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raspberry pi

Furniture

Migrating to a Raspberry Pi 4 on MagicMirror²

I have run the awesome MagicMirror² software on a Pi Zero W in the past. While this works ok the small Pi is not powerful enough for more complex widgets. Here is how the Pi 4 compares and how I set it up to run my magic mirror. Setting up Read more…

By Oliver, 2 months28.07.2023 ago
Basics

Is the Raspberry Pi 4 powerful enough for Home Assistant and your smart home server?

The Raspberry Pis are very popular mini computers with a (usually) cheap price and small form factor and power consumption used for many tasks. Is the Pi 4 good enough as a smart home server for Home Assistant? I have been using it for more than a year now and Read more…

By Oliver, 4 months27.05.2023 ago
3d printing

How to add a camera to Octoprint & Home Assistant – for a smarter printer with awesome timelapses

Octoprint is a powerful software to make your 3D printer even better. To reach its full potential you have to add a camera – for awesome timelapses and even better integration with your smart home. Here is how to add a camera to Octoprint (using a Prusa Mini). Setting up Read more…

By Oliver, 9 months ago
Basics

How to SSH into your smart home server the secure way

A server like the small Raspberry Pi usually sits in a remote location and has screen or input devices connected to it. To be able to control it remotely SSH is the de-facto standard on Linux. Here is how to set it up to control your smart home server from Read more…

By Oliver, 10 months26.11.2022 ago
Automation

Its magic! Controlling a Magic Mirror with a motion sensor from Home Assistant to save energy

A magic mirror is a stunning piece of furniture and tech but running it constantly draws a lot of power. I am switching mine on and off based on a motion sensor using Home Assistant. Here is how to do that. The Magic Mirror I have described how I built Read more…

By Oliver, 11 months07.11.2022 ago
Furniture

Building a wooden MagicMirror – this is what hardware you need

A MagicMirror is a mirror with a screen behind it “magically” showing information on the mirror. Here is how I built an elegant and powerful MagicMirror with an oak frame. The screen The “Magic” mirror works by using a semi transparent mirror with a screen behind it. If the screen Read more…

By Oliver, 12 months01.10.2022 ago
Software

Building a smart mirror – MagicMirror² on a Raspberry Pi Zero W

I am currently building a smart mirror and want to use a small Raspberry Pi Zero W for that. Unfortunately MagicMirror² does not support it out of the box. Here is how I got it to run anyways. The magic mirror For those who do not know what a magic Read more…

By Oliver, 1 year02.09.2022 ago
Software

Fixing Docker stats and Cadvisor CPU usage (on a Raspberry Pi)

Prometheus works great for collecting server stats on a Raspberry Pi but was missing some information on a Raspberry Pi in docker stats and the cadvisor used more CPU than the containers it was monitoring. Here is how fixed those issues. Cleaning up & fixing the downloaded dashboards When I Read more…

By Oliver, 1 year01.08.2022 ago
Software

Monitoring your smart home server with prometheus on a Raspberry Pi – use the power of professional tools

To analyze errors or just to watch what is happening: your smart home gets so much better with some proper monitoring. Prometheus + Grafana is one of THE solutions for monitoring pretty much anything. Getting it to run on a Raspberry Pi does not need much time but still can Read more…

By Oliver, 1 year25.07.2022 ago
HomeAssistant

How to use Zigbee2MQTT with Home Assistant – A quick start guide

Open source software like Zigbee2MQTT and Home Assistant are a great alternative to (more or less) closed systems like Philips Hue. It can be tricky to get started though. Here is a quick start guide allowing you to use all the advantages like full offline control and the possibility to Read more…

By Oliver, 1 year19.07.2022 ago

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About this blog

This is my personal slice of the Internet, a place to show my projects and share ideas about all things smarthome, IoT and design

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