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Jack Farley, Computer Engineer

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  • 4/19/2022, 12:00:00 AM

    New Zealand Low Power Wide Area Networks

    electronicssoftware

    I have started experimenting with low power wide area networks (LP-WAN) in New Zealand using a u-blox SARA-R410-02B. Here is is what I have experimented with so far.

  • 2/7/2022, 6:59:00 AM

    Starting with ESP32

    esp32electronicssoftwaretrap-watch

    I started developing my trap-watch project on an ESP32-CAM using the ESP IDF. Here is the newbie difficulties I ran into.

    The List

    Here is the list of newbie gotchas I ran into when developing the trap-watch project. I will be adding more gotchas as I find them so watch this space....

    Including Libraries like espvfsfat.h in Components

    To include library files like espvfatfat.h in components, you have to REQUIRE the correct component in your components CMakeLists.txt file. For example, for the Fat Filesystem, the component to require is fatfs. You can then #include "esp_vfs_fat.h" in your component file.

    Installing the right version of ESP-IDF

    By default, the esp-idf installation instructions tell you to install the latest version (read latest including unstable version). I think it is a good idea, especially when you are starting out to use the stable version. To install the stable version, find the current stable version (will be listed as stable in the version menu on the left of the ESP-IDF docs page) and change to that version before you install.

    # Clone the repository without initialising the submodules
    git clone https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf.git
    # Go into the directory
    cd esp-idf
    # Checkout the stable version
    git checkout vX.X.X
    # Initialise the submodules
    git submodule update --init
    # Install for an ESP32
    ./install.sh esp32

    The finicky ESP32-CAM SD card

    The SD card seems to be the most finicky thing on the ESP32-CAM board. Not helped by the fact that the high speed SPI port that the SD card is connected to has the flash LED and in my case the PIR sensor attached to it. I configured the SDMMC library to use a bus width of 1, but found that whenever I removed the power on the board, it would always fail to initialise the SD card.

    D (2901) sdmmc_periph: slot=1 host_div=10 card_div=20 freq=400kHz
    D (2911) sdmmc_periph: slot=1 width=1
    D (2911) sdmmc_req: process_command_response: error 0x107  (status=00000100)
    D (2941) sdmmc_req: process_command_response: error 0x107  (status=00000100)
    D (2941) sdmmc_sd: CMD8 timeout; not an SD v2.00 card
    D (2941) sdmmc_req: process_command_response: error 0x107  (status=00000100)
    D (2941) sdmmc_io: sdmmc_init_io: io_send_op_cond (1) returned 0x107; not IO card
    D (2951) sdmmc_req: process_command_response: error 0x107  (status=00000100)
    D (2961) sdmmc_req: process_command_response: error 0x107  (status=00000100)
    D (2971) sdmmc_req: process_command_response: error 0x107  (status=00000100)
    D (2971) sdmmc_cmd: sdmmc_send_cmd_send_op_cond: sdmmc_send_app_cmd err=0x107
    D (2981) sdmmc_common: send_op_cond timeout, trying MMC
    D (2991) sdmmc_req: process_command_response: error 0x107  (status=00000100)
    D (2991) sdmmc_req: process_command_response: error 0x107  (status=00000100)
    D (3001) sdmmc_req: process_command_response: error 0x107  (status=00000100)
    D (3011) sdmmc_cmd: sdmmc_send_cmd_send_op_cond: sdmmc_send_app_cmd err=0x107
    E (3011) sdmmc_common: sdmmc_init_ocr: send_op_cond (1) returned 0x107
    D (3021) sdmmc_init: sdmmc_card_init: sdmmc_init_ocr returned 0x107
    E (3031) vfs_fat_sdmmc: sdmmc_card_init failed (0x107).
    E (3031) trap-watch: Got an error initialising SD card 0x107: ESP_ERR_TIMEOUT

    Not only that, but then trying to flash the ES32-CAM with an SD card inserted failed and blinded me by constantly flashing the flash. Only after setting the width back to 4, removing the card during flashing did it come right again.

    D (2911) sdmmc_periph: slot=1 host_div=10 card_div=20 freq=400kHz
    D (2921) sdmmc_periph: slot=1 width=1
    D (2921) sdmmc_req: process_command_response: error 0x107  (status=00000100)
    D (2951) sdmmc_sd: SDHC/SDXC card
    D (2951) sdmmc_req: process_command_response: error 0x107  (status=00000100)
    D (2951) sdmmc_io: sdmmc_init_io: io_send_op_cond (1) returned 0x107; not IO card
    D (2981) sdmmc_common: host_ocr=0x40ff8000 card_ocr=0xc0ff8000
    D (2981) sdmmc_common: sdmmc_card_init: host_ocr=40ff8000, card_ocr=c0ff8000
    D (2981) sdmmc_init: sdmmc_card_init: card type is SD
    D (2991) sdmmc_common: sdmmc_init_host_bus_width: using 4-bit bus
    D (2991) sdmmc_periph: slot=1 width=4
    D (2991) sdmmc_common: sdmmc_init_host_frequency: using 20000 kHz bus frequency
    D (3001) sdmmc_periph: slot=1 host_div=8 card_div=0 freq=20000kHz
    D (3011) vfs_fat_sdmmc: using pdrv=0
    I (3021) SD Card: Filesystem mounted
    Name: SU04G
    Type: SDHC/SDXC
    Speed: 20 MHz
    Size: 3781MB

    I also had to then configure the Flash pin pulldown to turn the flash off.

    gpio_set_pull_mode(FLASH_PIN, GPIO_PULLDOWN_ONLY);

    mDNS domain

    When trying to access your ESP32 using mDNS, don't forget the .local domain name

    $ ping trap-watch.local
    Close
  • 2/4/2022, 3:29:00 AM

    VIM Window Rabbit Hole

    linux

    Developing ESP-IDF components I thought it would be great if I could make a command to open all the files for a component at once. What a rabbit hole it was. Here is how I did it.

  • 1/28/2022, 12:00:00 AM

    Parsing Arguments in Bash

    linux

    Making a script parse arugments in Bash took me way too long last time I did it, so here is a nice full example of how to do it using getopt

  • 1/8/2022, 12:00:00 AM

    Where's my bait gone?

    electronicsconservationtrap-watch

    I have recently started trapping some introduced predators around my local area and have had baits and pre-feed disappear with nothing to show for it, so I decided to get sparky and see if I could catch the culprit in the act.

  • 3/26/2021, 1:00:00 PM

    Bathymetric Contours

    gisgeoserveroceans

    Finally got around to creating a SLD style for GeoServer to display bathymetric contour lines using the GEBCO gridded bathymetric data. Here's how.

  • 2/25/2021, 9:00:00 PM

    shm That Cache

    yarndockerdevelopment

    I am often trying to find more space on my hard drives and found today my own docker containers wasting space thanks to ! Here's how I fixed it.

  • 2/2/2021, 9:10:07 PM

    Blob blob blob blob Stayin' Alive Stayin' Alive

    softwarejavascriptdebuggingmemory

    Upon recently trying Deezer again, I found their web app ate all my memory when running in Firefox, so I decided to see if I could find out why. I got as far as memory-file-data/string and Blobs. Here's how.

  • 12/25/2020, 12:13:48 AM

    A new Litter Survey

    softwarelitterlitter-survey

    In a culmination of litter surveys and litter picks, linked data and data exploration, and remoteStorage and ActivityPub, I have created a web-based litter pick/survey app that I hope will allow federated citizen science.

  • 12/13/2020, 6:00:00 PM

    Hoe Stream Trash

    litterpi-trash-camlitter-pick

    My latest litter pick target was Hoe Stream and the White Rose Lane Local Nature Reserve. Here's how it went.

  • 11/24/2020, 6:00:00 PM

    Release the Beast

    softwaregitlabcirelease

    I just created a Gitlab CI job to create a release with information from a CHANGELOG.md file for some of my projects. Here's how I did it.

  • 9/30/2020, 9:00:00 PM

    Gitlab CI Caching

    gitlabcontinuous integration

    I noticed something strange happening during build process during a multi-tasking bug fix. Turns out I was using Gitlab CI's caching incorrectly. I should have been using artifacts. Here's what I saw.

  • 9/21/2020, 6:00:00 PM

    Birthday Trash

    litterpi-trash-cam

    As a birthday treat, I took the day off work to try out my electronerised litter picker. Here's how it went.

  • 9/13/2020, 12:12:13 AM

    Pi Trash Cam

    raspberry pielectronicslitterpi-trash-cam

    In preparation for a day of litter picking, I finally got round to a project idea - attaching a camera to a litter picker to record it all. Here's what I did.

  • 8/25/2020, 9:29:58 PM

    yarn add --dev webdriverio

    first-draftsoftwaretestinggitlab

    I finally started implementing UI testing on first-draft using WebdriverIO. While writing tests was easy, getting the tests running was a little more difficult. Here is how I did it.

  • 8/16/2020, 7:04:44 PM

    Hooray! My new blog is live! Based on Sapper, using MongoDB and eventually ActivityPub and ActivityStreams, it will be my federated posting hub to the world.

    softwareblog
  • 8/9/2020, 5:40:49 PM

    Removing EXIF Data from Photos

    exifphotos

    Creating this new blog, I wanted to make sure there was no metadata data leaking personal information. Here's how I removed all the metadata tags except the ones I wanted from my photos.

  • 8/9/2020, 10:21:41 AM

    tmux List and Reattach

    tmuxbashsoftware

    Using tmux for your terminal multiplexer but want an easy to reattach to a session? Here's a small bash script to do it.

  • 8/8/2020, 2:58:48 PM

    Selectable Shell Examples

    markdownsyntaxcss

    Here's how to help your readers save time by making your post's shell commands easy to select and copy - with a simple CSS property.

  • 8/5/2020, 6:48:38 PM

    Be Dates You

    mongodbdocker

    Making my new blog, I didn't initially set the published dates to be native dates in the database. Here what I did to change them ...and do all the upgrades I needed.

  • 7/8/2020, 4:00:00 PM

    Testing vue components

    softwarevuetestingjavascript

    I recently needed to test that some Vue components were creating the correct HTML. To do this, I decided to create snapshots of Object representations of the rendered HTML.

  • 2/20/2019, 12:00:00 AM

    No More Numbers

    javascripthtml5software

    HTML5 number inputs aren't useful, but tel inputs, have all the power

  • 12/21/2018, 12:00:00 AM

    A Hacker "Hacked" Me

    securityemailgrep

    I decided to look into the extortion emails I have been getting and wrote a small script to extract the bitcoin addresses that have been used.

  • 12/7/2018, 12:00:00 AM

    Mouse Surgery

    pledge to not upgradeelectronics

    As part of my pledge not to upgrade, I decided to repair two of my failing mice instead of replacing them with a brand new model (as tempting as it was). Here's what I did.

  • 10/29/2018, 7:00:00 PM

    Danger Danger, Highly Reactive

    vuereactivegraphingdata
  • 9/11/2018, 7:00:00 AM

    Switching to SSR

    reactssrreact-loader
  • 8/10/2018, 4:00:00 PM

    Clean Docker Registry

    nodedockerconsolejavascript
  • 2/1/2018, 12:00:00 AM

    Testing on the Filesystem

    testingjavascript
  • 1/26/2018, 12:00:00 AM

    Tag You Are

    javascripttags
  • 1/25/2018, 9:00:00 PM

    NaN Got Me

    rubber duck savejavascriptnodejsjson
  • 4/28/2017, 10:25:34 AM

    All our app's tabs are belong to us

    angularjavascriptlocalstoragerxjssessionstorage
  • 2/20/2016, 2:33:19 AM

    Developing NPM modules

    nodejsnpm
  • 2/20/2016, 1:48:13 AM

    Nfa + Nfb or N(f+fa+fb)

    arrayfunctionjavascriptjsperf
  • 10/31/2015, 3:36:29 PM

    Photo Layout

    arrangercssgallery hierarchyhtmljavascriptphotostinymcewordpresssoftware
  • 10/31/2015, 2:33:49 PM

    Browning Pass HideAway Web Site

    cssgallery hierarchyhtmlwordpress
  • 10/17/2015, 4:04:57 PM

    Think Mobile

    mobileweb
  • 10/13/2015, 9:30:59 AM

    Pledge to Refuse and Not Buy Bottled Water

    environmentpledges
  • 2/25/2015, 7:42:33 AM

    Run PHP run!

    maximum execution timephptrial and error
  • 11/26/2014, 6:35:32 AM

    Gallery Hierarchy

    galleryhierarchyphotos
  • 10/3/2014, 7:22:04 AM

    Vim and functions

    functionnavigationtagsvim
  • 9/26/2014, 3:18:53 AM

    I'm making hierarchies

    hierarchical datahierarchyphp
  • 9/4/2014, 1:45:18 PM

    Google Sheets fun

    googlegoogle scriptgoogle sheetsjavascriptsheets
  • 8/13/2014, 3:14:22 AM

    Travel Photos

    photo managementphotostravel photos
  • 8/13/2014, 3:02:22 AM

    Image managment scripts

    photo managementphotos
  • 7/31/2014, 3:43:45 PM

    MeldCE logo

    csshtml5javascriptsvg
  • 4/26/2014, 6:34:09 AM

    MoltenDB

    databasemoltendbmongodbnodejs
  • 10/29/2013, 12:09:07 AM

    The Expensive Side

    house
  • 9/22/2013, 7:00:08 PM

    abcde

    music
  • 7/16/2013, 8:26:10 PM

    Energizer Power Plus Rechargeable Batteries

    gadgets
  • 3/4/2013, 6:27:40 PM

    USAR FOGTeX

    fogtex
  • 2/21/2013, 9:09:54 PM

    Personal Gear Bag

    rescuegear
  • 2/18/2013, 11:10:34 PM

    Geocaching Stamp

    stampgeocaching
  • 4/2/2007, 3:50:02 PM

    Call Record Presenter

    parserpythonsqliteweb
  • 9/25/2004, 9:48:10 AM

    Kimi Ora School

    csshtml
  • 6/25/2004, 8:53:53 AM

    All About Catering Web Site

    csshtml
  • 7/26/2003, 7:52:11 AM

    Quantum Accounting Web Site

    csshtml
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