Wall Calendar Configuration for MagicMirror

My custom set up for my magic mirror dashboard wall calendar on Pi Zero 2W

Many asked for a step by step guide for how I created my set-up. So here it is. I did use a fair number of other tutorials, so I will not repeat their work and will link to their steps when needed. I will make it as beginner friendly as possible.

1) Install full GUI OS on your raspberry pi.

• I personally recommend DietPi because its light weight and has great CLI menus to set everything up.
• DietPi starts headless but the initial set-up process for DietPi will run you through CLI menus that will give you the option to install different GUIs depending on your need. I chose the lightest weight option, which is LXDE.
• If not using a Pi Zero or Zero 2, skip to step 3.

2) If using a Pi Zero 2 W, ssh in for install steps and overclock using

sudo dietpi-config

Then navigate the menu to performance options > overclocking > high

• Overclocking helps ensure the MagicMirror install and subsequent reboots doesn't overwhelm and freeze the Pi Zero 2. Once installed, you can bring the overclocking back down.
• The CPU on both the Pi Zero and Zero2 are powerful enough to run the software. The issue is the ammount of ram. It fills too quickly and memory swap is used. Overclocking helps it complete this process faster, preventing freezing and hang ups.

3) Install manually with this automated script:

bash -c  "$(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sdetweil/MagicMirror_scripts/master/raspberry.sh)"

• some tutorials have you add in an script for auto-start. Current versions of this script from sdetweil include that start up, so its not needed.
• I know running pre configured scripts is sus, but this guy does a lot of development and support for MagicMirror, so he is credible and trustworthy.

4) navigate to the modules folder:

cd ~/MagicMirror/modules

5) Install MMM-CalendarExt2.

• Check out thier page for configurations: https://github.com/MMM-CalendarExt2/MMM-CalendarExt2

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/MMM-CalendarExt2/MMM-CalendarExt2
cd MMM-CalendarExt2
npm install

6) Install MMM-MicrosoftToDo

• Use their install guide: https://github.com/thobach/MMM-MicrosoftToDo

DO THIS FIRST: follow the install guide carefully. There is a lot of prep work, but it does work. When it says to name the app, just call it Magic Mirror.

cd ~/MagicMirror/modules
git clone https://github.com/thobach/MMM-MicrosoftToDo.git
cd MMM-MicrosoftToDo && npm install

7) Replace the config.js file and custom.css file

• config.js needs to go into ~MagicMirror/config

  • be sure to replace and update certain module settings like your calendar URLS, weather location, newfeeds, and the microsoft to do configurations

• custom.css needs to go into ~/MagicMirror/css

  • browse the code and make any changes you would like. Most of the code should have comments on how to customize.
  • This is also the folder your wallpaper can be saved in and pull from.

• The easiest way to get wall paper is with the wget command. Dont forget to update the url below to the wallpaper image you want.

cd ~/MagicMirror/css
wget WALLPAPER.URL

• as an added hint/bonus, you can use your own pictures by uploading them to a cloud service like google drive, dropbox, etc and then downloading them
  • google drive wget downloads need a little prep work. follow this guide: https://chemicloud.com/blog/download-google-drive-files-using-wget/
  • dropbox is more straight forward as the sharling link is a direct file link, just place the link after wget.

8) You are now ready to start MagicMirror with this command:

cd ~/MagicMirror && pm2 start MagicMirror

9) I also set a schedule for turning the output to the monitor on and off through crontab. This way the monitor automatically turns off when I am sleeping.

crontab -e

Then add this at the bottom:

0 22 * * * export DISPLAY=:0.0 && xrandr --output HDMI-1 --off  (Turns the monitor off)
0 6 * * * export DISPLAY=:0.0 && xrandr --output HDMI-1 --auto  (Turns the monitor on)

Note: If testing the display on and off through SSH with this modified command:

export DISPLAY=:0.0 xhost + && xrandr --output HDMI-1 --off
export DISPLAY=:0.0 xhost + && xrandr --output HDMI-1 --auto

• Because we are running the commands locally through crontab 'xhost +' is not needed.

10) Added optimization for running minimally, you will need to edit and update the mm.sh file:

• copied from sdetweil (seriously, trust this guy).

Especially low powered devices like the Pi Zero W might struggle running MagicMirror with the Chromium browser. A simpler browser like Midori might be a good alternative in this case. To switch to using the Midori browser change the MagicMirror/installers/mm.sh file to include the external_browser variable like:

cd ~/MagicMirror
export external_browser=midori
DISPLAY=:0 npm start

Let me know if you have any questions and I will elaborate.

Thanks!