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feat(install): Add pre-built wheel support for 32-bit ARM (Pi Zero W)

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Host pre-built dbus_fast wheel on GitHub Releases to significantly speed
up installation on 32-bit ARM devices like Raspberry Pi Zero W.

Changes:
- Created GitHub Release (armv6l-wheels-v1) with dbus_fast 2.44.5 wheel
  - Python 3.13 on ARMv6l architecture
  - 874KB wheel file saves ~20 minutes of compilation on Pi Zero W
  - Release URL: https://github.com/torlando-tech/ble-reticulum/releases/tag/armv6l-wheels-v1

- Modified install.sh to auto-download pre-built wheels:
  - Detects Python 3.13 on 32-bit ARM (armhf/armv6l/armv7l)
  - Downloads dbus_fast wheel from GitHub Releases
  - Falls back gracefully to source build if download fails
  - Saves ~20 minutes installation time on Pi Zero W

- Updated README.md with comprehensive documentation:
  - Added "Pre-built Wheels for Raspberry Pi Zero W" section
  - Documented automatic installation behavior
  - Provided manual installation instructions
  - Explained why pre-built wheels matter for low-power devices
  - Added quick reference in automated installation section

Time savings on Pi Zero W:
- Before: 15-30 minutes (compile dbus_fast C extensions from source)
- After: < 10 seconds (download and install pre-built wheel)

The installer now transparently optimizes for Pi Zero W while maintaining
compatibility with all other platforms.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
torlando-tech 2025-11-07 23:50:49 -05:00
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54
README.md
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@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ To skip this configuration (not recommended):
./install.sh --skip-experimental
```
**Pi Zero W Optimization**: The installer automatically detects Raspberry Pi Zero W (32-bit ARM with Python 3.13) and downloads pre-built wheels for packages with C extensions. This saves ~20 minutes of compilation time compared to building from source. See [Pre-built Wheels](#pre-built-wheels-for-raspberry-pi-zero-w) for details.
### Option B: Manual Installation
#### 1. Install System Dependencies
@ -338,6 +340,58 @@ pytest --cov=src/RNS/Interfaces --cov-report=html
For detailed development and testing guidelines, see [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) and [TESTING.md](TESTING.md).
## Pre-built Wheels for Raspberry Pi Zero W
To speed up installation on 32-bit ARM devices (Raspberry Pi Zero W, Pi 1, Pi 2), we provide pre-built wheels for packages with C extensions that would otherwise require lengthy compilation from source.
### Automatic Installation
The `install.sh` script **automatically detects** 32-bit ARM architecture with Python 3.13 and downloads pre-built wheels from [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/torlando-tech/ble-reticulum/releases/tag/armv6l-wheels-v1).
**Time savings:** ~20 minutes on Pi Zero W (avoids compiling C extensions)
### Available Wheels
| Package | Version | Python | Architecture | Size |
|---------|---------|--------|--------------|------|
| dbus_fast | 2.44.5 | 3.13 | ARMv6l | 874KB |
### Manual Installation
If you need to install wheels manually (e.g., in a custom Python environment):
```bash
# Download the wheel
wget https://github.com/torlando-tech/ble-reticulum/releases/download/armv6l-wheels-v1/dbus_fast-2.44.5-cp313-cp313-linux_armv6l.whl
# Install it
pip install dbus_fast-2.44.5-cp313-cp313-linux_armv6l.whl
```
### Building Your Own Wheels
If you need to build wheels for a different Python version on 32-bit ARM:
```bash
# Install build dependencies
sudo apt-get install python3-dev libdbus-1-dev pkg-config
# Build the wheel
pip wheel dbus_fast==2.44.5
# The wheel will be saved in the current directory
# You can then share it or install it on other devices
```
### Why Pre-built Wheels?
Python packages with C extensions (like `dbus_fast`) must be compiled from source when installing via pip if no compatible wheel is available on PyPI. On low-powered devices like the Pi Zero W:
- **Without pre-built wheel:** 15-30 minutes of compilation
- **With pre-built wheel:** < 10 seconds download and install
The automated installer makes this transparent - it "just works" faster on supported platforms.
## Automated Deployment
The repository includes a GitHub Actions workflow for automated deployment to Raspberry Pi devices after code changes.

29
install.sh
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@ -323,6 +323,35 @@ echo
# Step 3: Install Python dependencies
print_header "Installing Python Dependencies"
# Download pre-built wheels for 32-bit ARM (Pi Zero W optimization)
# Saves ~15-30 minutes of compilation time for packages with C extensions
if [[ "$ARCH" == "armhf" ]] || [[ "$(uname -m)" =~ ^(armv6l|armv7l)$ ]]; then
PYTHON_VER=$(python3 -c 'import sys; print(f"{sys.version_info.major}.{sys.version_info.minor}")' 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
if [[ "$PYTHON_VER" == "3.13" ]]; then
print_info "Python 3.13 on 32-bit ARM detected - downloading pre-built dbus_fast wheel..."
print_info "This saves ~20 minutes of compilation time on Pi Zero W"
WHEEL_URL="https://github.com/torlando-tech/ble-reticulum/releases/download/armv6l-wheels-v1/dbus_fast-2.44.5-cp313-cp313-linux_armv6l.whl"
WHEEL_FILE="/tmp/dbus_fast-armv6l-$$.whl"
if curl -sL "$WHEEL_URL" -o "$WHEEL_FILE" 2>/dev/null; then
if [ -f "$WHEEL_FILE" ] && [ -s "$WHEEL_FILE" ]; then
print_success "Pre-built dbus_fast wheel downloaded (874KB)"
pip_install "$WHEEL_FILE"
rm -f "$WHEEL_FILE"
print_success "dbus_fast installed from pre-built wheel"
else
print_warning "Download failed or file empty, will build from source if needed"
rm -f "$WHEEL_FILE"
fi
else
print_warning "Could not download pre-built wheel, will build from source if needed"
fi
echo
fi
fi
print_info "Installing pip packages (PyGObject, dbus-python, pycairo provided by system packages)"
if [ "$INSTALL_MODE" = "venv" ]; then