How to not have to manually refresh a dashboard ui on startup

I just deleted it and redone the file. It worked this time

Good. Well done. Lets move to the next step then. We want to modify the autostart file. First go to the directory where it is intalled and check who is the owner.

cd /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/

ls -l

pi@raspberrypi:~ cd /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/ pi@raspberrypi:~/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi ls -l
total 8
-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 205 Jun 30 16:47 autostart
-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 1161 Oct 11 2018 desktop.conf

I have this.
Also for some annoying reason node read has capped my reply limit so might be a while between replies

EDIT://////////////////
Thanks @afelix

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You can edit existing posts by tapping the little pencil below it, so you can add that way. As a moderator, I can however increase your reply limit that way, and to assist the rest of this topic that's what I will be doing. The pencil icon in general is a good way to edit/add to your existing posts :slight_smile:
Edit: It should now be possible to also properly edit your posts if that's needed.

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So the owner of the file is pi in which case you will not use sudo when invoking the text editor.

You want to change the autostart file to be like the one below. Only one change when compared with the existing file. The second-last line triggers the bash file you created before (I hope the path is correct).

@lxpanel --profile LXDE-pi
@pcmanfm --desktop --profile LXDE-pi
#@screensaver -no-splash
@xset s off
@xset -dpms
@xset s noblank
@/home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/start-chromium.sh
@point-rpi

Right, I have completed that

Good, reboot it and check the results... fingers crossed

I changed the directory as its just in my /home/pi bit.

However its still asking me to reload. Should I extend the time on the sleep?

I understand that your Raspberry is booting and loading the browser, right ? It is just that the original issue persists (browser tries to load the dashboard before Node-RED is ready).

If this is the case yes, first attempt is to extend the time.

I start suspecting that you may have some issue as it is not normal that Node-RED takes too much time for booting. Perhaps a SD card issue ? Perhaps too many nodes loading in Node-RED ? Maybe some bad install ?

I changed the script to sleep for 30 seconds and I didnt have to reload it. Im just running it again to double check.

Edit:
I rebooted a few times now, and every time it asks me to reload. The time from when I first see the desktop screen it takes about 1 minute 15 seconds to reach the reload screen. then at 1 minute 51 seconds the page reloads itself and it is working.

I am wondering now if the browser would have done that on its own had the delay script no been in place. But node red is still taking a while to load

Edit 2: I just realised I had the ethernet cable in, which for some reason was causing the page to reload itself, However my project requires there not to be an internet connection since this will be strapped to a machine

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I think i worked out the problem, or at least one contributing factor. My raspberry Pi doesnt have any heat syncs or fans on it. I think the constant rebooting heated up the CPU quite a bit. I just unplugged it all and put it in front of my air con and the dashboard loaded up without a reload nor an ethenet attached.

Good to know the autostart delay is working.

You mentioned heating and rebooting. How good is the power supply that drives the 5 inch tft screen ? Is the tft screen powered by the same power supply used by the Raspberry pi ? It is worth watch closely the operating temperature of your raspberry.

I should probably tell you more about the project.

So I am a physics student on a 2 month internship with a small company working as a solo research and development team. The company makes washer disinfectors which clean toiletry utensils for places like hospitals and care homes. They gave a a very broad design brief to incorporate more technology into their machines which are mainly controller by fixed circuit-boards and relays and stuff (I don't really know circuitry well). So I was told they were looking into using a raspberry pi to control their whole washing cycle so I have been learning linux, node-red, javascript to help me use it ( I previously only knew python).

So where I am at now is I have built the bare bones of the system which basically turns individual LEDs on to represent the switches to turn on pumps and steam generators needed throughout the cycle. I though I could get rid of most of the physical buttons and temperature gauges they used for a touchscreen as that is way easier in node red dashboard.

So actually moving onto your question I am not sure what I'll need yet in terms of powering the touch screen as the panel I have now you need to slot in the pins of the pi to the back of the screen in order to be able to use the touch functionality. This isn't ideal for me as the temperature probe I have needs to use some of the pins which the Screen is now taking up. So now that I know I can start the dashboard can start up on the screen without too much of a hitch. I can now look for screens which done need to use the pins to be touch compatible. I think in either way the screen will be powered by the pi, but there is another power port on the screen i have. Is it a good Idea to plug in two power sources?

Sorry for the long story
Zoomer

I will not be online now for 17 hours

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Nice use case. Certainly the Raspberry Pi + Node-RED is a perfect match for the project. As forTFT screens I canĀ“t really provide too much advice as I have not used them in any of my past projects (but will for an exciting project that is in the pipeline). I can see that some TFT HAT boards may indeed prevent the installation of a fan. Also they may block the GPIO pins. I would prefer to work with something that overcome those two issues. Right now I am testing a power HAT in a Raspberry 4. It allows me to power the raspberry with 12 Volts and have a decent fan (although somehow noisy). You can see in the picture that the HAT extend the pins so I could keep using them for other purposes.

The temperature in the board is always in good shape.

pi4-b

You have to check the specs of the board. As usual hope for the best but prepare for the worst. I would only do some kind of test if I had a spare Raspberry PI for a quick replacement. The board I shown in the previous post has a protection diode that allow me to power the HAT and the Raspberry Pi with different power sources at the same. But that does not make sense for my use case as the main purpose is to provide the board decent power and decent ventilation.

Well thank you so so much for your help! I booted up the pi this morning and it went straight to the dashboard without having to reload. I think the problem is coming down to thermals as I do not have a heat sync nor fan on it (its 43 degrees C). I shall be moving on now to creating the dashboard interface to start the machine on which cycle and decide what information it shall display. I also have to find another display which allows me to use the pins.

Again thanks for the help,
Zoomer

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