Verifying Distiller system health

Comprehensive hardware and SDK testing to verify complete system health. This skill performs thorough validation of all Distiller components.

Overview

The system-verification skill provides complete system validation by testing all hardware components, SDK installation, user permissions, and AI models. It’s designed for setup validation, installation verification, and comprehensive health checks.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

Setting up new systems - Initial installation validation
Validating installations - After SDK updates or system changes
Debugging system-wide issues - Multiple components not working
Pre-deployment checks - Ensure everything works before production
Periodic health checks - Regular system maintenance

When NOT to Use

For simpler scenarios:

Single component issue → Use distiller-troubleshooting
Quick permission check → Use distiller-troubleshooting

Usage

/system-verification

The skill will perform a comprehensive test suite:

Verify Distiller SDK installation
Check all user permissions
Test I2C hardware (sensors, displays, etc.)
Verify SPI functionality
Test GPIO access
Validate camera hardware
Check audio devices (input/output)
Verify AI models (Piper TTS, Parakeet ASR)
Test system services
Generate comprehensive report

Test Categories

SDK Installation

Tests:

Distiller SDK package presence
Python package installation
Required binaries available
Library dependencies met

Example Output:

✅ SDK Installation
   - distiller-sdk: v1.2.3
   - Python package: Installed
   - Required binaries: Found
   - Dependencies: Complete

User Permissions

Tests:

i2c group membership
spi group membership
gpio group membership
video group membership
audio group membership
dialout group membership

Example Output:

✅ User Permissions
   - i2c: ✓
   - spi: ✓
   - gpio: ✓
   - video: ✓
   - audio: ✓
   - dialout: ✓

I2C Hardware

Tests:

I2C bus detection (/dev/i2c-*)
Device scanning
Communication test
Read/write verification

Example Output:

✅ I2C Hardware
   - Bus 1: Active
   - Devices found: 3
     - 0x48: Temperature sensor
     - 0x76: Barometric pressure
     - 0x3c: OLED display
   - Communication: OK

Camera Hardware

Tests:

Video device detection
Camera module recognition
rpicam-apps availability
Basic capture test

Example Output:

✅ Camera Hardware
   - Device: /dev/video0
   - Type: Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3
   - Resolution: 4608x2592
   - rpicam-apps: Installed
   - Test capture: Success

Audio Hardware

Tests:

ALSA installation
Playback devices
Capture devices
Sample rate support
Test recording
Test playback

Example Output:

✅ Audio Hardware
   - ALSA: Installed
   - Playback devices: 1
     - card 0: bcm2835 HDMI [bcm2835 HDMI]
   - Capture devices: 1
     - card 1: USB Audio [USB Audio Device]
   - Sample rates: 16000, 44100, 48000
   - Test recording: Success
   - Test playback: Success

AI Models

Tests:

Piper TTS installation
TTS model availability
Parakeet ASR installation
ASR model availability
ONNX runtime check
GPU acceleration check

Example Output:

✅ AI Models
   - Piper TTS: v1.0.0
     - Model: en_US-amy-medium
     - ONNX Runtime: Available
   - Parakeet ASR: v1.0.0
     - Model: parakeet-ctc-1.1b
     - VAD: Enabled
   - GPU Acceleration: Not available (CPU mode)

Technical Details

System Requirements

Minimum:

Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB RAM) or equivalent ARM64 device
Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit) or compatible Linux
Distiller SDK installed
16GB+ SD card/storage
Active internet connection (for model downloads)

Recommended:

Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB RAM)
32GB+ SD card
USB audio interface
Camera Module 3

Swap Configuration

The 4GB Distiller model ships with an increased swap size of 4GB, up from the Raspberry Pi OS default of 512MB. This change helps prevent crashes caused by excessive RAM usage during AI model inference and other memory-intensive operations.

Model	RAM	Default Swap	Distiller Swap
4GB Distiller	4GB	512MB	4GB

Swap is managed via dphys-swapfile. To verify your current swap size:

free -h

If you need to manually adjust the swap size, edit /etc/dphys-swapfile:

sudo nano /etc/dphys-swapfile
# Set CONF_SWAPSIZE=4096
sudo systemctl restart dphys-swapfile

Test Duration

Total verification time varies by system:

Quick scan: ~30 seconds (no hardware tests)
Standard: ~2-3 minutes (basic hardware tests)
Comprehensive: ~5-10 minutes (full validation with AI models)

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning	Action Required
0	All tests passed	System ready
1	Minor issues	Review warnings
2	Major failures	Fix critical issues
3	SDK not installed	Install Distiller SDK

Examples

Successful Verification

/system-verification

Output:

🔬 Running Comprehensive System Verification...

✅ SDK Installation (5/5 checks passed)
✅ User Permissions (6/6 checks passed)
✅ I2C Hardware (4/4 checks passed)
✅ SPI Hardware (2/2 checks passed)
✅ GPIO Access (3/3 checks passed)
✅ Camera Hardware (4/4 checks passed)
✅ Audio Hardware (6/6 checks passed)
✅ AI Models (5/5 checks passed)

═══════════════════════════════════════
VERIFICATION COMPLETE
═══════════════════════════════════════

Status: PASSED ✨
Total Tests: 35
Passed: 35
Failed: 0
Warnings: 0

Your Distiller system is fully operational!

Partial Failure

/system-verification

Output:

🔬 Running Comprehensive System Verification...

✅ SDK Installation (5/5 checks passed)
❌ User Permissions (5/6 checks passed)
   ⚠️  Not in 'i2c' group
✅ SPI Hardware (2/2 checks passed)
✅ GPIO Access (3/3 checks passed)
⚠️  Camera Hardware (3/4 checks passed)
   ⚠️  rpicam-apps not installed
✅ Audio Hardware (6/6 checks passed)
❌ AI Models (3/5 checks passed)
   ❌ Piper TTS model missing
   ❌ Parakeet ASR model missing

═══════════════════════════════════════
VERIFICATION COMPLETE
═══════════════════════════════════════

Status: FAILED ❌
Total Tests: 35
Passed: 29
Failed: 3
Warnings: 2

Issues Found:
1. User not in 'i2c' group
   Fix: sudo usermod -aG i2c $USER && reboot

2. rpicam-apps not installed
   Fix: sudo apt install rpicam-apps

3. AI models missing
   Fix: /system-verification --download-models

Command Options

Download Models

Download missing AI models:

/system-verification --download-models

This will:

Download Piper TTS models (~100MB)
Download Parakeet ASR models (~500MB)
Verify model integrity
Configure model paths

Quick Check

Skip hardware tests, only check software:

/system-verification --quick

Verbose Output

Show detailed test results:

/system-verification --verbose

Generate Report

Save results to file:

/system-verification --report /path/to/report.txt

Integration with Other Skills

System verification ensures other skills will work:

Before deployment - Verify everything before using other skills
After updates - Re-verify after system or SDK updates
Troubleshooting - Comprehensive view when debugging
Documentation - Generate system report for support

Best Practices

Run after installation - First thing after installing Distiller SDK
Run after updates - After OS updates, SDK updates, or hardware changes
Regular checks - Weekly or monthly verification runs
Document results - Save reports for system records
Fix issues promptly - Address failures before they cascade

Automated Verification

Startup Script

Run verification on boot:

# Add to /etc/rc.local or systemd service
/usr/local/bin/system-verification --quick --log /var/log/distiller-health.log

Cron Job

Schedule regular checks:

# Add to crontab
0 2 * * 0 /usr/local/bin/system-verification --report /var/log/distiller-weekly.log

CI/CD Integration

Integrate into deployment pipeline:

#!/bin/bash
# deploy.sh

echo "Verifying system before deployment..."
if ! system-verification --quick; then
    echo "System verification failed!"
    exit 1
fi

echo "Deploying application..."
# deployment commands here

Troubleshooting

Verification Takes Too Long

Use --quick flag to skip hardware tests
Check for slow I2C devices (disconnect temporarily)
Verify network connection for model downloads

False Failures

Some tests may fail on non-standard configurations
Custom hardware may not be recognized
Review manual checks for your specific setup

Model Download Fails

# Manual model download
wget https://distiller-models.com/piper-tts/en_US-amy-medium.tar.gz
tar -xzf en_US-amy-medium.tar.gz -C ~/.local/share/piper/voices/

wget https://distiller-models.com/parakeet-asr/parakeet-ctc-1.1b.tar.gz
tar -xzf parakeet-ctc-1.1b.tar.gz -C ~/.local/share/parakeet/models/

Overview

When to Use

When NOT to Use

Usage

Test Categories

SDK Installation

User Permissions

I2C Hardware

Camera Hardware

Audio Hardware

AI Models

Technical Details

System Requirements

Swap Configuration

Test Duration

Exit Codes

Examples

Successful Verification

Partial Failure

Command Options

Download Models

Quick Check

Verbose Output

Generate Report

Integration with Other Skills

Best Practices

Automated Verification

Startup Script

Cron Job

CI/CD Integration

Troubleshooting

Verification Takes Too Long

False Failures

Model Download Fails

See Also