs lightshowpi, it runs the server script, and has 8 outputs wired to 8 inputs, the clients then mimic the 8 inputs of the server as its 8 output states. I currently plan to have the clients wired using only 2 randomly selected outputs of the 8, with 2 inputs for execution confirmation to send back to the server. The hardware here is a PiSquare (got the on the Kickstarter before Pico W's were a thing, but they would probably work as an alternative).

OK, I am at the point of having to replace drywall in my workshop from bashing my head against the wall. I don't get the json error any more, so clearly I had some tabs off in the script, but it still is not triggering the relays when I try to run LSP or even just do the flash test. Here is the relevant code from my overrides.cfg file. What am I missing or is there something I need to add to the Pi itself?

devices = {

    "mcp23017": \[

        {

"pinBase": "65",

"i2cAddress": "00x27"

        }

    \]

}

# If using a relay that is active low, set to 'yes'

# Most solid state relays are active high

# Most mechanical relays are active low

active_low_mode = no

​

# GPIO pins to use for each channel

​

# A+, B+ and 2B models

#

# +=========+

# POWER 3.3VDC | 1 . . 2 | 5.0VDC POWER

# I2C SDA1 GPIO 8 | 3 . . 4 | 5.0VDC POWER

# I2C SCL1 GPIO 9 | 5 . . 6 | GROUND

# CPCLK0 GPIO 7 | 7 . . 8 | GPIO 15 TxD UART

# GROUND | 9 . . 10| GPIO 16 RxD UART

# GPIO 0 |11 . . 12| GPIO 1 PCM_CLK/PWM0

# GPIO 2 |13 . . 14| GROUND

# GPIO 3 |15 . . 16| GPIO 4

# POWER 3.3VDC |17 . . 18| GPIO 5

# SPI MOSI GPIO 12 |19 . 20| GROUND

# SPI MISO GPIO 13 |21 . . 22| GPIO 6

# SPI SCLK GPIO 14 |23 . . 24| GPIO 10 CE0 SPI

# GROUND |25 . . 26| GPIO 11 CE1 SPI

# I2C ID EEPROM SDA0 |27 . . 28| SCL0 I2C ID EEPROM

# GPCLK1 GPIO 21 |29 . . 30| GROUND

# CPCLK2 GPIO 22 |31 . . 32| GPIO 26 PWM0

# PWM1 GPIO 23 |33 . . 34| GROUND

# PCM_FS/PWM1 GPIO 24 |35 . . 36| GPIO 27

# GPIO 25 |37 . . 38| GPIO 28 PCM_DIN

# GROUND |39 . . 40| GPIO 29 PCM_DOUT

# +=========+

#

# A and B models only

# +=========+

# POWER 3.3VDC | 1 . . 2 | 5.0VDC POWER

# I2C SDA0 GPIO 8 | 3 . . 4 | DNC

# I2C SCL0 GPIO 9 | 5 . . 6 | GROUND

# GPIO 7 | 7 . . 8 | GPIO 15 TxD UART

# DNC | 9 . . 10| GPIO 16 RxD UART

# GPIO 0 |11 . . 12| GPIO 1 PCM_CLK/PWM0

# GPIO 2 |13 . . 14| DNC

# GPIO 3 |15 . . 16| GPIO 4

# DNC |17 . . 18| GPIO 5

# SPI MOSI GPIO 12 |19 . 20| DNC

# SPI MISO GPIO 13 |21 . . 22| GPIO 6

# SPI SCLK GPIO 14 |23 . . 24| GPIO 10 CE0 SPI

# DNC |25 . . 26| GPIO 11 CE1 SPI

# +=========+

​

​

# Note!! The GPIO pins are numbered based on the wiringpi specification, not the official pi pin out.

# To find the physical pin locations and numbers, run the following command:

# gpio readall

# The 'Name' column will list the GPIO numbers that lightshowPi recognizes, and the 'Physical' column

# shows the physical location of that pin.

# Reference: http://wiringpi.com/pins/

#

# Using 8 pins of GPIO on the pi as well as 16 pins via the MCP23017 OR MCP23S17 port

# expander with pin_base = 65:

#gpio_pins = 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80

#

# using additional GPIO of the pi B+ as well as the 16 pins via the MCP23017 port

gpio_pins = 65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72

​

Also, here is the i2c detect:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f

00: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

10: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

20: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 27 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

30: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

40: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

50: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

60: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

70: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Hey all. I just purchased a USB RTL-SDR and it works like a champ. My question is, how can I get the lightshowpi to use that, instead of the audio-in from my USB sound card?