Category: hardware

Link: How to Add a Printer in Ubuntu or Linux Mint with CUPS

by Admin

Sometimes your printer might not work with your Linux machine and you will have to install the necessary drivers to make it work like in Windows. Most printer manufacturers have printer drivers for Linux, but, some don’t. According the OS platform statistics posted on W3Schools, Linux has 5% and Macs around 10% market share and rest, Windows in the desktops market. With less market share Apple Macs also face peripheral compatibility issue. To tackle this, both Macs, which are Unix-based and Linux, which is Unix-like make use of CUPS (Common Unix Printing System.)

Full article here:
How to Add a Printer in Ubuntu or Linux Mint with CUPS (Linuxaria)

Link: Get hardware information on Linux with lshw command

by Admin

Lshw is a nifty small command line utility that generates detailed reports about various hardware components on the system. It does so by reading different files in the /proc directory.

Lshw is capable of reporting memory configuration, firmware version, mainboard configuration, CPU version and speed, cache configuration, bus speed etc.

…..

Lshw also comes with a gui frontend called lshw-gtk that reports the same information in a minimal graphical user interface. Here is a screenshot.

NOTE: Some Linux distributions may already have a tool similar to this, that is installed during the initial installation of the operating system.

Full article here:
Get hardware information on Linux with lshw command (BinaryTides)
Related:
Basic troubleshooting commands in linux (Webkul)
2 GUI tools to check hardware information in Linux (Linux and Life)

Got an older Sony Walkman mp3/video player that occasionally locks you out? Here’s a possible quick fix

by Admin

We’re talking the newer technology Walkmans here, that play music from internal memory as opposed to an old-school cassette player (for those old enough to remember those). The specific problem is that you are out somewhere with your Walkman and you turn it on and attempt to play something, and are greeted by this message:

There is a possibility that the connection has been canceled during transfer. Please connect to compliant software or device and transfer data again.

But you don’t have the device’s USB cable with you, and maybe no computer to plug it into.

Resist the urge to hurl the thing into the nearest deep lake (we’ve been there) and try this first. Put it into test mode, then exit test mode without changing anything. It should rebuild the library, which is the same thing it does after you connect it to a computer and then disconnect it again.

And how do you put it into test mode? Well, you have to bring up the Service Menu to do that, and the instructions for doing that for a few models can be found here:

Sony NWZ-E430, NWZ-E350, NWZ-E460 Service Menu (Averbouch.biz)

This page also covers a couple of different models:

Sony Walkman Service Menu Access (Update 2012) (The Walkman Blog)

If neither of those pages covers your model, try the instructions for a model in the same series (for example, the NWZ-E350 instructions work with a NWZ-E354), or go to your favorite search engine and search on your Walkman model number and the words “Service Menu”.

Take heed of the warnings on these pages about how if you screw this up, you could brick your Walkman. Even so, if you’re seriously considering throwing the thing across a parking lot, you might want to take a few deep breaths and try this first. No guarantees, but it might work.

You may want to print out the pages and carry them with you (in your car or wherever) since you probably won’t be near a computer when you need them, and unless you have a photographic memory you probably won’t remember the button sequence. If you’re young enough to be able to easily memorize things like that, chances are you’re now using your smart phone as your music/video player, but some folks don’t have/use that newer technology yet! 🙂

Link: Raspi EDLC UPS – A short-duration uninterruptible power supply using supercapacitors for the Raspberry Pi

by Admin

For the Rundbuntplasma I wanted that the main power supply (a big 20A/5V supply) could be hard disconnected (aka operating the main power switch in our hacker space) from mains and the Raspberry will still shutdown nicely automatically. The idea is to buffer the 5V for the Raspberry using two big Supercapacitors (EDLCs) with 50F each from Nesscap. The circuit was designed to be as simple as possible, the drawback is that the capacity is not used efficiently and has only enough time for a proper short shutdown (about 30 seconds). Another drawback is that the power supply comes up slowly at startup (takes about 10 seconds before Raspberry starts booting) and also powers the Raspberry for quite a long time after the shutdown so the system must be unplugged for about 10min before it will boot up again. But there main advantage over batteries is the lifetime of supercaapacitors: They can be charged and discharged completely a few 100.000 times and are quick to charge – after ~2min they carry enough charge for proper shutdown.
So no worry of proper shutdown anymore – just unplug it or operate the main power switch and the Raspberry will detect it and shutdowns nicely while the supercapacitors provide the power for this time.

PLEASE NOTE: This article is mostly in English, but the site it is on is a German site. Therefore, the schematic diagram on the page is in a European format that may not be familiar to North American readers. However, it is simple enough that anyone that knows how to read a schematic diagram should have no problem with it. The only thing that confused us a little was the use of designations such as 1.5R and 100R on the resistors. As best we can determine, R is used in place of Ω (ohms) in Europe, but you may want to verify that with another source (and please leave a comment if we’re wrong on that point!). We are only providing a link to this article and it should be noted that we have neither built nor tested this device, therefore should you decide to build one of these, you do so at your own risk, and we will NOT be responsible for any damage or injury that may result.

Full article here:
Raspi EDLC UPS (Über Hackerspace Ffm)

Install this kernel driver so OS X can monitor the S.M.A.R.T. diagnostic data for external drives

by Admin

EDIT: Sorry to say that it appears this no longer works in MacOS. Every time Apple upgrades MacOS, things that formerly worked perfectly seem to break, and this program is one of those things that apparently no longer works. The code is available on GitHub, so if you care and if you are a programmer, maybe you can fork and fix it.

If you use OS X and have ever gone into Disk Utility, you may have noticed that OS X cannot monitor the S.M.A.R.T. status of external drives connected via USB or Firewire. To fix that, all you need do is install this kernel driver:

S.M.A.R.T. for USB and FireWire Drives (MacUpdate)

S.M.A.R.T. Status - VerifiedAt the time we are writing this article, there are two versions available, “Stable” version 0.8 and “Beta” version 0.9. We went ahead and installed the 0.9 beta on a system running OS X Mavericks. At first, when we fired up Disk Utility and looked at our external drives, it didn’t appear that the driver had worked — it still showed “S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported” for each of the drives. But then we discovered the secret — after installing the driver, you must unmount each of your external drives, then power cycle them. That is, actually disconnect the power to each drive for a few seconds, then reconnect it. When it powers back up, OS X should automatically detect and remount it, and then if your drive is supported, you should see “S.M.A.R.T. Status : Verified” for that drive in Disk Utility.  It is NOT sufficient to unmount and remount the drive, you must power cycle it. Alternately, a full system reboot would likely also work.

Unfortunately, this driver will not work with all external drives. The project page (where the source code is available) notes:

This is a kernel driver for Mac OS X external USB or FireWire drives. It extends the standard driver behaviour by providing access to drive SMART data. The interface to SMART data is same as with ATA family driver, so most existing applications should work.

The driver requires a SAT (SCSI ATA Translation) capable external drive enclosure. The driver should work with Snow Leopard and Lion and Mountain Lion. People have reported problems with Lion and Encrypted volumes. Some enclosures are reported to work with FireWire but not with USB. The driver is not compatible to WD Drive Manager, or enclosures with custom kernel extensions.

As noted above, we installed the 0.9 beta version on a system running Mavericks, and it appears to be working great, so they probably should add that to the list. We have three Western Digital external drives connected, and the driver is working for all three. We suspect it will work with most consumer-grade external USB drives. However, if you buy your own external drive enclosure and mount an internal drive in it, then the chances that it will work are probably a bit lower. If it doesn’t work for you, or for some other reason you want to remove it from your system, simply enter the following two commands from a terminal window:

sudo rm -r /System/Library/Extensions/SATSMARTDriver.kext
sudo rm -r /System/Library/Extensions/SATSMARTLib.plugin

and then reboot your system.

It’s great to be able to check the S.M.A.R.T. status of your external drives right from the OS X disk utility. Apple should purchase the code from the author of this project, make any necessary tweaks to ensure that it is stable, and include it by default in upgrades and future versions of OS X!

LInk: A Raspberry Pi Fridge/Freezer Temperature Monitor and Alarm Project

by Admin

I’ve been blogging about my experience in Road Test reviewing the Ultimate Raspberry Pi Bundle. As a part of this Road Test I’m creating a Fridge/Freezer Temperature Alarm system for our local food shelf, Channel 1. You can see where this Road Test started for me here
In this post I’ll bring together all the steps required to build your own Raspberry Pi powered temperature monitor project.

Full article here:
The Complete Channel One Temperature Monitor and Alarm Project – The Ultimate Raspberry Pi Bundle (element14 Community)

Link: Finding Your Raspberry Pi’s System Information

by Admin

The Raspberry Pi has a lot of system information available like details about the CPU, the current temperature of the processor, the amount of memory and so on. Not all of the information is available in one place; however, if you know where to look, you can discover quite a lot of interesting data about your Pi.

Full article here:
Finding Your Raspberry Pi’s System Information (Make Tech Easier)
Related:
How to Overclock Your Raspberry Pi (Make Tech Easier)

Link: How to automount NTFS partitions in Ubuntu on startup to unleash full potential of Unity search

by Admin

Under normal circumstances, the unmounted status of NTFS drives/partitions does not make much of a difference to the end user. A simple double-click will mount and open the drives. But with the advent of Unity and Dash search, the matter has acquired a new dimension now. Recently used files (and apps) are featured prominently and without the automounting of all drives and partitions, this feature is good as useless.

Full article here:
How to automount NTFS partitions in Ubuntu on startup to unleash full potential of Unity search (Tech Drive-in)

Link: Trying to choose between the Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone Black? This article will help you decide which one is best for the job

by Admin

There are already many articles out there comparing Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and BeagleBone Black; this is not one of those articles. I believe it is clear that Arduino is in a different league than the Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone Black, and serves an entirely different purpose. What I was looking for and couldn’t find was a comprehensive article that would summarize all of the pros and cons of the Raspberry Pi and the BeagleBone Black, and what each platform is best suited for. When I couldn’t find that article, I decided to write it myself.

I begin by giving a short introduction to each platform and then we will take an in-depth look at the two platforms side-by-side to determine which one is best for each category.

Full article here:
Trying to choose between the Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone Black? This article will help you decide which one is best for the job. (Maker Corner)
This article was also reposted here, with more reader comments under the main article:
How to Choose the Right Platform: Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone Black (Make)

Link: Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for BeagleBone Black – a DIY Project

by Admin

The following DIY manual describes an easy-to-implement battery backup module for the BeagleBone Black. This can be useful in certain applications, such as out-door usage where constant power is not present and it is not desirable to just drop power on the BBB board. It was built for a RasPBX setup with the motivation to have a safely powered BBB in all situations. The BBB is unfortunately suceptible to slowly rising supply voltage when powered on. It sometimes does not boot at all, which can be a serious problem after a power glitch. On top, voltage irregularities can cause the device to crash as well.

The battery backup can be applied to any BBB installation, running RasPBX, the original Anstrom Linux or any other distribution. However, USB devices cannot be used while running on battery, as the UPS does not power the USB host port.

Full article here:
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for BeagleBone Black – a DIY Project

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Meta

GiottoPress by Enrique Chavez