G+_Hyrum Smith Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Calling all RasPi Kita's! Help! Has anyone found a Linux flavor that has "trouble-free", functional, stable, wireless & Bluetooth support for RasPi 3B (not B+)? STOP LAUGHING! (jk) Why do I feel like I just asked for a Unicorn? No GUI, nothing fancy, a Debian code base is preferred but will consider other options. Primary applications are Mosquito, MD380 Tools, and as a remote log server (low volume) to NAS. I would prefer to use wired Ethernet but that is not currently an option. I have been running Ubuntu Mate 16.04.4 LTS on a RasPi for over a year because I was told that Raspian Bluetooth support was lacking (I had tested it and agreed). Has Raspian improved? Ubuntu Mate has never been great but it would talk to an AP and a Bluetooth keyboard when I needed local access, for the most part. The Pi never stayed connected to the AP for more than 4 hours without dropping. I've played with power setting and just about everything else to make it stable, without success. (Broadcom!) Sometimes it would require a reboot to reconnect, and sometimes just a local login. The keyboard typically stops working for 20 - 30 seconds if any "think time" is longer than 5 seconds. I hope there is something better out there! (I can dream!) Has anyone already solved this problem short of pitching the RasPi and using just about anything else? Thank you for reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Hershberger Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 I haven't tried running bluetooth with any of my RasPis. I've not had any issues with Raspbian with the many 3B+ I just deployed. (I know, I know, but I haven't worked with a 3B). Side note: Setting them for command line only auto-login and a little script using fbi to display a slideshow took me a bit to figure out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Paul Hutchinson Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Raspbian Stretch Lite works fine for me on 3B, 0 & 0W including WiFi & Bluetooth but so did Jessie & Wheezy so perhaps you have a specific issue with BT that most people don't have. Can you be more specific than "Bluetooth support was lacking (I had tested it and agreed)"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Hyrum Smith Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 Paul Hutchinson Did you use a Bluetooth keyboard with Jessie & Wheezy Lite in CLI mode? Neither would recognize my keyboard without the GUI (in CLI mode). Both of those builds had the WiFi power sleep issue as well. The RasPi needs to remain connected to WiFi and not just wakeup when it needs to send something. There are several examples of Cron scripts to keep WiFi awake and force it up when it's not. Even that approach will have dead spots. Thanks for responding! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Paul Hutchinson Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Hyrum Smith Yes that's the main thing I've done with BT, connect a Logitech BT keyboard. I no longer use a BT keyboard but I believe it just worked using these instructions. https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-setup-bluetooth-on-a-raspberry-pi-3/ I've also had no problem with WiFi sleeping causing a problem either, whenever I SSH or SFTP connect it just works with a basic default configuration. The units that periodically send data via WiFi never seem to have any problem either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Hyrum Smith Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 Paul Hutchinson I am just now bringing up a Stretch 3-18 build. I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_K Branch jr Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Travis Hershberger Hi Travis , I have some old RasPi , can u give me a link or steps on setting a up a slideshow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Hershberger Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Kenneth Branch jr It's actually straightforward, but not what I'd call easy. You got me to write on my blog about the project: travisdh1.net - Raspberry Pi based "automatic" slideshows. | TDH Musings (It's not done yet, give me a little bit here.) The short version is 2 steps. 1: Configure the RPi to boot into command line only mode. I used the automatic login as well. 2: Install 'fbi' and when running it, give it the directory with the slideshow pictures in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Hyrum Smith Posted April 17, 2018 Author Share Posted April 17, 2018 Paul Hutchinson Update! I've been putting the Raspian Stretch 3-18 + current packages & kernel through it's paces on wireless & Bluetooth. It looks like the issues with the wireless Ethernet have been resolved. I was able to access it every time and had no issues with the interface not working or disconnecting. Bluetooth is behaving much worse than it did on Mate. It could be the cheap BT keyboard but it works fine with my phone & other devices. Very disappointing. Right now, wireless is more important. I can always plug in a keyboard. Thanks to those who responded with suggestions - much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_K Branch jr Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 Travis Hershberger Thanks .. I will take a look , sorry for the late reply, my A8 come in a couple weeks ago and, I'm researching extra parts for the build. Also cobra Kai the karate kid spinoff premiered May 2 on YouTube red binge watching. Can slowdown a build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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