Smart mirrors are pretty easy to make, but everyone seems to make big ones, so let’s make a small one for your desk or bedside table instead. Smart mirrors (also sometimes known as “magic mirrors”) can display live information right in the reflection on a mirror – it looks cool and is actually kind of useful. You can set them up to display whatever information you want – calendars, weather, quotes, photos, reminders – it’s totally up to you. Reboot the pi and test it out: sudo rebootĪfter the reboot you should see the Desktop pop up for 10-20 seconds, then your mirror should automatically start up.Ever wanted to see check the weather is in Tripoli and read randomized Seinfeld quotes while you’re doing your hair in the morning? Smart mirrors are the DIY project to make that happen. This easy-to-follow tutorial covers how to build a small magic mirror using a Raspberry Pi Zero and a few other bits and pieces. Note: you might not need to run the first command to create the autostart directory - I already had this directory on my computer.Ĭopy this code into the sktop file and save it: Īfter this saves, you’re all set. Your script will run after the desktop system starts up. This will utilize the autostart system on the pi. From the terminal, type: $ vi /home/pi/start-mirror.shĬopy this code into the start-mirror.sh file that was just opened, then save and close the file: #!/bin/bash 1) Write a shell scriptĬreate a shell script in the home directory. The shell script will turn off sleep mode on your Pi and start your mirror. We’ll utilize Raspian’s autostart mechanism to run a shell script whenever your Raspberry Pi starts up. Start up your mirror whenever your raspberry pi gets turned on. I thought I’d summarize here in case this can help anyone else. I finally found this article and followed “method 2”. This happened enough that I wanted to automate a solution. Every time I turned it back on it was kind of a pain - I had to take the mirror off the wall, hook up my keyboard and mouse, start up the mirror, etc. My Raspberry Pi mirror has shut off a few times by accident (overheated, lost power, etc).

Raspberry pi magic mirror forum