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Need help with Raspbian and Raspberry pi

MacBH928

MacBH928

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 17, 2008
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So I have some noob questions, I hope someone can help me with. I have set a pihole. No linux experience.

1)Is there a GUI way to updated the system? I have to run 4 commands which seem to update all the system software: update -> upgrade->clean->reboot

2)How can I delete Wifi data, I connected to my Wifi network and want to delete the credentials. There is a "Wifi Off" option by right-clicking on the icon, but no sure if it is re-enabled after a restart.

3)My PiHole CPU is running at 66C/150F . This is hotter than my MBP. Not sure if this is acceptable for a small device running 24/7. Anyway I can make it cooler by disabling unnecessary software, cooling tips? installing heat sink? but I would like to keep it fanless. I have the official case.
 
MacBH928 said:
So I have some noob questions, I hope someone can help me with. I have set a pihole. No linux experience.

1)Is there a GUI way to updated the system? I have to run 4 commands which seem to update all the system software: update -> upgrade->clean->reboot
Click to expand...
As far as I know there isn't a GUI app to update the OS. There is a GUI for adding/removing packages though.
https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/raspbian/updating.md

2)How can I delete Wifi data, I connected to my Wifi network and want to delete the credentials. There is a "Wifi Off" option by right-clicking on the icon, but no sure if it is re-enabled after a restart.
Click to expand...
Looks like you have to edit the config file to do that.
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.c...w-to-reset-the-wifi-configuration-in-raspbian

3)My PiHole CPU is running at 66C/150F . This is hotter than my MBP. Not sure if this is acceptable for a small device running 24/7. Anyway I can make it cooler by disabling unnecessary software, cooling tips? installing heat sink? but I would like to keep it fanless. I have the official case.
Click to expand...
Installing a heatsink will make the most difference. Usually they come with one that you have to stick on before turning it on.

I just checked mine and it's running at 48C with no enclosure on it, but it does have a heat sink.
The operating temperature looks like 85C is the max.
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.c...s-the-maximum-minimum-operational-temperature
 
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For updates, the commands are confusing and poorly named IMO.

"apt-get update" on a Debian system means to update the list of packages from the repositories. It does not actually download or install anything.

"apt-get upgrade" will download new versions of the software you have and then install them. But you have to run "apt-get update" first so that your system will know which software has new versions available.
 
One thing that you can do to simplify your updating process in Linux and Raspbian is add some alias's to your .bashrc file. Here is what I'll typically do on a Debian based system, such as Raspbian.

Code: 
alias u='sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade && sudo apt autoremove'

Where the letter u in the beginning is the alias for all 3 of the following commands. You can put in anything you want in place of the letter u, of course. Then reload bash.

Code: 
source ~/.bashrc

Once you set that up, you can open a terminal and type the letter u (or whatever you named your alias) and then put your password in and that's it for manually updating your system.

As a side note, @556fmjoe the command apt-get are sort of being phased out in favor of the simpler apt command. Though there is no sign of apt-get being deprecated yet and it still works just fine. https://itsfoss.com/apt-vs-apt-get-difference/
 
Last edited:
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SandboxGeneral said:
As far as I know there isn't a GUI app to update the OS. There is a GUI for adding/removing packages though.
https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/raspbian/updating.md


Looks like you have to edit the config file to do that.
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.c...w-to-reset-the-wifi-configuration-in-raspbian


Installing a heatsink will make the most difference. Usually they come with one that you have to stick on before turning it on.

I just checked mine and it's running at 48C with no enclosure on it, but it does have a heat sink.
The operating temperature looks like 85C is the max.
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.c...s-the-maximum-minimum-operational-temperature
Click to expand...

thanks, which heatsink do you have?Aluminum or copper?
 
Which Pi are you using? a 4? They run hotter than the older ones, and apparently run very hot in the standard case:
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/07/22/raspberry_pi_4_too_hot_to_handle/
https://www.martinrowan.co.uk/2019/06/raspberry-pi-4-hot-new-release-too-hot-to-use-enclosed/ (62 C seems standard)

My 3B is currently running at 39C in a case. I run all of mine in FLIRC cases (Pi 4 version: https://flirc.tv/more/raspberry-pi-4-case) which have a passive metal heatsink.

If you have a 4 that you plan to use very heavily a fan is a better solution.
 
bobnugget said:
Which Pi are you using? a 4? They run hotter than the older ones, and apparently run very hot in the standard case:
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/07/22/raspberry_pi_4_too_hot_to_handle/
https://www.martinrowan.co.uk/2019/06/raspberry-pi-4-hot-new-release-too-hot-to-use-enclosed/ (62 C seems standard)

My 3B is currently running at 39C in a case. I run all of mine in FLIRC cases (Pi 4 version: https://flirc.tv/more/raspberry-pi-4-case) which have a passive metal heatsink.

If you have a 4 that you plan to use very heavily a fan is a better solution.
Click to expand...

I am using the B+ Pi3 because I heard Pi4 overheats.
 
OK - that does seem a bit hot, mine (in the flirc case) is idling at 39 C and goes up to 43 C after 5 minutes of Movie transcoding. Pi-hole should be less of a workload unless you have a large network.

As the operating temperature should be under 85 C it should be OK, but it would be good to find out whats using the CPU. Is your Pi somewhere with restricted airflow? What does output from top look like (press q to exit top, if you haven't run it before)

My encoder pi (3B+) looks like:
Code: 
pi@mediapi:~$ /opt/vc/bin/vcgencmd measure_temp
temp=40.8'C
pi@mediapi:~$ top
top - 19:25:41 up 3 days, 23:23,  3 users,  load average: 0.97, 0.97, 0.51
Tasks: 154 total,   1 running,  98 sleeping,   0 stopped,   1 zombie
%Cpu(s):  8.3 us,  4.5 sy,  0.0 ni, 85.8 id,  0.0 wa,  0.0 hi,  1.4 si,  0.0 st
KiB Mem :   765604 total,    97268 free,   269792 used,   398544 buff/cache
KiB Swap:   102396 total,    96764 free,     5632 used.   426280 avail Mem

  PID USER      PR  NI    VIRT    RES    SHR S  %CPU %MEM     TIME+ COMMAND                                                             
12293 pi        20   0  110764  76568  10252 S  34.1 10.0   2:09.85 perl                                                                 
12491 root      20   0       0      0      0 I  14.9  0.0   0:00.52 kworker/u8:4-br                                                     
   68 root     -51   0       0      0      0 S   7.3  0.0  11:37.94 irq/86-mmc1                                                         
12486 pi        20   0    8216   3268   2744 R   1.0  0.4   0:00.25 top

and my net pi (3B), running pihole and a few other bits:

Code: 
pi@netpi:~$ /opt/vc/bin/vcgencmd measure_temp
40.8'C
pi@mediapi:~$ top
top - 18:28:49 up 96 days,  5:54,  1 user,  load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
Tasks: 111 total,   1 running,  62 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
%Cpu(s):  0.0 us,  0.2 sy,  0.0 ni, 99.8 id,  0.0 wa,  0.0 hi,  0.0 si,  0.0 st
KiB Mem :   948304 total,   320124 free,   107652 used,   520528 buff/cache
KiB Swap:   102396 total,   101372 free,     1024 used.   720348 avail Mem

  PID USER      PR  NI    VIRT    RES    SHR S  %CPU %MEM     TIME+ COMMAND                                                             
17075 pi        20   0    8108   3216   2728 R   1.3  0.3   0:00.10 top                                                                 
17024 pi        20   0   11524   3804   3088 S   0.3  0.4   0:00.07 sshd                                                                 
17044 root      20   0       0      0      0 I   0.3  0.0   0:00.04 kworker/2:3-eve

The %CPU column is the interesting one (and load averages at the top). From mine, the media pi is seeing heavy use, but the netpi is pretty much just idling. Your pi-hole should be idling too.
 
Last edited:
bobnugget said:
OK - that does seem a bit hot, mine (in the flirc case) is idling at 39 C and goes up to 43 C after 5 minutes of Movie transcoding. Pi-hole should be less of a workload unless you have a large network.

As the operating temperature should be under 85 C it should be OK, but it would be good to find out whats using the CPU. Is your Pi somewhere with restricted airflow? What does output from top look like (press q to exit top, if you haven't run it before)

My encoder pi (3B+) looks like:
Code: 
pi@mediapi:~$ /opt/vc/bin/vcgencmd measure_temp
temp=40.8'C
top - 19:25:41 up 3 days, 23:23,  3 users,  load average: 0.97, 0.97, 0.51
Tasks: 154 total,   1 running,  98 sleeping,   0 stopped,   1 zombie
%Cpu(s):  8.3 us,  4.5 sy,  0.0 ni, 85.8 id,  0.0 wa,  0.0 hi,  1.4 si,  0.0 st
KiB Mem :   765604 total,    97268 free,   269792 used,   398544 buff/cache
KiB Swap:   102396 total,    96764 free,     5632 used.   426280 avail Mem

  PID USER      PR  NI    VIRT    RES    SHR S  %CPU %MEM     TIME+ COMMAND                                                             
12293 pi        20   0  110764  76568  10252 S  34.1 10.0   2:09.85 perl                                                                 
12491 root      20   0       0      0      0 I  14.9  0.0   0:00.52 kworker/u8:4-br                                                     
   68 root     -51   0       0      0      0 S   7.3  0.0  11:37.94 irq/86-mmc1                                                         
12486 pi        20   0    8216   3268   2744 R   1.0  0.4   0:00.25 top

and my net pi (3B), running pihole and a few other bits:

Code: 
pi@netpi:~$ /opt/vc/bin/vcgencmd measure_temp
40.8'C
top - 18:28:49 up 96 days,  5:54,  1 user,  load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
Tasks: 111 total,   1 running,  62 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
%Cpu(s):  0.0 us,  0.2 sy,  0.0 ni, 99.8 id,  0.0 wa,  0.0 hi,  0.0 si,  0.0 st
KiB Mem :   948304 total,   320124 free,   107652 used,   520528 buff/cache
KiB Swap:   102396 total,   101372 free,     1024 used.   720348 avail Mem

  PID USER      PR  NI    VIRT    RES    SHR S  %CPU %MEM     TIME+ COMMAND                                                             
17075 pi        20   0    8108   3216   2728 R   1.3  0.3   0:00.10 top                                                                 
17024 pi        20   0   11524   3804   3088 S   0.3  0.4   0:00.07 sshd                                                                 
17044 root      20   0       0      0      0 I   0.3  0.0   0:00.04 kworker/2:3-eve

The %CPU column is the interesting one (and load averages at the top). From mine, the media pi is seeing heavy use, but the netpi is pretty much just idling. Your pi-hole should be idling too.
Click to expand...

I tried your command but I don't get a full chart like you. I just get this: "temp=62.8'C". I am installing a heatsink either ways.
 
I've just added the top command into the code sections - it overwrites the screen and gives you a live updating process view
 
bobnugget said:
I've just added the top command into the code sections - it overwrites the screen and gives you a live updating process view
Click to expand...

I did thanks, nothing out of the oridnary. Pi and PiHole combined are using like 1.7% of CPU. I guess the environment I am in is just hot, need heatsink.
 
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Found this on r/raspberry_pi. Someone put a Noctua heat sink and fan on their RP4. Pretty cool (pun intended).

Screenshot_2019-09-14 reddit.png
 
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