[Help] Can't install PiFace Digital software

[CraftMarine]

Hi ! I just got my Piface 2 for my raspberry 3.

I've managed myself to find the documentation and install everything correctly.
So, my RB run with the latest version of Rasbian.

My probleme is I can't instal the Piface digital software.
I found on the documentation the commande you need to install it.
"To install the PiFace™ Digital 2 software, open a terminal and run the following command:
sudo apt-get install python3-pifacedigitalio"

But after that, I've got this message:
E: Unable to locate package python3-pifacedigitalio

I've done the following command too:
sudo apt-get install
sudo apt-get upgrade

How can I install this software ?

CraftMarine.

[pcmanbob]

Hi.

A quick check using

Code: Select all

 sudo apt-cache search pifacedigitalio

on a pi running raspbian stretch does not find any packages.

but running the same on a pi running raspbian Jessie

results in
python-pifacedigitalio - The PiFace Digital I/O module.
python3-pifacedigitalio - The PiFace Digital I/O module.

So I would say the packages are not in the stretch repository, a quick search on the web suggests the package is now called pifacecommon but that package is also not in the stretch repositories.

The original package is available from here https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pifacedigitalio/

you install it manually like this

Code: Select all

wget https://pypi.python.org/packages/06/33/38ff94cd74442da0f2d18241b88ebd3c8a89489ddb1d880d72a67306569c/pifacedigitalio-3.0.5.tar.gz

tar xvzf pifacedigitalio-3.0.5.tar.gz

cd pifacedigitalio-3.0.5/

for python2
sudo python setup.py install

for python3
sudo python3 setup.py install

or the new package is available for here https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pifacecommon/4.0.0

you install it manually like this

Code: Select all

wget https://pypi.python.org/packages/6d/23/ecfca34aeabb6bb720c96cb5ed0c9c768b012d13174cee25c67aa5dc8c8a/pifacecommon-4.0.0.tar.gz

tar xvzf pifacecommon-4.0.0.tar.gz

cd pifacecommon-4.0.0

for python2
sudo python setup.py install

for python3
sudo python3 setup.py install

I have run both sets of instructions on a pi running stretch and the packages do install but I don't have a piface so I don't have anyway to test if they actually work.

[DirkS]

you install it manually like this

Why not use pip / pip3 to install them?

[pcmanbob]

Only because I have never used pip, always just done it the way shown, because that was the way I was shown.

[DirkS]

Only because I have never used pip, always just done it the way shown, because that was the way I was shown.

Code: Select all

sudo pip install pifacecommon
sudo pip install pifacedigitalio

should install the latest versions (use pip3 for python 3)

[CraftMarine]

I've tryed first, with pip (way faster) and it worked even with pip3

thanks pcmanbob and Dirks for your help

[bbreton]

Hi,
thanks pcmanbob and Dirks for your help.
I thought I could use pifacedigital-emulator as it's in the pifacedigitalio-3.0.5 package but I can't.
Have you got an idea to install it?

thanks
bbreton

[pcmanbob]

Hi.

I think you need to install it as a separate package, as per the install instructions.

https://piface.github.io/pifacedigitali ... ation.html

[bbreton]

Hi pcmanbob,
thanks for your response. I've tried to install the Emulator as explained in the link you gave me but it doesn't work, here is the message
E: Unable to locate package python3-pifacedigital-emulator

It seems this package is not in the stretch repository.
I tried to install it manually as you explained previously (sudo pip3 install pifacedigitalio) but the Emulator still does not installed

If you have an idea to solve this problem it would be great for me!

bbreton

[B.Goode]

At least 2 other people have encountered the same problem and reported it to the PiFace Developers/Maintainers:

https://github.com/piface/pifacedigital ... r/issues/9

[bbreton]

Hi,
I saw this report but no solution is given. The last post was in october 12th. That's why I try on other forums.
Is there someone who solved the problem of installing the piface digital-emulator on strech?

Thanks for your help
bbreton

[DougieLawson]

The PiFace stuff is bordering on "abandonware". So the only way to fix it would be to download (or fork) a copy of the stuff on the github and see if you can re-write the code to get it working with your hardware and Raspbian Stretch.

I've got a PiFaceCAD on one of my Raspberries but I'm driving it with my own code written in C rather than python or python3.

[bbreton]

Thanks DougieLawson for this information.
It's a pity if the Piface is abandonned because it's a very usefull card. I haven't seen something similar to replace it!
Could you say more about the procedure you used to developp your own code in C for this card?

Thanks
bbreton

[DougieLawson]

The PiFaceCAD has a 23S17 SPI chip. The schematic for it is also available. So it's trivial to write C code to run it.

If I get a chance over the weekend I'll build a sample program for you.

[DougieLawson]

Code sample here: https://github.com/DougieLawson/PiFaceCAD

[longshanks]

Interesting thread. I managed to install pifacecommon, but not sure that it is the same as the piface digital emulator as it doesn't run. Anybody got any idea or updates?

[BozoCake]

As mentioned that it is found in the Jessie repository, I successfully got the emulator and python running. I downloaded Jessie from here http://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbi ... 017-07-05/ and ran the set up instructions as documented.