S
o far, we’ve got a frame built and ready to
go. Next, we’ll look at how to set up your
Raspberry Pi computer to run MagicMirror^2 ,
a dedicated application for creating magic mirror
displays that takes all the hard work out of the
software side of this project. MagicMirror^2 has
been authored by Michael Teeuw, who created
the amazing mirror in the beginning of this
feature. Not only does the software provide a
plug-in system to control what’s displayed, it
also configures your Raspberry Pi computer for
optimal performance as a mirror. That said, there
are a few things to do, so let’s get started.01
First boot-up
In the final step of the previous tutorial,
we checked that Raspberry Pi would boot correctly
in its new home. If you haven’t done this already,
prepare a microSD card with an image of Raspbian
or Raspbian Full (not Raspbian Lite, as we need
the desktop). If you have access to a second
identical Raspberry Pi computer, it might be
easier to use that, as the display will be easierto see, then swap the microSD card when you’re
done. Go through the first-run wizard that helps
you configure WiFi and updates all your software
to the latest version.02
Make access easier
Every time you want to make a
configuration change, it’s going to be a nuisance
to take the mirror down off the wall, locate a
keyboard, mouse, and possibly monitor to make
a simple edit. Instead we can use VNC and SSH
to make life easier. VNC allows us to access
the desktop remotely via VNC Viewer, which is
available for many different platforms. SSH is
similar, but for the command line. To enable both
of these, open the desktop menu (the raspberry
icon) and click on Preferences, then Raspberry Pi
Configuration. When its window appears, click
the Interfaces tab and ensure VNC and SSH are
enabled, but don’t close the window just yet.03
Set your host name
To avoid your magic mirror bumping into
any other Raspberry Pi computers you may have on
your network, we strongly recommend setting the
computer’s host name (the name it is known as on
the network) to something unique. Again, you can
set this in the Raspberry Pi Configuration tool. On
the System tab, choose an appropriate name such
as ‘magicmirror’ (lower case, no spaces or special
characters) and click OK. A reboot will be required
for this to take effect. Once done, you can point
your VNC Viewer or SSH client to magicmirror.local
to gain remote access.You’ll Need
> Magic mirror (see
previous tutorial)Setting up your
Magic Mirror
Check you’re looking good and fill your brain with useful
information with your new frame and MagicMirror^2
A clearer view of
the screen. You can
customise all these
panels and place them
wherever you likeTip!
Editing JSON
MagicMirror^2 ’s
configuration file is
in JSON (JavaScript
Object Notation).
It is a powerful but
unforgiving format,
so be careful when
editing it.TUTORIAL
28 magpi.cc Build The Ultimate Magic Mirror