Release Notes

2020.07.09

  • Fixed the method to do a network scan

2020.07.06

  • Updated Certificate
  • Fixed Homekit bug
  • Updated Homebridge-config-ui-x to 4.23.2

2020.06.24

  • Updated Linux Libraries
  • Fixed Homebridge Bug with FFmpeg manual upgrade

2020.06.19

  • Updated Linux Libraries
  • Updated PHP Libraries
  • Updated Homebridge to 1.1.1 and Homebridge-ui-x to 4.23.0
  • Fixed bug with SSL and Account Linking

2020.04.10

  • Added Debug Mode to show more detailed wifi info in the logs
  • Added Ethernet Static IP / reset to DHCP
  • Added Clear Logs in Logs
  • Fixed Wifi reset bug when setting up wifi
  • Updated all timestamp to include seconds

 2020.03.10

  • Fix Status from HDMI CEC + Add Ping IP Status check
  • Update Alexa Skill Links
  • Updated Broadlink Class
  • Updated Homebridge-config-ui-x 4.12.0
  • Updated Homebridge to 0.52.0
  • Refactored Wifi
  •  Update CEC Class
  • Update Timestamp to add seconds

2020.02.26

  • Fixed Client Crashing
  • Update Homebridge
  • Security Updates
  • Bug Fixes to localsite

2020.02.23

  • Fixed CEC Bug with Alexa calls
  • Fixed bug with Eddy Client on reboots
  • Added Alexa Skill link in local web server

2020.02.20 

  • Fixed Wifi Bug on Reboot
  • Bug Fixes
  • Updated homebridge-config-ui-x to 4.10.1

2020.02.07 – Beta

This is the initial release of Eddy Bridge with Homekit integration. Eddy Bridge is embedded Linux bespoke for home entertainment devices and includes basic functionality and features for using Homebridge.  The goal for this and all future releases is for “non techies” to get into home automation with the best performance and ease of use as possible. To accomplish this goal, this raspberypi image has limitations and or trade offs from a traditional raspberry pi operating system. Here is how the image is broken down.

  • Eddy Bridge 
    • Allows you to connect to Adhoc wifi “Eddy Bridge”
      • Password is: eddyeddy
      • Allows you to setup your wifi via the local website
    • Link Account with Eddy Voice Remote
    • Restart / Reload Services 
    • View Logs
    • Upgrade firmware
    • Restart Wifi / Adhoc
    • Restart Homebridge / Reset Homebridge / View Homebridge logs
  • Homebridge
    • homebridge-config-ui – UI for Homebridge located at http://eddy.local:8080 and http://10.0.0.1:8080 via ‘Eddy Bridge’ wifi Adhoc
    • homebridge-eddy – bespoke plugin for homebridge that is designed for Eddy Voice Remote companion website.
  • System Applications
    • cec-client
    • wol
    • mosquitto
    • adb – Android client
    • NPM
    • Nodjs
    • FFMpeg*

Pros and Cons of this image

  • Pros
    • FREE to use homebridge only
    • Wifi Setup process, so it works with Pi Zero W
    • Optimized for home entertainment devices 
      • Connects with Eddy Voice Remote 
        • Allows for Local Network Scanning of devices
        • Manage Controllers and Actions (Macros) via UI
      • CEC-client is running as a service so it’s ready to send commands quickly
    • Setup within 5-10 minutes
    • Web actions to easily restart and analyze Homebridge and Eddy Bridge Services
    • Best performance possible due to limited functionality. 
      • Bootup time is ~15 seconds.
  • Cons
    • Can’t install normal .deb packages easily
    • Security updates are not automatically installed, at the present time

Yocto Linux

Eddy Bridge uses Yocto Linux as the underlying operating system. This is an embedded Linux operating system. This translates to super light but limited operating system. Only the minimum functionality and applications are installed. Currently, the active branch for all Poky and the layers is: Warrior. Here is the hardware that will work with the image:

  • Wifi / Ethernet
  • USB
  • UART
  • HDMI port

Sudoer + SSH

Yes, you can ssh into the system but there is not much you can do because it’s not your typical operating system. Here is the user / pass:

User: homebridge
Pass: M%3v65Yp

NOTE: this images was intended for techies and for you not to have to login to it. 

Required microSD Storage

You need at least 3 GB for system level storage and the rest of storage will be allocated to the /data location. So 4 GB should be big enough. 

Hardware Support

Eddy Bridges supports Raspberry Pi 4 / 3 / and zero w. 

Download 

You can download the images here:

  1. Raspberry Pi 4
  2. Raspberry Pi 3 
  3. Raspberry Pi Zero W

Firmware updates can be downloaded here.

Updates

Mender.io software is used to create eddy bridge. All firmware updates will be created with a signed artifact. Using mender means the partitions of the sd card are as follows:

1. Boot
2. Root File System A
3. Root File System B
4. Persistent Data (located at /data)

During a firmware update, while using Root File System A, the firmware will try to install on Root File System B and on reboot switch to the Root File System B. If the upgrade didn’t work then you will NOT switch to the new partition.  Two things to note when doing a firmware upgrade:

  1. Node Modules will automatically be copied over to the new partition
  2. Wifi will automatically be reconfigured to auto reconnect

Sometimes homebridge will fail or have issues, so there is a homebridge help page to help you look at your logs and your homebridge configurations. This help page is located on the local website.

Naming convention

All firmware updates will contain the hardware type, so eddy_bridge_pi0w is for Raspberry PI Zero W.  The firmware version will be  at the bottom of each page on the local website (http://eddy.local) such as  2020.02.07 which is the date of February 7, 2020.

Nodejs and NPM out of date?

No, the NodeJS version Eddy Bridge uses is 10.18.1 LTS (Long Term Support) and is NOT out of date, but also is not using the latest LTS version; this will be addressed in a future update in Fall 2020, when switching to a newer development branch. 

Installing .Deb Packages

There is a package manager called dpkg but you will have trouble installing most any debian package because the underlying os does not have many dependencies installed.

NOTE: After a firmware update you will need to re-install the .deb package. So for now, store your .deb files in /data/eddy because this location is persistent after a firmware update.

Syncing from Eddy Voice Remote Companion website?

If you subscribe to Eddy Voice Remote then you can scan for devices locally and sync your configurations from the website to your local config.
The homebridge will automatically restart after the sync. If you don’t subscribe then there is no syncing or scanning of devices.

Notes

*This software uses libraries from the FFmpeg project under the LGPLv2.1 . The binary and source can be downloaded here

The FFmpeg binary included in this image does NOT include OMX and does NOT include AAC decoder for audio. Here is an example bash script that helps you with this.