Helper Scripts for RaspAP

To run a script

$ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RaspAP/raspap-tools/main/install_raspap_ram_wlan.sh
$ chmod +x install_raspap_ram_wlan.sh
$ ./install_raspap_ram_wlan.sh

Follow the instructions.

Configure Raspberry Pi OS, install drivers and start the RaspAP installer

The script install_raspap_ram_wlan.sh configures Raspberry Pi OS for a (nearly) read-only operation, allows to install additional Wifi drivers and starts the RaspAP installer ( https://install.raspap.com ). See details about the Raspberry Pi OS configuration and driver installation below.

Install missing WLAN driver modules

A standard nuisance of Raspberry Pi OS is, that drivers for a lot of WLAN devices are missing. This is especially true for newer Realtek based devices.

Compile and install drivers from source

If you prefer to compile drivers from scratch, the script install_wlan_drivers.sh extracts the source for some very common drivers from Github (rtl8814au, rtl8812au, rtl88x2bu, rtl8821cu). The source is compiled and the installation done via DKMS. This ensures, that the driver is automatically recompiled, when the kernel version is changing. Depending on the raspberry pi version, this can take a long time.

Precompiled driver modules

INFORMATION: modules at http://downloads.fars-robotics.net no longer updated. Last update in Oct 2021

The webpage http://downloads.fars-robotics.net by MrEngman provides a lot of pre-compiled WLAN driver modules for different Raspberry Pi OS kernel versions. In order to install multiple drivers in one go, the script install_wlan_driver_modules.sh provides a wrapper for the install script http://downloads.fars-robotics.net/wifi-drivers/install-wifi. The script asks to plug in one device at a time and starts the install-wifi script. You might have to rerun the installation, when a kernel update is done.

Raspberry Pi OS with substantially reduced SD-Card write access

Utilizing a Raspberry PI as an access point, requires a reliable operation over a long period of time. Switching the Raspberry PI off without a regular shutdown procedure might lead to a damaged system. Writing lots of logging and temporary data to the SD-card will shorten the lifetime of the system.

Moving logging and temporary data to a RAM based files system can minimize the risk and extend the lifetime of the SD-card substantially.

The script raspian_min_write.sh replaces the default logging service, moves temporary file locations to RAM and switches off the file system check and swap in /boot/config.txt. By default the file system is still in read/write mode, so RaspAP settings can be saved. The remaing access to the SD-card can be checked with the tool iotop -aoP.

Automatic Shutdown when idle

Running a battery powered RaspAP makes energy management mandatory. The script install_autoshutdown.sh installs a system service, which checks every 10 seconds the number of client devices connected to the access point. If the time since the last client disconnected exceeds a predefined number of minutes, the shutdown process of the Raspberry Pi is initiated

The script includes the service file autoshutdown.service as well as the required script autoShutdown.sh written to /usr/local/sbin. The install script is asking for the timeout in minutes.