Offline and stand-alone applications (like classroom demos)#

This section of the manual is for users who:

  • Would like to use their Raspberry Shake in offline mode;

  • Would like to deploy the Raspberry Shake to a remote field location (with or without GPS timing);

  • Would like to run a quick classroom demo by connecting the Raspberry Shake directly to their laptop via Ethernet cable; and

  • Are heading out to the cabin for the weekend, for example, where there is no Internet connection.

All of these use cases have one thing in common: The Raspberry Shake has no network connection, so NTP timing is not possible unless there is a GPS unit attached (NTP and GPS timing details).

When no internet connection is expected, the Raspberry Shake provides a stand-alone mode that is tailored for no internet access. That is, NTP services will be started, but the Shake will not expect to see the internet prior to setting the system time, and instead it will rely on GPS timing (if available).

When no internet access is expected, please either:

  1. Open the Raspberry Shake’s internal web frontend by navigating to http://rs.local/ >> Select Actions icon >> ACTIONS >> TURN OFF-LINE MODE ON; or

  2. Log in to your Raspberry Shake via SSH (How to access your Raspberry Shake’s computer via ssh) and run the following command:

    $ rsh-stand-alone

which will return usage instructions; very simply stated: set stand-alone mode to ON or OFF. Reboot the unit for the changes to take effect:

$ reboot

If you need the time to be close to current time, take the follow steps:

  1. Log in to your Raspberry Shake via SSH (How to access your Raspberry Shake’s computer via ssh) and run the following command in order to set the date of your Raspberry Shake to coincide with the UTC system time on your laptop (e.g., using the ‘date –set’ option). For example,

    $ sudo date --set "25 Sep 2013 15:00:00"

Warning

You must set the date to UTC, not local time.

  1. UNIX users who have set up automatic SSH login can set the date instantaneously from their own computer by issuing this command from the command line (assuming the issuing computer’s time is correct – thank you to Oliver Lamb at UNC Chapel Hill for this):

    $ ssh myshake@rs.local "sudo date --set \"$(date)\""

  2. You can confirm the date was set properly using,

    $ date

Finally, open Swarm and connect normally. Click here for a tutorial on how to use Swarm.