OrangePI PC Android display on DVI monitor

So just got one of those OrangePI PC from ALI Express, it’s one of `rPi` compatible board that have Android 4.4 OS on it. (the other alternatives that I know are BananaPi and ODroid).  It’s based on Allwinner H3 processor and most of the OS are based on sunxi kernel

The first thing I do was scourging trough the forum and download Android 4.4 image base for it.

To install the Android image, AllWinner provide tool called `PhoenixCard` that is only available for Windows OS. (Android image is not `dd` able images – so you cannot use `dd` or `piBaker`)

Let me warn you that PhoenixCard is a weird beast (there’s a bug that cause it to intermittently fail) – and it need some compatible of card-reader hardware. So if you experience a lot of failures on burning images to microSD – try other card-reader hardwares (I try 3 types of card reader – a Sony card reader, mac card reader (using VM) and internal generic ASUS laptop card reader – the ASUS one works fine)

Plug the OPIPC to HDMI monitor – it works fine.

The thing is you cannot plug it to DVI monitor using HDMI-to-DVI converter because the HDCP protection is enabled by default – so to plug it to DVI monitor you will need to disable HDCP protection on it. There’s a lot of guide to fix it on the official forum – but most of the time it’s only for Linux based OS.

For Android you will need to go the extra miles.

1. Download the `linux sdk source code` for your hardware here  (see section Orange PI PC and find the one with linux sdk source code title). It’s a huge file – so prepare some Coffee.
2. Extract it into case-sensitive file system (I use VM with ubuntu 14.04 on my Mac, ext4 is case sensitive, mac osx default one is not)
3. You will need to download and compile sunxi-tools. We will need fex2bin to convert sys_config.fex to it’s compiled binary version
4. Go to the extracted folder. You will find brandy, buildroot, linux-3.4, out and tools folder
5. Run `cd tools/pack/chips/sun8iw7p1/configs/dolphin-p1` and edit `sys_config.fex` in it. You will need to find section named `[hdmi_para]` and add these lines

   [hdmi_para]
   hdmi_used = 1
   hdmi_power = "vcc-hdmi-18"
   
   ; Adding DVI monitor compability by disabling HDCP and enabling CTS-compat
   hdcp_enable = 0
   hdmi_cts_compatibility = 1

6. Go to `tools/pack` folder and run

   cp -fv chips/sun8iw7p1/configs/dolphin-p1/sys_config.fex out/sys_config.fex > /dev/null 2>&1

   cp -fv chips/sun8iw7p1/bin/boot0_sdcard_sun8iw7p1.bin out/boot0_sdcard.fex > /dev/null 2>&1

   unix2dos out/sys_config.fex > /dev/null 2>&1

   pctools/linux/mod_update/script out/sys_config.fex > /dev/null 2>&1

   fex2bin out/sys_config.fex out/sys_config.bin > /dev/null 2>&1

7. Patch boot0 using generated sys_config.bin

   pctools/linux/mod_update/update_boot0 out/boot0_sdcard.fex out/sys_config.bin SDMMC_CARD > /dev/null 2>&1

8. Copy Compiled Uboot and patch using generated sys_config.bin

   cp -fv chips/sun8iw7p1/bin/u-boot-sun8iw7p1.bin out/u-boot.fex > /dev/null 2>&1

   pctools/linux/mod_update/update_uboot out/u-boot.fex out/sys_config.bin > /dev/null 2>&1

9. Write to SDCARD (Change /dev/sdX to use your own sdcard path, it’s /dev/sdf on mine)

   cd out

   sudo dd if=boot0_sdcard.fex of=/dev/sdf bs=1k seek=8 > /dev/null 2>&1

   sudo dd if=u-boot.fex of=/dev/sdf bs=1k seek=16400 > /dev/null 2>&1

After all of that your OrangePi PC Android should be working on DVI monitor.

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Cleanup source from .git artifacts (tronsmart android source)

Was spending these couple of days to compile `Tronsmart’s Draco H3 Android` . The SDK that they provide are 15 Gigabytes in size >_<

Not really sure why they just archive their work folder like that, 15 gigs in itself is a zip full of compiled binaries, few android compiled images, broken symbolic links, nested `.git` folders and hosted on mediafire to download. (Now.. compiling this will be a long journey in itself :P)

So anyhow I clean `.git` artifacts recursively for some rooms to breathe. (besides the `.git` is not usable since it’s point to their internal development server)

To list all files, grep ones with `.git` in the path and then delete it

 find . | grep \\.git | xargs rm -rf 

Keep in mind that grep is using regex so the expression above will be matched with anything that have `.git` in it (nested .git folder, all files inside that git folder, .gitignore, .gitkeep, whatever.git.whatever etc.)

If you are not really sure and want to check what files that are going to be removed. Just use `echo` to test it, It will list all files that matched the expression

 find . | grep \\.git | xargs echo 

 

Hydroponics (Aeroponic) Arduino Timer

Been reading about Hydroponics and Aeroponik system for a while and I figure that it can be my new hobby that I can implement on my home backyard and since I also been tinkering with Arduino for a while (mostly basic stuff) I figure to combine these into automated one.

The Tower Setup

It’s actually variant of Hydroponics (Aeroponic) since the water is sprayed on the root on some specific intervals. My father and brother build a vertical one using PVC pipe. The schema of the tower is basically based on this guide

The ingredients are:

• PVC pipe
• Portable Stove (for heating PVC pipe)
• Old paint bucket for the reservoir and base
• Old mineral water plastic cups
• Drill
• Pipe
• Pump

They basically drill the appropriate hole size. heat the pipe using portable stove and bent the hole so it shaped like the picture above.

We use old paint bucket as the water reservoir and base. Put one flexible hose inside the pipe for the pump to deliver the water to the top of the tower and let it drip trough the provided holes on top of the tower.

The Timer Setup

Most tutorial will recommend timer to turn on for 10 minutes and turned off for 10 minutes – the point is do not let roots of the plant not watered for more than 25 minutes. For my setup I program the timer to be 10 minutes on and 15 minutes off.

The ingredients:

• Arduino (Buy 10 of them from AliExpress here)
• Relay Board (make sure to look for 5v. I buy it from Tokopedia here)
• A cheap lock n lock compatible container for water proofing
• Some jumper wires
• A cheap 5v charger (use old Nokia charger)
• A breadboard
• Double tape
• Epoxy or Silicon Glue Sealing

First prepare the container. I hacksaw the breadboard for it to be fit inside the small container

There’s a lot of tutorial out there about Arduino + Relay schematics. I use this one on Instructables as a reference

Don’t forget to recheck the wiring since it will involve mains. (Mains can kill you!!)

To power the Arduino, I rip open cheap ass and old Nokia charger.

Old Nokia Charger

The Insides

I put the Nokia charger on the top lid and stick it with glue so it will get separated with the arduino board. Make sure there’s no contact between both boards since this charger board is mostly run in mains.

Make sure the relay have output wires for connection with pumps

Seal holes with epoxy or silicon glue to make sure it’s tight and ready for outdoor usage.

I program the Arduino timer using slightly modified `blink` code. As you can see it’s just simple delay and everything is hard coded in it 🙂

/*
* This code is for aerophonic timer
*/

unsigned long OFF_TIME = 15;
unsigned long ON_TIME = 10;

void setup() {
// init D13 and D10 pin
pinMode(11, OUTPUT);
pinMode(10, OUTPUT);

// turn on for ON_TIME
digitalWrite(11, LOW);
digitalWrite(10, LOW);
}

void delayMinute(unsigned long delayInMinutes) {
delay(delayInMinutes * 60 * 1000);
}

void loop() {
// turn on for ON_TIME
digitalWrite(11, LOW);
digitalWrite(10, LOW);
delayMinute(ON_TIME);

// turn off for OFF_TIME
digitalWrite(11, HIGH);
digitalWrite(10, HIGH);
delayMinute(OFF_TIME);
}

And here’s it in action next to the tower.

Arduino Clone USB Driver on OSX (CH340, CH341)

So, most cheap Arduino I can found in Indonesia’s marketplace is basically a SMD version that based on CH340 USB Serial chip.

You can find the drivers on this site here http://www.wch.cn/download/CH341SER_MAC_ZIP.html, but there’s easier way to install the driver if you already have brew installed. (OSX developer must have `brew` installed! MUST HAVE! :P)

First Install cask (OSX developer who have brew also must have cask :D).

Run the cask recipe

brew cask install caskroom/homebrew-cask/wch-ch34x-usb-serial-driver

(it’s basically a script that is doing the driver downloading and installing for you)

Open up your Arduino and make sure there’s new `tty.wch` device listed on the open port.

Additional notes:

If somehow it’s still not detected, try to restart and change the cable. The UNO that I receive only have USB with Power (not include data)

Enable Remote Debugging for Safari Mobile iOS (iPhone and iPad of course)

Just realized that safari on mobile can also support remote debugging like chrome + adb.

So one day I was having issue with quirky CSS bug that only occurs on Safari Mobile, so the first thing I do is turning on the iOS emulator.

If you want to turn on iOS emulator without turning on Xcode; You can run it using Terminal with the command below:

open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Applications/iOS\ Simulator.app

You emulate any kind of iOS devices by toggling the device on Hardware menu.

Of course I turn on Mobile Safari and try to reproduce the quirky CSS bug on it. Well Yup… it’s reproducible on the Emulator (so we can safely assume that this is the same Mobile Safari on real devices) and the next logical step is to enable Developer options.

Go to Emulator `Settings` -> `Safari` -> `Advanced` and turn on the `Web Inspector` option

After that open Mobile Safari and point it to your web page.

Open Desktop Safari on your Mac. And make sure that you have a `Develop` menu shown on top

If you don’t have it – go to `Safari Preferences` -> `Advanced` and make sure the `Show Develop menu in menu bar` is checked

Go to `Develop` menu – and your Emulator should be listed. If it’s not – try to restart your Desktop Safari (and make sure you Mobile Safari is active and showing a web page)

Click on the appropriate page. And a developer tool will show up.

Happy debugging!

Install Imagemagick with WEBP on Ubuntu

Somehow standard imagemagick on Ubuntu does compiled with `WEBP` support, There’s a bug report with “wishlist” level on Ubuntu about it here

So we need to compile it on our own, this is what I do on my Ubuntu machine

First: When you are planning to compile things on your own – you need to install the build-essential

sudo apt-get install build-essential

And then install plethora of dependencies that may be needed by imagemagick

sudo apt-get build-dep imagemagick -y

Download latest imagick and extract it

wget http://www.imagemagick.org/download/ImageMagick.tar.gz
tar xf ImageMagick.tar.gz 

Download latest libwebp and extract it

wget http://downloads.webmproject.org/releases/webp/libwebp-0.4.3.tar.gz
tar xf libwebp-0.4.3.tar.gz

Download dependencies for libwebp

sudo apt-get install libjpeg-dev libpng-dev libtiff-dev libgif-dev

Compile libwebp

cd libwebp-0.4.3
./configure --prefix=/usr
make
sudo make install

Compile imagemagick! (note: you may want to change the version number to the latest imagemagick)

cd ImageMagick-6.9.2-0/
./configure --prefix=/usr
make
sudo make install

Aaaand done!

Mass Updating iPads (plus installing supervision mode)

Today in the office, we receive a lot of iPads from the client. These iPads are going to be used as kiosk devices. The thing is those iPads are still using iOS 7.0 (and we are developing in iOS 8.0 to utilize latest API) so we will need to update all of this iPads.

There’s few scenarios that we can do:

1. Connect to internet and let these iPads update – in which super slow and will makes all my colleagues kill me due to abusing the internet connection 😛
2. Setup a proxy server to cache iPad firmware update – and do number #1. Ain’t got time to do this 😛
3. Download firmware from Apple developer, connect it to iTunes and plug and update each iPad manually – one by one
4. Download Apple Configurator, download firmware, and plug 4 USB cables (since it’s the current max USB port on iMac – does not have USB hub on hand)

Of course given the situation the fastest way is the option number 4.

This is what I do:

1. Download Apple Configurator here https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/apple-configurator/id434433123?mt=12
2. If you have already download the latest firmware (and don’t want the Apple Configurator to redownload firmwares) you can put the downloaded firmwares to /Users/YOURUSER/Library/Containers/com.apple.configurator/Data/Library/Caches/ if there’s no Firmware folder – create one yourself and put *.ipsw files there. 
3. Setup the configuration, create a Profile (to connect it to specific Wifi, preload it with custom application, adding MDM link and make sure it to skip some steps in setup assistant) 
4. Click on Prepare button
5. Plug as many iPad as possible
6. Let it update – when it finish (give you the Halo message) unplug and replace it to other iPad, repeat this until all of your iPad is updated and provisioned with the new profile.

For basic MDM, we temporarily use https://meraki.cisco.com/ (until we establish our own MDM infrastructure).

It’s basically remote management and inventory tool for devices (so you can setup policies remotely), push Enterprise applications to be installed and manage many things related to iDevices.