Cron in Moode

[nosferatu_cat]

I decided to make a temperature log to see if a Pi 4 running Moode 9.x needed a fan.  I had trouble getting vcgencmd to write to a file using a cron job.  I tried a variety of approaches that all worked from the command line.  It turned out that cron was not running on my Pi. As soon as I restarted cron things worked. Is this a default in Moode or did I encounter an anomaly?

[Tim Curtis]

Yes, cron is disabled by default

Code:

pi@moode9:~ $ systemctl status cron
○ cron.service - Regular background program processing daemon
    Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/cron.service; disabled; preset: enabled)
    Active: inactive (dead)
      Docs: man:cron(8)
pi@moode9:~ $

[nosferatu_cat]

FWIW, It looks like I don't need a fan. A couple of hours of playing music resulted in a CPU and GPU temp around 71C. This pi sits in a wooden craft box about the size of a large cigar box along with a Pi 5 and a Khadas Tone Board. I'm using the box to hide the cables on my bedside table. Also in the box is an RCA selector switch that goes between the output of the tone board and the output of the DAC dongle I use when watching video on my tablet.

[nosferatu_cat]

Yes, cron is disabled by default

Code:

pi@moode9:~ $ systemctl status cron
○ cron.service - Regular background program processing daemon
    Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/cron.service; disabled; preset: enabled)
    Active: inactive (dead)
      Docs: man:cron(8)
pi@moode9:~ $

Thanks.  Am I in danger of doing anything harmful by having it running?

[Tim Curtis]

Yes, cron is disabled by default

Code:

pi@moode9:~ $ systemctl status cron
○ cron.service - Regular background program processing daemon
    Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/cron.service; disabled; preset: enabled)
    Active: inactive (dead)
      Docs: man:cron(8)
pi@moode9:~ $

Thanks.  Am I in danger of doing anything harmful by having it running?

Not that I know of but I hope you have some air vents in the enclosure because 71C is pretty hot.

[nosferatu_cat]

Yes, cron is disabled by default

Code:

pi@moode9:~ $ systemctl status cron
○ cron.service - Regular background program processing daemon
    Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/cron.service; disabled; preset: enabled)
    Active: inactive (dead)
      Docs: man:cron(8)
pi@moode9:~ $

Thanks.  Am I in danger of doing anything harmful by having it running?

Not that I know of but I hope you have some air vents in the enclosure because 71C is pretty hot.

Yes.  There are a bunch of holes.  One side has 4 round ones the diameter equal to slightly less than the height of the box and the back has a rectangular cut out between the hinges that accommodates the wires and has quite a bit of unoccupied space.  I just checked and the Pi 5 in the box, which is idling and has the active cooler, is at 57 C.  Do you think running at 71 could be a problem long term?  I know the throttling temperature is 80.  I could install a fan on the Pi 4 and set both to turn on the fan at a lower temp.

[Daksha]

FWIW, It looks like I don't need a fan.  A couple of hours of playing music resulted in a CPU and GPU temp around 71C.  This pi sits in a wooden craft box about the size of a large cigar box along with a Pi 5 and a Khadas Tone Board.  I'm using the box to hide the cables on my bedside table.  Also in the box is an RCA selector switch that goes between the output of the tone board and the output of the DAC dongle I use when watching video on my tablet.

71° is in the operating range of the RPI4, but it's quite hot and I don't know if in the longterm that will be good for your RPI.
If the box is big enought I would consider a fan, attached to (and activated by) the hottest device.
Consider that a RPI4 running MoOde in a passive cooling case like the one in the picture, barely reaches 45°.