Category Archives: Computer

I asked ChatGPT to write code for a Crack the Code game.

The Game

elcome to Crack the Code!
The code has 4 digits. Each digit is between 0 and 9.
You have 10 tries to guess the code.
After each guess, you will be told how many digits you got correct and how many were misplaced.
Good luck!
Enter your guess: 1234
Guess 1: 1234 - 0 correct, 0 misplaced
Enter your guess: 5678
Guess 2: 5678 - 2 correct, 1 misplaced
Enter your guess: 5689
Guess 3: 5689 - 1 correct, 2 misplaced
Enter your guess: 9688 
Guess 4: 9688 - 1 correct, 2 misplaced
....
Sorry, you did not crack the code. The code was 5568.

Generated python code

import random

def generate_code():
    code = ""
    for i in range(4):
        code += str(random.randint(0, 9))
    return code

def check_guess(code, guess):
    correct_digits = 0
    misplaced_digits = 0
    for i in range(4):
        if guess[i] == code[i]:
            correct_digits += 1
        elif guess[i] in code:
            misplaced_digits += 1
    return (correct_digits, misplaced_digits)

def play_game():
    print("Welcome to Crack the Code!")
    print("The code has 4 digits. Each digit is between 0 and 9.")
    print("You have 10 tries to guess the code.")
    print("After each guess, you will be told how many digits you got correct and how many were misplaced.")
    print("Good luck!")
    code = generate_code()
    num_guesses = 0
    while num_guesses < 10:
        guess = input("Enter your guess: ")
        if len(guess) != 4 or not guess.isdigit():
            print("Invalid input. Please enter a 4-digit number.")
            continue
        num_guesses += 1
        correct, misplaced = check_guess(code, guess)
        print(f"Guess {num_guesses}: {guess} - {correct} correct, {misplaced} misplaced")
        if correct == 4:
            print("Congratulations! You cracked the code!")
            return
    print(f"Sorry, you did not crack the code. The code was {code}.")

play_game()

After this i let the AI made some changes, which kinda worked.
Scary nevertheless

Infrared Sending Receiving

I’ve build a IR Blaster in the past and tested IR with EspEasy Dev.
I’m not happy with my Harmony Hub. Not so much control as i like to have.

So now OpenMqttGateway with IR.

I’ve installed platformio in the past.
Not really a fan of visual-code i’m showing you the process on CLI

We can’t use the webinstaller or a precompiled binary because we need to change GPIO ports

wget https://github.com/1technophile/OpenMQTTGateway/releases/download/v1.5.0/nodemcuv2-ir-libraries.zip
wget https://github.com/1technophile/OpenMQTTGateway/archive/refs/tags/v1.5.0.tar.gz
tar xzvf v1.5.0.tar.gz
cd v1.5.0/libs
unzip ../../nodemcuv2-ir-libraries.zip
cd ..
edit platformio.ini
remove ; from 
default_envs = nodemcuv2-ir
vi main/config_IR.h
search for LOLIN, edit and change into 0 (GPIO 0 = D3)

build and upload
pio run --target upload --upload-port /dev/ttyUSB0
build and upload with flash erase
pio run --target erase --target upload --upload-port /dev/ttyUSB0

clean the environment when needed
pio run -t clean

Now you will get a Access Point, connect and enter your Wifi network information and mqtt server.

When connected you will see the IR codes and if you installed mqtt support in home assistant it will see the mqtt topics.

I’ve copied a json output as was send by my IR remote.
Below an example using mosquitto_pub to send codes.

mosquitto_pub -t home/OpenMQTTGateway_ESP8266_IR/commands/MQTTtoIR -h mymqttserver -m '{
  "value": 1270235327,
  "protocol": 3,
  "bits": 32,
  "hex": "0x4BB640BF",
  "protocol_name": "NEC",
  "raw": "8908,4498,536,604,510,1700,532,604,512,604,510,1722,510,604,510,1700,534,1700,534,1702,532,606,510,1722,510,1700,534,604,512,1722,510,1722,510,604,512,604,510,1702,532,606,510,606,510,604,510,604,512,604,512,604,510,1722,510,606,510,1722,510,1702,532,1700,534,1722,512,1722,510,1700,534"
}'

platformio commands

Why use platformio?
I know Arduino IDE is easier for starters.
Platformio is far more flexible, you can make projects with their own versions of libraries.
I like CLI, easier to do version control (git)

pip install -U platformio
pio upgrade
pio update

Some screenshots of my visual code platformio

Last weeks useful schematics

While working on my game, i had to come up with some solutions i could not find an answer for on the internet.

I’m not going to post every little detail of my game on this blog, my main reason is sharing my experiences and solutions.

16 SWITCHES

16 Switches on a Wemos Arduino. While push buttons are easier to connect, I needed ON/OFF switches.
Push buttons are easy, there is only one active, so 4 enable lines and 4 scan lines and you’re golden.
16 Switches can be enabled all at the same time.
So you need some extra components to get a good result (0-65535)

Above schematic works, you need 4x 1k Pull-up resistors and 16 diodes. I used 1N4007

CONTROLLING 24V using Arduino and a buck convertor

Next problem, i’m using some elevator buttons for a project. These have build-in leds but run at 24V.
I only have 5V from the Arduino.
Regular leds you can connect directly to the Arduino using a 220ohm resistor.
So i used a Buck-Step-Up-Convertor. This little module converts 5V to 24V. (You can control the output voltage using a variable resistor)
To control the lamp/leds i used a PN2222a transistor to switch the lights on/off using a pin of the Arduino.

MT3608 Convertor
  • Input voltage: 2V-24V DC
  • Output voltage: 5V-28V DC
  • Output current: 2A (max), 1A (recommended), <100mA (input <4.0V), <50mA (input <3.5V)

New Anonymizing proxy

I’ve made new anonymizing proxy in my Lab.

Created a virtual machine with Ghostpath VPN.
I can re-direct other machines in my network to use this gateway.

Next to do: Filter HTTP headers/cookies and implement proxychains.

My webscrapers, Transmission and Sabnzb are configured to use this VPN gateway.
I stopped using docker instances for this, to much hassle to keep these images working.

Playing with lasercutter steppermotors

Busy day: I’ve airbrushed some 3D pieces a few days ago, but i need 50 or so more.
Meanwhile is was reinstalling octoprint, and making a new version of my Bluetooth page flipper. (Android Music Sheet Pedal Thingy. Which i also didn’t post apparently)
But the main project was this:

I was curious how fast the stepper motors are on my laser cutter. And for what can we utilize this!

So I took a Raspberry Zero and some rotary encoders, lets make an etch-a-sketch like thingy.


Some rotary encoder modules I had.

Next to do: 3D print a pen holder, and alter the code to enable the laser when moving!

CODE

Below code uses a simple rotary class, and generates control GCodes for the steppers/Sculpfun

import time
import serial
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
from encoder import Encoder

def valueChanged(value, direction):
    print("* New value: {}, Direction: {}".format(value, direction))

GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)

e1 = Encoder(20, 21, valueChanged)
e2 = Encoder(16, 12, valueChanged)

x = 0
y = 0
arduino = serial.Serial('/dev/ttyUSB0', 115200, timeout=.1)

newx = 0
mystringx = ""
newy = 0
mystringy = ""

arduino.write(str.encode("G00 G17 G40 G21 G54\r\n"))
arduino.write(str.encode('G90\r\n'))
arduino.write(str.encode('M4\r\n'))
arduino.write(str.encode('M8\r\n'))
arduino.write(str.encode('G0 X41.5Y36.05\r\n'))
arduino.write(str.encode('M3\r\n'))
#arduino.write(str.encode('G91\r\n'))
arduino.write(str.encode('G1 X2.5F6000S0\r\n'))
arduino.write(str.encode('G1 X0\r\n'))
arduino.write(str.encode('G1 Y0\r\n'))

try:
    while True:
        data = arduino.readline()[:-2] #the last bit gets rid of the new-line chars
        if data:
                print (data)
        arduino.write(str.encode("G1 F10000\r\n"))
        newx=e1.getValue() *5 + 100
        newy=e2.getValue() *5 + 100
        mystringx=f"G1 X{newx}\r\n"
        mystringy=f"G1 Y{newy}\r\n"
#        print(mystringx)
        arduino.write(str.encode(mystringx))
        arduino.write(str.encode(mystringy))

except Exception:
    pass

GPIO.cleanup()

LCD Display with rotary encoder on Wemos using MQTT and Node-red

  • Sends a “connected” to Mosquitto
  • Mqtt controls Display
  • Rotary values are displayed, a push on the rotary sends the value to Mosquitto
Schematic : capacitors are 100nF and display has an I2C backpack
Node-red flow example
Node red GUI

Code :

Notes: There is a problem with 4 line LCD using LiquidCrystal_I2C
Lines 3 and 4 will be shifted 4 characters to the right.
Workaround is: lcd.setCursor(-4, 2); // Go to column 0, row 3

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>
#include <WiFiClient.h>
#include "SoftwareSerial.h"
#include <Ethernet.h>
#include <Arduino.h>
#include <RotaryEncoder.h>
#define wifi_ssid "MYSSID"
#define wifi_password "MYSSIDPASS"
#define mqtt_server "MQTTSERVER"
#define mqtt_port 1883

WiFiClient espClient;
EthernetClient ethClient;

PubSubClient mqtt(espClient);

#include <Wire.h>                  // Include Wire library (required for I2C devices)
#include <LiquidCrystal_I2C.h>     // Include LiquidCrystal_I2C library 
 
LiquidCrystal_I2C lcd(0x27, 16, 4);  // Configure LiquidCrystal_I2C library with 0x27 address, 16 columns and 4 rows
volatile bool flag = false;


#define PIN_IN1 D7
#define PIN_IN2 D6
#define push D5
int temp = 0;

RotaryEncoder *encoder = nullptr;

#if defined(ARDUINO_AVR_UNO) || defined(ARDUINO_AVR_NANO_EVERY)
// This interrupt routine will be called on any change of one of the input signals
void checkPosition()
{
  encoder->tick(); // just call tick() to check the state.
}

#elif defined(ESP8266)
/**
 * @brief The interrupt service routine will be called on any change of one of the input signals.
 */
IRAM_ATTR void checkPosition()
{
  encoder->tick(); // just call tick() to check the state.
}

#endif

void scrollText(int row, String message, int delayTime, int lcdColumns) {
  for (int i=0; i < lcdColumns; i++) {
    message = " " + message;  
  } 
  message = message + " "; 
  for (int pos = 0; pos < message.length(); pos++) {
    lcd.setCursor(0, row);
    lcd.print(message.substring(pos, pos + lcdColumns));
    delay(delayTime);
  }
}

void setup_wifi() {
  delay(10);
  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);
  WiFi.begin(wifi_ssid, wifi_password);
  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    delay(500);
  }
}
 
void setup() {
    setup_wifi();
  mqtt.setServer(mqtt_server, mqtt_port);
  mqtt.setCallback(callback);
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.println("initializing...");

  WiFiClient espClient;
PubSubClient mqtt(espClient);

 mqtt.setClient(espClient);
  mqtt.setServer(mqtt_server, 1883);
    
mqtt.setCallback(callback);
   mqtt.subscribe("escape/display1/#");

  lcd.init();                        // Initialize I2C LCD module
  lcd.backlight();                   // Turn backlight ON
 
  lcd.setCursor(0, 0);               // Go to column 0, row 0
  lcd.print("Init");
  lcd.setCursor(0, 1);               // Go to column 0, row 1
  lcd.print("Display #1");

  encoder = new RotaryEncoder(PIN_IN1, PIN_IN2, RotaryEncoder::LatchMode::TWO03);

  // register interrupt routine
  attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(PIN_IN1), checkPosition, CHANGE);
  attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(PIN_IN2), checkPosition, CHANGE);

 pinMode(push, INPUT_PULLUP);
}

void reconnect() {
  // Loop until we're reconnected
  while (!mqtt.connected()) {
    // Create a random client ID
    String clientId = "ESP8266Client-";
    clientId += String(random(0xffff), HEX);
    // Attempt to connect
    if (mqtt.connect(clientId.c_str())) {
      // Once connected, publish an announcement...
      mqtt.publish("escape", "display1 connected");
      // ... and resubscribe
      mqtt.subscribe("escape/display1/#");
    } else {
      // Wait 5 seconds before retrying
      delay(5000);
    }
  }
}

void callback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length) {

payload[length]= '\0';
char * charPointer = (char *)payload;
String s="";
s =charPointer;
s = s + "               "; 
    String topicStr = topic;

if (topicStr == "escape/display1/clear"){
   lcd.clear();
}
if (topicStr == "escape/display1/1in"){
  lcd.setCursor(0, 0);               // Go to column 0, row 1
  lcd.print(s.substring(0, 16));
}
if (topicStr == "escape/display1/2in"){
  lcd.setCursor(0, 1);               // Go to column 0, row 2
  lcd.print(s.substring(0, 16));
}
if (topicStr == "escape/display1/3in"){
  lcd.setCursor(-4, 2);               // Go to column 0, row 3
  lcd.print(s.substring(0, 16));
}
if (topicStr == "escape/display1/4in"){
  lcd.setCursor(-4, 3);               // Go to column 0, row 4
  lcd.print(s.substring(0, 16));
}
    }
 
void loop() {
   if (!mqtt.connected()) {
    reconnect();
  }
    mqtt.loop();

  static int pos = 0;

  encoder->tick(); // just call tick() to check the state.

  int newPos = encoder->getPosition() / 2;
    if (pos != newPos) {
    String nr="";
    Serial.print("pos:");
    Serial.print(newPos);
    Serial.print(" dir:");
    Serial.println((int)(encoder->getDirection()));
    pos = newPos;
 // hier nog iets mee doen 
   // zonder setPos moet je eerst lang clockwise voordat weer gaat tellen
    // met setPos blijft 0
   // if (pos < 0){
    //  pos = 0;
   //     encoder->setPosition(0);
   // }
    
    nr = pos + "        ";
    lcd.setCursor(10, 3);               // Go to column 10, row 3
  lcd.print(pos);
  lcd.print("   ");
  }

  temp = digitalRead(push);
  if (temp == LOW) {
    
char msg_out[20];
sprintf(msg_out, "%d",pos);
        mqtt.publish("escape/display1/rotary", msg_out);
  }

}

Mini DF MP3 player with MQTT control

Resistor is 1K, speaker is 4 ohm

I’ve got the DFPlayer with the GD3200B instead of the better YX5200, but it works.

As part of my game, so MQTT controlled.

First sound is low in volume.

Code

I’m using Soft Serial

// based on code from: 
// https://github.com/Makuna/DFMiniMp3/blob/master/examples/PlayMp3/PlayMp3.ino
// above example has no wifi/mqtt and is missing the SoftSerial include line
#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>
#include <WiFiClient.h>
#include <DFMiniMp3.h>
#include "SoftwareSerial.h"
#include <Ethernet.h>

#define wifi_ssid "SSID"
#define wifi_password "SSIDPASS"
#define mqtt_server "MQTTSERVER"
#define mqtt_port 1883

WiFiClient espClient;
EthernetClient ethClient;
PubSubClient mqtt(espClient);

class Mp3Notify; 

SoftwareSerial secondarySerial(D6, D5); // RX, TX
typedef DFMiniMp3<SoftwareSerial, Mp3Notify> DfMp3;
DfMp3 dfmp3(secondarySerial);

class Mp3Notify
{
public:
  static void PrintlnSourceAction(DfMp3_PlaySources source, const char* action)
  {
    if (source & DfMp3_PlaySources_Sd) 
    {
        Serial.print("SD Card, ");
    }
    if (source & DfMp3_PlaySources_Usb) 
    {
        Serial.print("USB Disk, ");
    }
    if (source & DfMp3_PlaySources_Flash) 
    {
        Serial.print("Flash, ");
    }
    Serial.println(action);
  }
  static void OnError([[maybe_unused]] DfMp3& mp3, uint16_t errorCode)
  {
    // see DfMp3_Error for code meaning
    Serial.println();
    Serial.print("Com Error ");
    Serial.println(errorCode);
  }
  static void OnPlayFinished([[maybe_unused]] DfMp3& mp3, [[maybe_unused]] DfMp3_PlaySources source, uint16_t track)
  {
    Serial.print("Play finished for #");
    Serial.println(track);  

    // start next track
    track += 1;
    // this example will just start back over with 1 after track 3
    if (track > 3) 
    {
      track = 1;
    }
    dfmp3.playMp3FolderTrack(track);  // sd:/mp3/0001.mp3, sd:/mp3/0002.mp3, sd:/mp3/0003.mp3
  }
  static void OnPlaySourceOnline([[maybe_unused]] DfMp3& mp3, DfMp3_PlaySources source)
  {
    PrintlnSourceAction(source, "online");
  }
  static void OnPlaySourceInserted([[maybe_unused]] DfMp3& mp3, DfMp3_PlaySources source)
  {
    PrintlnSourceAction(source, "inserted");
  }
  static void OnPlaySourceRemoved([[maybe_unused]] DfMp3& mp3, DfMp3_PlaySources source)
  {
    PrintlnSourceAction(source, "removed");
  }
};

void setup_wifi() {
  delay(10);
  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);
  WiFi.begin(wifi_ssid, wifi_password);
  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    delay(500);
  }
}

void setup() 
{
  setup_wifi();
  mqtt.setServer(mqtt_server, mqtt_port);
  mqtt.setCallback(callback);
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.println("initializing...");

  WiFiClient espClient;
  PubSubClient mqtt(espClient);

  mqtt.setClient(espClient);
  mqtt.setServer(mqtt_server, 1883);
    
  mqtt.setCallback(callback);
  mqtt.subscribe("escape/soundin");
  
  dfmp3.begin();

  uint16_t volume = dfmp3.getVolume();
  Serial.print("volume ");
  Serial.println(volume);
  dfmp3.setVolume(24);
  
  uint16_t count = dfmp3.getTotalTrackCount(DfMp3_PlaySource_Sd);
  Serial.print("files ");
  Serial.println(count);
  
  Serial.println("starting...");

  // start the first track playing
  // dfmp3.playMp3FolderTrack(1);  // sd:/mp3/0001.mp3
}

void reconnect() {
  // Loop until we're reconnected
  while (!mqtt.connected()) {
    // Create a random client ID
    String clientId = "ESP8266Client-";
    clientId += String(random(0xffff), HEX);
    // Attempt to connect
    if (mqtt.connect(clientId.c_str())) {
      // Once connected, publish an announcement...
      mqtt.publish("escape", "sound connected");
      // ... and resubscribe
      mqtt.subscribe("escape/soundin");
    } else {
      // Wait 5 seconds before retrying
      delay(5000);
    }
  }
}


void callback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length) {
    //  digitalWrite(led, HIGH);

    String topicStr = topic;
      byte value = atoi((char*)payload);
dfmp3.playMp3FolderTrack(value);  // sd:/mp3/0001.mp3
  Serial.println(value);
}

void waitMilliseconds(uint16_t msWait)
{
  uint32_t start = millis();

  while ((millis() - start) < msWait)
  {
    dfmp3.loop(); 
    delay(1);
  }
}

void loop() 
{
  
  if (!mqtt.connected()) {
    reconnect();
  }
    mqtt.loop();
  waitMilliseconds(100);
}

Wemos with Keypad, led and 7 segment display using MQTT

Warning, read the notes!

There are several caveats.

  • I was needing ALL GPIO pins, even RX/TX ( see trick below)
    When doing so, you can’t use serialprint.
    Do NOT enable, your sketch won’t work!
  • Don’t use pullup on D8, you can’t upload to the wemos if you do that
  • Due to library conflicts in keypad.h, DON’T change the order in the source. You will end up with compile errors!
  • The keypad has a weird pinout, but there are similar keypads with alternative layouts. Measure this using a multimeter.
  • The pull-up resistors will help fighting ghost key presses!
  • I2C needs D1/D2

To use RX/TX as GPIO pins you need to do the following:

//Define pins
  int led = 1; //tx
  int col = 3; //rx

// Change to function mode 3
// see https://www.esp8266.com/wiki/doku.php?id=esp8266_gpio_pin_allocations
  pinMode(1, FUNCTION_3);
  pinMode(3, FUNCTION_3);
 
// Revert to normal mode
// pinMode(1, FUNCTION0);

// Define mode input/output
// i'm using led to control the led so thats an output
// I'm using col for the keypad column scanner, that's an input
  pinMode(led, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(col, INPUT);

Complete code

The (*) clears input
The (#) sends the pin code using MQTT

Sending a 0 or 1 to escape/keypadin topic will toggle the led

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>
#include <WiFiClient.h>
// Do not change order!
#include "Keypad.h"
#include <TM1637Display.h>
#include <Ethernet.h>

#define wifi_ssid "SSID"
#define wifi_password "SSIDPASS"
#define mqtt_server "MQTTSERVER"
#define mqtt_port 1883

#define MSG_BUFFER_SIZE  (50)
char msg[MSG_BUFFER_SIZE];
int value = 0;

const byte ROWS = 4; //four rows
const byte COLS = 3; //four columns

int led = 1; //tx
int col = 3; //rx

#define CLK D1
#define DIO D2
#define TEST_DELAY   2000
TM1637Display display(CLK, DIO);

char keys[ROWS][COLS] = {
  {'1', '2', '3'},
  {'4', '5', '6'},
  {'7', '8', '9'},
  {'*', '0', '#'}
};
byte rowPins[ROWS] = {D3, D5 , D6 , D7 };
byte colPins[COLS] = {D4 , col, D8 };

Keypad keypad = Keypad(makeKeymap(keys), rowPins, colPins, ROWS, COLS);
int keyNum = 0;
WiFiClient espClient;
EthernetClient ethClient;

PubSubClient mqtt(espClient);

void setup_wifi() {
  delay(10);
  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);
  WiFi.begin(wifi_ssid, wifi_password);
  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    delay(500);
  }
}


void setup() {
  setup_wifi();
  mqtt.setServer(mqtt_server, mqtt_port);
  mqtt.setCallback(callback);
  
  pinMode(1, FUNCTION_3);
  pinMode(3, FUNCTION_3);
  pinMode(led, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(col, INPUT);
  // using above? .. then disable serial!
  // Serial.begin(9600);
display.showNumberDec(0, true);
delay(TEST_DELAY);
WiFiClient espClient;
PubSubClient mqtt(espClient);

 mqtt.setClient(espClient);
 mqtt.setServer(mqtt_server, 1883);
    
mqtt.setCallback(callback);
mqtt.subscribe("escape/keypadin");

}

void callback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length) {
    //  digitalWrite(led, HIGH);

    String topicStr = topic;
      byte value = atoi((char*)payload);
       if (value == 1){
    digitalWrite(led, HIGH);

 }else if (value == 0){
    digitalWrite(led, LOW);
 }
    

}

void reconnect() {
  while (!mqtt.connected()) {
    // Create a random client ID
    String clientId = "ESP8266Client-";
    clientId += String(random(0xffff), HEX);
    if (mqtt.connect(clientId.c_str())) {
      mqtt.publish("outTopic", "hello world");
      mqtt.subscribe("escape/keypadin");
    } else {
      delay(5000);
    }
  }
}



void loop() {

  if (!mqtt.connected()) {
    reconnect();
  }
    mqtt.loop();

  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
  char key = keypad.getKey();

  if (key) {

    if(key=='*'){
      keyNum = 0;
    } else if (key=='#'){
         ++value;
  snprintf (msg, MSG_BUFFER_SIZE, "#%1d", keyNum);
        mqtt.publish("escape/keypad", msg);
    }
    
       else{
      if(keyNum<=999){
        keyNum = (keyNum*10) + (int(key)-48);
      }
    }
    
    //  Serial.println(key);
    display.setBrightness(0x0f);

    uint8_t data[] = { 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0 };
    display.setSegments(data);

    display.setSegments(data);
    display.showNumberDec(keyNum);

  }

}

Scraping authenticated websites

A friend needed to scrape data from an authenticated website.
This needs to be scripted and processed without human intervention.

Following steps are needed to get the correct curl commands (one time only)

Login page
Press F12 or right-click inspect
Click network and reload using ctrl-r
Select the start page and right click
copy as cURL (bash)

next steps

save curl command in a file

remove –compresssion and -H ‘Cookie: JSESSIONID=?????????????????????????????’

add just after curl

-k (no certificate check) and
–cookie-jar tmpcookiefile

excecute this. It will give you a file with a session id and a true field.
(This will change at every login)
but is needed for subsequential requests

Next: use this sessioncookie to get the next authenticated request

So to scrape with login, you need two lines in your script.
One to get the session cookie. (YOUR username/pass will be in here!!)
And the second to get the needed page using the cookie

#!/bin/bash
#authenticate and save sessioncookie
curl -k --cookie-jar part1.cookie 'https://xxx.xxxxx.xxx/site/dologin'   -H 'Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.7'   -H 'Accept-Language: en-GB,en;q=0.9,nl-NL;q=0.8,nl;q=0.7'   -H 'Cache-Control: max-age=0'   -H 'Connection: keep-alive'   -H 'Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=----WebKitFormBoundaryb1chvkAVZSF3hPSu'    -H 'Origin: https://xxx.xxxxx.xxx'   -H 'Referer: https://xxx.xxxxx.xxx/site/loginform'   -H 'Sec-Fetch-Dest: document'   -H 'Sec-Fetch-Mode: navigate'   -H 'Sec-Fetch-Site: same-origin'   -H 'Upgrade-Insecure-Requests: 1'   -H 'User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/110.0.0.0 Safari/537.36'   -H 'sec-ch-ua: "Chromium";v="110", "Not A(Brand";v="24", "Google Chrome";v="110"'   -H 'sec-ch-ua-mobile: ?0'   -H 'sec-ch-ua-platform: "Windows"'   --data-raw $'------WebKitFormBoundaryb1chvkAVZSF3hPSu\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name="form[username]"\r\n\r\nusername\r\n------WebKitFormBoundaryb1chvkAVZSF3hPSu\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name="form[password]"\r\n\r\npassword\r\n------WebKitFormBoundaryb1chvkAVZSF3hPSu\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name="form[refname]"\r\n\r\n\r\n------WebKitFormBoundaryb1chvkAVZSF3hPSu\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name="form[refid]"\r\n\r\n\r\n------WebKitFormBoundaryb1chvkAVZSF3hPSu\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name="form[refmod]"\r\n\r\n\r\n------WebKitFormBoundaryb1chvkAVZSF3hPSu\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name="form[csrf_hash]"\r\n\r\ncsrf_ab09f7887d9dacfe1489b68b64fe6a01\r\n------WebKitFormBoundaryb1chvkAVZSF3hPSu--\r\n'
#get data from second page
curl -k -l --cookie part1.cookie  https://xxx.xxxxx.xxx/subscriber/overview

Mikrotik and Home Assistant

A friend of mine remembered me of the Mikrotik addons in HA.
I forgot all about this.

I’ve got two integrations running. (Installed via HACS)

Don“t forget to enable the API on your devices.

/ip services
set api disabled=no port=8728

The addons/integrations extract a lot of information from the MT devices.

This integration will also let you know that your MT Router can be updated.

This is part if the presence detector/Device locator.
My roaming wifi network will give false locations. My laptop never left the same spot!

I will add to this page, after testing for a while