Ongoing REM 8.3.0 Challenges

[FlaMike]

I have been trying to get REM to successfully start for several days with minmal success. As you can see in the screen snippet below, I'm running npm 10.8.2 and node 20.20.1. Whether or not I do an "npm audit fix" (not with a --force switch), it appears at first the server starts up & is listening, and then REM has errors, dies, tries to restart & repeats the process until I finally kill the process (if it's started with PM2).

There seems to be some issue with the GpioController.initPin, but I have no idea what may be causiing it or how to remedy the problem.

Please help!

Thank you!!!!

michael@nixie:/relayEquipmentManager $ npm -v
10.8.2
michael@nixie:/relayEquipmentManager $ node -v
v20.20.1
michael@nixie:~/relayEquipmentManager $ npm i

up to date, audited 429 packages in 6s

96 packages are looking for funding
run npm fund for details

2 high severity vulnerabilities

To address all issues (including breaking changes), run:
npm audit fix --force

Run npm audit for details.
michael@nixie:~/relayEquipmentManager $ npm start

relay-equipment-manager@8.3.0 start
npm run build && node dist/app.js

relay-equipment-manager@8.3.0 build
tsc

linux
[23/03/2026, 13:26:46] info: Starting up SSDP server
[23/03/2026, 13:26:46] info: GPIO interface is accessible via onoff module
[23/03/2026, 13:26:46] info: Initializing GPIO Pins 1
[23/03/2026, 13:26:46] info: Configuring Pin #32 Gpio #12:low on Header 1 Edge: none. {"activeLow":false,"reconfigureDirection":false}
[23/03/2026, 13:26:47] info: Server is now listening on 0.0.0.0:8080
Error: EINVAL: invalid argument, write
at Object.writeFileSync (node:fs:2380:20)
at exportGpio (/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/onoff/onoff.js:18:8)
at new Gpio (/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/onoff/onoff.js:172:36)
at GpioController.initPin (/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/gpio/Gpio-Controller.ts:243:36)
at GpioController.initPins (/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/gpio/Gpio-Controller.ts:282:28)
at GpioController.init (/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/gpio/Gpio-Controller.ts:162:14)
at /home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/app.ts:22:45
at processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
michael@nixie:/relayEquipmentManager $ i2cdetect -y 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f
00: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
10: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
20: -- -- -- -- -- -- 26 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2d -- --
30: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
40: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 48 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
50: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
60: -- -- 62 63 -- -- -- -- -- -- 6a -- -- -- -- --
70: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
michael@nixie:/relayEquipmentManager $

---

BTW, I just re-ran your suggested fix from last week, screen scrape below. No love, still the same error as above:

michael@nixie:/relayEquipmentManager $ rm -rf node_modules dist
npm cache verify
Cache verified and compressed (/.npm/_cacache)
Content verified: 1151 (110984700 bytes)
Content garbage-collected: 45 (28649809 bytes)
Index entries: 1151
Finished in 20.723s
michael@nixie:~/relayEquipmentManager $ npm ci
npm warn deprecated eslint-plugin-standard@5.0.0: standard 16.0.0 and eslint-config-standard 16.0.0 no longer require the eslint-plugin-standard package. You can remove it from your dependencies with 'npm rm eslint-plugin-standard'. More info here: standard/standard#1316

added 428 packages, and audited 429 packages in 1m

96 packages are looking for funding
run npm fund for details

2 high severity vulnerabilities

To address all issues (including breaking changes), run:
npm audit fix --force

Run npm audit for details.
michael@nixie:~/relayEquipmentManager $ npm ls node-ssdp ip
node -e "require('ip'); require('node-ssdp'); console.log('ip + node-ssdp OK')"
relay-equipment-manager@8.3.0 /home/michael/relayEquipmentManager
└─┬ node-ssdp@4.0.1
└── ip@1.1.9

ip + node-ssdp OK
michael@nixie:~/relayEquipmentManager $ npm run build
npm start

relay-equipment-manager@8.3.0 build
tsc

relay-equipment-manager@8.3.0 start
npm run build && node dist/app.js

relay-equipment-manager@8.3.0 build
tsc

linux
[23/03/2026, 14:40:31] info: Starting up SSDP server
[23/03/2026, 14:40:32] info: GPIO interface is accessible via onoff module
[23/03/2026, 14:40:32] info: Initializing GPIO Pins 1
[23/03/2026, 14:40:32] info: Configuring Pin #32 Gpio #12:low on Header 1 Edge: none. {"activeLow":false,"reconfigureDirection":false}
[23/03/2026, 14:40:32] info: Server is now listening on 0.0.0.0:8080
Error: EINVAL: invalid argument, write
at Object.writeFileSync (node:fs:2380:20)
at exportGpio (/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/onoff/onoff.js:18:8)
at new Gpio (/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/onoff/onoff.js:172:36)
at GpioController.initPin (/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/gpio/Gpio-Controller.ts:243:36)
at GpioController.initPins (/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/gpio/Gpio-Controller.ts:282:28)
at GpioController.init (/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/gpio/Gpio-Controller.ts:162:14)
at /home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/app.ts:22:45
at processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
michael@nixie:~/relayEquipmentManager $

[FlaMike]

Had a session with ChatGPT reproduced below in part. I am going to flash Bookworm, try running njs PC et al on Bookworm & report back. If Chatgpt is correct, it sounds like some code changes may be needed to suport newer Pi OS versions (such as Trixie, in my case). Just trying to close the loop...

📌 Quick summary

Run:

cat /etc/os-release
Look for:
bullseye → you're good
bookworm → that’s your problem

If you paste the output here, I’ll confirm it for you and tell you exactly what to do next.

michael@nixie:~ $ cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)"
NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="13"
VERSION="13 (trixie)"
VERSION_CODENAME=trixie
DEBIAN_VERSION_FULL=13.2
ID=raspbian
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/RaspbianForums"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/RaspbianBugs"

There it is — this explains everything clearly:

VERSION="13 (trixie)"
🔴 What you’re running

You’re on:

Raspbian 13 (Trixie)

This is newer than Bookworm and even more strict about GPIO.

🚨 Why your GPIO is failing

In Trixie:

❌ /sys/class/gpio (sysfs GPIO) is effectively dead
❌ Writes to /sys/class/gpio/export return EINVAL (exactly what you saw)
✅ Only libgpiod (gpiochip) is supported

Your app depends on:

onoff → sysfs GPIO

👉 That stack is no longer supported at all on your OS.

🧠 Translation in plain terms
Your hardware is fine ✅
Your code is fine ✅
Your OS is too new for your GPIO library ❌
✅ Your options (clear and practical)
🥇 Option 1 — Downgrade OS (fastest, zero code changes)

Install:

Raspberry Pi OS Lite (Bullseye / version 11)

This will:

Restore /sys/class/gpio
Make onoff work immediately
Require no code changes
🥈 Option 2 — Update your code (future-proof)

Replace:

onoff

With:

gpiod (modern, matches your OS)
or pigpio

👉 This is the correct long-term solution, but requires code changes.

🥉 Option 3 — Try to re-enable sysfs (not recommended)

On Trixie, this is basically gone. Even if you try:

sudo modprobe gpio_sysfs

👉 It will not fix your issue

🔥 Recommendation (based on your use case)

Since you’re running a pool relay controller (stability matters more than being cutting-edge):

👉 Go with:

✅ Raspberry Pi OS Lite (Bullseye)

Headless ✔
Stable ✔
Compatible with onoff ✔
No rewrite needed ✔
🧭 Bottom line

👉 Your error is 100% caused by running Trixie (Debian 13)
👉 That OS removed support for the GPIO method your app uses

[tagyoureit]

First off... NEVER run npm audit of any variety. That only leads to dark alleys at night where bad things happen.

Second, I'll need to look at the code and see what it will take to support Trixie. I would downgrade for now and I'll take a look at this.

[FlaMike]

That's my plan--just installed nvm 20 & am about to clone rem & build it. No npm audit commands will be run!! Hoping thye chat session is correct. I'm not trying to be a pain or create more work for you, honestly!

[FlaMike]

Currnently looking promising with Bullseye. Not fully configured, but it's been a long day. Trying to get things going on an older software version has been interesting to say the least (for exmaple, the Pi thought it was 2023 & getting the correct time/date wasn't possible via the installed raspi-config. For some reason, updating repositories to versions that didn't exist 3 years ago was interesting to say the least.

The good news is all three programs appear to be getting along & talking to each other & the hardware. I'll continue the journey tomorrow (dinner awaits those of us in CST & my lovely wife is wondering where the heck I might be--in my office, of course!).

I never expected such a challenge. Thanks for your help & support along the way--you're the best!!!

[tagyoureit]

I did push up a few changes to support Trixie. But someone will need to test it out one day.

[FlaMike]

I'll be happy to give it a test drive & get back to you. (It may be a day or two before I can test the changes.) Are the updates in the default repository? If not, please let me know where to get them. Do I need to pull all three programs or just REM? Should I install 32 or 64 bit Trixie or does it not matter? (I'm currently running 32 bit on a 3B+.) Thanks for your swift code changes!!

…

On Wed, Mar 25, 2026, 11:50 PM tagyoureit ***@***.***> wrote: I did push up a few changes to support Trixie. But someone will need to test it out one day. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1165?email_source=notifications&email_token=AJ3NIBHEHQZTPTZ47Y2GJP34SSZIFA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNRTGIYTAOJUUZZGKYLTN5XKMYLVORUG64VFMV3GK3TUVRTG633UMVZF6Y3MNFRWW#discussioncomment-16321094>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AJ3NIBASTCIORKHI73JHKMT4SSZIFAVCNFSM6AAAAACW4PTZBKVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTMMZSGEYDSNA> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: <tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController/repo-discussions/1165/comments/16321094@ github.com>

[tagyoureit]

Just pull all 3 to be up to date. And either 32 or 64-bit should be fine.

[FlaMike]

Will do, from the "normal" repositories. I realized it was a foolish question, since it's going to be a clean install with a fresh OS. Nothing to be saved from my current installation (Doh!). I will do a backup & restore for my current system's config files. Should speed up my testing. I'll let you know how it goes.

[FlaMike]

Installed Trixie 32bit lite, did OS updates & upgrades, installed npm & git, setup SPI, serial port (no terminal), & i2c, & restarted Pi, pulled relayequipmentmanager repository & tried to do npm i, got a boatload of errors, as below:

michael@nixie:/relayEquipmentManager $ npm -v
10.8.2
michael@nixie:/relayEquipmentManager $ node -v
v20.20.2

michael@nixie:~/relayEquipmentManager $ npm i
npm warn deprecated eslint-plugin-standard@5.0.0: standard 16.0.0 and eslint-config-standard 16.0.0 no longer require the eslint-plugin-standard package. You can remove it from your dependencies with 'npm rm eslint-plugin-standard'. More info here: standard/standard#1316
npm warn cleanup Failed to remove some directories [
npm warn cleanup [
npm warn cleanup '/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/spi-device',
npm warn cleanup [Error: ENOTEMPTY: directory not empty, rmdir '/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/spi-device'] {
npm warn cleanup errno: -39,
npm warn cleanup code: 'ENOTEMPTY',
npm warn cleanup syscall: 'rmdir',
npm warn cleanup path: '/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/spi-device'
npm warn cleanup }
npm warn cleanup ],
npm warn cleanup [
npm warn cleanup '/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules',
npm warn cleanup [Error: ENOTEMPTY: directory not empty, rmdir '/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/spi-device'] {
npm warn cleanup errno: -39,
npm warn cleanup code: 'ENOTEMPTY',
npm warn cleanup syscall: 'rmdir',
npm warn cleanup path: '/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/spi-device'
npm warn cleanup }
npm warn cleanup ]
npm warn cleanup ]
npm error code 1
npm error path /home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/@bratbit/onoff
npm error command failed
npm error command sh -c node-gyp rebuild
npm error make: Entering directory '/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/@bratbit/onoff/build'
npm error CC(target) Release/obj.target/gpiod-wrap/src/libgpiod_wrap.o
npm error make: Leaving directory '/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/@bratbit/onoff/build'
npm error gyp info it worked if it ends with ok
npm error gyp info using node-gyp@10.1.0
npm error gyp info using node@20.20.2 | linux | arm
npm error gyp info find Python using Python version 3.13.5 found at "/usr/bin/python3"
npm error gyp info spawn /usr/bin/python3
npm error gyp info spawn args [
npm error gyp info spawn args '/home/michael/.nvm/versions/node/v20.20.2/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/gyp/gyp_main.py',
npm error gyp info spawn args 'binding.gyp',
npm error gyp info spawn args '-f',
npm error gyp info spawn args 'make',
npm error gyp info spawn args '-I',
npm error gyp info spawn args '/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/@bratbit/onoff/build/config.gypi',
npm error gyp info spawn args '-I',
npm error gyp info spawn args '/home/michael/.nvm/versions/node/v20.20.2/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/addon.gypi',
npm error gyp info spawn args '-I',
npm error gyp info spawn args '/home/michael/.cache/node-gyp/20.20.2/include/node/common.gypi',
npm error gyp info spawn args '-Dlibrary=shared_library',
npm error gyp info spawn args '-Dvisibility=default',
npm error gyp info spawn args '-Dnode_root_dir=/home/michael/.cache/node-gyp/20.20.2',
npm error gyp info spawn args '-Dnode_gyp_dir=/home/michael/.nvm/versions/node/v20.20.2/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp',
npm error gyp info spawn args '-Dnode_lib_file=/home/michael/.cache/node-gyp/20.20.2/<(target_arch)/node.lib',
npm error gyp info spawn args '-Dmodule_root_dir=/home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/@bratbit/onoff',
npm error gyp info spawn args '-Dnode_engine=v8',
npm error gyp info spawn args '--depth=.',
npm error gyp info spawn args '--no-parallel',
npm error gyp info spawn args '--generator-output',
npm error gyp info spawn args 'build',
npm error gyp info spawn args '-Goutput_dir=.'
npm error gyp info spawn args ]
npm error Package libgpiod was not found in the pkg-config search path.
npm error Perhaps you should add the directory containing libgpiod.pc' npm error to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable npm error Package 'libgpiod', required by 'virtual:world', not found npm error gyp info spawn make npm error gyp info spawn args [ 'BUILDTYPE=Release', '-C', 'build' ] npm error ../src/libgpiod_wrap.c:2:10: fatal error: gpiod.h: No such file or directory npm error 2 | #include <gpiod.h> npm error | ^~~~~~~~~ npm error compilation terminated. npm error make: *** [gpiod-wrap.target.mk:110: Release/obj.target/gpiod-wrap/src/libgpiod_wrap.o] Error 1 npm error gyp ERR! build error npm error gyp ERR! stack Error: make` failed with exit code: 2
npm error gyp ERR! stack at ChildProcess. (/home/michael/.nvm/versions/node/v20.20.2/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/lib/build.js:209:23)
npm error gyp ERR! System Linux 6.12.75+rpt-rpi-v7
npm error gyp ERR! command "/home/michael/.nvm/versions/node/v20.20.2/bin/node" "/home/michael/.nvm/versions/node/v20.20.2/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/bin/node-gyp.js" "rebuild"
npm error gyp ERR! cwd /home/michael/relayEquipmentManager/node_modules/@bratbit/onoff
npm error gyp ERR! node -v v20.20.2
npm error gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v10.1.0
npm error gyp ERR! not ok
npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: /home/michael/.npm/_logs/2026-03-27T20_00_29_822Z-debug-0.log

[tpfarr]

I've been running Trixie since it came out and got RelayEquipmentManager 8.3 working by cloning a fresh copy (not doing a pull from a previous version) and had no trouble with 64 bit Trixie on both a PI5 and a Pi Zero 2W. Been running for months now with no issues. Just opened the pool on April 3rd.

[FlaMike]

Wow!  Interesting.  I did a fresh pull of everything on a fresh Trixie 64 bit lite, didn't re-use configurations or anything from previous incarnations (rebuilt the world from scratch), njsPC 8.4.0, dashPanel 8.5.0, & REM 8.3.0.  Pulled node 20 to build the system.  Got the errors posted above.  Went back to Bookworm & didn't have issues.

…

On 4/14/26 10:22 AM, Thomas Pfarr wrote: I've been running Trixie since it came out and got RelayEquipmentManager 8.3 working by cloning a fresh copy (not doing a pull from a previous version) and had no trouble with 64 bit Trixie on both a PI5 and a Pi Zero 2W. Been running for months now with no issues. Just opened the pool on April 3rd. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1165 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AJ3NIBHEBSLEJLNKN6P6DET4VZJSNAVCNFSM6AAAAACW4PTZBKVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTMNJVHA3DEMQ>. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>