I started this minimal project to re-use the arduino board setup from TCup (with Grove LCD display and thermometer), and make sure that it would run automatically when I plug my Intel Edison board.

Findings

I ended up spending a lot of time making sure that it works properly on startup.

Initially, I was downloading the project's files to /node_app_slot/ (which seems somewhat linked to /home/root/.node_app_slot/, for some reason), so that Intel's XDK would automatically run it on startup. It did, but the text was blinking/flickering on the screen, making it almost not readable.

After hours of research, I realized that:

• The same problem happens if I setup a systemd service instead of relying on XDK daemon for running the script on startup.
• But I finally solved the problem by setting the service's TimeoutStartSec parameter to 20 seconds.

Setup

In this section, I'm keep some instructions to remember how to make it work again later:

1. Plug both USB cables between Edison and the computer
2. Connect to Edison's terminal by

• finding its “usbserial” device name: ls /dev/tty.*
• connecting to the device: screen /dev/tty.usbserial-A102GW3T 115200
• logging in as root
• keeping these shortcuts in mind:
  • Cancel/exit a command: Ctrl-C
  • Disconnect: Ctrl+A then Ctrl+\

3. Initialize Edison's connectivity

• full setup: configure_edison --setup
• only wifi: configure_edison --wifi
• get IP address: configure_edison --showWiFiIP or ip a

4. After having setup a password for the root account, connect to ssh server through Wifi (the second USB cable does not longer need to be plugged):

• ssh root@edison.local

5. Push/download the program to Edison, from computer:

• ./push.sh

6. Initialize and run the program on Edison:

• cd thermometre
• npm install
• node main

7. Make it run automatically on startup:

• ./install_service.sh