I just brewed for the first time in a couple years the other day. My BrewPi Spark is still working fine thankfully. I came here trying to learn some new things. What is BrewBlox and what is Edge?
Brewblox is the replacement for the old BrewPi software. It supports fermentation fridges, but also things like HERMS setups, glycol cooling, and terraria.
See https://brewblox.netlify.com for guides and info.
I assume you’re referring to “Edge” in the context of those “Edge release yyyy/mm/dd” topics.
It’s the user-ready release track for Brewblox. Every time we make a change, we first push it to develop. Every 1-3 weeks we release everything that’s on develop to edge.
Going forward, I’ll probably give those topics a new name. Unless you’re a developer, release tracks aren’t terribly relevant.
Ok so if I’m only looking to control fermentation is it worth updating to Brewblox? I think I have the original Spark, but not sure what software version I have.
Yes, Brewblox is a big step up from the old software, and is actively maintained and improved.
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Ok, to update to Brewblox I just follow the steps in the link you posted at Step 1? And it will definitely work with my old Spark?
Depending on your exact definition of “old”. We currently support the Spark v2 and v3. If you still have a Spark v1, you’ll need to upgrade the processing module to a Photon.
If you have a Spark v2 or v3, then yes, you can follow the install guide.
Bummer, I have a v1. So it as easy as getting a Photon, pulling out the Core and putting the Photon in?
Yes, that’s the gist of it. The Core and Photon are pin compatible.
If I swapped them out will everything continue to work as it is now before I update to Brewblox? And can I just buy a Photon off of Amazon, you guys or somewhere else?
You can buy it from Amazon. It will be blank, so you’ll program it with our firmware yourself during install.
Do you guys sell them? The only one I see on Amazon doesn’t come with headers.
No, in don’t have them anymore, the spark 3 has a more integral module (P1).
You can probably find them at adafruit, spark fun, farnell, digikey.
Ok thanks, I will check those places. Where can I find the instructions on how to install/program it?
I’m guessing this was supposed to be .com, like Bob posted above. I guess I was looking how to upgrade to the Photon from the Core without going the Brewblox route yet.
A few days ago, Netlify moved all their user content from .com to .app, and set up redirects from .com to .app.
To flash the old software, you can install and use the Particle CLI, and use that to flash the bin files from https://github.com/BrewPi/firmware/releases.
Do note that the process is rather more technical, and we longer support the old version. One of the reasons for the clean break was that in order to automate and streamline the install process, it had to be redesigned from the ground up.
Ok, I mentioned it because the link Elco posted didn’t work.
I will just wait to put the new Photon in when I’m ready to dive into this Brewblox conversion. It’s hard to change something when something works, I’m afraid I’ll mess something up. Especially when you don’t know what you are doing like I do.
It looks like Elco made a typo, and forgot a “b” in the link.
If or when you decide to upgrade, feel free to ask about anything unclear, confusing, or missing.
Embedded controllers can be intimidating, so we make sure to promptly answer questions here. Questions and feedback also help us build what is actually useful.
Oh yeah I see now.
Ok thanks. I have a Photon on the way so I will upgrade at some point.
I got my Photon. I just wanted to clarify something before I begin. Should I get a new SD card for my Pi and do a complete new install starting at step 1 on the Brewblox website? Or keep the SD card and do I skip a step or 2? Thanks