Does anyone have an image of the old Screenly OSE? Can’t find it anywhere now. Have they wiped the entire internet of the old version?
Nothing is wiped. The code base is open source and disk images are available on GitHub. If you prefer a particular version, nothing stops you from either installing it manually or using an old disk image. We’re obviously not going to issue fixes for old versions but you are free to use release from the last 10 years.
As I was saying before, Im an idiot who does not know any coding and just finding where to download on Github is a challenge. Where could this older versions of Screenly OSE be? Or is there a bug right now that makes Anthias behave like this?
I have to agree with the people who have a very bad experience with Anthias, contraire to how smooth things were with Screenly OSE. My experience has been abysmal as well.
Before I’ve used some workarounds to keep the “old” screenly working on Rev 1.5 Pi4 boards, but those do not work anymore with the latest firmware versions of RPI4. So the old image throws a kernel panic, and when I use the old kernel, the network chipset does not work anymore. And while I’m perfectly capable to compile a working kernel, it is far outside of any comfort zone.
The Anthias experience for me so far:
-
The installation sitting upon the raspios-lite image:
The only one which “works the most but not really”. At least I can get on it with SSH and also can access the web interface. However, putting some PNG and jpg files on it, it just flickers around, shows parts of the pictures and if the stars are aligned right, every now and then it displays an image as it should look like. Tried a lot of things but this overkill in container usage (why is this even a thing for a simple application?) and sometimes erratic behaviour, such as containers starting up, but then not on the next reboot or just go flip-flopping without any logs on the host system etc. is just tedious beyond any reasonable level. TL;DR: Install on raspi-lite image does not work. -
Raspberry Pi Imager version:
Takes forever to start up, first time was about 15 minutes. Got access to web interface. Then, same issues as with the “clean” install above: Assets uploaded don’t work correctly. Sometimes the sytem boots, sometimes it doesn’t. It is not reachable via SSH to even have a look at whats happening and Ctrl+Alt Shell-hopping is also disabled. TL;DR: Doesn’t work. -
The 2023-03-06-raspberrypi4-64 image from Github:
Gets stuck at the initial splash screen. No SSH available, no shell switching possible, might as well debug a brick. TL;DR: Doesn’t work.
I tried everything I could find on these forums and a metric ton of other things and still failed to get it to work normally even for once. Of course I tried several SD cards and multiple RPi4s. I did follow all the instructions on how to do things either on github or any other source that would provide information.
As it looks right now, @rebootit might be on to something …
If anyone has any other hints on what I could try, it would surely be appreciated 
My last resort is to buy a stock of old RPI3s or downgrade new RPI4s to an older firmware so I can continue to use the rock-solid and reliable Screenly OSE that I’ve been using for years.
Hi, @Panzerknacker! Thanks for articulating your thoughts. I agree with what you just said. Apologies for the most recent major/critical issues.
The 2nd and the 3rd versions (the imager and the GitHub image versions) are based on balenaOS images. With that SSH and shell-switching are virtually impossible (as an end-user). However, if you manage your own Balena fleets/devices, SSH is possible. If you’d like to have more control over Anthias, the RPi OS Lite version is probably the best choice.
I agree that there’s an issue with the installation of the RPi OS Lite version (the first bullet). Yes, you can do a workaround like rebooting the device and then running ./bin/upgrade_containers.sh, but it doesn’t have to be that way for too long. Additional steps are such a hassle indeed.
What I can do next is to fix the installation script/s, so that users don’t have to do extra steps anymore, just like Screenly OSE before.
I look forward to collaborating and communicating with you. Stay tuned for more updates. I’d like to hear back from you. Thanks!
Question, are you doing exactly what I mentioned on here: I simply can't get Anthias to work! - #4 by ealmonte32
Because someone else says they use Pi Imager and think that the image that pulls is the same one every time without understanding that the image gets updated to most likely use the latest that Raspbian releases, therefore that is why i specifically link the exact image URL because it is the same one I use when I test it.
I like troubleshooting things by doing the exact same things that the user is doing so can we start with, specific Pi model you are using? then, I can do the normal installation steps I do, and if it works for me without doing any crazy workarounds, then I will post the exact steps for you.
…
update
did the same steps i keep posting for people… specific raspian OS lite image compiled 9-22-2022 (NOT latest), located here: Index of /raspios_lite_arm64/images/raspios_lite_arm64-2022-09-26
everything worked until the creating containers/images part, but i spoke to nico and he will test implementing the correct useradd command to add the user to the docker group because it seems it is not properly giving permission to the user when running the containers creation task… basically, i just made sure $USER was part of the docker group after installation completed with errors, then restarted and ran the ./screenly/bin/upgrade_containers.sh file and it worked. (this was on pi3b, if pi4 is getting a different specific error i need you guys to post it since i left my pi4 somewhere else while doing this test…)
Im sorry, I saw now that under “Sprint” the old Screenly was located.
Thanks, gonna try those older ones.
/Yours truly, the Idiot.
@nicomiguelino @ealmonte32
Thank you for your kind replies. I will try again with the static image you linked as I’m not sure if I used the latest or not. I might as well have overlooked that detail, so I’ll double check tomorrow morning. I’ll also see if updating the “old” screenly on a not-so-recent RPI4 Rev1.5 where it boots to latest RPI4 firmware might produce a working image. I’ll let you know of the outcome.
I also got a weird report late friday where a local technician on-site said that the Anthias RPI4s started to work normally after being online for 2 days… I’ll also look into that, but I can’t imagine yet what would take two days for the system to correct itself without user intervention
Kind regards
I experienced a few quirks getting Anthias to work on Raspberry Pi OS as well. Seems like the install script is very forgiving and shows “installation completed” at the end while any error encountered is neglected.
At the end I was able to make it work. FWIW, here are the steps I took:
- Hardware: Raspberry Pi 3B+
- Image: Raspberry Pi OS BullsEye 64 bit Lite, installed using official RPi imager v1.7.4 with SSH enabled (user ‘pi’ in my case).
- Note: do not use the 32-bit image; at least I didn’t get it to work as I got
AttributeError: module 'lib' has no attribute 'X509_V_FLAG_CB_ISSUER_CHECK'when the script was trying to installcryptography-38.0.2(I tried 3x including a reboot in between). - Once the Pi is up with the 64 bit Raspberry Pi OS:
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt upgrade
- Verify all updates are installed without errors
- Run the installation script:
$ bash <(curl -sL https://install-anthias.srly.io)(manage network: yes; reboot: yes) - The script will fail (although it will state “installation completed”) at several items, e.g.
Errors were encountered while processing:", " docker-ce:armhf". Reboot and re-run the installation script again. - Wait for about 1 hour and 30 minutes (on RPi 3B+) to complete. Carefully observe the logs for failures/errors.
- Reboot; the Anthias logo should show up and you should be able to navigate to http://ipaddress/ to add assets.
(I wanted to add the full install log (either through attachment or as text) but the forum doesn’t allow me to.)
I did exactly these few steps on my Pi 4b version 1.5 and it worked like a charm at the first attempt.
Thanks @ealmonte32
@nicomiguelino @ealmonte32
Thank you for your patience. I have now made sure to use the correct image (2022-09-22). The only mostly-working installation method via bash/curl is still producing the same issue: It installs fine (as it did before), the web interface is reachable, file upload works and so on - but the display mostly flickers white or shows partial images, also it appears to take a long time to switch between pictures.
I did not find time to grab a working RPI4 with an older Rev. firmware and dist-upgrade the whole thing directly on the screenly sd card to see if that makes it compatible with the latest(?) RPI4 v1.5 firmware boards.
As it stands, the other methods already fail as they can’t pass the RPI boot rom, stating the board needs newer firmware to work than what is used on the images. And the manual installation method - see above. I also tried downgrading the firmware of the RPI but without success.
I’ll let you know if I find any cause and/or solution for this weird behaviour - and of course I’d be happy for any further pointers how to fix the issue
Kind regards
Hi! I made a longer answer post, but the bot ate it:
" Our automated spam filter, Akismet, has temporarily hidden your post in I simply can’t get Anthias to work! for review."
Kind regards
Hi, @Panzerknacker! Would it be possible to post your message in installments/parts (as a workaround)?
Alternatively, (even though it sounds crazy), you can try posting screenshots instead. One con is that the reply is not copy-pastable or findable.
Hi all,
I got it to work, at least in a “working on my machine” state. Please note that I can not give any guarantee that things will work for you, continue on your own risk
- Downgraded a RPI4 to an older firmware/eeprom that still boots the “classic” screenlty OSE. You might be able to skip this if you still have one that is not too new. Put in the card with Screenly OSE, if it boots up, you’re golden so far. If not, downgrade. It was working for me with this FW:
$ sudo rpi-update 4439d2aaa6c376a2d1ef4402f142e1cf4de37c43
- Once you have the old screenly OST booting up on the downgraded RPi4, you can upgrade both the RPi and the screenly image together by running
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get upgrade
-
After a reboot, it should boot normally. You can now try this SD Card in an RPI4 where screenly did not work prior - it should also boot up there.
-
Next issue, for some weird reason, after the upgrade screenly uses mplayer to play videos, which has (A) no hardware decoding and (B) no sound. You want omxplayer because that has both of those features working. There is a check in screenly for which player to use, but apparently it is not working correctly after the update, so I just disabled it by modifying the “viewer.py” file in the screenly base directory. At ~line 343, you will find the if-block to determine which player to use. You can modify it to just hardcode to use omxplayer by commenting out four lines. Attention! Its python, so watch that you keep the indenting …
# if arch in ('armv6l', 'armv7l'):
player_args = ['omxplayer', uri]
player_kwargs = {'o': settings['audio_output'], '_bg': True, '_ok_code': [0, 124, 143]}
# else:
# player_args = ['mplayer', uri, '-nosound']
# player_kwargs = {'_bg': True, '_ok_code': [0, 124]}
Save your changes and reboot. Everything should be working normally again now. In case something is awry, check your /var/log/syslog file for error messages .
Hope this helps!
I just posted a solution to the issue but the stupid bot keeps eating the post. Someone fix this, please.
Hello,
Our automated spam filter, Akismet, has temporarily hidden your post in I simply can’t get Anthias to work! for review.
Someone hit that stupid thing with a hammer. I’m not going to re-type the whole thing.
Hi, @Panzerknacker. Try posting the solution to Anthias’ Discussions page on GitHub — Screenly/Anthias · Discussions · GitHub and let’s see what happens next. It will be really cool to learn more about your solution.
P.S. You can also link the GitHub discussion (that you’re going to create) to this forum for context. And feel free to create a pull request if you’d like to.
Thanks!
And I forgot to mention before that we’ve modified the installer script so that users will be prompted to reboot the system (when Y is selected if prompted for a system upgrade and whenever the Kernel version changes).
We’ve also updated the installation instructions in the docs as well. At the time this post was written, the latest commit in master is c7421e6.
References
- PR Screenly/Anthias#1799 - Fix issues with running the RPi OS Lite installer
Hello @Panzerknacker. I’m trying to downgrade the EEPROM of my Pi 4 to 4439d2aaa6c376a2d1ef4402f142e1cf4de37c43, but keeps getting the following console output:
*** Raspberry Pi firmware updater by Hexxeh, enhanced by AndrewS and Dom
*** Performing self-update
*** Relaunching after update
*** Raspberry Pi firmware updater by Hexxeh, enhanced by AndrewS and Dom
FW_REV:
*** We're running for the first time
*** Backing up files (this will take a few minutes)
*** Remove old firmware backup
*** Backing up firmware
*** Remove old modules backup
*** Backing up modules 6.1.21-v8+
WANT_32BIT:0 WANT_64BIT:1 WANT_PI4:1
*** Downloading specific artifact revision (this will take a few minutes)
curl -L https://builds.raspberrypi.com/github/linux/4439d2aaa6c376a2d1ef4402f142e1cf4de37c43/bcmrpi | zcat | tar xf - -C //root/.rpi-firmware --strip-components=2
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:00:02 --:--:-- 0
gzip: stdin: unexpected end of file
tar: This does not look like a tar archive
tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- 0:00:02 --:--:-- 0
Invalid artifact specified. Response: 404.
Out of curiosity, I’d like to ask where you found the 4439d2aaa6c376a2d1ef4402f142e1cf4de37c43 hash.
Edit: I’m currently finding that specific hash in the Hexxeh/rpi-firmware: Firmware files for the Raspberry Pi (github.com) commits.
After about 10 tries and 2 days, I finally got this to work using the steps you listed. Jesus, I miss the old Screenly OSE. It just worked. every time.