GIMX Web API Android app setup

[LoneWolf81]

I know this is not officially supported but I just wanted to post about how I got it to work and some other things I added as I use my setup every day.

The base of this guide will come from instructions you can get from https://github.com/Lucashsmello/GIMX-WebAPI

Start off by having a clean install on your Raspberry Pi

Make sure everything is updated by opening a terminal and typing the following

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sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

After running these commands reboot and open a terminal window then run

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git clone https://github.com/Lucashsmello/GIMX-WebAPI.git

Go into the directory

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cd GIMX-WebAPI

Now run the following I found I had to run sudo with every command

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sudo apt install python3 python3-pip
sudo python3 -m pip install -U pip setuptools
sudo pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Since I was getting some errors on running the install.sh script this is where I deviated from the instructions on the Github page.

I opened a new terminal window or you can just go into the pi user directory and create a new directory and run the following

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mkdir install
wget https://github.com/Lucashsmello/GIMX-WebAPI/releases/download/0.7/installer.tar.gz
tar -xzf installer.tar.gz 

Change to build directory then run the following

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cd build
sudo dpkg -i gimx_7.12+-1_armhf_original.deb
sudo apt install –f

You can now run the install script, change back to the GIMX-WebAPI directory and run

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sudo ./install.sh --install-dir /home/pi/install --dont-install-gimx

Now if you open the app on your phone you will have a option to choose a config file and start GIMX, if you click on the options button and select download config you can choose the ones you want to download. If it fails with a com.android.volley.servererror just follow the steps below.

You are going to create a directory for the config files and change the root password

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sudo passwd root

Create your new password and run the following and make sure you are in /root

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su -l
mkdir .gimx
cd gimx
mkdir config

After this you should be able to download your files. If this is all you want to do you are done as I said I did some more things to make my life easier, so all the next steps are optional.

Share config directory over lan

If you want to have the option to exit your config files from another computer on your network you can install Samba and set it up to share your config directory.

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sudo apt-get install samba
sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

Then add your share under the shared folders section I forced root but you can go and create a new user and group, my system is blocked off from any internet access after setup was done.

[GiMX-Config]
path = /root/.gimx/config
browsable = yes
guest ok = yes
read only = no
force user = root

Safe and exit then restart Samba

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sudo service smbd restart

You can now browse and open your config files for editing on any pc on your network using the gui version of GIMX-config.

Onboard Uart

If you are planning on using the onboard uart as per instructions on the Wiki page you might find that the program will fail as its not detecting the port.

On the Raspberry Pi 3B+ the uart is ttyS0 so you have to create a symbolic link and set it to run on every boot.

To make the link and run the following to confirm

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sudo ln -s /dev/ttyS0 /dev/ttyUSB0
ls -lh /dev/ttyUSB0

It should return something like this lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Feb 11 12:11 /dev/ttyUSB0 -> /dev/ttyS0

Now press start and check if everything works, if it does make it run at boot by adding it to /etc/rc.local before the exit 0 line and saving the file.

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sudo nano /etc/rc.local

Shutdown and Startup Buttons

I decided to add two buttons as I am running a PoE Hat and dont want to leave my Pi on all the time nor do I want to constantly unplug the lan cable to start it.

I started by editing the /boot/config.txt file and added

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dtoverlay=gpio-shutdown,gpio_pin=17,active_low=1,gpio_pull=up

just under the enable_uart=1 line

You can use any of the unused GPIO pins just make sure you change the number to the correct one. For reference you can use google to check GPIO header but GPIO 17 is Pin 11 on the 3B+

To start it from standby I used the RUN pin that's next to the PoE header.

Wiring wise all you need to do is add two momentary buttons from ground to the selected pins.

Trouble Shooting

After performing a update you are unable to connect to the Pi from your app

This is normally cause by another app using port 80 (normally apache web server) the solution is to edit the following file and changing the port number back to 51916

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sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gimx-web.service

You will see 80 as port number just delete it and replace it with 51916 and save the file and restart the service.

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sudo service gimx-web restart 

Things to remember

The following is taken from the Wiki I just wanted to add them here to make it easier for people.

1. When using the onboard uart don't forget the voltage divider https://gimx.fr/wiki/index.php?title=RP ... _interface
2. Remember to add init_uart_clock=8000000 to /boot/config.txt (this is only when using the onboard uart)
3. If your mouse stutters edit /boot/cmdline.txt and set your polling rate usbhid.mousepoll=1 , the value can be 0-10 you can experiment to find one best suited to your setup. Remember to save file and reboot
4. Kill the Triggerhappy service

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sudo update-rc.d triggerhappy disable

The Finished Product.



That's it from me I hope this helps someone.


I just want to thank everyone involved in this project you guys are the best