Balena sense release 2.0.0 -> 1.9.9 downgrade

Hi, how can we downgrade a pi3+ / balene sense 2.0.0 to an other release (1.9.9) ? building the SD card image in balena.io will automatically built balena os with the latest release of sense… what have i to do for using an older release ? thank you

Hello @alainK welcome to the forums!

first of all, I would like to know why do you need to downgrade balena sense 2.0.0 to 1.9.9. Could you please tell us more?

If you already released the previous version, you can go to all the releases and pin your devices to previous releases. You can read more here Release policy - Balena Documentation

Hello and thank you,

Till the 2.0.0v, air quality reading is no more supported, only raw values are displayed :
" The indoor air quality (IAQ) readings in previous versions of balenaSense were dependent on propriatery software that had recurring breaking changes. On multiple occasions, the entire project was broken while new changes were investigated and merged. In addition, to obtain accurate air quality readings on the BME680, specific burn in procedures are required that balenaSense did not support. For these reasons, air quality readings are no longer a part of balenaSense."…

And unfortunately, i destroyed my previous balena-sense application and can’t pin my device to a previous release…
I had a look at balena CLI, is this the way to go ? thanks

Hi Alain, you are correct, the IAQ functionality had caused us issues in the past, apologies for removing it in this version. To answer your question though, you could definitely still build an older version and push it to your device. Looking here, I can see 1.9.9 was released December 15, 2020, and has a branch of bf0f581 – Releases · balenalabs/balena-sense · GitHub

Now looking at the full repo here GitHub - balenalabs/balena-sense at bf0f581f1c38e8606355db443e48518f0404abea, we could do a normal balena push on that like so:

  1. Ensure you have installed balena CLI: balena-cli/INSTALL.md at master · balena-io/balena-cli · GitHub
  2. Run a git clone https://github.com/balenalabs/balena-sense.git -b bf0f581f1c38e8606355db443e48518f0404abea
  3. Run cd balena-sense
  4. Run balena push TheNameOfYourAppInBalenaDashboardHere

This will take a little while to build and push the containers, but it will revert you to 1.9.9 on your device once it completes. :slight_smile:

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Be sure to let me know if that works, by the way! If not, we’ll do some troubleshooting and get you back in action. :slight_smile:

@dtischler : thank you

Hello again, i am confused the remote branch couldn’t be found ? i copied your address and tried too directly copy frrom the 1.9.9 branch too (git clone https://github.com/balenalabs/balena-sense.git -b bf0f581f1c38e8606355db443e48518f0404abea) :

windfall@Mac-mini-de-Windfall ~ % git clone https://github.com/balenalabs/balena-sense.git -b bf0f581f1c38e8606355db443e48518f0404abea
Cloning into ‘balena-sense’…
fatal: Remote branch bf0f581f1c38e8606355db443e48518f0404abea not found in upstream origin

Balena CLI is correctly installed, terminal info :
Last login: Sat Jun 26 16:13:37 on ttys000
windfall@Mac-mini-de-Windfall ~ % balena version
12.44.20
windfall@Mac-mini-de-Windfall ~ % balena help
USAGE
$ balena [COMMAND] [OPTIONS]

PRIMARY COMMANDS
login login to balena
push start a build

any idea ? thanks again… alain

@alainK I can confirm that I’m seeing the same results you are when attempting the command above:

$ git clone https://github.com/balenalabs/balena-sense.git -b bf0f581f1c38e8606355db443e48518f0404abea
Cloning into 'balena-sense'...
fatal: Remote branch bf0f581f1c38e8606355db443e48518f0404abea not found in upstream origin

It turns out I’ve had this repo cloned for quite some time (I was testing in another directory) – so I went into my existing repo folder, and did a $ git branch -a – and don’t seem to find a branch that matches the full name shown above. Yet, when I ‘click the link’ provided by @mpous – sure enough, I land at GitHub and appear to be in that ‘branch’. Could it be a specific ‘commit’ rather than a branch? Y’all would certainly know better than I.

Finally - I share @alainK 's desire to retain the build that provides the AQI readings. Now, if only I could restore the connection between Balena Sense and Home Assistant! :smiley: And build a decent dashboard. And restore my Ambient Weather station objects… and – get a clue. :smiley:

One day and one learning at a time!

Peace,
Billy


i am trying to burn jetson nano OS image By formatting my card through "
SD Memory Card Formatter for Windows Download | SD Association "

can you plz help me to solve this issue…

Hi @abari

I believe you have already created a separate thread for your issue, let’s continue the discussion there : Slow image burn issue

@alanb128 and I were discussing this, and there is more going on under the hood than we originally thought. Apparently Bosche (the B in BME680) made some changes and has pulled one of the needed files, and it’s replacement file is not compatible. So even if we figure out why that git clone isn’t working, the actual project may not build properly anyways. :frowning: That was one of the motivating factors to build and release v2.

:disappointed_relieved:… do you think you will attempt to reintegrate to Bosch software in a future release or should we

turn our attention to another way to render the information of the BME680 ?
Or could you give me an advice of what kind of sensor could replace the BME680 that give us an

air quality information and is totally compatible with your Balena-sense ? ( your solution was really the best looking solution available…)

Anyway, thanks for your attention and best regards, Alain

Hello Alain, there is currently no other sensor compatible with balenaSense v2 that provides air quality data. However, balenaSense v2 does read the “resistance” value which the air quality score is based on. The Bosch software was basically using an algorithm to determine air quality using the resistance and other measurements. We’re looking at integrating open source options (such as this: bme680-python/indoor-air-quality.py at master · pimoroni/bme680-python · GitHub) to restore that information to balenaSense.

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Ok, for now i’ll stay with the gas resistance readings and keep attention on the progress made in Balena_sense v.2

Last request : could you verify the effect of the Balenasense_altitude environnement variable in the 2.1 release, i obtain no change in pressure readings when adjusting the altitude ?

Again, thanks for your attention and best regards, Alain

All makes perfect sense - and I understand and support your desire to move to open source alternatives. Let me know if you need any test subjects for a beta build. :slight_smile:

Thanks again for the transparency and insights.

Cheers!