Goal: This is a step-by-step guide that worked for me, I now have a EYESY running smoothly on my Pi and I hope this will help not programmer like me to set their Pi without too much headache 
EYESY from Critter and Guitari is a self-contained video synthesizer based on a Raspberry Pi. It generates animated graphics (made with Python)
More Infos: EYESY
Difficulty: Intermediate
Optimized for Headless Use: Yes
Recommended Raspberry Pi Models: I have a Raspberry PI 4 8GB, but I guess itâll work on other models.
Required Hardware:
- Pisound
- Raspberry Pi w/ power supply and micro SD card (16 GB is great)
- Windows, macOS or Linux computer w/ micro SD card reader
Required Software:
- Etcher for SD card flashing - https://etcher.io
- Raspbian Lite - Raspberry Pi OS â Raspberry Pi
- RealVNC Viewer - https://www.realvnc.com/en/connect/download/viewer
An important note: in order to run EYESY on a RaspberryPi 4 8Gb with PiSound I mixed several information and tutorials together (mostly the ones from Mads Kjeldgaard, @mzero and @okyeron, you can find them at the end of this guide).
Some passages may be redundant (especially with Jack) and when I encountered a problem I found a solution than it was more empirical or based on information I gathered here in the community or on some other forums.
For this guide I did copy/paste the mentioned tutorials plus I added some personal notes. Some mistakes where probably made, so please report them to me, but please consider that after a lot of trial and error at the end is all working
Note: according to Okyeron EYESY expects a pi/pi user/group, therefore I installed Raspbian instead of Patchbox. I also used OS X.
The process is 2 or 3 hours long, so grab a drink and here we go!
Step 01: Prepare the SD card with the base system image.
Download Raspberry Pi OS Lite and flash it onto your SD card with Balena Etcher.
Open up the image for Raspbian Lite, choose the SD card and click flash.
Step 02: Enable SSH in the Image
This is very important so that you can connect into the Pi when it boots headless.
After copying the image, youâll need to edit it slightly before using it in the Pi.
If you canât see the mounted SD card volume on your desktop, remove it and then insert it again in the card reader.
You should have an external disk named boot, you need to add a file called ssh (no extensions) at the top of this volume.
In the terminal, run this command:
touch /Volumes/boot/ssh
Step 03: Setup default WIFI-network
To automatically connect to your WIFI network on startup, you need to add another file to the boot folder.
This one should be named wpa_supplicant.conf which will contain information about your network.
touch /Volumes/boot/wpa_supplicant.conf
You can copy and paste the snippet below into the file, but make sure you:
- Replace the string in the ssid line with the name of your network.
- Replace the string in the psk line with the password your network.
- Replace the country code in the country=DE line (I am in Germany = DE).
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1
country=DE
network={
ssid=âYour networkâs SSIDâ
psk=âYour networkâs password/pskâ
id_str=â0â
priority=100
}
Save the file, put the SD card back into your Pi and plug the power cord into it to boot it. Wait a few minutes for it to boot.
Step 04: Log in to your Raspbian Lite remotely
If you followed the steps above, your Pi should now be connected to the same network as your computer. Now you need the IP address of the Pi.
I used FING for Android, Mzero simply ran on terminal ssh pi@raspberrypi.local but I suggest you to read this post:
Once found the IP address, you can log in from your computer by opening up a terminal and executing ssh pi@address, replacing âaddressâ with the actual IP address. If successful you should now be prompted for the password of the pi user which by default is raspberry.
In case of ssh warning, type on terminal:
ssh-keygen -R [Your Raspi IP-Address]
Step 05: Update and Install Basics
This will ensure you have the latest version of all the installed packages.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Depending on how old the image you downloaded is, this could be quick or take some time.
Now install the minimal things needed to be able to run a graphical desktop.
Run these two commands.
sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends \
screen vim \
git make \
xserver-xorg xinit \
realvnc-vnc-server
sudo apt-get install raspberrypi-ui-mods
Step 06: Configuration
This step uses the standard RaspberryPi configuration program to configure the Pi, it uses the arrow keys and the tab key to navigate.
Run in the shell on the Pi:
sudo raspi-config
And change the following:
System Option
S3 Change User Password â Set a new password
Then configure:
System Option
S5 Boot/Autologin â Desktop
Localisation Options
L2 Change Timezone â pick your timezone
L4 Change Wi-fi Country â pick your country
Interfacing Options
P3 VNC â Yes
Performance
P2 GNU Memory â 16
Display
D1 Resolution â 1600x1200
Then [tab] key to Finish, hit return, then select Yes to reboot.
Step 07: Important packages and dependencies
Run this command to install git and perl which are important packages you will need later on.
sudo apt update && sudo apt install git perl
Step 08: Tuning the system
The following commands are based on the canonical instructions for tuning your Linux system for audio work.
Warning: These will alter config files on your system, use at your own risk and only on a fresh Raspbian installation.
Mads Kjeldgaard gathered these in a handy gist, so you can execute them just by copy-pasting his long command:
git clone https://gist.github.com/madskjeldgaard/c5731e95bc5be9b3e2789b14b1149b6e && mv c5731e95bc5be9b3e2789b14b1149b6e raspiaudiotune && cd raspiaudiotune && chmod +x raspiaudiotune.sh && ./raspiaudiotune.sh && cd ~ && rm -rf raspiaudiotune
To make these changes take effect, the Pi must be rebooted
sudo reboot
Step 09: Install and setup Jack
Jack is used to patch audio throughout your audio system on Linux.
Letâs install and setup Jack:
sudo apt-get install jackd2
Jack has a configuration file in ~/.jackdrc that we will set up on installation, but you can edit this anytime to tune the systemâs settings using a text editor by running
vi ~/.jackdrc.
The config file consists of a jackdcommand which will be run when we boot the audio server in there.
Create config file in home folder called .jackdrc:
echo /usr/bin/jackd -P75 -dalsa -dhw:2 -r48000 -p512 -n2 > ~/.jackdrc
Explanations of the flags used here:
-P75 - the real-time priority of the audio
-dhw:2 is PiSound device number.
-r48000 is PiSound sample rate.
-p512 is the block size. This can be tuned to achieve lower latency. Must be power of two.
-n2 - Jackâs buffer periods. Blokas recommends using 2 here for Pisound.
Step 10: Disable the on-board audio output
I did this because EYESY is looking for your sound card to be the âdefaultâ device, so I guessed itâd be easier to disable the others
To disable the on board Jack output on the Pi open up the boot config file
sudo vi /boot/config.txt
Find the line that says dtparam=audio=on and comment it out so that it looks like this:
#dtparam=audio=on
Then reboot, and run aplay -l to verify only PiSound is listed.
Step 11: Install Pisound Drivers (to use the button)
Blokas provides an installer script. You can download it directly into the shell so it runs immediately:
curl https://blokas.io/pisound/install-pisound.sh | sh
You may have to enter your password, since installation runs with sudo.
At the end of the script you can verify that the drivers are installed, and that the Pisound hardware is all operating with the O.S.
Run this to see the list of audio output devices:
aplay -l
You should see only PiSound listed in the list.
Run this to see the list of audio input devices:
arecord -l
Run this to see the list of MIDI devices:
aconnect -l
Step 12: Check your systemâs configuration
If you havenât rebooted yet, go ahead and sudo reboot. And then wait for the Pi to power back up again before sshâing in to continue.
realTimeConfigQuickScan is a nice script that you can use to see if your system is setup correctly. Download and run it like this:
git clone git://github.com/raboof/realtimeconfigquickscan.git
cd realtimeconfigquickscan
perl ./realTimeConfigQuickScan.pl
Step 13: Watchdog
If you are using your Pi for a live gig or an installation, setting up a watchdog can be a good idea. If your Pi gets overexcited or crashes, the watchdog will reboot the system (which as a consequence will trigger whatever startup script you have installed, if any).
sudo apt install watchdog
Open up the config file for the watchdog: /etc/watchdog.conf
Uncomment the following:
max-load-1 = 24
min-memory = 1
watchdog-device = /dev/watchdog
Then add the following:
watchdog-timeout=15
The watchdog can be run and activated automatically using systemd. This is done using the following commands:
sudo systemctl enable watchdog
sudo systemctl start watchdog
To test if the watchdog is doing itâs job, you can stress the system by creating a so-called fork bomb which will make the system crash by recursively calling a function until the Pi chokes up.
On the Pi (not your main computer!), execute the following fork bomb:
forkbomb(){ forkbomb | forkbomb & }; forkbomb
Wait a bit and then see your Pi crash. After choking up, it should automatically reboot itself. If it does this, your watchdog is doing itâs job.
Step 14: Backup
Itâs a good idea to back up your sd card at this point.
I followed this instructions:
Step 15: Graphic Login
You can work with your Pi entirely from the ssh connection. But having a graphical desktop on the Pi often makes setting up patches, and debugging them much much easier.
On your computer, install RealVNC Viewer:
Run it and connect to your Pi.
Youâll need to enter login information twice, once so RealVNC connect to the Pi and then once to the Pi screen that comes up.
Step 16: Install VideoSynth Eyesy (by Okyeron)
Open a terminal and type the following:
git clone https://github.com/okyeron/EYESY_OS_for_RasPi.git Eyesy
cd Eyesy
./deploy.sh
This will install Pure Data and over 700 MB of packages.
Step 17: Install amidiauto to control MIDI on Pisound
Run in the Terminal:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install amidiauto
Then to enable MIDI thru on Pisound copy the following lines in /etc/amidiauto.conf (if you canât find the file, create it):
[allow]
* â *
pisound â pisound
puredata â pisound
Now open Pure Data and under Media select Alsa MIDI.
Before you run EYESY and play with the MIDI the first time, an IMPORTANT NOTE on the MIDI CC setup:
CC34 doesnât work correctly, instead of modifying the input gain of EYESY, it actually mute your audio input (Midi 0 to127 result in a gain stage of 0.00% to 0.29%). To restore the original setup you need to reinstall the entire Eyesy folder on the Pi.
Step 18: The Button
In order to use the Pi headless in a live situation, I wanted to set the button to start and stop Eyesy directly.
Follow this tutorial to locate the right folder where youâll create two files start_eyesy.sh and stop_eyesy.sh:
In start_eyesy.sh paste the following:
#!/bin/sh
. /usr/local/pisound/scripts/common/common.sh
flash_leds 100
#!/bin/bash
cd /home/pi/Eyesy
sudo ./run.sh
While in stop_eyesy.sh paste the following:
#!/bin/sh
. /usr/local/pisound/scripts/common/common.sh
flash_leds 100
#!/bin/bash
cd /home/pi/Eyesy
sudo ./stop.sh
Then type sudo pisound-config on Terminal and change the button settings as you prefer.
My setup for live performances is:
Hold1: start eyesy
Hold3: stop eyesy
Hold5: shutdown
Hold other: do nothing
Click1: do nothing
Click2: do nothing
Click3: toggle wifi
Click other: toggle bt
Shutdown your Pi, connect a display to the HDMI out and boot up your Pi.
When ready, hold down the button for 1 second and youâll see the EYESY logo.
Audio and MIDI should work as expected, to test them follow the âControl via Midiâ section from Okyeron Github page:
Step 19: Clean and clone
To removes packages which are not longer needed from the system, run:
sudo apt autoremove && sudo apt clean
Download Piclone (SD Card Copier)
sudo apt update
sudo apt install piclone
The SD Card Copier application, which can be found on the Accessories menu of the Raspberry Pi Desktop, will copy Raspberry Pi OS from one card to another. To use it, you will need a USB SD card writer.
To back up your existing Raspberry Pi OS installation, put a blank SD card in your USB card writer and plug it into your Pi, and then launch SD Card Copier.
Thatâs it, at this point you have a running EYESY on your headless Pi, have fun! 
EDIT: Okyeronâs took my suggestions and modified the ./deploy.sh and ./install_pd.sh files,
Here you can read the original tutorials:
Notes for setting up a Raspberry Pi 4 for audio work | Mads Kjeldgaard
Headless Pi: Start to Finish
GitHub - okyeron/EYESY_OS_for_RasPi
