FPP 9.5 on Linux

[coyoteray]

Good day.  I have FFP 9.5 installed on a Debian Linux install and it works good (used for testing).  I installed it when FPP9.2 was the latest.  I am trying to replicate the install for a friend in another state in the US.  After about 25 tries I give ... evening installing the same packages FPP 9.5 ( FPP_Install.sh --branch 9.5) will not install.  Looking at what I did before does not work does not help.  Has anyone gotten FPP 9.5 to install on a base Debian release and if so can you share your process?   Many people I know have old PCs in storage that can use a new life.


Thank you

[CaptainMurdoch]

Are you getting an error from the FPP_Install.sh script or is FPP not running once installed?  Our docker images run Debian, so it should work.  You could also look at the Docker/Dockerfile in the source repo for clues, but the install should work outside docker.

You could also just run FPP inside docker on the Debian system.  There is an example docker-compose.yml file included in the Docker directory in the repo.  The docker-compose.yml file is based off the one I use.  Mine is setup with a USB FM transmitter and driving a ColorLight receiver via a dedicated NIC attached to the container.

[coyoteray]

Thank you for the answer.  I do a base install of Debian 13.3 with ssh server and "standard system utilities".  I install curl and all the packages in the compose file.

Version 9.5 is the latest stable release so I down loaded the 9.5 version of FPP_Install.sh.

I get the following error when running "FPP_Install.sh --branch 9.5"

/opt/fpp/src/fpp-pch.h:48:10: fatal error: httpserver.hpp: No such file or directory
  48 | #include <httpserver.hpp>
      |          ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
compilation terminated.
make: *** [Makefile:84: fpp-pch.h.gch] Error 1
make: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....


I could not find a package that provides httpserver.hpp.

Any pointers would be great.

Thank you,
   Jamie

[CaptainMurdoch]

FPP v9.5 was setup for Debian 12.  If you want to run 13, you will probably need to run the master branch of FPP unless you want a half-broken system or don't care about the things that FPP v9.5 can't control like network interfaces.  The FPP_Install.sh script checks the OS version and it skipped over a lot of stuff because the OS didn't match.  We should probably print a warning in that case.  The current code in master doesn't even use libhttpserver any more, it was converted to libdrogon about a week or so ago.

[darylc]

FPP_Install.sh etc has been updated for FPP 10 development which no longer uses httpserver.  You might need to find an older version of FPP_Install.sh

In general though, you are setting your friend up for failure by using FPP on debian, upgrades are a real problem going forward for him.  Please just encourage him to use a pi or a supported FPP platform eg beaglebone.

[coyoteray]

I tried the 9.5 version of FPP_Install.sh.

I understand recommending a Raspberry Pi or Beaglebone, it makes since and allows for more time on the fun stuff.  

He's retired (fixed income), has lots of old (still working) PCs around and I give him props.  Right now he is using xSchedule for his show and it works good.  He would like to use FPP for supportability; last year the Zoom support team - which is great - recommended he switch to FPP several times.  Basically it boils down to cost and using what he has. 

I have a VM using Debian 13 (started with Debian 13) with FPP, started with FPP 9.X (don't recall which branch) and upgraded to 9.5 without any problems.

Thank you for the advise.

[coyoteray]

CaptainMurdoch,

Thank you for the reply.  I have a Debian 13 VM with FPP 9.5 running and it works great.  I cannot manage the network which is okay.  Debian 12 has the same error (httpserver.hpp not found), suspect a change in httpserver causing the issue.  I'll wait until version 10 is out and try again.

Thank you again for your reply.

[CaptainMurdoch]

If you grabbed the latest FPP_Install.sh, that won't work for FPP v9.5 as Daryl mentioned.

If you want to keep trying, use this older version of FPP_Install.sh from FPP v9.5:

https://github.com/FalconChristmas/fpp/blob/v9.5/SD/FPP_Install.sh

[coyoteray]

Chris,

I used the 9.5 version and even used '--branch 9.5' option on the command line. 

[coyoteray]

With the help of coops on https://auschristmaslighting.com/ I was able to get FPP 9.5 working, still don't understand why the wrong version of FPP_Install.sh was downloaded.  Documenting here so others might benefit. 

Process I used to install FPP 9.5 on Debian Linux:

1. Start with a Debian 12 net install ISO

2. Do a non-graphical install

3. Set hostname to something - fpp-fl, fpp-test, ... 

4. Leave domain blank

5. Set root password

6. Add user of "fpp"

7. Set password of ffp user to falcon

8. Create disk, all file in one partition <- Your choice

9. Select only:

   9.1 Web Server

   9.2 SSH Server

   9.3 Standard system utilities 

10. Finish the install

11. After the OS is installed and system rebooted

12. Login as "fpp"

13. Switch user to root: "su -"

14. Set a static IP:
     14.1 Edit /etc/network/interfaces
     14.2 Replace

iface ens2 inet dhcp

      With updating the ens2 with your interface name and address setting with the appropriate values (keep the indents)

iface ens2 inet static
    address 192.168.1.61
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    gateway 192.168.1.1
    dns-nameservers 192.168.1.1 8.8.8.8

15. Login as "fpp"

16. Switch user to root: "su -"

17. Run the following:

# apt update && apt install curl git

# curl -o FPP_Install.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FalconChristmas/fpp/refs/heads/v9.5/SD/FPP_Install.sh

# chmod 700 FPP_Install.sh

#./FPP_Install.sh --branch 9.5

# shutdown -r now