I've been successfully using wittypi4 with PiZ WH running Bookworm 32-bit lite for over a year.
I'm now trying to do the same with your latest wittypi5 product.
I've followed your excellent user guide after a clean installation of Bookworm 32-bit lite, to the point where the wittypi5 software is installed.
Below I have attached the output of the error I get during installation, and of course the wp5 application will not then run.
During this installation the wittypi5 is attached to the PiZ, and the wittypi5 is powered through its 5v USB C connector.
(The PiZ has no power source connected, therefore is powered only from the wittypi5).
I'd be grateful for your advice on whether this configuration and OS is supported with wittypi5.
Thanks, Matthew Butler (guldberg)
The error output is as follows:
(On my installation my pi user name and hostname are not as shown below).
pi@raspberrypi~$ wget https://www.uugear.com/repo/WittyPi5/wp5_latest.deb
--2025-09-26 08:16:40-- https://www.uugear.com/repo/WittyPi5/wp5_latest.deb
Resolving www.uugear.com (www.uugear.com)... 94.177.9.213
Connecting to www.uugear.com (www.uugear.com)|94.177.9.213|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 19508 (19K) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: ‘wp5_latest.deb’
wp5_latest.deb 100%[==================================================================>] 19.05K --.-KB/s in 0.03s
2025-09-26 08:16:41 (582 KB/s) - ‘wp5_latest.deb’ saved [19508/19508]
pi@raspberrypi:~$ sudo apt install ./wp5_latest.deb
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Note, selecting 'wp5:arm64' instead of './wp5_latest.deb'
The following NEW packages will be installed:
wp5:arm64
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/19.5 kB of archives.
After this operation, 113 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 /home/pi/wp5_latest.deb wp5 arm64 1.00 [19.5 kB]
Selecting previously unselected package wp5:arm64.
(Reading database ... 95084 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack /home/pi/wp5_latest.deb ...
Unpacking wp5:arm64 (1.00) ...
Setting up wp5:arm64 (1.00) ...
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/wp5d.service → /lib/systemd/system/wp5d.service.
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/poweroff.target.wants/wp5d_poweroff.service → /lib/systemd/system/wp5d_poweroff.service.
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/reboot.target.wants/wp5d_reboot.service → /lib/systemd/system/wp5d_reboot.service.
Starting Witty Pi 5 daemon...
Done
N: Download is performed unsandboxed as root as file '/home/pi/wp5_latest.deb' couldn't be accessed by user '_apt'. - pkgAcquire::Run (13: Permission denied)
pi@raspberrypi:~$
...and because of that last error wp5 doesn't execute:
pi@raspberrypi:~$ wp5
-bash: /usr/bin/wp5: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error
pi@raspberrypi:~$
The wp5_latest.deb package is for 64-bit OS, while you are using a 32-bit OS. That's why you see the "cannot execute binary file: Exec format error" message in the console.
The complete source code of the software is available on GitHub: https://github.com/uugear/Witty-Pi-5-Software
You may build your own 32-bit package in your 32-bit OS, which should run without problem.
UUGEAR - many thanks for your helpful reply to my earlier query.
Having reinstalled 64-bit Bookworm lite there is now progress, but I still get the "N Download is performed unsandboxed as root" error message as attached below, and would like to understand why this is happening.
However, the wp5 package is now working, and gives the list of menu items as detailed in your user guide.
Even better, now that my schedule.wpi file is installed, the wittypi 5 is now correctly controlling the on/off cycles of the PiZ.
I'm using the wittypi 5 in a remote wildlife camera system powered by a 12v car battery, and with nighttime-only operation using infra-red illumination, I'm able to get up to three months operation from one battery charge.
In the past I've observed that recording video on a 64-bit OS on PIZ can sometimes result in choppy video because the PIZ may not be quite powerful enough. If I wanted to build the 32-bit wp5 package from your source on github, how would I specify 32-bit rather than 64-bit during the Make process ?
Regards, Matthew Butler (guldberg)
This is the output from installing wp5 on a 64-bit Bookworm lite PiZ WH:
pi@raspberrypi:~$ sudo apt install ./wp5_latest.deb
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Note, selecting 'wp5' instead of './wp5_latest.deb'
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
libunwind8 rpicam-apps-lite
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following NEW packages will be installed:
wp5
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/19.5 kB of archives.
After this operation, 113 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 /home/pi/wp5_latest.deb wp5 arm64 1.00 [19.5 kB]
Selecting previously unselected package wp5.
(Reading database ... 79817 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack /home/pingle/wp5_latest.deb ...
Unpacking wp5 (1.00) ...
Setting up wp5 (1.00) ...
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/wp5d.service → /lib/systemd/system/wp5d.service.
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/poweroff.target.wants/wp5d_poweroff.service → /lib/systemd/system/wp5d_poweroff.service.
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/reboot.target.wants/wp5d_reboot.service → /lib/systemd/system/wp5d_reboot.service.
Starting Witty Pi 5 daemon...
Done
N: Download is performed unsandboxed as root as file '/home/pi/wp5_latest.deb' couldn't be accessed by user '_apt'. - pkgAcquire::Run (13: Permission denied)
pi@raspberrypi:~$
The message you're seeing, "N: Download is performed unsandboxed as root...", is not an error but a warning. It means the system's package manager, apt, needed to use a higher level of access (root) to install the software because the file was in a private folder (e.g. /home/pi, /lib/systemd/system).
In short, the installation completed successfully despite this warning. There is no need for concern; the device is working as expected.