You'll need a Linux computer (including Raspberry Pi) with an internet connection. If you're using Windows, FieldStation42 works great under WSL.
Install Dependencies
Open a terminal and run the following commands. When prompted for your password, that's normal. sudo runs commands with administrator privileges.
MPV handles video playback:
sudo apt-get install mpv
Quick test to make sure it works. Try playing any video file you have:
mpv /path/to/any/video.mp4
If a video window pops up, you're good. Press q to close it.
Python 3.10 or newer runs FieldStation42 itself:
sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip python3-venv
Ubuntu and Linux Mint users also need one extra package:
sudo apt install python3-tk
Download FieldStation42
Run this to download the project:
git clone https://github.com/shane-mason/FieldStation42
This creates a FieldStation42 folder in your current directory. If you're following along from a fresh terminal, that's your home directory. The full path would be /home/pi/FieldStation42 on a Raspberry Pi, or /home/yourusername/FieldStation42 on other Linux systems. You may also see this written as ~/FieldStation42, where ~ is just a shortcut that means your home folder.
Move into it:
cd FieldStation42
All commands from here on should be run from inside this folder.
Run the Installer
Make sure you're inside your FieldStation42 directory before continuing. All commands from here on should be run from there.
bash install.sh
The installer sets up everything FieldStation42 needs to run. When it finishes, you'll see runtime and catalog folders appear. Those are for later steps.
If you see "Virtual environment does not contain activate script", double-check that the Python packages from the first step installed correctly, then run bash install.sh again.
Before You Run FieldStation42
Every time you sit down to use FieldStation42, you'll need to activate its environment first. This is a one-line command that tells your terminal to use FieldStation42's software:
source env/bin/activate
You'll know it worked when you see (env) appear at the start of your terminal prompt.
If you'd rather not type this every time, you can make it happen automatically when you open a terminal:
echo '. ~/FieldStation42/env/bin/activate' >> ~/.bashrc
To update FieldStation42 later, run this from inside the FieldStation42 folder:
git pull
Raspberry Pi Tips
Raspberry Pi works great with FieldStation42. A few things to know:
- Use Bookworm OS for best results. A fresh install is recommended. When using the Raspberry Pi Imager, click Choose OS, then select Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit). Trixie is now the default, so you'll need to scroll down and select the Bookworm version explicitly. Look for the release name in the description before writing.
- Trixie support is in progress. If video won't display, run these commands to create a config file that fixes it:
mkdir -p ~/.config/mpv
echo -e "vo=gpu\ngpu-api=opengl" > ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf
Next Step
You're all set up. Head over to Step 2: Add Station Content to start loading your videos.