Pi Zero W
I have a PI 2 Model B (without the wireless features) and wanted to play with a camera so it made sense to invest $10 in a Pi Zero W. I can't imagine using a webcam that's wired up (I have no wired network in this rental house.)
Since it's the first Pi Zero for me I got the cute C4Labs Zebra Zero+ protoboard setup from Adafruit at the same time.
If it works out and it's fun I will set up more Pi cameras without the protoboard.
First boot
- Plug in a cable to the Windows machine and see if it recognizes the Pi Zero as a smoke test.
- Download Raspian ZIP image from https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspian
- Download Etcher from https://www.balena.io/etcher/
- Run Etcher to copy image to 32GB card (32GB is overkill but it's the first one I grabbed.)
- While waiting, dig up the HDMI cable and USB keyboard.
- Discover there are many more connectors in the world and they used an HDMI I don't have.
- Order a Type A (std HDMI) to Type C (Mini). Note the BeagleBoneBlack uses Type D (Micro).
- Wait a few days.
- OR headless mode https://learn.adafruit.com/raspberry-pi-zero-creation/text-file-editing
- Transfer card to Pi
- Connect HDMI monitor and USB keyboard
- Power on via a cellphone charger and a generic micro USB cable
- Log in and create an account
- Configure WiFi.
- Is there an ssh server running on this thing?
Headless mode
- Enable WiFI so card comes up on network.
- Enable ssh so I can log in.
Put the SD card in the Mac. Create these files.
cd /Volumes/boot touch ssh vi wpa_supplicant.conf
wpa_supplicant.conf should contain
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev update_config=1 country=US network={ ssid="YOURSSID" psk="YOURPASSWORD" scan_ssid=1 }
The wpa_supplicant.conf file gets moved on boot so don't freak if it "disappears".
Serial console: I did not add enable_uart=1 to config.txt because I don't need it right now.
Camera notes
MotionEyeOS https://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2017/04/raspberry-pi-zero-w-cctv-camera-with-motioneyeos/
MotionEye on Raspian https://www.techcoil.com/blog/how-i-setup-a-raspberry-pi-zero-w-cctv-camera-with-motioneye-and-raspbian-stretch-lite/
Built into a dummy camera case: https://www.instructables.com/id/Zero-Security-Camera/ Pi Zero (not wireless) + USB - LAN adapter
Cool 3D-printed case: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2544275