Add Chromium flags to cut overhead on Pi: disable extensions, crash
reporter, background timer throttling, renderer backgrounding, and cap
V8 heap at 128MB. Mask (not just disable) stripped system services to
prevent socket/dbus reactivation, and add xdg-permission-store to the
disable list. Remove chromium and upower from strip_packages since the
kiosk needs them — they were being uninstalled then immediately
reinstalled on every run.
reporter, background timer throttling, renderer backgrounding, and cap
V8 heap at 128MB. Also mask (not just disable) stripped system services
to prevent socket/dbus reactivation, and add xdg-permission-store to
the disable list.
Replace Chromium with cog (WPE WebKit) for the kiosk browser. Cog is
purpose-built for embedded kiosk displays with a fraction of Chromium's
CPU and memory footprint on Pi hardware.
Add React Query `select` to SpoolBuddyLayout and SpoolBuddyDashboard
printer status queries so only `connected` is extracted. Temperature,
fan, and progress changes no longer trigger re-renders on every MQTT
tick.
Expand service/package stripping to disable pipewire audio stack, CUPS
printing, rpcbind, upower, polkit, accounts-daemon, xdg-desktop-portal,
and mpris-proxy. Add user-level service masking for pipewire/portals.
Update SSH update cache clearing to handle both WPE WebKit and legacy
Chromium cache paths.
Override Debian's default Chromium flags via /etc/chromium.d/spoolbuddy-kiosk
to disable GPU rasterization, enable low-end device mode, and disable smooth
scrolling/background networking. The system default --enable-gpu-rasterization
conflicted with per-launch flags — the new config replaces all system defaults
so kiosk flags take effect cleanly.
Expand service/package stripping to disable pipewire audio stack, CUPS
printing, rpcbind, upower, polkit, accounts-daemon, xdg-desktop-portal,
and mpris-proxy. Add user-level service masking for pipewire/portals
that system-level disable misses.
Add Chromium performance flags (disable-gpu-rasterization,
enable-low-end-device-mode, disable-smooth-scrolling,
disable-background-networking, disable-dev-shm-usage) to reduce
CPU load from ~54% to manageable levels on Pi 4B.
Expand service/package stripping to disable pipewire audio stack,
CUPS printing, rpcbind, upower, polkit, accounts-daemon,
xdg-desktop-portal, and mpris-proxy. Add user-level service
masking for pipewire/portals that system-level disable misses.
New splash shows only the SpoolBuddy logo with green glow bloom,
radial gradient, light rays, and vignette. Removed Bambuddy branding.
Includes generator script for easy customization.
Defers initramfs rebuild during install until after Plymouth theme
is configured, avoiding redundant rebuilds from apt hooks.
New splash shows only the SpoolBuddy logo with green glow bloom,
radial gradient, light rays, and vignette. Removed Bambuddy branding.
Includes generator script for easy customization.
Defers initramfs rebuild during install until after Plymouth theme
is configured, avoiding redundant rebuilds from apt hooks.
Reverts the fim/fbi experiment — Plymouth is the only splash tool
that reliably handles Pi KMS/DRM from early boot. install.sh is
restored to the original Plymouth setup. The new polished splash
image and generator script are kept.
Plymouth ran as a persistent daemon throughout boot, consuming memory
and competing for framebuffer allocation. fim renders via DRM (Pi KMS
doesn't expose a usable legacy framebuffer), displays the image, and
exits — zero ongoing resource cost.
New splash image shows only the SpoolBuddy logo with baked-in glow,
radial gradient, light rays, and vignette effects (66KB vs 205KB).
Install script auto-purges Plymouth on existing installs in a single
pass to avoid redundant initramfs rebuilds.
Plymouth ran as a persistent daemon throughout boot, consuming memory
and competing for framebuffer allocation. fbi writes pixels directly
to the framebuffer and exits — zero ongoing resource cost.
New splash image shows only the SpoolBuddy logo with baked-in glow,
radial gradient, light rays, and vignette effects (66KB vs 205KB).
Install script auto-purges Plymouth on existing installs in a single
pass to avoid redundant initramfs rebuilds.
Plymouth ran as a persistent daemon throughout boot, consuming memory
and competing for framebuffer allocation. fbi writes pixels directly
to the framebuffer and exits — zero ongoing resource cost.
New splash image shows only the SpoolBuddy logo with baked-in glow,
radial gradient, light rays, and vignette effects (66KB vs 205KB).
Install script auto-removes Plymouth on existing installs.
The read_tag.py diagnostic script had stale PN5180 NTAG methods: TX CRC
was off (should be on), no Crypto1 clear, no IDLE→TRANSCEIVE state
reset. Multi-batch reads failed because the PN5180 enters an
unrecoverable state after an NTAG READ — requires a full GPIO hardware
reset between 4-page batches. Also rejected SAK 0x04 as unsupported,
and failed hard when reading past the end of smaller tags (MIFARE
Ultralight has 16 pages vs NTAG's 44+). Synced write methods with
daemon.
The read_tag.py diagnostic script had stale PN5180 NTAG methods: TX CRC
was off (should be on), no Crypto1 clear, no IDLE→TRANSCEIVE state
reset. Multi-batch reads failed because the PN5180 enters an
unrecoverable state after an NTAG READ — requires a full GPIO hardware
reset between 4-page batches. Also rejected SAK 0x04 as unsupported.
Synced write methods with daemon.
The read_tag.py diagnostic script had stale PN5180 NTAG methods: TX CRC
was off (should be on), no Crypto1 clear, no IDLE→TRANSCEIVE state
reset, and multi-batch reads failed because the PN5180 can't issue
consecutive NTAG READs without a full RF power cycle. Added extended-
timing reactivation (50ms gaps vs 10ms) between 4-page batches. Also
rejected SAK 0x04 as unsupported. Synced write methods with daemon.
The read_tag.py diagnostic script had stale PN5180 NTAG methods: TX CRC
was off (should be on), no Crypto1 clear, no IDLE→TRANSCEIVE state
reset, and multi-batch reads failed because subsequent READ commands
need a full state machine reset between batches. Also rejected SAK 0x04
as unsupported. Synced register setup and write methods with daemon.
The read_tag.py diagnostic script had stale PN5180 NTAG methods: TX CRC
was off (should be on), no Crypto1 clear, no IDLE→TRANSCEIVE state
reset, and the PN5180 drops the card after each READ batch requiring
reactivation between 4-page reads. Also rejected SAK 0x04 as
unsupported. Synced register setup with daemon and added per-batch
card reactivation.
The read_tag.py diagnostic script had stale PN5180 NTAG methods that
were never synced with the daemon's fixes: TX CRC was off (should be
on), no Crypto1 clear, no IDLE→TRANSCEIVE state reset, and unreliable
ACK/verification logic. Also rejected SAK 0x04 as unsupported. Synced
ntag_read_pages, ntag_write_page, and ntag_write_pages with daemon.
The read_tag.py diagnostic script only accepted SAK 0x00 for NTAG,
showing "Unsupported tag type" for chips reporting SAK 0x04 (MIFARE
Ultralight family). The daemon already handled both values — the
diagnostic was missed. Now accepts both 0x00 and 0x04.
The daemon now collects CPU temp, core count, load average, memory/disk
usage, OS info, and system uptime every heartbeat using stdlib-only reads
from /proc and /sys. Stats are sent as a JSON blob in the heartbeat
payload, stored in a new system_stats TEXT column, and displayed in a
new "System" tab in SpoolBuddy Settings with color-coded usage bars.
The PN5180 cannot read more than 4 NTAG pages after a batch write:
the second READ command (page 8+) returns rx_status=0 regardless of
state machine reset strategy. The write itself succeeds (tag ACKs
via SOF on every page). Remove verification and trust the writes.
Repeated IDLE→TRANSCEIVE resets inside the read loop broke the card
session after the first READ (page 8 returned rx_status=0). Match
the activate_type_a pattern: IDLE→TRANSCEIVE once before the loop,
set_transceive_mode() for subsequent iterations.
The verification read after writing failed because ntag_read_pages()
used set_transceive_mode() which was a no-op when already in
TRANSCEIVE. Apply the same IDLE→TRANSCEIVE reset pattern used in the
write path, clear Crypto1, and add diagnostic logging.
IRQ logging revealed the tag IS responding (RX_SOF_DET set) but the
PN5180 cannot capture the 4-bit ACK as a complete frame — RX_IRQ
never fires and RX_STATUS stays zero. Skip per-page ACK checking
and rely on the read-back verification in ntag_write_pages().
The PN5180 transceive state machine wasn't being reset between the
SELECT (from reactivate_card) and the WRITE command — just re-setting
the TRANSCEIVE bits was a no-op. Use IDLE→TRANSCEIVE transition like
activate_type_a does. Also clear Crypto1 bit and add IRQ status
logging.
Temporary diagnostics to identify which step of the NTAG write
fails: per-page ACK status, reactivation, read-back, or data
mismatch. Enable DEBUG level for pn5180 module.
The NTAG WRITE ACK is 4 bits (0x0A), not a full byte. The PN5180
RX_STATUS register reports 0 complete bytes with 4 extra bits, but
the check only looked at the byte count — returning False on every
successful write. Check both byte and bit fields of RX_STATUS.
Also bump post-write delay from 5ms to 10ms for margin.
Three issues:
1. SAK gate too strict — NTAG chips can report SAK 0x04 (MIFARE
Ultralight family) instead of 0x00. Accept both in nfc_reader.py
and main.py.
2. TX CRC disabled for NTAG WRITE — the NTAG spec requires CRC on
the WRITE command frame. Enable TX CRC in ntag_write_page().
3. TX CRC disabled for NTAG READ — the post-write verification read
also failed because ntag_read_pages() sent the READ command
without CRC. Enable TX CRC there too.
Two issues:
1. SAK gate too strict — NTAG chips can report SAK 0x04 (MIFARE
Ultralight family) instead of 0x00. Accept both in nfc_reader.py
and main.py.
2. TX CRC disabled during WRITE — the NTAG WRITE command (0xA2)
requires a CRC on the frame. The PN5180 was sending without CRC,
causing the tag to NAK every write. Enable TX CRC for writes
(RX CRC stays off for the 4-bit ACK).
NTAG 213/215/216 chips can report SAK 0x04 (MIFARE Ultralight family)
instead of 0x00 during anticollision. Accept both values for NTAG
detection and write operations in nfc_reader.py and main.py.
The NAU7802 ADC returns a stale max-scale value (0x7FFFFF) on its
first conversion after power-up, polluting the moving average and
making the initial weight report wildly inaccurate. Flush the first
reading during init().
Also extract both hardware drivers out of diagnostic scripts into
proper daemon modules:
- NAU7802 scale driver: scripts/scale_diag.py -> daemon/nau7802.py
- PN5180 NFC driver: scripts/read_tag.py -> daemon/pn5180.py
The production daemon was importing driver classes from test scripts
since the original SpoolBuddy commit. Diagnostic scripts now import
from the driver modules. Removed the sys.path hack from main.py.
Install script now runs apt-get upgrade -y after installing system
packages. A WiFi safeguard (APT hook + helper script) is installed
first, backing up NetworkManager connections before dpkg and restoring
them if wiped — prevents headless Pis from losing WiFi during upgrades.
Runs apt-get upgrade -y after installing system packages and the WiFi
safeguard hook. Ensures the Pi is fully up to date before deploying
SpoolBuddy, and the WiFi safeguard protects NM connections during
the upgrade.
APT hook backs up NetworkManager WiFi connections before dpkg runs
and restores them if they get wiped. Prevents headless SpoolBuddy
Pis from losing WiFi after apt upgrade (observed with Bookworm
kernel/raspi-config updates clearing system-connections/).
After updates, the kiosk browser showed stale frontend assets from
Chromium's disk cache even after restarting. Added --disk-cache-size=0
to the launch flags — the kiosk loads a single page from the local
network so caching provides no benefit.
The getty@tty1 autologin had no network dependency, so the labwc/Chromium
kiosk chain started before connectivity was up — showing a connection
error for 10-15 seconds. Added After=network-online.target to the
autologin override so the browser has network when it launches.
The daemon's self-update mechanism (git fetch/reset on its own code) was
fragile: .git permission errors, self-modifying code mid-run, hardcoded
main branch. Bambuddy now SSHes into the SpoolBuddy Pi and drives the
update remotely — matching its own branch, with step-by-step progress
via WebSocket. After updating the daemon, the kiosk browser is also
restarted so it loads the updated frontend.
SSH key pairing is automatic: Bambuddy generates an ED25519 keypair and
returns the public key in the registration response. The daemon deploys
it to authorized_keys on first connect — no manual setup needed.
Changes:
- New: backend/app/services/spoolbuddy_ssh.py
- Rewritten: trigger_daemon_update endpoint (SSH instead of pending_command)
- New: GET /spoolbuddy/ssh/public-key endpoint
- Auto SSH key deployment via registration response + daemon
- Removed: daemon _perform_update() and cmd=="update" handler
- Install script: bash shell, sudoers for daemon + kiosk restart, .ssh/ setup
- Dockerfile: added openssh-client
- Frontend: SSH key display, force update button
- Fixed: update check compares APP_VERSION, not GitHub releases
- Fixed: kiosk browser restart after update
The daemon's self-update mechanism (git fetch/reset on its own code) was
fragile: .git permission errors, self-modifying code mid-run, hardcoded
main branch. Bambuddy now SSHes into the SpoolBuddy Pi and drives the
update remotely — matching its own branch, with step-by-step progress
via WebSocket.
SSH key pairing is automatic: Bambuddy generates an ED25519 keypair and
returns the public key in the registration response. The daemon deploys
it to authorized_keys on first connect — no manual setup needed.
- New: backend/app/services/spoolbuddy_ssh.py (keypair, SSH commands, update orchestration)
- Rewritten: trigger_daemon_update endpoint uses SSH instead of pending_command
- New: GET /spoolbuddy/ssh/public-key endpoint for manual pairing
- Removed: daemon _perform_update() and cmd=="update" heartbeat handler
- Updated: install.sh — bash shell, sudoers for systemctl restart, .ssh/ setup
- Updated: Dockerfile — added openssh-client
- Updated: frontend — SSH key display, force update button
- Fixed: update check now compares against APP_VERSION, not GitHub releases
The daemon's self-update mechanism (git fetch/reset on its own code) was
fragile: .git permission errors, self-modifying code mid-run, hardcoded
main branch. Bambuddy now SSHes into the SpoolBuddy Pi and drives the
update remotely — matching its own branch, with step-by-step progress
via WebSocket. Install script updated with SSH access, sudoers entry,
and --ssh-pubkey flag for pairing.
The daemon had a hardcoded __version__ = "0.2.2b1" that was never
bumped, causing the update check to always show an update available.
Changed to read APP_VERSION from backend/app/core/config.py at import
time so the daemon version stays in sync automatically.
maziggy