“When I run the {above commands} from a prompt, everything is fine, but from a service file, anything more than 1 log file causes a restart limit and the service stops”
Should I not use DietPi and flash Ubuntu instead? If so, do you recommend the server or desktop version? I would like to have a browser for internet searches if it doesn’t slow or hang the system.
Thanks
MDAR
(Stuart Hanlon, UK importer of Velbus hardware)
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It really doesn’t matter which OS you use, as Chromium works on both.
(Although Ubuntu uses a SNAP version called Chromium-Browser)
The only thing to consider is that a stand alone Chromium browser doesn’t have a sandbox, so it’s more exposed to the OS than a more secure “sandboxed” version.
(My previous comment was aimed at Kim, regarding Frontail)
If you want best support, clean system and as less bad surprises as possible:
Odroid C4 still have some common low level issues common to all, which means even Armbian has them. Others can only have them more. Dietpi adds nothing to the hardware layer but add lots of branding (that doesn’t help users in any way) and unnecessary changes - nobody maintains - which are causing troubles in the user land … while in Armbian this stays clean and only slightly modified / fixed in relation to plain Debian or Ubuntu.
Then you should go with a good OS (not one-man-band Debian fork which is already quite buggy out of the box) and matured hardware. Having none is expecting impossible / walking on the edge … where occasional crash - that nobody will address - is a normal thing.
Absolutely it is an overkill and that solo is not the biggest problem. HW support is not matured → its not really deployment ready. Running a reliable service is much further from running Android / desktop apps.
Also those small and cheap devices are made for some specific purposes (except Rpi/Odroid C class - those are good for everything and nothing really good at the same time). If you want general purpose device to cover a lot of things, perhaps also run VMs, serve files … you need to look into much higher price range. Outside hobby general purpose program.
Considering that OpenHab can also run as low as on Raspbian, this should not be hard. But why would one want to use OS that rebrands other projects work and adds security holes on user land? Not to mention that Diet provides “perfectly working” horribly outdated BSP 4.9.y kernel? Yeah right.
@igorp does a lot of work on the Armbian project, thanks heaps as I am now running Armbian on an Odroid N2+ that is flawlessly running for a few weeks and openHAB 3.
What used to take 50% of my processor on a C2, now takes <10% load of the N2+
so, you paid for a 90% of cpu that you don’t use!
I’m jocking, I’m really curious about the N2+ but reading here on the forum and after a little bit of experience I think I will continue using a dedicated raspberry 3 for openhab and I will buy a N2+/RP4 for nextcloud, grafana, influx db and other stuff… I have a RP4/4gb and when I tried OH on that board I didn’t see difference.
If you have a big enough OH setup, then you will notice a difference. And specially when booting up the system, there is a huge difference…
I have both Rpi3B+ and Rpi4(4GB). My rpi3B+ is using an SSD, atm my Rpi4 is using SD card.
I can not recommed a Rpi3B+ anymore, if you plan on having a rather big OH setup.
I have proven that I REQUIRE the extra CPU in my N2+ because certain things I wanted to do failed to work in real time with a slower CPU. When you are talking about needing a real-time video stream processed within a certain time for a feature to work, it becomes a requirement. Just because you don’t hit 100% cpu load does not mean you don’t need a faster cpu. If a task has to happen in real-time there are cases where you need more cpu and simply waiting longer for a slower cpu to get the job done is not a solution that works, as it has to be delivered in real time.
As a real world example the 50% load I was speaking of is turning a MP4 stream into a MJPEG one for a single video camera. I had to compromise on video quality to even get it to run in real-time at that 50% load… Now I have more cpu power, I can use any qaulity and framerate I want (1080p and 20 frames a second) and I can actually do it in real-time at a 15% load ! I can now do multiple cameras should I wish and there are plenty of AI applications that I have on the todo list with the extra power.
Faster boot up times, faster responsive system and more applications are now actually possible to do that were not possible before. The C4 and N2+ is getting a lot of hardware acceleration support that may help some situations due to, openGL, panfrost / Bifrost support in newer Linux kernels so it is not just the bigger CPU but also the GPU can do number crunching.
You are right. If you use the board for multiple porpuse it is necessary maybe a NUC should be better at this point. Otherwise I don’t understand why the startup time is important. I never shutdown the board during the day.
If you have a huge smarthome system, and for reasons need to restart your system. You probably want it to get back online as fast as possible.
My old Rpi3B+ could take somehow 10-15 minutes to get everything back up running. In terms of a smarthome system, this is a pretty long time in my opinion.
Taken the price it would be to exchange the Rpi3B+ with an Rpi4 (or Odroid C4) its a low price (for me) to get things up running alot faster, (like 7-8 times faster). Ofcouse if you plan to exchange it to an NUC or N2, its a whole different situation due to the higher price for the NUC/N2. This is where multiple purpose comes in insted.
With OH3 and black Friday coming up starting to think replacing my rpi 3 with either rpi 4 or an odroid c4.
I do really like the support and openhabian with the rpi, but the c4 with emmc is also very attractive instead using sd cards.
Now I am running since a couple of years the rpi 3 with ssd after a couple of sd card failures. I do know ZRAM is now supported, but not sure how long this extends the lifetime of the card.
Anybody good advice?
Besides OH running a mqtt broker, influxdb and DSMR reader.
n2+ is higher priced then the C4, and don’t required the additional performance.
Mainly I do have 2 concerns:
missing openhabian to supporting me setting up the system
Not being mature / safe as Igor mentioned
Did saw Stuart is using the C4, and Kim was/is planning to.
Perhaps they or somebody else can take away the concerns, otherwise I’ll stick with the most mainstream option being rpi.
as I am now running Armbian on an Odroid N2+ that is flawlessly running for a few weeks and openHAB 3.
