Orange Pi PC -- a $15 alternative to RPi 2? So far, so good

Wow! It’s working now! Thanks!

I just figured out what file to change - there is a post somewhere in the vast PiAware script thread where** the real hero **mentions removing the division by 1000 for the Orange Pi PC.

Edit: found the post: post186187.html#p186187. On Page 2!!

Thank you “LudgerBoergerding”

Smooth like Silk!
Installation of adsbreceiver setup script on
Orange Pi PC / ARMBIAN Debian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie) 3.4.110-sun8i

CLICK HERE: http ://discussions.flightaware.com/post190312.html#p190312

Armbian may change MAC address, leading to assignment of a different Local IP address by router, and a different Site Number by Flightaware.
How to restore MAC address if ARMBIAN changes it (thanks to ieand):

CLICK HERE: http ://discussions.flightaware.com/post190319.html#p190319

With ARMBIAN, Orange Pi PC is running cool :smiley:

**Upon SSH login, the terminal shows the CPU temperature & usage.
Console after Reboot. **

/ _ \ _ __ __ _ _ __ __ _ ___ | _ () | _ \ / |
| | | | '
/ | '_ \ / _ |/ _ \ | |) | | | |
) | |
| |
| | | | (| | | | | (| | / | /| | | /| |
_
/|| _,|| ||_, |_
| || || || _|
|
__/

Welcome to ARMBIAN Debian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie) 3.4.110-sun8i

System load: 0.30 Up time: 1 min
Memory usage: 9 % of 1001Mb IP: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
CPU temp: 40°C
Usage of /: 34% of 7.3G

Last login: Fri Mar 18 12:11:29 2016 from xxxxxxxxxxx
pi@orangepipc:~$

.

I am trying to make a 3G usb modem work in my opi pc to put receiver in a place without internet connection.
I have tried both the loboris and the armbian images but I cannot get the modeswitch to work
when i plug the same modem at my desktop pc (running fedora) the modeswitch works fine and I am able to connect to the internet using 3G
does anyone have some experience on this to help me ?

What model modem is it? Those images are fairly minimalist where drivers are concerned.

There is some good stuff on the debian wiki, otherwise maybe a post with all the info you have to the Armbian forum would have some success.

I have made a post yesterday to the armbian forum as well and i am hoping for an answer
the modem is K3806-z

I brushed the dust off of my oPi and installed the latest Armbian release (5.10) and after a bit of a fight with the wifi (I think the dongle was bad), I’ve been running quite successfully for almost 5 days. Loads and heat seem decent and is easily handles jprochazka’s setup script with remote mySQL feeds.

It seems the Armbian releases are much better suited than the original Lorbis. If you experimented early with the oPi and had issues, give this release a try, alternatively, you can just give me your oPi!! :slight_smile:



 / _ \ _ __ __ _ _ __   __ _  ___  |  _ \(_) |  _ \ / ___|
| | | | '__/ _` | '_ \ / _` |/ _ \ | |_) | | | |_) | |
| |_| | | | (_| | | | | (_| |  __/ |  __/| | |  __/| |___
 \___/|_|  \__,_|_| |_|\__, |\___| |_|   |_| |_|    \____|
                       |___/

Welcome to ARMBIAN Debian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie) 3.4.112-sun8i

System load:   0.37             Up time:       4 days
Memory usage:  8 % of 1000Mb    IP:            127.0.0.1
CPU temp:      37°C
Usage of /:    10% of 15G

Last login: Fri May 20 20:27:46 2016 from 192.168.1.146
pi@orangepipc:~$ uptime
 07:04:47 up 4 days, 22:44,  1 user,  load average: 0.34, 0.41, 0.43




I have to agree 100% – Armbian is working great on my oPi PC. Really stable, not too hot, and reasonable updates!

Just now finished following


 sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -f upgrade
sudo reboot

Now Armbian on Orange Pi PC upgraded from 3.4.110 to 3.4.112


/ _ \ _ __ __ _ _ __ __ _ ___ | _ () | _ \ / |
| | | | '
/ | '_ \ / _ |/ _ \ | |) | | | |
) | |
| |
| | | | (| | | | | (| | / | /| | | /| |
_
/|| _,|| ||_, |_
| || || || _|
|
__/

Welcome to ARMBIAN Debian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie) 3.4.112-sun8i

System load: 0.05 Up time: 11 min
Memory usage: 9 % of 1000Mb IP: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
CPU temp: 40°C
Usage of /: 37% of 7.3G

Last login: Sun May 22 01:18:26 2016 from yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy
pi@orangepipc:~$

I also upgraded my oPi PC from 3.4.110 to 3.4.112
After restarting (to activate the new kernel) dump1090-mutability would not start
On the logs I found out that rtl-sdr was already in use and then I found out that kernel module dvb_usb_rtl2832u was active.
after a quick


modprobe -r dvb_usb_rtl2832u

dump1090-mutability started successfully
(I never had to do this in any oPi PC image I had tested until now)

Then for a more permanent solution I added this module to blacklist
/etc/modprobe.d/rtl-sdr-blacklist.conf


blacklist dvb_usb_rtl2832u

(There was already a blacklist for dvb_usb_rtl28xxu in this file)

by the way when i login i still see

4 updates to install: apt-get upgrade ]

If I do run update and then upgrade there are no packages to install
any ideas?

After upgrade, Armbian on my OPi PC does not show any pending update or upgrade.
Dump1090 situation worst here.
“sudo /etc/init.d/dump1090-mutability status” shows dump1090-mut is running.



~$ sudo /etc/init.d/dump1090-mutability status
● dump1090-mutability.service - LSB: dump1090 daemon (mutability variant)
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/dump1090-mutability)
   Active: active (exited) since Sun 2016-05-22 07:37:00 EDT; 10min ago
  Process: 385 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/dump1090-mutability start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)

May 22 07:37:00 orangepipc systemd[1]: Started...May 22 07:43:03 orangepipc systemd[1]: Started...Hint: Some lines were ellipsized, use -l to show in full.


But piaware shows dump1090-mutability is not working



~$ cat /tmp/piaware.out
05/22/2016 11:44:04 no ADS-B data program is serving on port 30005, not starting multilateration client yet
05/22/2016 11:44:14 no ADS-B data program seen listening on port 30005 for 71 seconds, next check in 60s


Gave following command and checked again, no success.



~$ sudo modprobe -r dvb_usb_rtl2832u


Rebooted, no success. :frowning:

Run configration of dump1090-mut and accepted all settings (which were ok) by keep on pressing Enter.



~$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure dump1090-mutability


Then again checked piaware log, found everything is ok :smiley:



:~$ cat /tmp/piaware.out   
....
....
....
05/22/2016 12:02:06 mlat(2045): Listening for Extended Basestation-format results connection on port 30106
05/22/2016 12:02:06 mlat(2045): Input connected to localhost:30005
05/22/2016 12:02:07 mlat(2045): Beast-format results connection with localhost:30104: connection established
05/22/2016 12:02:33 35 msgs recv'd from dump1090-mutab (35 in last 5m); 35 msgs sent to FlightAware


REBOOTED… THE PROBLEM REAPPEARED :frowning: :cry:

Try recompiling the driver per this thread:

ads-b-flight-tracking-f21/dump1090-not-displaying-data-t19996.html

Thanks for the advise, but it came a bit late. I have already formatted the mivroSD card, and downloaded & burned new image (ARMBIAN Debian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie) 3.4.112-sun8i). Will now run JP’s automated script to install dump1090-mut, data feefers & web portal.

You may still need to recompile the driver. Honestly, this is probably the best approach to use vs. the blacklist.


sudo modprobe -r dvb_usb_rtl2832u

works without restart!
If you restart after this then the result of this command is lost!

Please do this


sudo lsmod | grep rtl

if you see some result then the kernel module is loaded and it should be removed

To persist the changes after reboot edit this file


/etc/modprobe.d/rtl-sdr-blacklist.conf 

and add a blacklist line with the kernel module you saw with the lsmod command

The problem is that even blacklisting it doesn’t always work after a reboot. From the Armbian Forum Administrator

Afternoon all,

For c£15, thought I’d have a play with the Orange Pi Pc 1.2; ordered on Alibaba few weeks back - arrived today!

Reading through this thread ahead of purchase, pretty sure I can get PiAware set up to act as a second fA reciever, happy to have a play anyway…

From those of you who’ve done it - is it actually worth the hassle?

I’ve read that they run very hot, the chip’s a b*tch and can be a Pain in the ass…

As I say though, happy to have a play for the few ££…

Will mutability run on it - ultimately, once set up - is it comparable to the RPi 2 for our adsb use?

Ultimately - those of you who’ve done it - would you recommend it / do it again?

I haven’t attempted PiAware, but dump1090-mutability definitely runs on it.
I use the most recent Armbian version as the OS and then use the install scripts from Mr. Prochazka. Fast and simple. Heat has not been an issue for me, and my most recent install is outside on the roof.

On an earlier install I have two dongles running with two different antennas, and two instances of mutability 1.14 on one OPi PC.

The big attraction was low price, good performance, more memory (if I recall correctly), and extra USB ports. Obviously, others may have different experiences.

Still have the rPi and it’s running fine on another antenna

Thanks Yxespotter,

Got the oPi set up and running Armbian Jessie from the link above… upgraded to Armbian 3.4.112-Sun8i , so far so good.
Must say, pleasantly surprised so far!

Couple of things I did note:

  1. Running of the HDMI, screen boundary was so far off, I could never actually see the command prompt. Seemed to boot OK, but assume the command prompt was off the bottom of the screen… SSH’d in, and all good.

  2. Tried to upgrade the kernal, started ok, then dropped out to command line, saying “Error - unsupported HW”. Slightly odd (its a Orange Pi PC 1.2), but not too fussed.

Just about to start Jo’s adsbreceiver scripts… so far, so good! :slight_smile:

I run all of my devices ‘headless’ so didn’t notice hdmi errors. Having tried a few of the other distros, the recent Armbian Jessie one definitely took the least amount of fiddling to get it to actually work.

Good luck

@cy80rg
Yes, using HDMI & TV screen, the command prompt is outside the screen, and entering user name & password on first boot is real headache. I had to resort to SSH.