setup_commands.txt

#################### LINUX SETUP COMMANDS ############################

# use Raspberry Pi Imager application to flash Raspberry Pi OS (32 bit)
# put newly flashed SD card into Raspberry Pi and turn on
# I did the install process with the touchscreen shield plugged in + a USB mouse + keyboard
# during setup, connect to wifi and allow the software update to proceed
# if the screen goes off during install, move the mouse (or it's rebooting)
# do all of the below cammands on the Raspberry Pi, in terminal

# see what OS is running - mine said "Raspian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)"
cat /etc/os-release command

# see what processor and model is running - my model was "Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Rev 1.2"
cat /proc/cpuinfo


# --------- get touchscreen working -----------------

# This process was very roundabout. The documentation on the Waveshare page (https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/4inch_HDMI_LCD_(H)) was incorrect when I visited it. The touchscreen worked immediately out of the box, however the touch part didn't work. I followed the steps below:

# clone the repo from Waveshare
git clone https://github.com/waveshare/LCD-show.git

# go into the newly created folder
cd LCD-show

# install the package relevant for your touchscreen model, mine was the 800x480 model
sudo ./LCD4-800x480-show

# the Pi should install then reboot, now in landscape mode

# open up the boot/config.txt file
sudo nano /boot/config.txt

# scoll down and make sure the below is present
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=1
hdmi_mode=87

# insert this special line under the above - I don't know what this does
hdmi_cvt=800 480 60 6 0 0 0

# change 'swapxy' to 1 in the below line to get the portrait mode working for the stylus
dtoverlay=ads7846,cs=1,penirq=25,penirq_pull=2,speed=50000,keep_vref_on=0,swapxy=1,pmax=255,xohms=150,xmin=200,xmax=3900,ymin=200,ymax=3900

# comment out the below
#display_rotate=3
#hdmi_drive=1
#hdmi_force_hotplug=1
#max_usb_current=1

# then exit and save

#reboot the system to apply new settings
sudo reboot

# the screen should be portrait mode again
# if you use the stylus you should see the touch screen responds to it now, but needs calibrating

# under the main Pi menu, under Preferences, click on Calibrate Touchscreen
# now touch the stylus on the four points, step by step
# the screen will then show instructions, something about copying the config below into /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf
# right click then copy the config to clipboard
# Ctrl+C to exit
sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf

# then paste in the copied calibration, exit and save
# the stylus showuld now work perfectly!


# --------- get internet working -----------------

# make sure your SIM card in the HAT actually has airtime and data before you plug it in
# I used these instructions as a guide: https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/Raspberry_Pi_networked_via_NDIS
# but my full list of commands is below:

# run the below command to list USB devices
watch -n 1 lsusb -t

# plug in your Waveshare 4G HAT via USB, make sure the GSM antenna is plugged in
# after 5 seconds you should see one of the ports suddenly get a whole bunch of other sub-ports
# the red light on the Waveshare 4G HAT should be on
# a second red light should start blinking after about 15 seconds - this means it has established a web connection
Ctrl+C to exit the viewing of USB ports

# install the Minicom diagnostic tool - your new friend
sudo apt-get install minicom

# open up Minicom
# NOTE: It is my assumption that your device will also be at /dev/ttyUSB2 - it may not be! 
# if it's not there, you must edit the config at the top of phone.py, and use a different address below.
sudo minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB2

# type in your first AT command:
AT
# you should see "OK"
# type in:
ATE
# you should see "OK", now everything you type will be echoed on the terminal so you can see it
AT+COPS?
# you should see your SIM card's mobile network name
AT+CSQ
# you should see "CSQ: x,y" where x is your current signal strength out of 30
AT+CNMP=38
# turns on LTE/4G as default web connection, not 2G
ATD+your mobile phone number in international format, followed by semicolon e.g. ATD+27734567890;
# should call your phone :)
AT+CHUP
# should hang up the call
# well done! now your phone module is working! Let's get the internet working
AT+CUSBPIDSWITCH=9001,1,1
# should reply "OK"

Ctrl+A, then X, then Yes to exit Minicom.

# download the driver file from Waveshare
wget https://www.waveshare.com/w/upload/0/00/SIM7600_NDIS.7z
# install the 7 zip archiving software
sudo apt-get install p7zip-full -y
# now unzip the downloaded file to a new folder
7z x SIM7600_NDIS.7z   -r -o./SIM7600_NDIS
# open up the new folder
cd SIM7600_NDIS
# look at the contents
ls
# there should be 8 files there

# install the kernel headers for Raspberry Pi
sudo apt install raspberrypi-kernel-headers

# compile the driver:
# get sudo priviledges
sudo su
# make and clean up the directory
make clean
# make
make
# list items in the folder
ls

# remove the default Raspberry Pi qmi_wwan driver module
rmmod qmi_wwan

# install the driver
insmod simcom_wwan.ko
# list the operational driver modules, and see if "simcom_wwan" is listed in there?
# it should be there, and qmi_wwan must not be there
lsmod

# open the wwan0 interface - should reply "wan0 up"
sudo ifconfig wwan0 up

# now go into Minicom and type the below AT command
sudo minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB
AT$QCRMCALL=1,1
# exit Minicom

# install the udhcpc client
apt-get install udhcpc

# open the connection and get an IP address
udhcpc -i wwan0

# now if you run the below, you should see the "wwan0" connection has "inet 100.119.160.62" or some other IP address assigned to it
ifconfig -a

# do a ping of a public URL
ping -c3 www.linux.org

# now the problem is that the default qmi_wwan module pops up again after reboot, and simcom_wwan is forgotten,
# and those steps are annoying, so you need to create a startup file that runs the above commands right after reboot:
# in your home directory, make a new file
nano startup.sh
# paste in the contents of startup.sh

# then save and exit
# make the new file executable
chmod +x startup.sh

# now if you run the file with the below command it removes the old driver, installs the new, and turns on the web
# it might error out of qmi_wwan has already been removed and/or simcom_wwan has already been added - that's ok
sudo ./startup.sh

# to make this run automatically on startup, open up the cron editor
sudo crontab -e
# add this line at the bottom, change to your relevant directories, and note the log file for debugging (useful)
# remember to replace "evan" with your Pi's username, in this command, and those later on below
@reboot /home/evan/startup.sh >> /home/evan/startup-log.txt 2>&1
# save and exit
sudo reboot
# internet should work, with wifi off, straight after startup, automatically!

# Debugging the internet connection:
# There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle that are required to make the web connection work. These will help you:
# 1. Make sure there is sufficient power, if not, the Waveshare 4G HAT will keep on rebooting. If you see a yellow lightning bolt in the top right hand corner of your screen then you have insufficient power.
# 2. Make sure the NET LED is flashing red on the Waveshare 4G HAT card.
# 3. Check that the power is sustained and the USB connection is good but running "watch -n 1 lsusb -t" to watch the USB connected devices. The Waveshare 4G HAT device should be stable and not pop in and out.
# 4. Check to see that the default wwan0 driver "qmi_wwan" is NOT there but "simcom_wwan" IS THERE, by running "lsmod".
# 5. Check that the Waveshare 4G HAT is still operational by using Minicom and running some test AT commands.
# 6. Run "ifconfig -a" to see if "wwan0" exists and whether it contains an IP address after "inet" - this means it has a web connection.
# 7. If you are still stuck, try Waveshare's customer support. They responded usefully within 48 hours to several of my queries.
# 8. Have a look at startup-log.txt which the startup script writes to at each boot time.
# 9. Maybe extend the sleep times between steps in startup.sh.


# --------- get camera working -----------------

# edit the /boot/config.txt file and add in the line "camera_auto_detect=1" (exclude quotes)
sudo nano /boot/config.txt
# save and exit
sudo reboot
# on startup you should see the red LED on camera pulse briefly
# take a test photo!
libcamera-still -o test-image.jpg --qt-preview
# once you get the phone app working you can take photos from there without using the cmd


# --------- on screen touch keyboard working -----------------
# install matchbox keyboard
sudo apt-get install matchbox-keyboard
# now you should see the keyboard under 'Accessories'
# to make the keyboard more like a mobile phone keyboard, copy the 'mobile-keyboard.xml' into your home
# directory /.matchbox/keyboard.xml



# --------- get phone app working -----------------

# if we want to be able to use the Pi's GPIO pins (for example as a switch to turn on/off the screen)
# install the PIGPIO library
sudo apt-get install pigpio
# make the PIGPIO daemon start automatically on boot
sudo systemctl enable pigpiod
# install the PyQT5 database library - the phone app is written in PyQT5
sudo apt-get install python3-pyqt5.qtsql

# check if you can run the phone app from the cmd
python3 phone.py
# a GUI app showing the time should appear - this is the phone app
# if the Waveshare 4G HAT is connected, the display should show your network name and signal strength after a few sec
# if it doesn't work, maybe you need to install PyQt5 with "pip install PyQt5"

# make sure the phone app runs automatically on boot
# followed this: https://medium.com/@arslion/starting-python-gui-program-on-raspberry-pi-startup-56fb4e451cc1
mkdir .config/autostart
sudo nano autostart/MyApp.desktop
# typed in the below
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Your Application Name
Type=Application
Comment=Some Comments about your program
Exec=sudo /usr/bin/python3 /home/evan/phone.py
# then save and exit
# then make it executable
sudo chmod +x .config/autostart/MyApp.desktop
# after reboot the phone app should appear automatically on screen

# make sure GPS works in Firefox
# install Firefox
sudo apt-get install firefox-esr
# run the location-provider.py script manually for now
python3 location-provider.py
# you should see a URL, something like http://127.0.0.1:5000
# open up Minicom
sudo minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB2
# turn on GPS
AT+CGPS=1
# wait a minute or so, go outside, and make sure the GPS antennae is connected
AT+CGPSINFO
# this should output a location string to the console
# the phone.py app automatically fetches this string, and puts it into location.txt
# this txt file is served at the live URL by location-provider.py, outputting a json string that the browser can use
# open Firefox, type "about:config" as the URL
# replace geo.provider.network.url with the URL above e.g. http://127.0.0.1:5000
# if you open up http://127.0.0.1:5000 in the browser as a test (after successfully running phone.py with GPS on) you will see a json string of coords
# now make the script run on boot
sudo nano /etc/rc.local
# add in the below line
sudo python3 /home/evan/location-provider.py &
# save and exit

sudo reboot

# to switch off the screen aka "lock phone", attach two jumper cables to GPIO pin 26 and ground
# when you want to lock the phone, short these two with a switch
# the phone.py app detects this and runs the two shell commands below to turn off screen and disable touchscreen:
# xset dpms force off
# xinput disable 6



# you are done. you just built a damn smartphone.

#################################################################