I had a requirement years ago to setup some monitoring screens for an Ops team. The screens needed to display data from various sources and the solution needed to be both easy and trouble free.
I first tried to use Google ChromeCast running on a TV but the ChromeCast would always drop off and so wasn’t reliable. I opted to replace the ChromeCast with a Raspberry Pi. In order to make the solution as easy as possible I created a first boot script which would allow the Raspberry Pi to be configured with a URL which will auto load on boot. After the first boot this configured URL would automatically load and go full screen. If ever there was an issue just power cycle the Raspberry Pi and it would returned to the configured URL.
Instructions
Unfortunately this solution was done years ago so the image/OS is out of date and the process to prep the SD card is a bit long winded (using Clonezilla). If/when I get some time I will refresh this solution to use an updated OS and change the Clonezilla process in favour of a single img file that can be written to an SD card.
- If you don’t already have one create a Clonezilla live USB. Easiest way is to download tuxboot and run to install the latest Clonezilla onto a USB stick.
- Download the RasPiMon zip file below
- Create a “RasPiMon” folder on a 2nd USB stick or external hard drive
- Extract the zip file to the “RasPiMon” folder
- Boot from the Clonezilla live USB
- Use Clonezilla to restore the image to an SD card. The SD card needs to be 8GB or larger. If you are not familiar with Clonezilla you can download a pdf file below showing screenshots of each page.
- Put the SD card in a Raspberry Pi, connect the Pi to a network with DHCP and connect to a TV/monitor then boot the Pi
- Follow the instructions on the screen
Be First to Comment