Sunday, 11 August 2013
Sunday, 1 April 2012
MidiBox Visual Metronome
It has been a while since my last post but I have been busy with lots of projects.
Here is just one of them :
More details here on the Midibox forum
Here is just one of them :
More details here on the Midibox forum
Saturday, 19 February 2011
1 Wire Networks Part3ish
Off topic but still relevant to the PCEngines Alix machine is a display-link USB monitor.
I purchased a Samsung U70 display some time ago but the old T1010 would not drive it, USB2.0 not availale. The Alix has USB2.0 so a bit of googling came up with the following links and it works nicely. Another purchase was a Rii mini wireless keyboard, these are on eBay and linitx.com, now I have a console attached to the Alix.
These links should at least point you in the right direction:
http://blogg.noonday.se/2010/01/28/linux-usb-video-adapter/
http://mulchman.org/blog/?p=90
http://plugcomputer.org/plugforum/index.php?topic=343.5;wap2
http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/libdlo/2009-June/000125.html
http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,2073,2073,quote=1
http://mulchman.org/blog/?p=21
http://libdlo.freedesktop.org/wiki/HowTo
There was enough info to get my Samsung working, if I can so can you.
I purchased a Samsung U70 display some time ago but the old T1010 would not drive it, USB2.0 not availale. The Alix has USB2.0 so a bit of googling came up with the following links and it works nicely. Another purchase was a Rii mini wireless keyboard, these are on eBay and linitx.com, now I have a console attached to the Alix.
These links should at least point you in the right direction:
http://blogg.noonday.se/2010/01/28/linux-usb-video-adapter/
http://mulchman.org/blog/?p=90
http://plugcomputer.org/plugforum/index.php?topic=343.5;wap2
http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/libdlo/2009-June/000125.html
http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,2073,2073,quote=1
http://mulchman.org/blog/?p=21
http://libdlo.freedesktop.org/wiki/HowTo
There was enough info to get my Samsung working, if I can so can you.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
1 Wire Networks Part2 (goodbye T1010)
OK, so it's been a while but I've been having fun.
After trying for some time to get Fuse to work on the T1010 thin client, I gave up. The Fuse module refused to work with the pre-compiled Kernel and the re-compiled Kernel refused to boot. Fail!
So, what to do?
The answer was easy but a little expensive, linitx.com sell PCEngines boards so I went there and bought an Alix 1D mini ITX board. Check the linitx site for specs. I already use an Alix2C1 as a firewall running m0n0wall which, apart from firmware upgrades, has been running 24/7 for nearly 3 years with no problems.
The install took next to no time using the Debian 5.07 netinstall CD, see www.debian.org for details, and the rest of the configuration took a few days of head scratching. I write lots of notes and refer to google otherwise I would be stuffed. I now have OWFS (which needs Fuse), NTP and the Blitzortung tracker running with no problems. The old T1010 did most of this anyway. I have also switched the 2x40 LCD from the T1010 so I have LCDproc running on the Alix.
The 1 wire network has sensors from Hobby Boards and ones I have cobbled together myself. My favourite has to be the LCD driver from Hobby Boards. This allows an OWFS based system to write information to an LCD display over the 1 wire network, the reason for wanting to play with OWFS in the first place. Using a few bits of script I now have a display of all 1 wire sensor readings without the need for Digitemp or an SSH session into the Alix.
I could post my scripts here but instead, see the links below, there should be sufficient information there. Or leave a comment and I will post more.
It's a bit sad to not be using the T1010 any more, I will have to find another use for it. Perhaps I will try to get the sound working and use it as an internet radio. But that's a project for another day.
Script Links
See post number 5 here: http://www.cocoontech.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7632
Check the forum post here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/owfs/forums/forum/292717/topic/4019366
To change names in OWFS see here: http://owfs.org/index.php?page=aliases
After trying for some time to get Fuse to work on the T1010 thin client, I gave up. The Fuse module refused to work with the pre-compiled Kernel and the re-compiled Kernel refused to boot. Fail!
So, what to do?
The answer was easy but a little expensive, linitx.com sell PCEngines boards so I went there and bought an Alix 1D mini ITX board. Check the linitx site for specs. I already use an Alix2C1 as a firewall running m0n0wall which, apart from firmware upgrades, has been running 24/7 for nearly 3 years with no problems.
The install took next to no time using the Debian 5.07 netinstall CD, see www.debian.org for details, and the rest of the configuration took a few days of head scratching. I write lots of notes and refer to google otherwise I would be stuffed. I now have OWFS (which needs Fuse), NTP and the Blitzortung tracker running with no problems. The old T1010 did most of this anyway. I have also switched the 2x40 LCD from the T1010 so I have LCDproc running on the Alix.
The 1 wire network has sensors from Hobby Boards and ones I have cobbled together myself. My favourite has to be the LCD driver from Hobby Boards. This allows an OWFS based system to write information to an LCD display over the 1 wire network, the reason for wanting to play with OWFS in the first place. Using a few bits of script I now have a display of all 1 wire sensor readings without the need for Digitemp or an SSH session into the Alix.
I could post my scripts here but instead, see the links below, there should be sufficient information there. Or leave a comment and I will post more.
It's a bit sad to not be using the T1010 any more, I will have to find another use for it. Perhaps I will try to get the sound working and use it as an internet radio. But that's a project for another day.
Script Links
See post number 5 here: http://www.cocoontech.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7632
Check the forum post here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/owfs/forums/forum/292717/topic/4019366
To change names in OWFS see here: http://owfs.org/index.php?page=aliases
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
1 Wire Networks Part 1
Recently I have been looking at 1 Wire networks.
There are plenty of resources out there so a bit of googling is sure to whet your appetite.
The photo in the Blitzortung post shows 2 Cat5 cables coming out of the antenna housing, the blue is the pre-amplifier cable, the green is for a 1 wire temperature and humidity sensor. The sensor was bought from Hobby Boards.
I have been using Digitemp on the T1010 to monitor the temperature and humidity within the antenna enclosure.
This gives a display in text format:
Sep 21 16:00:58 Sensor 2 C: 26.41 F: 79.53 H: 22%
The next step is to implement OWFS and get the data on this page, hopefully a few other things like rainfall and wind speed/direction, a complete weather station in fact.
To interface to the 1 Wire network I built a DS9097U compatible I/F based on this post and added a Maxim MAX232 on the serial side to convert from RS232 to TTL levels.
More to follow on this subject later.
There are plenty of resources out there so a bit of googling is sure to whet your appetite.
The photo in the Blitzortung post shows 2 Cat5 cables coming out of the antenna housing, the blue is the pre-amplifier cable, the green is for a 1 wire temperature and humidity sensor. The sensor was bought from Hobby Boards.
I have been using Digitemp on the T1010 to monitor the temperature and humidity within the antenna enclosure.
This gives a display in text format:
Sep 21 16:00:58 Sensor 2 C: 26.41 F: 79.53 H: 22%
The next step is to implement OWFS and get the data on this page, hopefully a few other things like rainfall and wind speed/direction, a complete weather station in fact.
To interface to the 1 Wire network I built a DS9097U compatible I/F based on this post and added a Maxim MAX232 on the serial side to convert from RS232 to TTL levels.
More to follow on this subject later.
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Quick MIDI Thru box
After my last post I thought I would chuck this out as well.
I first made one of these a few years ago and it works very well. I found some information on a website that appears to have vanished so, I can't include a link here. This is a pretty standard way of doing this so I don't think I am stepping on anyone's toes here.
The inverter chip can be a 7404 or 7407, I personally use the 7407 as I have loads in my junk box. I have also used an AND gate with the inputs joined to make a non-inverting buffer. It depends on the Optoisolator as to whether the output is inverted or not. If it doesn't work try a different buffer chip. Breadboarding is the best way to find a configuration that works for you.
I first made one of these a few years ago and it works very well. I found some information on a website that appears to have vanished so, I can't include a link here. This is a pretty standard way of doing this so I don't think I am stepping on anyone's toes here.
The inverter chip can be a 7404 or 7407, I personally use the 7407 as I have loads in my junk box. I have also used an AND gate with the inputs joined to make a non-inverting buffer. It depends on the Optoisolator as to whether the output is inverted or not. If it doesn't work try a different buffer chip. Breadboarding is the best way to find a configuration that works for you.
The MIDI IN must not have a ground connected, the MIDI OUTs do have a ground on pin 2 even though this is not shown on the schematic. If you are in doubt about the way to connect a MIDI socket there is loads of information on the web, just ask Google. I would add it here but I can't remember off the top of my head.
As many outs can be added as you want, just add more inverters etc.
Embedding USB sticks
The Compaq T1010 used in my Blitzortung setup has a 1GB USB stick as the hard disk. OK it's not a new idea but it does have one drawback. How do you know if the stick is being accessed when it's inside of the machine?
To start with I soldered an additional LED across the one on the stick (take the stick out the case first). The first 1 worked for months with this arrangement but eventually something broke and the LED stopped working.
So after a bit of thought (and some inspiration from messing with a MIDI Thru box) I came up with the following circuit:
The PNP transistor can be any thing suitable e.g. BC212 for a single LED or a BD680 for loads of LEDs. R3 is the appropriate current limiting resistor for your choice of LED, 560R in my case. R1 acts as a current limiting resistor for both the 6N137 input and the USB stick's LED driver.
The circuit works fine with the stick's own LED in circuit or when it is removed, I left it in.
Please note: I will NOT be held responsible in any way for the use or misuse of the information presented here.
To start with I soldered an additional LED across the one on the stick (take the stick out the case first). The first 1 worked for months with this arrangement but eventually something broke and the LED stopped working.
So after a bit of thought (and some inspiration from messing with a MIDI Thru box) I came up with the following circuit:
The circuit works fine with the stick's own LED in circuit or when it is removed, I left it in.
Please note: I will NOT be held responsible in any way for the use or misuse of the information presented here.
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