I Abandoned Nvidia for My Ham Station Computers

I use Ubuntu on my Ham Shack Computers, and have recently installed the new revision 12.04. All of my Ham Applications seem to work much better with this new release, the sound system seems to work predictably and correctly.

But, I gave up on graphics, after several days of frustration trying to get my Nvidia G7000 Graphics Card to work in the 3D mode on Ubuntu (see previous post).

I decided to try to replace the "Nvidia Graphics Card" with my Son's discarded and dying "ATI Radeon HD 5450" graphics card. A little repair of the card's fan and a little micro surgery was necessary to bring the "ATI Radeon" roaring back to life.

I installed the repaired ATI Radeon card, rebooted and it worked as expected in 2D mode. I then installed the suggested Drivers, and rebooted, - it just worked!  -  No hassle nor pain, Ubuntu graphics now runs in the 3D mode!

After much research, I found that; due to lack of manufactures supported or open drivers, the Nvidia Cards are not well supported for use with Ubuntu. For my other system upgrades, I am going to abandon Nvidia in favor of ATI.

I really like the new 3D Graphics menus and workspaces!

Note: The menus do not actually appear in 3D, but Ubuntu does use the graphics card's 3D processor to quickly and dynamically display the menus and workspaces. In 2D mode, some functionality is not available.

--

My Update to Ubuntu 12.04

Last weekend my Son, requested help installing Ubuntu on one of his old Laptops and an old Workstation. He has only used MS up until now. I have always used some flavor of Linux for most of my systems from the beginning  (as far back as Minux). For my Son, I suggested Ubuntu as that is what I have been using for the last few years, and it is easy to admin!

I have been using Ubuntu 10.04 LTS since 2010 (as implied by the Rev Number). The LTS suffix means that the Rev has what is called "Long Term Support" from developers. I like LTS as it is more likely to be stable. Because I am mostly satisfied with my Ubuntu installation, I had not kept up with the latest news of additional releases. But, for my Son new installations I wanted to review the latest available release. To my pleasant surprise the current Rev of Ubuntu is 12.04 with LTS.  I should have known as it is a even numbered release. For those that do not know, the first two digits of the Rev number is the year and the last is the month. The developers plan is an LTS for each even numbered year.

To me this is good news, I could install Ubuntu 12.04 on my Son's fresh wiped systems, before I would have to figure out how to do the same on my established systems.

We downloaded the ~700MByte Ubuntu 12.04.1 ISO file, to my Laptop and proceeded to transfer the file to a USB  thumb drive. But we could not get his older workstation to boot from the USB. The solution should be simple; transfer the image to CD, but that did not work, the image is larger than a CD. A DVD is necessary, but that is OK as my laptop contains a DVD burner. The image was transferred onto the DVD, but then that did not work as the Workstation and Laptop could not use the image written at high speed. With some research,  the recommended speed was below 4X. A new DVD was burned at low speed. The Laptop install process was a little slow, but going well enough that a second DVD was burned to use with the Workstation. The Workstation was much faster than the Laptop and finished first. We then had fun playing and admin'ing the two new systems.

That night when I got home (about 10pm) I decided that was easy and therefore I should update my (established) Laptop. It would not be a fresh install, but an update, preserving as all of the user data. At about 3:30am when I went to bed,  I had still not completed the task. The next morning all went well and now I have a Laptop running Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS.

I tried to do the same with one of my Workstation, to make a long story short, I attempted to update the system twice and scratch installed it four additional times, my user data was on another disk and therefore a install was not a great lose. In general, the problem and answers were: Build from DVD and not try to use an USB, the NVIDIA video card that the Workstation contains is not supported very well. Ubuntu 12.04 uses what is called Unity for windowing, the menus and workspaces are best viewed in the 3D mode, NVIDA 3D is not currently supported by Ubuntu.

Self Image

But, after many hours, I have Ubuntu 12.04.1 on two system, and to my surprise the major thing that I have always complained about Ubuntu, appears to be FIXED. Before at rev 10.40, the "sound" system seemed to never worked right, now it seem to just work -Yeah!

I am going to like Ubuntu 12.04.1 :-)

More details and progress may follow.

--

Linux and the Bus Pirate

The last few days, I have been using the Bus Pirate (BP) to debug and test my I2C User Interface for the Propeller.

After reading all of the Doc's and suggestions on how best to use the Bus Pirate on a Linux system (I use Ubuntu), I was under whelmed. The current suggestions include running; a  "minicon" Terminal Window connected to the USB port (i.e., /dev/ttyUSB0).

Some Terminal Windows are kind-of-dumb (not all), they do not know how to properly support "tabs", making the results from the BP kind-of useless. Especially the results from the BP I2C "v" command

And, as a Linux user, I want an easy-to-use BP command history recall stack. There is nothing worst than attempting to re-type (or cut-n-paste) a previous long BP command.

I wanted something easier - and there is something for free; (assuming you do not mind some supporting text around your BP command).

On your normal Command Line Window, at the Prompt, type the following. In this example, the Bash Shell is being used:

$   D='/dev/ttyUSB0'; cat < $D & stty 115200 < $D

This "cat" background task reads and displays data from the BP.

Then anything you direct to the "$D" port, is executed by the BP as a command;

$ echo "v" > $D; sleep 1; echo

Should return something like the following:

Pinstates:
1.(BR) 2.(RD) 3.(OR) 4.(YW) 5.(GN) 6.(BL) 7.(PU) 8.(GR) 9.(WT) 0.(Blk)
GND    3.3V   5.0V   ADC    VPU    AUX    CLK    MOSI   CS     MISO
P      P      P       I     I      I      I      I      I      I
GND    0.00V  0.00V   0.00V 0.00V  L      L      L      L      L

The "help" command is the "?" mark:

echo "?" > $D; sleep 1; echo

For my Real Time Clock testing:

$   echo "[0xD0 0][0xD1 r:7]" > $D; sleep 1; echo

Note: For the example, the above BP command requests the seven values from my DS3231M Real Time Clock and displays the results as:

I2C START BIT
WRITE: 0xD0 ACK
WRITE: 0x00 ACK
I2C STOP BIT
I2C START BIT
WRITE: 0xD1 ACK
READ: 0x20 ACK 0x22 ACK 0x07 ACK 0x04 ACK 0x10 ACK 0x05 ACK 0x12
NACK
I2C STOP BIT
I2C>

The values decode as: Time= 20:22:07, WeekDay= 04, Date= 10/05/12

If you want to re-execute the command, it is in the normal Unix Shell History command recall stack.

This makes my life easy, and it does not require a special minicom Terminal window to configure.

When finished; remove the "cat" command with normal Unix "kill" commands, or just close and reopen the window.

Yes, . . I know, for the non-Unix type people, the above looks like gibberish, but it works, and it works well.

---

UPDATE
I replaced the "cat" line above with the following, which makes the output much easier to read by breaking the lines into individual commands. Note: the "]" (stop) is no longer displayed, it is replaced with a Newline.

D='/dev/ttyUSB0'; cat < $D | tr "]" "\n" & stty 115200 < $D 

 --

OPERA Running on Ubuntu, It "sort of" Works

I have OPERA 1.1.6 . . .  "sort of" working on Ubuntu via Wine :-)

NOTE: The following has "Hung" the Ubuntu Gnome Display System, I had to ESC to command line to recover (ctrl-alt-F1), kill the OPERA process, and then return to the Desktop via F7.

CAUTION: Use at Your Own Risk

Two DLL's were needed; MSVBVM60.DLL and pdh.dll. I found them online, but was advised not to download from un-trusted sites.  I have a local XP system from which the files were found, and I copied them into the Ubuntu OPERA directory,

To make things easier, I change the default permission of the executable to "mode 755", with:

$ chmod 755 Oper*.exe

Then I ran the Install as:

$ wine ./Opera*Install*.exe

To run OPERA, execute:

$ wine ./Opera\ v1.1.6.exe

After adding my Operator Information and selected the sound card for input, the waterfall came alive with signals. The sound card was over driving the Decoder, but a quick adjustment to the Ubuntu Volume control fixed  that.

I was able to decode several signals on 10135mHz.

Sill known problems that I have not solved:

1. The CPU Usage meter does not work.
2. The CAT Rig control does not work for my FT-817, but Tones are created on the output as can be heard with a temporary speaker connected.
3. Attempting to Set Configuration sometimes Hangs the Display System

Like most MS programs running under WINE, there will be a lot of WINE "fixme:" errors logged to the command line window form which OPERA was started, most can be ignored.

Maybe these problems will be solved by someone knowing much more than I.

--

Ubuntu and the Brother HL-5370DW

A How To: Ubuntu setup for Brother HL-5370DW Laser Printer

Background

I have been using an old Brother HL-5250DN CAT-5 Networked Laser Printer for a long time, for my Ubuntu Servers and Workstations. But I needed a new second network printer for my shop. To be consistent and compatible I wanted the second printer to be the same as the first. But alas, the HL-5250DN printer is no longer available for purchase. The suggested similar replacement printer is the HL-5370DW, which includes the same USB and LAN interfaces, plus it also contains a Wireless interface. Good, I can advantage of that.

The problem is; the supplied printer documentation is for MS Windows and/or the Mac, nothing for generic use or for Linux style of computers.

I use the current laser printer for general use, and for Hi Resolution Toner Transfer prints which are use for making my Homebrew PCBs.

The Task

I wanted to set up my new Brother HL-5370DW Laser Printer on my Ubuntu network environment via the Wireless interface. Internet searches did not provide much help. But, I know that I need to set up the printer with a "static" network address, so that it's hard-coded address can be used with the Ubuntu Printer Spooler.

But, how do I start? What interface or address should be used for the initial configuration?

With little information available in the supplied documentation, it might suggest using the factory default IP address and/or the USB Interface to connect to the printer, details were very sketchy.

After much Internet searching and spending a lot of time trying many things, the task was actually quit simple, assuming a Wireless Router with DHCP is available.

This post is intended to provide others with an Internet Search result that should be helpful.

• Ensure that DHCP is available from the Wireless Router (details depend on your router)
• Turn on the HL-5370DW Laser Printer
• Press the Network Init Button (via a small hole in the interface face plate on the back of the printer), this may not be needed, but it does not hurt.
• Wait about 30 seconds, for DHCP and the Router to establish a network connection with the printer
• Access your Wireless Router configuration, to list the DHCP assigned address for the printer (details depend on your Wireless Router)
• Access the Printers Web Configuration using the DHCP assigned IP address
• Use the available screens to configure the Wireless SSID and a desired static address
• When the configuration is "saved", the printer will reboot and your browser will be redirected the the new static address, save and exit.
• Now use the normal Linux (Ubuntu) "Printer Config" admin utilities to complete the set up using the static address of the printer

Note: as with all Linux print spoolers, a second cloned printer definition can be very useful. I use a clone (with only slight modification) that allows easy access to pre-configured Hi Resolution Option (1200 x 1200 dpi), as needed for use with the Toner Transfer (TT) Method of PCB creation. I use a third clone to provide Hi Resolution and Mirror of the print, again very useful with TT.

I hope this helpful for someone, or me the next time I attempt this again.

-

WinradHD Running on Ubuntu 10.04 via Wine

Until recently I had been listening to my Softrock RX Ensemble on my one-and-only Windows XP Desktop Computer, all of my other computers have been converted to Ubuntu Linux.

Today I found out that "WinradHD" I/Q Decoder will run via "Wine" on Ubuntu 10.04. I have Ubuntu on my HP Pavilion Laptop, which has a Stereo Mic Input Jack (a surprise to me). The Laptop decodes the SDR I/Q signals very nicely, with a very low noise floor.

My initial test configuration used two computers; one (window XP) to changed the Ensemble LO Frequency via a USB connection, and the second (the laptop) to run WinradHD and provide audio output.

Then, via the Internet, I found the "usbsoftrock" deamon for Linux, which is a kind of driver/program for the Si570. It is like a command-line version of a combination of  "USB Driver", "CFGSR", and "SRDLL" as used on Windows XP, and  as previously described. Usbsoftrock runs on Ubuntu along with WinradHD.

Usbsoftrock allows changes to the Si570 frequency via a command-line command on the Ubuntu Laptop, for example:

$ usbsoftrock set freq 10.140

Status can be listed via:

$ usbsoftrock status

I need to find the magic to control the Si570 via "usbsoftrock" directly from "WinradHD" on Ubuntu. Using the keyboard to set a Frequency is not exactly fun.

---

Note: A pre-compiled "usbsoftrock" Ubuntu package can be found as described on Steve Conklin, AI4QR web page and which was created by Jonathan, AF6YF (now N6JU) - Thanks Jonathan.

-

When Things Go Wrong

This a dual boot, MS Windows and Ubuntu Post, Ignore it you do not use these.

WARNING - Some things NOT to do.

The other day while Larry - KB7KMO, was here helping me setup and reconfigure my Shop/Shack computers - we ran into trouble.

Larry brought his new laptop (NotPad) and several additional peripherals, including USB hard drives and CD readers - we had lots of equipment, felt invulnerable and therefore we could experiment and do anything.

Larry dual boots his NotePad with both MS Window 7 and Ubuntu - where the original disk space was shrank to about 50% for MS Windows and the remainder for the Ubuntu 10.04 install. He was able to show me many neat things that he has found in the new Ubuntu 10.04 release.

So, back to the current Shop/Shacks problems or challenges that we wanted to solve;

• Fix a non-booting Ubuntu upgrade Workstation 
• Configure an old, but newly recovered, MS Window XP Workstation, given to me by my son 
• Understanding of the new boot process of a good working Ubuntu New Install 
• Fix a non-booting MS NotePad 

We were working on all of the above at the same time, between reboots and as time permitted.

While working with the MS Window XP Workstation, I mentioned to Larry that we (my son and I) were able to restore the OS to factory original, via booting from the RECOVERY partition (the D: drive) and answering a few question - the process was real simple.

Larry checked, he had a unmounted partition on his NoteBook in the same position as a that found for the D: drive on my WorkStation.

"WE" decided to check out what options it may provide, assuming that Larry, at sometime in the future, may want to reset or recover his MS Windows partition. The RECOVERY process has a menu that allow you to pick what you want to do, or abort. But, . . . .

BUT, as we found out, it modifies the Partition Table, and the Master Boot Record (MBR) on the hard disk before it provides a menu and a chance to stop or abort the recovery process!

** We BRICKED Larry's new NoteBook! ** 

** It would NOT boot **

Larry, did not have backups
nor does he have MS install disks!

We used an external USB Drive with Ubuntu 9.10 to inspect the damage - and yes;

• the MBR was damaged or modifed, 
• a new very small MS Windows partition was exposed, 
• and the previously used Ubuntu partition was maked as "unused", 
• the original MS Windows partition may have be foreshortened. 

Nothing we tried seemed to help the situation. We did not want to touch the MS partition if it could be recovered as it contains valuable data. The Ubuntu partition contains a lot of customization and some data that would be nice to retain, but it is replaceable.

After many attempts to repair the damage (and after sometime around 1:00 AM), we decided to reset the "ID" on the Linux partition and attempt to re-install Ubuntu into it's alloted partition, hoping that the process "would" fix the MBR for both it and MS Window. The install process is very slow from the external USB CD drive - I went to bed with Larry camping out in the living room.

The next morning - Great News - it worked! Both MS Windows and Ubuntu booted as expected (or as we had hoped)!

The very first thing we did was install the Ubuntu "Backintime" backup utility. We set it up to backup valuable data from each partition (MSW and Ubuntu) to it self and to the other. Larry will add additional backups to multiple external USB hard drives when he returns home.

Lessons Learned - 

• Have backups of all customization and valuable data! 
• Do NOT boot from the RECOVERY partition unless you really intend to Recover to the "Factory Install", especially if you have modified the system for DUAL boot. 

We were thankful that this had a happy (and/or more knowledgeable) ending,

Now. (when I have time) back to my continued Shop/Shack computer concerns.

-

Data is Stuck in the Shop Below

I have several project updates for this blog, but the details are stuck in my Shop at a lower level.  That is my Electronics Bench is on the lower level within my Hanger/Shop and my Computer Room and Shack is above two stories in the loft - without a CAT 5 cable between.

I have plans to drill a hole and install a conduit between the two levels down through the corner of the bathroom, to make the communication connection possible. I have wireless, but the distance and the resulting slow data rate make it prohibitive.

Sneaker net, is possible, but that is up two flight of stairs, (34 steps, -  yes, I need the exercise) - but that is too old fashion.

Larry - KB7KMO, is coming over today help with computer setup and configuration for the loft Shack - I have been having trouble getting all of the systems to work together - for those that use Ubuntu 10.04 will understand that the new release has changed how "grub" (the boot loader) works and needs to be configured. Some of the systems were upgraded and others were fresh installed.  It appears the two methods do NOT result in the exactly the same end - I may have, or should have, expected that?

-

System Backup

This a Ubuntu Post, Ignore it you do not use a UNIX like OS.

I know this is not exactly HAM Radio, but it does support my interest in the Hobby, both for Homebrew Project Creation and Radio Operations.

I have worked with the UNIX OS for about 30+ years, and have used many "Backup Utilities", everything from system level simple "tar", "cpio" to full DataBase supported systems. All of these methods are lacking, and NONE of them have what I would call the "Right Stuff". Over the years, I have written many custom backup systems for myself and customers, to support the following.

A Backup System should be; "easy to set up", "easy use", and "easy to RESTORE". The Backup System should be able to be used by the System Administrator for full system backup, and/or by a normal "user" for personal files.

The Backup System should provide;

• local storage, to same disk and/or to another partition
• local storage, to another disk
• remote storage to another system's storage
• remote (out of house) system storage
• easy access to that associationally needed file restore, directly from online
• delta backups should be supported and automatic
• multiple revisions with date stamps
• it should be fast as the path allows

I believe "tape storage" is worthless, nobody has the time to wait for multiple 100's of G Bytes for tape to RESTORE (remember, for me, time to RESTORE is a measure of the worth of a Backup System, disk are cheap, use them!).

I believe; "An untested backup and the resulting RESTORE, is no backup at all".

Up until now, for my personal use,  I have preferred my own "Backup Utilities" , they have had all of the above qualities.

But, Today I found, what I think, is the ideal UNIX Backup Utility - "backintime" from "http://backintime.le-web.org".

It does everything I needed of a Backup System, and it is simple to use!  - Thanks Guys!

BackInTime provides a very nice, easy to use GUI. Under the hood, "backintime" uses "rsync" with all of its capabilities and speed.

If you want to use it with your Linux system, check for it in your "software repositories" first to see if it is available, that way it will be updated with normal system updates, otherwise download from the above site.

I recommend, to always plan for a second local disk and/or another system for the "Backup Storage Target". If your single local disk with the only backup (on the same disk) fails, you-are-hosed! Avoid the problem - have multiple disk or systems. Remember, it is not a matter of IF the disk or system fails, but only a matter of  WHEN.

Note: For remote backup storage access, "sshfs" is your friend (which should also be available in your software repository).


From now on, my Shack/Hanger/Shop (plus boathouse) will now be Backed Up with "BackInTime"!

---

UPDATE:

Well "backintime" got is almost right, or at least as high as 98%.  A backup to a remote mounted files systems does not appear to utilize hard links for each successive backup - and therefore each requires the same amount of space as the original.  I my have this wrong (I hope so), but so far I have not be able to confirm or deny this with online documentation.  I am still checking for more information.

--