Category Archives: Computer

Composite video with Atmega328p

I started to get some composite video generated with a arduino for my 6502 project.

UPDATE: 20221021

It is based on Grant Searle’s design, and yesterday I had some signals on my scope which looked like a screen with a character. But my monitor would not recognize a usable signal.

Today I tried a second version and another set of chips and crystals.

It looks like a signal, but I can’t see a clock pulse from the crystal?! So .. how?

Maybe I used a bad power supply. And killed something?

UPDATE: 20221021

After switching to another power supply, and checking the atmega328p fuses again (also wrong) .. at least SOME success!

Still a little sync problem, but i’ve got a blinking cursor!
Some minipro info
#Erase
minipro -p ATMEGA328P@DIP28 -E

#Flash hex code
minipro -p ATMEGA328P@DIP28 -w SBCVideo.hex

#Flash fuses
minipro -p ATMEGA328P@DIP28 -e -c config -w fuses

#Used fuses file
fuses_lo = 0xf7
fuses_hi = 0xd9
fuses_ext = 0xff
lock_byte = 0xff

#Dump all from atmega328p
minipro -p ATMEGA328P@DIP28 -r dump -f ihex


Some info about the fuses:
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/projects/atmega328p-fuse-bits-and-an-external-crystal-oscillator

7 segment displays/keyboard decoders in SDK’s

There are a lot of old develop boards for all kinds for cpu’s.

These where build to learn machine code programming. Mostly made in the 80’s, and based on populair cpu’s at that time.

I own a some of these SDK’s (System Design Kits)

8085 – SDK85 i bought recently 8085 CPU
Microprofessor-1 (MPF-1) Z80 CPU
And my own 680x based computer

Most of these use a keyboard scanner which is also connected to 7 segment displays.

The way they work is practically the same. There is a VIA or PIA. Versitile interface adaptor, or Peripheral interface adaptor. These have two times 8 bits to control devices.
When using 4 bits and convert these to 16 lines by using a 75ls145 for example. If you put a counter on those 4 bits, you sequently activate 1 of 16 lines. These lines you can use to scan a keyboard matrix OR display a character on a 7 segment display. These display’s won’t hold the data (and show the character) when not activated. The trick is to update de display fast enough so you don’t see the flickering on/off.

Activate a line and read a byte with the VIA = Reading keyboard row
Activate a line and write a byte with the VIA = Display on a segment

These VIA/PIA’s where made with specific timings to match the CPU.
6522/6820/8255

Below you see some different implementations of these keyboard/display combo’s

Thaler 6502 kit
Microprofessor MPF-1 kit (ignore red circle)
SDK85 kit
Eltec 6800
My version using darlington arrays (ULN2003)

When looking at the 8085 version you see transistors being a ULN2003 is a chip with those transistors/amplification enclosed.
It doesn´t draw much current from the bus, and diodes protect the way the current flows.

Quick n easy media viewer in a browser

Februari 2021 i made a website to view images and movies in a browser to do some quick sorting. (borrowed some code from a codepen page i recall correctly)
At the time i didn´t have a good way to view webp webm media.
I wanted to view multiple files at the same time, and make it short and simple.

BTW no webserver needed, just open the file from a directory!
jpg’s png’s webm webp mp4 svg and animated gifs work. (maybe more, didn’t test more, whatever your browser supports)

With recent updates of the chrome browser the video attributes to mute is broken, i so made a workaround.
Also everything is in one file now.
Except for one issue .. i couldn´t create one file for images AND videos.

There is a piece of javascript i could not fix … yet
I have to do execute a document.createElement which is different for images and videos.
Also the attributes of video are mute,autoplay,loop,playinline

Examples:

index.html

<a href="video.html">Video version</a>
<div id="drop-area">
  <form class="my-form">
    <label class="button" for="fileElem">Drop some images</label>
  </form>
  <div id="gallery" /></div>
</div>
<style>
body {
  font-family: sans-serif;
}
#drop-area {
  border: 2px solid #ccc;
}
.my-form {
  margin-bottom: 10px;
}
#gallery {
  margin-top: 10px;
}
#gallery img {
  width: 300px;
}
}
#fileElem {
  display: none;
}
</style>
<script>
let dropArea = document.getElementById("drop-area")
;['dragenter', 'dragover', 'dragleave', 'drop'].forEach(eventName => {
  dropArea.addEventListener(eventName, preventDefaults, false)   
  document.body.addEventListener(eventName, preventDefaults, false)
})
;['dragenter', 'dragover'].forEach(eventName => {
  dropArea.addEventListener(eventName, highlight, false)
})
;['dragleave', 'drop'].forEach(eventName => {
  dropArea.addEventListener(eventName, unhighlight, false)
})
dropArea.addEventListener('drop', handleDrop, false)
function preventDefaults (e) {
  e.preventDefault()
  e.stopPropagation()
}
function highlight(e) {
  dropArea.classList.add('highlight')
}
function unhighlight(e) {
  dropArea.classList.remove('active')
}
function handleDrop(e) {
  var dt = e.dataTransfer
  var files = dt.files
  handleFiles(files)
}
function handleFiles(files) {
  files = [...files]
  files.forEach(previewFile)
}
function previewFile(file) {
  let reader = new FileReader()
  reader.readAsDataURL(file)
  reader.onloadend = function() {
    let img = document.createElement('img')
    img.src = reader.result
    document.getElementById('gallery').appendChild(img)
  }
}
</script>

video.html

<a href="index.php">Images version</a>
<div id="drop-area">
  <form class="my-form">
    <label class="button" for="fileElem">Drop some videos</label>
  </form>
  <div id="gallery" /></div>
</div>
<style>
body {
  font-family: sans-serif;
}
#drop-area {
  border: 2px solid #ccc;
}
.my-form {
  margin-bottom: 10px;
}
#gallery {
  margin-top: 10px;
}
#gallery video {
  width: 300px;
}
}
#fileElem {
  display: none;
}
</style>
<script>
let dropArea = document.getElementById("drop-area")
;['dragenter', 'dragover', 'dragleave', 'drop'].forEach(eventName => {
  dropArea.addEventListener(eventName, preventDefaults, false)   
  document.body.addEventListener(eventName, preventDefaults, false)
})
;['dragenter', 'dragover'].forEach(eventName => {
  dropArea.addEventListener(eventName, highlight, false)
})
;['dragleave', 'drop'].forEach(eventName => {
  dropArea.addEventListener(eventName, unhighlight, false)
})
dropArea.addEventListener('drop', handleDrop, false)
function preventDefaults (e) {
  e.preventDefault()
  e.stopPropagation()
}
function highlight(e) {
  dropArea.classList.add('highlight')
}
function unhighlight(e) {
  dropArea.classList.remove('active')
}
function handleDrop(e) {
  var dt = e.dataTransfer
  var files = dt.files
  handleFiles(files)
}
function handleFiles(files) {
  files = [...files]
  files.forEach(previewFile)
}
function previewFile(file) {
  let reader = new FileReader()
  reader.readAsDataURL(file)
  reader.onloadend = function() {
    let video = document.createElement('video')
    video.setAttribute('volume', '0');
    video.setAttribute('height', '300');
    video.setAttribute('autoplay', true);
    video.setAttribute('loop', true);
    video.setAttribute('playsinline', true);
    video.setAttribute('oncanplay', 'this.muted=true');
    video.src = reader.result
    document.getElementById('gallery').appendChild(video)
  }
}
</script>

Management on old ILO instances

We bought some servers a while ago, but these have old ILO versions (2).

To manage these servers via ILO was no problem until modern browsers refuse to connect to these web services, because of TLS 1.0 issues.

So what i did was using a second user account on my workstation with a old (downloaded from a ESR archive) version firefox. To administer the ILO

wget https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/50.0/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-50.0.tar.bz2
extract in other users homedir

usage:
# ssh with X forwarding and start old version
ssh -X otheruser@localhost firefox/oldfirefox

While this was working for me on a debian based machine it didn’t work for my friend who was using Fedora on Wayland.

So i made a more generic solution which would work always. Also when working from windows.

I downloaded a old Fedora version ISO.
https://archives.fedoraproject.org/pub/archive/fedora/linux/releases/15/Fedora/x86_64/iso/
Using the DVD iso i knew the old JAVA was present.

So i started virt-manager and created a new virtual machine

Select your downloaded Fedora 15 ISO

Where is the thin option?!??!

Create a disk image for the OS, don’t worry about the size we are going to shrink it to a minimum (thin provisioned)

Booting from ISO
Do not forget to tick Customize now

Disable all thats not needed! .. Only Gnome Graphical internet .. and JAVA

Create users, complete the install and reboot.
Test your installation.
Shutdown

sudo qemu-img info /var/lib/libvirt/images/fedora15.qcow2
When above gives you a RAW image, you need to convert from RAW to QCOW first.
Mine showed a 9G qcow2 image .. far to large

sudo apt install guestfs-tools
virt-sparsify -v fedora15.qcow2 fedora15spars.qcow2

9665380352 okt 10 13:05 fedora15.qcow2
2926444544 okt 10 13:21 fedora15spars.qcow2
From 9 down to 3GB
Browser works

Testing the Java applet console

Success!

Generic Matrix Keyboard Print

I only have to check my new design for a generic matrix keyboard once again, and then i’m going to order a few of these prints.

  • 32 keys (2 blocks of 16)
  • 1 key is changeable from generic key to reset signal key
  • jumper header connector VCC, GND, DataAvailable, Reset and 5 data lines

I’ve used the opensource tool freeroute to autoroute the coppertraces

  • From Kicad export PCB in Spectra DNS format
  • Open Freeroute and run autoroute
  • export as Spectra Session File
  • In kicad import this session file again

Autotraced …
Front
Back
Current setup

TODO: Look into charlieplexing ! For input and Led control

Raspberry and SSD

I had a crash recently on one of my raspberry-pi’s ..
SDcard failure, they are not made for a lot of write actions.
In the past i’ve changed some images to read only and with a r/w overlay.
Also tmp filesystems in memory .. all not ideal.

So i’ve started to make every RPi ssd bootable.

I’ve got several ssd already from other projects.
Sata to USB adaptors are cheap, only a few euro’s.

Steps to take:

  • Download Raspberry Pi Imager tool
  • Choose OS > Misc Utility Images > Bootloader > USB Boot
  • Select storage and write to a temporary sd-card (Not needed any more after flashing for normal operations)
  • Boot USB with this Micro-SDcard .. i didn’t have a screen connected .. So i just waited a few minutes
  • While i was waiting i wrote a OS image to the SSD using the same imager tool
  • Choose OS > select sata/ssd drive
  • Change options (cog), enable ssh, choose hostname and set password
  • Write to drive
  • Remove sdcard from RPi attach ssd/sata and boot

My 3D printed sdcard case, luckily there was still one in there (32GB kindda big, but it was only for temporary use .. 16GB was broken ..

So .. without attaching a screen or keyboard, just a network cable. I have a running OS on a RPi from SSD

Motion detection for stupid webcams

Last year i made a script for a friend who wanted to detect visually if his garden sprinkler was on or off. A few days ago i saw someone who wanted to see if things where moving in his house. (didn’t trust his landlord i think)
But he only had a dumb/simple/cheap camera .. so it had no motion detection.

I was thinking of my script, and could easily adapt it for this usage.

Most ipcams have somekind of URL/API you can use to capture a image.
Some examples below

# Reolink
wget "http://ipnumber/cgi-bin/api.cgi?cmd=Snap&channel=0&rs=randomstring&user=user&password=password" -O image.jpg

# Foscam
wget "http://ipnumber:88/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=snapPicture2&usr=user&pwd=password&cnt=randomstring" -O image.jpg

# Edimax
wget "http://user:password@ipnumber/jpg/image.jpg" -O image.jpg

# Hikvision
wget "http://user:password@ipnumber/ISAPI/Streaming/channels/101/picture" -O image.jpg

So using below script i can capture a image, compare it to the previous, and when it’s above a certain threshold sends a email.

#!/bin/bash
# Only uses wget and image-magick
treshhold=500
fuzzyness=20%
# CHANGE WEBCAM THINGY TO OWN URL AND CREDENTIALS
wget -q "http://webcamip/cgi-bin/api.cgi?cmd=Snap&channel=0&user=user&password=password" -O previous.jpg
while true;  do
wget -q "http://webcamip/cgi-bin/api.cgi?cmd=Snap&channel=0&user=user&password=password" -O current.jpg
value=$(compare -fuzz $fuzzyness previous.jpg current.jpg -metric mae diff.jpg 2>&1 | cut -f1 -d.)
if [ $value -gt $treshhold ] ; then
echo "ping $treshhold"
echo "Something moved" | mail -s "Movement" user@example.com -A diff.jpg
fi
# Comment below if you want to compare against a base line .. not previous image
cat current.jpg > previous.jpg
sleep 60
done

Example previous picture

Example current picture

I got mailed with result

Hints tips:

Use crop to detect only a part.

copy current.jpg to a second file
Use painting black a part and compair with different treshhold fuzzyness to get different hotspots.

Below detects RED, use above ide with crop to detect red/green/blue leds

compare -verbose -metric mae 1.jpg 2.jpg /tmp/1.diff
1.jpg JPEG 2560x1920 2560x1920+0+0 8-bit sRGB 248819B 0.050u 0:00.057
2.jpg JPEG 2560x1920 2560x1920+0+0 8-bit sRGB 248949B 0.030u 0:00.137
Image: 1.jpg
  Channel distortion: MAE
  Channel distortion: MAE
    red: 12517.5 (0.191005)
    green: 11967.1 (0.182607)
    blue: 12492.8 (0.190628)
    all: 12325.8 (0.18808)
1.jpg=>/tmp/1.diff JPEG 2560x1920 2560x1920+0+0 8-bit sRGB 1.19495MiB 1.470u 0:00.197

Glade and python – network tester

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS ! .. Updates follow

UPDATE: Found a glade project from 2002
https://www.henriaanstoot.nl/2002/02/20/reverse-engineering-a-alpha-ticker-led-scoller/

The goal of this project is to have a raspberry-pi with a screen wich shows network information.
It wil be using a battery, touchscreen .. maybe some status leds.
When debugging network issues we want to have information when/if/how a network port works on our switches.

It should show:

  • dhcp ip
  • gateway
  • can access internet?
  • speedtest
  • detect if vlan tagged network packets are present on the port?
  • icmp test
  • list of detected nearby hosts?

A long time ago i played with glade and C / Perl.

But i’d rather use python so i’m looking into glade/python combi for this little project.

Glade is a gnome/GTK user interface RAD tool. (Rapid Application Development)

i’ve used zenity and yad before to create simple gui’s for bash scripts, these where only for quick and dirty solutions. (See other posts)
Glade is a far better solution, but a little harder to use.

Below is a little framework i started with

Python script

import gi

gi.require_version("Gtk", "3.0")
from gi.repository import Gtk

class Handler:
    def onDestroy(self, *args):
        Gtk.main_quit()

    def on_firstbutton_clicked(self, button):
        print("Ping test")

builder = Gtk.Builder()
builder.add_from_file("mytest.glade")
builder.connect_signals(Handler())

window = builder.get_object("Main")
window.show_all()

Gtk.main()

Glade file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- Generated with glade 3.38.2 -->
<interface>
  <requires lib="gtk+" version="3.20"/>
  <object class="GtkWindow" id="Main">
    <property name="can-focus">False</property>
    <property name="title" translatable="yes">Networktool</property>
    <property name="default-width">440</property>
    <property name="default-height">250</property>
    <property name="icon-name">network-wired</property>
    <child>
      <object class="GtkFixed" id="fixed1">
        <property name="visible">True</property>
        <property name="can-focus">False</property>
        <child>
          <object class="GtkButton" id="firstbutton">
            <property name="label" translatable="yes">Ping test</property>
            <property name="width-request">100</property>
            <property name="height-request">16</property>
            <property name="visible">True</property>
            <property name="can-focus">True</property>
            <property name="receives-default">True</property>
            <signal name="clicked" handler="on_firstbutton_clicked" swapped="no"/>
          </object>
          <packing>
            <property name="x">56</property>
            <property name="y">40</property>
          </packing>
        </child>
        <child>
          <object class="GtkButton" id="speedtest">
            <property name="label" translatable="yes">Speed test</property>
            <property name="width-request">100</property>
            <property name="height-request">16</property>
            <property name="visible">True</property>
            <property name="can-focus">True</property>
            <property name="receives-default">True</property>
          </object>
          <packing>
            <property name="x">56</property>
            <property name="y">89</property>
          </packing>
        </child>
        <child>
          <object class="GtkTextView">
            <property name="width-request">179</property>
            <property name="height-request">166</property>
            <property name="visible">True</property>
            <property name="can-focus">True</property>
          </object>
          <packing>
            <property name="x">222</property>
            <property name="y">36</property>
          </packing>
        </child>
      </object>
    </child>
  </object>
</interface>

Which is generated using the Glade designer

When running you get below screen

Old glade program (2003)

SDK-85 searching archives

Found these old .. old mini-cassettes .. wish i could read these now.
The sdk units we had, had tapedrives and few other hardware devices you could play with. Like a motor you could control, which had a disc with slots in it on top. These slots could be read and counted with a sensor to determine the speed.

Also this scanned pages, from school i found. There should also be a little notbook with programs and notes ..

Found some ROM files also

Apparently we had something called a bb-board.
These had motors and speakers and such

This part contains the motor with sensor
Led and switches
Speaker and more

I want to try to get some parts working by rebuilding. Like the speaker .. because … i found some own written software!

I found als programs written by my friend Martin

SDK-85 in 2022

I was posting about the 8085 System Design Kit in may, but now i’ve got one!

I found one online, it is a very clean almost like its never been used version!

More follows!

More info at http://www.bitsavers.org/components/intel/8085/