Non-starting Node-RED on my RPI

General
1

I havent got the "Manage Palette" option, just recently went from 1.x to 3.

Read something about that it had to do with old npm so I followed some commands...
Now I am stuck with at non starting Node-RED installation on my Pi.

This is from my log

pi@RaspGreen:~ $ node-red-start

Start Node-RED

Once Node-RED has started, point a browser at http://10.16.0.31:1880
On Pi Node-RED works better with the Firefox or Chrome browser

Use   node-red-stop                          to stop Node-RED
Use   node-red-start                         to start Node-RED again
Use   node-red-log                           to view the recent log output
Use   sudo systemctl enable nodered.service  to autostart Node-RED at every boot
Use   sudo systemctl disable nodered.service to disable autostart on boot

To find more nodes and example flows - go to http://flows.nodered.org

Starting as a systemd service.
Started Node-RED graphical event wiring tool.
node-pre-gyp info This Node instance does not support builds for Node-API version 3
/usr/lib/node_modules/node-red/node_modules/fs-extra/lib/empty/index.js:13
  } catch {
nodered.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
nodered.service: Unit entered failed state.
nodered.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
nodered.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.

Where could I go from here?

2

Hi @cybix and welcome to community, What was way you updated 1.x to 3? Try with this command from Node-RED official page:

bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered)

This script will:

  • remove the existing version of Node-RED if present.
  • if it detects Node.js is already installed, it will ensure it is at least v14. If less than v14 it will stop and let the user decide whether to stay with Node-RED version 1 - or upgrade Nodejs to a more recent LTS version. If nothing is found it will install the Node.js 16 LTS release using the NodeSource package.
  • install the latest version of Node-RED using npm.
  • optionally install a collection of useful Pi-specific nodes.
  • setup Node-RED to run as a service and provide a set of commands to work with the service.
3

This suggests NPM is not installed.

What do you get if you run npm -v and node -v

did you use the official script?

Additionally, did you include the CLI option to upgrade Node.js to v16 or greater?

bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered) --node16

1 Like
4

Thanks for the welcome!
Have to admit that I cant remember how I did the upgrade, it was a month ago and everything seemed fine, just recently noticed the palette missing.

I now have runned the script and it ended with a "you are on node v8, if you still want to run that, downgrade your node-red to 1 or 2". So probably didnt do the upgrade complete/correct.

5

Here are my versions:

pi@RaspGreen:~ $ npm -v
1.4.21
(node:17862) [DEP0022] DeprecationWarning: os.tmpDir() is deprecated. Use os.tmpdir() instead.
pi@RaspGreen:~ $ node -v
v8.11.1

So I have npm, it seems, I think I have installed it while trying to fix things yesterday, but the node seems outdated.

I have started the script again, now with the addition of --node16, its currently running.

Thanks to both of you with so swift and helpful comments!

6

Hmm, seems that I have another problem as well. The script ran fine until installation of npm (I think) then I got this error:

sudo: /usr/bin/sudo måste ägas av uid 0 och ha setuid-biten inställd

I think you understand although its in swedish. I checked the ownership and it is indeed pi who owns it (and all other files in /usr/bin but that might be right?).

While reading up on it I read that this might be a solution:
chown root:root /usr/bin/sudo && chmod 4755 /usr/bin/sudo
It also said I were to log in as root instead of pi and now it seems I dont know my root password....

This is turning into a mess. Maybe I should just reinstall the raspberry from start?
If so, can I just keep my flows-file and put it in place in a fresh install?

This raspberry are only for measuring wheather, I do have another "main" node-red installation done with docker. But does'nt it seems to be overkill to run docker on the raspberry?

7

Almost certainly there is no need for that. You have a very old version of nodejs. To tell the install script to install a recommended version use the command
bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered) --node16

First it is a good idea to run
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade
to make sure all the system packages are up to date.

If the node red script doesn't work then post the install log here (/var/log/nodered-install.log)

You should have your flows file and other data backed up in case of disaster. You should back the complete ~/.node-red folder, except for the node_modules folder, which can be easily recreated if necessary.

8

I am kinda stuck, but its not a nodered problem anymore.
I can't use 'sudo'

Have tried to switch to root but its probably not active (or I have forgotten passwd), but all demands sudo to work. Read about someone who took the sd-card out, mounted it on another computer and chown:ed /usr/bin and got it to work that way. I might reinstall after all.

9

Why not?

What happens when you run the script to install node red?

10

Half way through the script (I have node 16.20.1 now, this installed before the error) I get the error with:

"sudo: /usr/bin/sudo must be owned by uid 0 and have the setuid-bit set"

The rest of the script fails with that error (like 20 times).

If I just run 'sudo' now, I get this error. If I look at the rights for /usr/bin its owned by 'pi', but I cant change that because I cant run sudo.

11

So your system is messed up. Maybe it would be best to reinstall the os. Don't forget to backup the .node-red folder.

How did you manage to update nodejs without using sudo?

1 Like
12

I ran the script just as you wrote, without sudo. Seemed to work fine in the first half, and node did install fine. But, as I said in the middle of the script the error kept coming.

You put it well, the os is messed up, I will reinstall OS, and I close this thread. Thanks for the help!

1 Like
13

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