Content → Rocview → Camera Streaming

• Headless Setup
• Rocrail graphical install

Download the Raspberry Pi Imager:

• Raspberry Pi Imager

Insert a SD-Card.
Start the "Raspberry Pi Imager" program.

Select:

1. CHOOSE OS
2. Pi OS Other
3. Pi OS Lite (32bit)

See also Advanced Options for setting up SSH and WiFi.

Insert the SD-Card again, after creating of the Image on the SD-Card has finished.
The SD-Card should be visible in the File-Explorer as boot.

To make the Zero able to connect to the WiFi, it must get some settings to get this done.
The easiest way is to create a text file locally named as wpa_supplicant.conf with the following content:

country=DE
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1
network={
       ssid="<my SSID1>"
       psk="<my PASSWORD>"
       key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
       priority=2
}
network={
       ssid="<my SSID2>"
       psk="<my PASSWORD>"
       key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
       priority=1
}

Replace the "<my*>" values with the access information of the Access Point.

• Note: Multiple network definitions may be added. The highest priority will be connected first if available.
  

Copy an empty file named SSH, and wpa_supplicant.conf to boot. (Under Windows mostly drive D:)

to the boot partition of the SD-Card:

1. Unmount/Eject the SD-Card.
2. Insert the SD-Card into the slot on the Raspberry Pi.
3. Power on the Raspberry Pi.
4. Wait a few minutes to give Raspbian time to resize the file system. (With a connected monitor, on the Mini-HDMI, the progress can be watched.)

ssh pi@raspberrypi

The standard password is raspberry

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

ssh pi@raspberrypi
sudo raspi-config

Unzip the cam.py.zip, and copy it to the Raspberry Pi:

scp cam.py pi@raspberrypi:/home/pi

ssh pi@raspberrypi
sudo apt install python3-picamera

ssh pi@raspberrypi
nano startcam.sh

Create the script "/home/pi/startcam.sh" with the following content:

#!/bin/sh
cd /home/pi
python3 cam.py

Make the script executable:

chmod +x startcam.sh

Add the line "@reboot /home/pi/startcam.sh" to the crontab:

ssh pi@raspberrypi
crontab -e

no crontab for pi - using an empty one

Select an editor.  To change later, run 'select-editor'.
  1. /bin/nano        <---- easiest
  2. /usr/bin/vim.tiny
  3. /bin/ed

Choose 1-3 [1]: 

Close the nano editor with ctrl+x After edit to save the changes.

Check if the changes are saved:

crontab -l
# Edit this file to introduce tasks to be run by cron.
# 
# Each task to run has to be defined through a single line
# indicating with different fields when the task will be run
# and what command to run for the task
# 
# To define the time you can provide concrete values for
# minute (m), hour (h), day of month (dom), month (mon),
# and day of week (dow) or use '*' in these fields (for 'any').
# 
# Notice that tasks will be started based on the cron's system
# daemon's notion of time and timezones.
# 
# Output of the crontab jobs (including errors) is sent through
# email to the user the crontab file belongs to (unless redirected).
# 
# For example, you can run a backup of all your user accounts
# at 5 a.m every week with:
# 0 5 * * 1 tar -zcf /var/backups/home.tgz /home/
# 
# For more information see the manual pages of crontab(5) and cron(8)
# 
# m h  dom mon dow   command
@reboot /home/pi/startcam.sh

Reboot the Raspberry Pi:

sudo reboot

Check the services which are not needed for the headless setup:

systemd-analyze blame

Google "raspberry zero systemd-analyze blame" to find tips, because this is a bit out of scope to include it in the Wiki.

Running a headless Zero, there's no need to power the display circuitry.
Add the following line in /etc/rc.local to disable HDMI on boot.

/usr/bin/tvservice -o

(-p to re-enable).
Approximately 25mA reduction.

To be able to use pin 27 and 28 as normal I/O, add an extra line in the /boot/config.txt:

force_eeprom_read=0

• https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/config-txt/boot.md

WinSCP and FileZilla can be used for transferring files to and from the Raspberry Pi.
For more information see:

• https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/remote-access/ssh/sftp.md

• The terminal/console commands ssh and scp are available under Linux, Windows10 and Apple macOS.
• If "raspberrypi" cannot be resolved, "Could not resolve hostname raspberrypi", check the router and use the IP address instead:
  

Under specific network conditions, the following system option (sudo raspi-conf) must be activated, if the WIOpi or CAM does not start at boot:

• 1 System Options
  • S6 Network at Boot ¹⁾

In case of a connected display, none headless, without user interaction.

Edit the lightdm configuration:

$ sudo nano /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

find this section, and add the extra options:

[Seat:*]
xserver-command=X -s 0 -dpms