Blog of Finster

Enabling mod_rewrite in Apache under Ubuntu Server

finster — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 15:04:55 +0000

Here’s some quick instructions on enabling mod_rewrite in Apache under Ubuntu 10.04 Server.

sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo vi /etc/apache2/sites-available/default
Change “AllowOverride” from “None” to “all” for the /var/www directory.
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

That’s it!

Arduino with Sparkfun 7-segment Serial Display

finster — Wed, 18 May 2011 21:17:25 +0000

Here’s a quick example of getting an Arduino working with a Sparkfun 7-Segment Serial Display. This short example just counts up from zero to 9999.

Connections

Arduino 5v pin to “VCC” on LED module
Arduino GND pin to “GND” on LED module
Arduino TX pin to “RX” on LED module

Source Code

int i = 1; char buf[12];


void setup() {

  Serial.begin(9600);

  Serial.print("v");

}
void loop() {
  sprintf(buf, "%04d", i);

  Serial.print(buf);

if(i<9999) i++; delay(1000); }

Installing Peerguardian Linux on Ubuntu 10.10

finster — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 23:09:04 +0000

Here are some quick notes on how to install pgl under Ubuntu 10.10.

1. Add the gpg key to the apt keyring: -

gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv 9C0042C8
gpg --export --armor 9C0042C8 | sudo apt-key add -

2. Add the repository sources to your /etc/apt/sources.list: -

vi /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/jre-phoenix/ppa/ubuntu maverick main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/jre-phoenix/ppa/ubuntu maverick main

3. Update packages & install pgl: -

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pgld pglcmd

(Answer the questions during installation process.

4. To check status: -

sudo pglcmd status

Checking video codec information via the command-line

finster — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 23:04:36 +0000

Here are a couple of commands to get he information about a video file in Linux (bitrate etc): -

 ffmpeg -i foo.avi

 mplayer -vo null -ao null -identify -frames 0 foo.avi

VirtualBox piix4_smbus Error

finster — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:00:23 +0000

VirtualBox 3.2.10 gives me the following error message when booting Ubuntu 10.10: -

piix4_smbus 0000.00.07.0: SMBus base address uninitialized - upgrade bios or use force_addr=0xaddr

This error is caused by VM having no smbus but Ubuntu always trying to load the module. It doesn’t affect anything but is a bit annoying – to fix: -

1. Check module is being loaded: -

lsmod | grep i2c_piix4

2. If so, blacklist it in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf, by adding the following to the end of the file :-

blacklist i2c_piix4

3. Update the initramfs

update-initramfs -u -k all

Serial connection to Seagate Dockstar via FTDI USB-Serial Cable

finster — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 20:44:48 +0000

Here’s a quick summary of how to use a FTDI data cable to connect to a Seagate Dockstar.

Requirements

Xbox 360 DVD power cable ( http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.42313 )
Strip of 5 male header pins ( http://www.oomlout.co.uk/male-header-36-pin-x4-p-254.html )
FTDI USB-Serial cable ( http://www.oomlout.co.uk/usb-serial-cable-33v-p-232.html )

Making the Connector

Cut the cable of the Xbox power connector in half.
You’re interested in the 3 pins at the top left (looking from behind), so seperate these and strip them.
Snap a strip of male header pins so that you have 5 pins. Remove pins #2 and #3
Solder the top left-most pin (GND) to header pin #1
Solder the top next pin (TX) to pin #5
Solder the top third pin (RX) to pin #4

Connecting

Plug pin #1 of the header pins into the socket to connect to the black cable of the USB-serial cable
(this will mean that pin #4 goes to the orange, and #5 to yellow)
Open your dockstar and plug the xbox connector onto the header pins (if you orientate your dockstar so the header pins are at
the top, the xbox top-left wire connects to the dockstar top-left pin)
Plug in your USB-serial cable to your PC
Open putty and use the following connection settings: -
Serial Serial line: COM5 (or whatever COM port the USB-serial adapter has) Speed: 115200 Data bits: 8 Stop bits: 1 Parity: none Flow control: none
Click “Open” in putty
Power up the Dockstar
Watch the putty window – the boot-up messages should appear.

Connecting an Arduino to a Seagate Dockstar

finster — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 19:21:50 +0000

Here’s a quick summary of how to connect your arduino to a Seagate Dockstar.

Checking connection

1. Install Plugbox Linux on the Dockstar (via http://plugapps.com/index.php5?title=PlugApps:Pogoplug_Setboot )

2. Plug in arduino to Dockstar via USB cable

3. Check arduino recognised

[root@Plugbox ~]# dmesg
The bottom lines should look something like: -

[ 126.200168] usb 1-1.3: new full speed USB device using orion-ehci and address 4 [ 126.382290] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial [ 126.382974] USB Serial support registered for generic [ 126.383709] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial_generic [ 126.383722] usbserial: USB Serial Driver core [ 126.401088] USB Serial support registered for FTDI USB Serial Device [ 126.401283] ftdi_sio 1-1.3:1.0: FTDI USB Serial Device converter detected [ 126.401569] usb 1-1.3: Detected FT232RL [ 126.401582] usb 1-1.3: Number of endpoints 2 [ 126.401592] usb 1-1.3: Endpoint 1 MaxPacketSize 64 [ 126.401601] usb 1-1.3: Endpoint 2 MaxPacketSize 64 [ 126.401610] usb 1-1.3: Setting MaxPacketSize 64 [ 126.402330] usb 1-1.3: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB0 [ 126.403067] usbcore: registered new interface driver ftdi_sio [ 126.403080] ftdi_sio: v1.6.0:USB FTDI Serial Converters Driver

4. Check which device to use

[root@Plugbox ~]# ls -ltr /dev/ttyU* crw-rw---- 1 root uucp 188, 0 Oct 29 13:17 /dev/ttyUSB0

Communication via Command Line

1. Configure serial port (taken from http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Interfacing/LinuxTTY)

[root@Plugbox ~]# stty -F /dev/ttyUSB0 cs8 19200 ignbrk -brkint -icrnl -imaxbel -opost -onlcr -isig -icanon -iexten -echo -echoe -echok -echoctl -echoke noflsh -ixon -crtscts
(19200 should match the baud rate set via Serial.begin(XXXX) in the arduino program)

2. Read data from arduino: -

[root@Plugbox ~]# cat /dev/ttyUSB0
3. Send data to arduino: -

[root@Plugbox ~]# echo "Hello Arduino" > /dev/ttyUSB0

Communication via Minicom

1. Install minicom

[root@Plugbox ~]# pacman -Sy minicom
2. Fire up minicom

[root@Plugbox ~]# minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 19200

Creating EFI String for Asus 8400GS Silent

finster — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:58:00 +0000

There are a number of ways of getting your graphics card working within OS X (in order of difficulty) : -

Adding “GraphicsEnabler=Yes” to Chameleon /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist
Adding EFI string to Chameleon /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist
Using an injector such as NVInject or NVEnabler
Patching your DSDT file

The first one didn’t work for my Asus Silent EN8400GS, so here’s how I generated and added an EFI string.

First, install “gfxutil”

Next, get the location of your graphics card by entering the following: -
gfxutil -f display

You should get something back like this: -

DevicePath = PciRoot(0×1)/Pci(0×1,0×0)/Pci(0×0,0×0)

Next, create a file called “graphics.plist” which is the following (but put your settings in): -

PciRoot(0×1)/Pci(0×1,0×0)/Pci(0×0,0×0)

@0,compatible

NVDA,NVMac

@0,device_type

display

@0,name

NVDA,Display-A

@1,compatible

NVDA,NVMac

@1,device_type

display

@1,name

NVDA,Display-B

NVCAP

BAAAAAAAAwAEAAAAAAAABwAAAAA=

NVPM

AQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==

VRAM,totalsize

0×20000000

device_type

NVDA,Parent

model

nVidia Geforce 8400GS

name

display

rom-revision

nVidia Geforce 8400GS OpenGL Engine

Next you need to generate a hex string to be inserted – run the following command: -

gfxutil -i xml -o hex graphics.plist graphics.hex

This will create a “graphics.hex” file in the current directory.

Lastly, copy and paste this string into your /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist file in the following format: -

device-properties
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

Reboot and voila! You should have Quartz Extreme (QI) and Core Image (CI) enabled – open up Front Row, if it works then you’re done!

Sub-£200 Hackintosh

finster — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:56:41 +0000

Here are the specs of my soon-to-be-built hackintosh…

Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L iG31 Socket 775 mATX Motherboard
Manuf Code: GA-G31M-ES2L
£ 32.35

Intel Celeron Dual Core CPU – E1500 2.2 GHz (800 MHz) Socket 775 512kb Cache
Manuf Code: BX80557E1500
£ 34.63

Asus 8400GS Silent 512MB DDR2 DVI VGA Out PCI-E Graphics Card
Manuf Code: 8400GSILENTP512MA
£24.86

Crucial 2GB DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 RAM
Manuf Code: CT25664AA800
£ 34.00

Shiny Piano Black/Silver Slim MicroATX Mini Tower Case With 400W PSU
Manuf Code: 908BL
£ 31.05

Netgear GA311 PCI Network Card
Manuf Code: GA311-100PES
£ 16.49

Sony AD-5240S 24x Dual Layer SATA DVD±RW
Manuf Code: AD-5240S-0B
£ 15.30

TOTAL : £ 188.68

Ok, I’ve cheated a little bit – I already had an old 80GB SATA Hard Drive which I will use for this PC, but they can be picked up for around a tenner on ebay…

Installing Torrentflux on the Viglen MPC-L

finster — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:49:04 +0000

This is a quick guide to installing Torrentflux on my Viglen MPC-L.

First, make sure that python, mysql-server and mysql-client are installed.

Then simply install the software with apt-get: -

    sudo apt-get install torrentflux

Once it is installed, point your web browser at the following location (where a.b.c.d is the IP address of your Viglen).: -

http://a.b.c.d/torrentflux

…and then start uploading .torrent files to it.

By default, files are saved in the following location: -

    /var/cache/torrentflux/

By default, the ports used are 49160- 49300, so remember to open these on your firewall/router.