Ubuntu / Xubuntu for the O2 Joggler.

[nxsfan]

Launched Xubuntu 14.04 (BTRFS) on my Joggler last night. It runs great! Nice work BuZz.

I was having trouble downloading the img yesterday. I was getting incorrect checksums and then the exotica/jogglerwiki server went down but it looks like everything is good now.

It's not really Joggler specific, but I'm interested in home automation and I developed a fun little script on the Joggler yesterday. It makes your Joggler announce when people have arrived at your property using a MAC address lookup table. It relies on visitor's phones connecting to your wireless router before they make it to your front door and you have to explicitly map their MAC address to their name. It's not as bad as it sounds because the script logs all MAC addresses and hostnames and all you have to do it go in to the mac list, set the name, enable announcing and restart the script. It sounds more complicated than it is.

http://nxsfan.co.uk/MACPoller.zip

To use on 14.04 image simply:
apt-get install python-pip
pip install pyttsx
unzip MACPoller.zip
EDIT poller.py to point to your DD-WRT router and tweak the timeout and frequency if you like.
Enable SNMP under services on your DD-WRT router.
python poller.py &

[hawsey]

Sounds fun great idea ...

[Juggler]

Been using Ubuntu base 14.04 24/7 for the last 3-4 weeks and it has run very well.

One thing I have noticed, and variations of it, have appeared on a number of occasions, is when updating or installing certain packages. As an example, here is some output (presume to stderr) for an install (I think) that I did recently :

udevd[379]: unknown key 'RUN{builtin}' in /lib/udev/rules.d/73-seat-late.rules:15
udevd[379]: invalid rule '/lib/udev/rules.d/73-seat-late.rules:15'
udevd[379]: unknown key 'RUN{builtin}' in /lib/udev/rules.d/73-seat-late.rules:15
udevd[379]: invalid rule '/lib/udev/rules.d/73-seat-late.rules:15'

I don't know enough about the Debian/Ubuntu packaging system to be able to fix this. All I can say is that I have not noticed any detrimental effects for the packages that these sort of errors have been reported on, when using them later. Also the number 15 seems to appear in them all. Again not sure exactly what this means.

Anyway, I have installed quite a wide range of packages and have been doing updates regularly and not noticed any problems, but my limited Linux knowledge may be making me selectively blind to problems.

The image I have been using is :

Ubuntu Base/Server 14.04 LTS (Trusty) (Joggler Image v1.0 - 22/05/2014) ext4

I have not used any of the other file-system images (BTRFS or F2FS) so I can't comment on if it is a file-system specific issue. I recall that previously that there has been issues only on a specific file-system image.

Thanks very much for these BuZz. I depend on your 12.04 and 14.04 heavily. I am now seriously considering dumping GUI's all together and going back to just having a good ole CLI, even on the machines I have X or Win on. Would save a lot of space and make my old laptop a lot quicker. This is where I started from and to me it is kind of nice in a way to go back there. I find that GUIs kind of just get in the way on Linux, but it is nice to have them as an option.

[BuZz]

Those errors are due to having an old udev (which is required for our ancient xorg). the joggler images are somewhat stuck together with sticky tape

[pete]

Yup; BuZz; your Ubuntu 14.04 image has been working great for my stuff here. Here too using the Jogglers for automation stuff.

Last night's endeavor was to get MS stuff working in Wine while doing concurrent stuff in Ubuntu. I do run remote stuff via web server (OpenHAB) while concurrently have been trying to do MS SAPI voice text stuff in Wine as I am addicted to my variety of wintel voice fonts. Still also running Homeseer and using the mono stuff for more automation running on the box; plus talking directly (well indirectly) to serial devices via virtual network or just USB to Serial; it all works together and I have not broken anything.

Both OpenHab and Homeseer run much faster in Linux than Wintel.

Last night though did find an endeavor and got it to work called LinuxSAPI. This allow for the use of my SAPI voice fonts via an au natural 14.04 Ubuntu build. Very neato stuff.

Going slow as many of the developers are just telling you to apt install their PPA's such that you can keep up with their updates which works for me.

While I use a GUI; many times remotely just SSH to the box. I also added Webmin which does always look for updates such as you have some 3 means of checking; IE: command line, Ubuntu Gui and Webmin.

Easy do expand the build by removing the media after you have written to it. Go to another Linux machine and use GParted to expand each of the partitions. Really though only expand the meat with the main OS stuff here. IE: using 16-32 Gb SSDs these days.

[dvillaret]

Hi all
I've just installed and am running xubuntu 14.04 on my Joggler. Everything seems good except that the time/date resets everytime the joggler reboots. When I try to set the clock to update automatically I'm told that 'NTP support is not installed' and gives me the option to install. Installing NTP from this button doesn't work though. I've tried running 'sudo apt-get install ntp' but I get the error that gb.archive.ubuntu.com could not be resolved.

Does anyone know of a way to get the auto date/time to work?

Thanks in advance.

Darryl

[pete]

Here I installed NTP and configured ntp.conf to only point to my NTP server.

I do block NTP on the firewall and use my own NTP server here.

ntpq -c clockvar
assID=0 status=0000 clk_okay, last_clk_okay,
device="NMEA GPS Clock", timecode="$GPZDA,002517.000,01,10,2014,,*50",
poll=13414, noreply=0, badformat=0, baddata=0, fudgetime2=400.000,
stratum=0, refid=GPS, flags=5

[BuZz]

Once you have configured networking via network-manager it should update the time after connection. This certainly happens on my wireless joggler. A cabled joggler should update even earlier on.

In reply to earlier posts:

Thanks all - I will try and push out an update of the images soon with up to date packages etc. Good to know it is still a useful distro

[pete]

Thank-you BuZz!!!!!

[Juggler]

The Joggler is a well made, iconic (to me anyway) piece of hardware. And it is your distros, BuZz, that allow the Joggler's full potential to be realised. I have some very important systems using your Ubuntu base 24/7 and they have been incredibly solid, I am happy to say.

I have learned a great deal about Linux thanks to your distros, this forum and the Jogglers.

I am testing my key application on your Ubuntu base 14.04 at the moment and it is doing very well.

So thank you very much BuZz. Without your distros, the Joggler would be much less.

[Juggler]

Hi all
I've just installed and am running xubuntu 14.04 on my Joggler. Everything seems good except that the time/date resets every time the joggler reboots. When I try to set the clock to update automatically I'm told that 'NTP support is not installed' and gives me the option to install. Installing NTP from this button doesn't work though. I've tried running 'sudo apt-get install ntp' but I get the error that gb.archive.ubuntu.com could not be resolved.

Does anyone know of a way to get the auto date/time to work?

Thanks in advance.

Darryl

I've just started to use the NTP service and it has gone well. An apt-get install ntp should do the trick, if not, you may have some other issues.

If you just want to get the Joggler's clock updated from the net you can use :

Code: Select all

ntpdate uk.pool.ntp.org

You may need to install the package that ntpdate is in. You can find details on NTP pool servers here :

http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Servers/NTPPoolServers

I think that if you cycle your wired network interface (which is connected to the internet), this may also cause a time update as well :

Code: Select all

ifconfig eth0 down
ifconfig eth0 up

but, I think, using ntpdate would be best.

However, it would be good to have the NTP service running as the time drift on Jogglers is quite a bit. It may be as much as 30 seconds a day. Since using NTP, my Jogglers are only about 1 second out after about a week, which is much better. The Jogglers are not updating their time from the net or from a local NTP server. I believe the improved accuracy is due to the NTP services drift feature for keeping the time more accurate.

[pete]

@Juggler,

Aside from NTP port blocking here I am also blocking DNS and and mostly controlling it from the PFSense firewall.

The NTP / DNS stuff relates mostly to the build of a closed not internet dependent automation network. IE: I am into weather and utilize my weather station and internet web sites for satellite some. Newest endeavor though is a pull down/live capture of satellite weather pictures using a radio / satellite antenna.

Here I utilize my Jogglers as consoles to automation. That said playing also with OpenHab running on one Ubuntu 14.04 box.

The Openframe 7 devices with the speakers in the front does appear to keep its settings relating to time on the hardware clock. I am running Ubuntu 14.04 on one (well two) of them. I can unplug them and boot them up the next day and the time is still correct.

That said "entertaining" a modification to the Joggler with one of those tiny Rasberry Pi RTC clocks. I am also trying to fit one in a modded OpenWRT micro router (TP Link) using the NICs / serial ports on it. Well its a bit much for it. That said I do not think it would be much of an issue to mod / solder on a tiny RTC clock module in the Joggler. Note that this is just experimenting some.

With the above noted I was thinking maybe of posting a DIY relating to the hardware RTC clock modifications necessary. That said too it would involve the knowing of where to connect the wires (well soldering to chips would be easiest).

Aside from the above the mothership scans the network for the Jogglers monitoring their MAC addresses such that I have spoofed them all giving them Openpeak MACs (matching the MACs in a way to the IPs to keep some order to the devices - well have 20 plus online today).

Looking here:

http://www.sunspot.co.uk/Projects/Joggler/i2c.html

and here:

http://www.sunspot.co.uk/Projects/Joggl ... pting.html

Curiousity; could a small RTC clock with battery be connected as in drawing and would it provide a means to save time on the Joggler?

Its really difficult to follow the traces for the battery backup on the clock for the Openframe7. I just know that it works.

This is a picture of the battery on the Openframe7. I am thinking though that the chip pictured is a Realtek chip? Not sure though cuz I cannot read it. Could be a Realtek I2C chip; but that is a guess.

[Juggler]

Pete

Adding a small real time clock and battery to the I2C bus is exactly what I'd like to do too ! I've done quite a bit of research on this, and intended on sharing this here, but haven't done it yet.

I've just got myself a cheap logic analyzer, so I'd like to have a poke around on the Joggler first, to see what I can find and to confirm the stuff sunspot has done. I think sunspot's stuff is quite experimental, but there is definitely an I2C bus there. I'm also playing a bit with the I2C software side and need to do this more too.

I know that when the Joggler boots there will need to be some software that reads the HW clock and updates the Joggler's clock. Probably not much and I remember coming across some tools for this.

Ideally, I'd like to have the I2C bus exposed as a further external socket on the Joggler, so a whole network of I2C devices can be plugged in.

[Juggler]

BuZz,

Just wanted to let you know that I have been using the Xubuntu 14.04 ext4 image for a while now and it has been working really well. The one issue I've had and I know you have commented on many times before, is the Joggler halting on shut down due to the screen driver crashing.

I've found that logging out of the session first, and then shutting down, has so far been fine. However, I find that if I have done quite a bit with the Joggler and then choose shutdown/reboot without logging out first, the Joggler will crash after about a second of the activity circle (don't know what else to call it) being drawn, more often than not.

I've not experienced any data corruption or loss with ext4, that I know of, due to the shut down crash, but I'd prefer to avoid it if possible. BTRFS was a different story when I used Ubuntu 12.04.

Thanks again for all your great work.

[BuZz]

Cheers. Nothing I can do about the crash really- ext4 handles it pretty well anyway. My own solution is not to reboot very often if we switched to using the open source driver it would all work. but no XBMC then.

[coelhonet]

Hello!

I started checking what I can possible do with my "O2 Joggler" (in fact, Telefonica Orby - Brazil) and found out great and useful things on this forum.

So, I'm starting playing around different OSes here and I tried SqueezePlayOS and now turned to try Xubuntu one.

Thing I liked on SqueezePlayOS is that it's pretty straightforward on what to do, and also allows me to use internal memory (2GB). However, wondering if I need something else than SqueezePlay, and Xubuntu is something I may need to look at.

So question I have is if there is any chance to get Xubuntu version for Joggler running on internal memory, or is it too big for that? If yes, is there any procedure I can follow to give it a try?

Thanks once again!

[pete]

The Openframe 7 (Joggler 2?) has 2Gb of flash memory. That said the boot flash 1Mb is soldered in place. I have installed XBMC on the 2Gb of memory. Only thing is that it ran out of memory in a short time.

[coelhonet]

Hi Pete!

Thanks for replying back! Yeah, sounds to be a Openframe 7, rebranded here at my place as Orby.

So, if I use it softly and with some control over space on that 2GB internal memory, I could push Xubuntu internally, right?

Do you know if there is any package specifically for this purpose or procedure on how to make it based on Xubuntu version available for those devices?

Thanks a lot!

[hawsey]

Welcome to the forum , take a look at this tool from Roobarbs birdslikewires site
http://birdslikewires.co.uk/articles/openframe-flash
It looks like just what you need although I have only tested on a Joggler .
Good luck

[pete]

Yup; read up on Roobarbs stuff and BuZz's stuff.

Use the base build for BuZz's stuff. Write it first to a USB stick; build XBMC; test it; shrink it to less than 2Gb and DD it or use Gparted to copy it over to the Openframe 7.

You can utilize a remote xbmc mysql DB which will alleviate some space.

Well too if you take it apart and remove the combo bluetooth / wireless card (use a USB stick if you want wireless) and replace it with a Crystal Broadcom HD mini pcie card and solder on an SD card gizmo (pinouts are there) or PATA port (pinouts are there) you don't don't to utilize the 2Gb of MMC and you can stream 1080 on it.

Taking apart the Openpeak 7 device is easy. There are 4 plastic clips that you push on from the 4 holes underneath. One user made a little gizmo. You push on the plastic tabs which hold down the glass overlay screen; pops off the bottom then you can access the screws that hold the device together. The motherboard sits on a large metal heatsink the size of the motherboard.

I am currently utilize "stock" buzz's Ubuntu base builds on the Openframe 7 and it works fine.

Most recently now playing with adding wine to the mix for microsoft SAPI voices. Works well. I have been trying to document it but I keep throwing the kitchen sink into the build and add stuff faster than writing it down.

BTW (by the way) there was a 2Gb image posted for a USB stick; its old now and you want to really build a new one following directions over on XBMC for Kodi Ubuntu Linux built. Its a quickie step by step that is posted.