Phil at Warrimoo

Howto make your OS X swap file on-demand

2022-04-13T12:31:00.001+10:00

(very old draft) I like to tweak things. With Linux this is easy but with Apple's OS X it

sudo nano /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.dynamic_pager.plist

XML Stylesheet Pretty Printer for any XML File

2022-04-13T12:30:00.001+10:00

(very old draft) XML files are hard to read. This is made worse when spaces and newlines are removed. To make them more readable I have made a simple stylesheet that will indent the XML and format it so it is easy to read. The XML stylesheet is very simple: To get the stylesheet, highlight it, copy it and paste it into an empty file called pcSimpleReformat.xsl (you can change the name it you like). To apply the stylesheet you need an XSL[T] processor such as xsltproc:

xsltproc pcSimpleReformat.xsl someXMLFile.xml

The output will be the easy-to-read version of the the XML file. A slightly more complicated version follows complete with comments so you can see how it works: This is the small version. It outputs will formatted text but it is a little verbose. To download, select the XML code, copy and paste it into a file called pcReformatSimple.xsl http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

To apply it you would use a command like this: xsltproc pcReformatSimple.xsl someInputXMLFile.xml To test that it is working we can apply it twice and compare the output at each stage. If it is working then the intermediate stage should be identical to the final stage. ie. it will reformat an xml file the xml is reformatted xsltproc pcReformat.xsl q.rng > q1.rng diff q.rng q1.rng less q.rng http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

Sending syslog messages to a mac

2022-04-13T12:29:00.001+10:00

(very old draft)

I have a router that is playing-up. It locks-up about once per day. The router is a DG834GV (v1). I recently changed ISPs and the router started to lock-up - it could just be a coincidence. My new ISP resells Telstra's ADSL(1) service so the DSLAM and probably the port are unchanged. Anyway, I thought it might be nice to see if there are any syslog messages being sent just before the router locks-up. I have a mac that runs OS-X (currently 10.5.5) that has a syslog server. So I thought I could use it to capture the syslog messages. The computer said no. The apple default configuration only logs local syslog messages. A quick google search showed that other people have re-configured it to work so I followed some instructions (which I have modified) I found here:

To enable your Leopard system to receive network syslog messages edit: /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist Open the Terminal application found in Applications/Utilities. Type sudo nano /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist Find this comment: "Un-comment the following lines to enable the network syslog protocol listener". If you can not find this comment, see my note below on my upgraded Tiger system. Change the next  and the following --> into . Now save the file by holding down the control key and pressing o to write-out the file and then you can hold control and press x to exit the editor. To enable these changes you need to restart the syslog server:

sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist
sudo launchctl     load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist

That should allow your external device to dump it’s log into the system log. In my case I also needed to enable syslog packets through my manually configured firewall so I executed the following command: sudo ipfw add 5 allow log udp from any to any syslog in Note: This would need to be re-entered after a re-boot. I can now see syslog messages from my router being logged to my mac using the Console application found in Applications/Utilities. Here is an example of a syslog message from my router:

12/01/09 1:33:55 AM IP address is the same, and does not need to be updated!

Testing From a terminal you can issue the following command to send a syslog message to your logger:

syslog -s -r yourMacsName.local "some message" or you can use the IP address of your mac:


syslog -s -r 10.0.0.1 "some message"

See the man page for syslog for a full description of the message format. Upgraded Tiger Systems I also have a PowerBook G4 that has been upgraded from Tiger to Leopard and it has a slightly different /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist file. The main problem is that it does not appear to have the comment I referred to. So to enable it you need to un-comment the NetworkListener key and following dict lines. Unfortunately, I can not get this syslog server to work.

Light Wells

2022-04-13T12:27:00.001+10:00

(very old draft) There is some construction work taking place on and under the ramp at Sydney Terminal Station. The work is, I am told, to refurbish rooms under the ramp for the Railway fire department. Work above these rooms on the ramp revealed Light Wells that had been covered for years - probably over 80 years. These Light Wells consist of a metal frame filled with blocks of coloured glass which allow light to pass through into the rear of the voids under the ramp.

Simple Rolling Hash- Part 3

2022-04-13T12:26:00.000+10:00

(very old draft) The Rolling Hash

Now that there is a way to remove the first character and append a new last character in constant time to a string hash value, we can also use this hash function suite to perform substring searches in linear time.

To find a substring of length m in a string of length n you might proceed as follows:
start at the first character of the string
compare the substring to the string for m characters.
If same, then the substring is found.
else, repeat from the next character of the string (stop when there are less than m characters left in the string)

In practice this works well since it is unlikely that more than a few character will match each round so the effective time efficiency is much less than O(n**m). But for some strings, such as DNA which have small alphabets, the number of matches in each round could be large.

But by using a rolling hash this can be reduced to linear-time.

Calculate the hash of the substring we are searching for.
Start with a hash of the first m characters of the string
If the hash values match then the substring is found.
else remove the first character of the string from the hash and add the m+1 th character to the hash.
Now the hash is of m characters from the next character of the string.

This process is O(N).

Reducing Fridge Energy Consumption

2022-04-13T12:24:00.001+10:00

(very old draft) For about 12 months our family has tried to reduce our gas and electricity energy consumption. We use gas for hot water, wood for heating and we have no air conditioner so our main electricity consumer was our fridge. I confirmed this by measuring the energy that the fridge used. We have an old fridge. It is an upside-down model and at least 15 years old - a Westinghouse Silhouette 411L RB411B. In our situation - on the lowest [power] setting - it consumes about 1360WHr per day which consists of a constant load of 50mA (12.5W) and about 165W when the compressor is running. The power factor for the motor appears to be about 0.66 - of course these figures are rough and really just provide me with a baseline. The compressor typically operated for 11 minutes in every 41 or about 27% of the time. I began by focusing on the constant 12.5W. What is it? The fridge is not a smart fridge so why does it constantly consume 50mA? This adds up to 300WHr per day or about 22% of the total energy consumption. This fridge has a cooling plate in the upper section where the milk and eggs are kept. It seems that the design causes ice to build up on the plate which could, if not removed, reduce the efficiency of the fridge. To overcome this, a heating element was installed behind the plate to melt any ice when the compressor stops. The melted ice drips into a gutter and is drained to an evaporator above the motor. So, I ripped it out. I could have just disconnected it, but I didn't. Having removed the defrost element, I had to develop a plan to remove ice from the plate. I achieved this by placing the fridge on a timer which cut power for, initially, 3 hours from about 3AM. This didn't have a noticeable effect on the operating range of the fridge and it allowed enough time for the ice to melt. In theory, the fridge should now consume about 1060WHrs - a big difference. But shouldn't it reduce the energy consumed by more than 12.5W because the heating energy must then be pumped out the next time the compressor runs? If the compressor is like an air-conditioner, then the cooling efficiency is about 2.5 which means that it should take 5W to remove the heat from the defrost element. Therefore the reduction should be more like 17-18W or 410-430WHr per day. My records aren't the best, but I think the fridge now consumed 950WHr per day based on a duty cycle of 24%. My next thought was to insulate the fridge. As I said, it is an old fridge and has the radiator elements on the outside and about 25mm from the back of the fridge. I placed a blanket between the radiator and the fridge and I draped a doona (light weight polyester blanket) over the sides of the fridge. This also had an effect. The on-time reduced to 9 minutes in 43 minutes or about 21%. The result is an average energy consumption of 810WHr per day - down 40% from my unmodified fridge. My current challenge is to see if I can do better by controlling when the fridge can operate. The idea is that thermostat is too sensitive and operates when the door is opened and the fridge looses it's cold air. My calculations suggest that the warmer air from the room doesn't take much energy to get down to normal fridge temperatures so by making the thermostat a secondary temperature controller I hope to reduce the energy consumption further. It also allows me to have two defrost periods during a day and to ensure that the fridge has plenty of time to adjust to post meal activity as warm foods and goods are placed back into the fridge. Initial results are promising: without insulation the fridge is consuming about 800WHr per day, so with insulation it should be even lower. The fridge is operating between 4 and 9 degrees Celsius and typically between 5 and 8 degrees.

Australian Energy Use

2022-04-13T12:23:00.001+10:00

(very old incomplete draft) How much energy does Australia consume and where is it used? According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics ABS, Australia used 5,525 petajoules (PJ) in 2004-2005. A Peta Joule is 1,000,000,000,000,000 Joules (which isn't that helpful is it?) 1 PJ is 1,000,000,000 MJ. 3.6 MJ is 1kWHr so 1 PJ is 278 Million kWHr. The transport sector (including household transport) is the largest end-user of energy, using 1,340 ... The manufacturing sector was the second highest user of energy (1,247 PJ ...). The transport and manufacturing sectors together accounted for 68% of total energy end-use. Domestic energy consumption is 433 PJ (electricity, gas, etc.) So, if we want to make a difference in terms of our energy consumption - and therefore CO2 emissions - shouldn't we focus on transport and manufacturing rather than

SNMP to XML

2022-04-13T12:21:00.001+10:00

(very old draft - may not be complete) I wanted to be able to query SNMP data from a device and turn it into XML so that it can be queried with XPath or XQuery. The idea is to be able to script something like this:

snmpget -v2c -c$community -OXf $host $oid | ./pc-snmp2xml.sh

eg.

snmpget -v2c -cpublic -OXf 10.0.0.1 ifInOctets.1 | ./pc-snmp2xml.sh

So,

snmpget -v2c -cpublic -OXf 10.0.0.1 ifInOctets.1

might return

.iso.org.dod.internet.mgmt.mib-2.interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifInOctets[1] = Counter32: 2606713050

whereas this

snmpget -v2c -cpublic -OXf 10.0.0.1 ifInOctets.1 | ./pc-snmp2xml.sh

returns

snmpbulkwalk works just as well to convert the whole MIB to XML. I have tested this script with Apple Time-Capsule, Nortel 425 switch, MacBook Pro, and a Billion 7404 ADSL router. I had to pre-process the MacBook Pro and Billion router output to remove newline characters and duplicate output respectively. I wrote the SNMP to XML script in AWK because I thought AWK's pattern matching and parsing would simplify the task. I'm not convinced, but it was a good learning exercise. This is the clean-up script.

#!awk # This converts snmp output like this: # .iso.org.dod.internet.mgmt.mib-2.host.hrSWRun.hrSWRunTable.hrSWRunEntry.hrSWRunName[4592] = Hex-STRING: 6A 61 76 61 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 # 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 # 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 # into this: # .iso.org.dod.internet.mgmt.mib-2.host.hrSWRun.hrSWRunTable.hrSWRunEntry.hrSWRunName[4592] = Hex-STRING: 6A 61 76 61 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0 0 00 00 00 00 00 00 # where multiple lines of data are converted into a single line by eliminating the new-line characters # process expected OID lines that start with . /^(\.).*/{ if ( FNR > 1 ) printf "\n" # terminate last OID bu not the first line printf "%s", $0 # start this OID but don't write a new-line yet next } # process other lines that we assume are actually part of previous OID { printf "%s", $0 # continue previous line } # terminate the last OID END{ printf "\n" # terminate last OID }

Howto make Virtual Machines running in VirtualBox using Physical Partitions on OS-X

2022-04-13T12:20:00.001+10:00

(very old draft - may not be complete)

My goal is to run Linux on my new MacBook Pro 9,1.

Whilst I can sort-of can run Linux, it is not really usable until all this new hardware is understood and drivers built to manage it.

So, next best is to run Linux in a VM. I like FOSS so I will use VirtualBox.

Unfortunately, this seems hard to do, so I have document my approach for others to improve upon.

Requirements

1. Run Linux in a VM using VirtualBox running on OS-X

2. Use real/physical disk partitions so that when this laptop is better supported, I will be able to boot into these physical partitions and drop my VirtualBox and OS-X layers

Procedure

Before proceeding, you need to understand that if you or I make a mistake, OS-X partitions, EFI partitions, and any other recovery data on our hard drives could be lost or a pain to recover.

Your setup is likely to be different to mine so don't simply copy my detail and expect your system to work.

I have re-partitioned my hard drive as follows:

rex:~ phil$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.1 GB disk0
1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 70.0 GB disk0s2
3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3
4: 21686148-6449-6E6F-744E-656564454649 200.0 MB disk0s4
5: Microsoft Basic Data 20.0 GB disk0s5
6: Microsoft Basic Data 20.0 GB disk0s6
7: Microsoft Basic Data 350.0 GB disk0s7
8: Linux Swap 19.8 GB disk0s8

Partition 1 is my EFI partition - I don't want to touch this.
Partition 2 is my shrunk OS-X partition - again, I'd like to keep this in good working order.
Partition 3 is OS-X recovery files - probably a CD/DVD image that I also need to keep safe.
Partition 4 is something that OS-X disk manager created - I'll leave that alone too.
Partition 5 already has a mostly-working Linux root file system - I don't want to mess with this.
Partition 6 will be my new Virtual Machine root file system (and possibly swap area).
Partition 7 already is formatted ext4 and has my /home file system - I want to keep this.
Partition 8 is a Linux swap area I will look at using a bit later.

So, I only want to work with Partition 6 and 7.

rex:phys phil$ ls -la /dev/disk0*
brw-r----- 1 root operator 14, 0 22 Jul 19:47 /dev/disk0
brw-r----- 1 root operator 14, 2 22 Jul 19:47 /dev/disk0s1
brw-r----- 1 root operator 14, 1 22 Jul 19:47 /dev/disk0s2
brw-r----- 1 root operator 14, 3 22 Jul 19:47 /dev/disk0s3
brw-r----- 1 root operator 14, 4 22 Jul 19:47 /dev/disk0s4
brw-r----- 1 root operator 14, 5 22 Jul 19:47 /dev/disk0s5
brw-rw-rw- 1 root operator 14, 6 26 Jul 22:37 /dev/disk0s6
brw-rw-rw- 1 root operator 14, 7 26 Jul 21:51 /dev/disk0s7
brw-r----- 1 root operator 14, 8 22 Jul 19:47 /dev/disk0s8

So that VirtualBox can access these partitions, I ran these commands to give everyone read and write access:

sudo chmod a+rw /dev/disk0s6
sudo chmod a+rw /dev/disk0s7

Note: I suspect that after a reboot, I will need to re-run these commands - I'll solve that later.

Create a new VM in VirtualBox.

I called mine phys, and told VB it will hold a 64-bit version of Ubuntu.
I gave it 2048 MB RAM, and told it not to worry about a start-up disk.

I now have a ~/VirtualBox/phys folder for this VM.

cd ~/VirtualBox/phys

VirtualBox needs a VMDK file to tell it how to manage each of these partitions.

sudo VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -rawdisk /dev/disk0s6 -filename d0s6.vmdk
sudo VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -rawdisk /dev/disk0s7 -filename d0s7.vmdk

Since these new files are owned by root, I ran chown to fix this - you would use your own account name here:

sudo chown phil:staff d0s6.vmdk
sudo chown phil:staff d0s7.vmdk

This makes 2 VMDK files in my current VM directory.

rex:phys phil$ ls -la
total 56
drwxr-xr-x 8 phil staff 272 26 Jul 21:31 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 phil staff 238 26 Jul 22:44 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 phil staff 153 23 Jul 01:21 HOWTO.txt
drwx------ 6 phil staff 204 26 Jul 21:32 Logs
-rw------- 1 phil staff 633 26 Jul 22:47 d0s6.vmdk
-rw------- 1 phil staff 634 26 Jul 21:50 d0s7.vmdk
-rw------- 1 phil staff 7524 26 Jul 21:31 phys.vbox
-rw------- 1 phil staff 7524 26 Jul 21:28 phys.vbox-prev

Now I added these two physical disk descriptions to my VM.

You do this in Settings - Storage, select SATA, click 'Add Attachment' icon, select Hard Disk, and select your VMDK file. I did this for each VMDK file.

You will also need to add your Linux distribution ISO either using a real CD/DVD or using an ISO stored on your file system somewhere.

Don't forget to make your VM boot from CD/DVD first.

I have been terse here since those actions should be known by anyone who is experienced at creating VMs in VirtualBox.

You can make other changes to your VM if you like, or you can do it later.

You can now boot your VM.

This is where I ran into problems: I could not get Ubuntu to format my d0s6.vmdk partition during install. Instead, I ran Ubuntu's live CD and launched Ubuntu's Disk Utility. It showed 2 disks as expected. I added a GUID partition table to d0s6.vmdk, created a 4000 MB swap partition and a 16 GB ext4 root file system. I then formatted the file system.

Now I installed Ubuntu: I told it to use the swap partition, and to use my 16 GB partition for root. To do this I told Ubuntu NOT to format it again since I formatted it earlier.

I also told Ubuntu to use my existing home drive and again, to NOT format it since I want to keep its data.

My install took hours, so be patient.

Blue-Green Water - Follow up

2022-04-13T12:18:00.001+10:00

(Very old draft)

After almost 4 weeks, our blue-green stain has not returned.

The addition of 500 mL of lime raised the pH to nearly 11. Over time this has reduced to below 10 since about 10,000 L of new rain has been collected.

I also noted that the rain water had a pH of about 6. This was a little surprising since our tank water was pH 4.5.

In monitoring the treated tank water I have found that the alkalinity of the water decreases to nearly 7 when left for 24 hours or more. I suspect that this is due to the water absorbing CO2 from the air and this may also explain why rain water has a higher pH compared to our tank water - if left, the pH increases as the water absorbs CO2.

To help confirm this theory, I left two containers of treated tank water to stand. One was over 300mL (pH=9.94) and the other was less than 60 mL (pH=9.83). Both containers had similar surface areas. The idea is that given the same surface area, the two systems would absorb CO2 at the same rate but due to the different amounts of water, the larger body would change pH more slowly. This is what I observed: the smaller decreased pH to 7.15 in less than 24 hours. The larger body had a pH of 7.49.

Note: Although the two samples should have started with the same pH I suspect the smaller sample had already absorbed significant CO2 before I measured it. I delayed measurement for 15 minutes.

Howto upgrade Ubuntu that is no longer supported.

2015-12-20T18:07:00.005+11:00

(very old draft - may not be complete)

Adapted from http://askubuntu.com/questions/501976/unable-to-upgrade-from-13-04-to-14-04/502029#502029

1) Edit apt sources to use "old releases" repositories.
sudo sed -i -e 's/archive.ubuntu.com\|security.ubuntu.com/old-releases.ubuntu.com/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
But your sources.list file may contain other repositories that have, for me, prevented this process from working.

a) Manually edit /etc/apt/sources.list and comment out these entries

deb-src ...
deb http://archive.canonical.com...
deb http://extras.ubuntu.com...

and comment out any other repositories that were not converted to old-releases.ubuntu.com

b) Change any country specific URLs to 'US' versions

eg. au.old-releases.ubuntu.com to old-releases.ubuntu.com

2) Update packages

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

3) Upgrade Ubuntu version

sudo do-release-upgrade -d

Howto install smokeping on lighttpd on ubuntu 15.04 linux

2015-05-01T22:13:00.000+10:00

Smokeping is a great network and service monitoring tool. But it only configures correctly if you are using apache.

I want to run a very light web server and therefore you need to do some manual configuration to make it work.

1. Install lighttpd.

sudo apt-get install lighttpd

2. Ensure that http://localhost works. You should get page like this:

3. Install smokeping

sudo apt-get install smokeping

4. Enable Lighttpd CGI module

sudo lighttpd-enable-mod cgi

5. Reload Lighttpd

sudo /etc/init.d/lighttpd force-reload

6. Ensure that this link brings up a semi-functional page

http://localhost/cgi-bin/smokeping.cgi

Icons and graphs probably do not work.

6. Create a directory link in /var/www/ as smokeping to smokeping static page files:

sudo ln -s /usr/share/smokeping/www /var/www/smokeping

7. For some reason, lighttpd base directory is /var/www/html. This needs to be changed to /var/www (which I suspect other packages will be expecting).

Edit /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf

Change this line:

server.document-root = "/var/www/html"

to:

server.document-root = "/var/www"

8. Restart lighttpd and smokeping

sudo /etc/init.d/lighttpd restart

sudo /etc/init.d/smokeping restart

Did you get this?

Update to enable fastcgi.

I don't know what fastcgi is, but compared to cgi is is fast.

On my laptop, it is 5 times faster!

1. Copy smokeping.fcgi.dist as smokeping.fcgi

sudo cp /var/www/smokeping/smokeping.fcgi.dist /var/www/smokeping/smokeping.fcgi

2. Edit smokeping.fcgi to point to your smokeping.cgi script

exec /usr/lib/cgi-bin/smokeping.cgi /etc/smokeping/config

NOTE: my file had smokeping_cgi. This seems to be wrong and must be changed to smokeping.cgi

3. Modify /etc/lighttpd/conf-available/10-fastcgi.conf

Add this:

fastcgi.server += (
"smokeping.fcgi" => ((
"socket" => "/var/run/lighttpd/fcgi.socket",
"bin-path" => "/usr/share/smokeping/www/smokeping.fcgi"
))
)

4. Enable Lighttpd FastCGI module

sudo lighttpd-enable-mod fastcgi

5. Reload Lighttpd

sudo /etc/init.d/lighttpd force-reload

6. This link should now work

http://localhost/smokeping/smokeping.fcgi

Asus Transformer TX201 - Android + Ubuntu 14.10 Linux

2015-03-08T13:13:00.001+11:00

  The Good and the gooder (and some bad points)

GOODER:

2 computers in 1. Keyboard is a dual core i5 and tablet is an intel Z2560 (x86)

#Android and  8 and  and whatever else you can install on a x86 PC.

Using android  you don't need a cable.

Once you manage to boot from USB,  14.10 is trivial to install.

UPDATE: I upgraded kernel to 3.18 and then 3.19.

Fast switching between Android and Linux (or Windows). Both run at same time or you can shut down one and use other.

Chargers are small and well designed Asus plug-packs - not bricks.

Easy to open Keyboard to change HDD.

Under Linux, everything seems to work. Screen brightness is not working properly, but it does work.

UPDATE: Thanks to Viktar Vaŭčkievič and #ArchLinux, I compiled and installed an ALS module which automatically adjusts screen backlight. See https://github.com/victorenator/als.git

Running linux in  mode.

GOOD:

11.6" screen. Could be an inch bigger based on bezel.
Tablet and keyboard have WiFi and Bluetooth.

Tablet  is possible. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=57341475&postcount=27

SD card on tablet mounts in Windows/Linux. But Ubuntu keeps opening a file manager every time I switch back from Android.

UPDATE: Fixed by Control Panel - Details - Removable Media - Tick 'Never prompt or start programs on media insertion'

Linux kernel modules to support device.

Aluminium tablet and keyboard backs.

BAD:

Matt screen might be better.

No 3G or LTE.

Can not connect 3G modem to tablet (so far).

No Android update from Asus.

No keyboard backlight nor fluorescent key labels.

When screen is open, tablet/screen hinge opens lower than base of keyboard which makes it uncomfortable as a lap-top.

A bit heavy for it's size at 1.7 kg (tablet and keyboard)

Only 2.4GHz WiFi.

UPDATE: But syslog indicates PC might support 5 GHz.

Rear camera does not work on PC.

WiFi (RTL8821) occasionally locks-up. To fix, remove module, put keyboard to sleep (Fn+f2), wake (power button) and load module. Module is rtl8821ae in my case.

UPDATE: This only seems to happen (now) when I tether to an iPhone 5s.

UPDATE: #ArchLinux also had a solution to this - too early for me to confirm that it is fixed. Does not seem to fix.

Howto install OpenWRT on Netgear DG834 or DG834G (v1 or v2)

2014-07-03T23:52:00.000+10:00

Got a spare Netgear DG834 or DG834G? Want to try OpenWRT? Want an easy process?

This assume you are running Ubuntu.

Try this:

0. Before you start...

0.1 Ensure router power plug is secure.

0.2 Ensure LAN cable is clicked into both router and computer.

0.3 Ensure your router is working by opening http://192.168.0.1 (or whatever IP address you have changed it to)

1. Backup router config in case you want to restore factory firmware.

2. Factory default router to ensure it's IP address is 192.168.0.1

2.1 Power on router.

2.2 Hold in reset button until test light (tick) flashes.

2.3 Wait for router to reboot (I think - might have to power cycle it).

3. Run my script to turn on telnet, backup partitions, extract environment file, patch ADAM2 to turn off checksum test, download OpenWRT, split into 2 parts, install patched ADAM2 and OpenWRT parts...

Note: This is not conventional and may not work. But unless you have some hardware fault or power failure, you can fairly easily recover your Netgear using a Netgear image and a small C program called nftp. I'll add instructions below.

3.1 mkdir

3.2 cd

3.3 save my script here

3.4 Run my script like this:

bash ./pc-setup-wrt-v2.bash

... and follow my instructions.

4. Boot into OpenWRT

4.1 Power cycle router.

4.2 Connect ethernet port - may take 1-2 minutes first time.

4.3 Browse to http://192.168.1.1

4.4 Follow instructions to set password.

Done.

My Script

Save as pc-setup-wrt-v2.bash

#!/bin/bash

# Factory default router
# Power on. Hold in reset button until test light (tick) turns on.

# Setup PC ethernet interface use DHCP. Disconnect. Connect - should get 192.168.0.2?
# router should be 192.168.0.1

# test by pointing browser to 192.168.0.1 - should get Netgear Setup Wizard screen
# route del default
#
# info stuff here

# MTDx partitions using 3.??.32? - seems to have 5 mtdx
# mtd0 0x900d0000,0x903e0000 ROOTFS
# mtd1 0x90020000,0x900d0000 Kernel
# mtd2 0x90000000,0x90020000 ADAM2
# mtd3 0x903e0000,0x903f0000 Probably Netgear firmware config
# mtd4 0x903f0000,0x90400000 Probably ADAM2 config

# Ordered
# mtd2 0x90000000,0x90020000 ADAM2
# mtd1 0x90020000,0x900d0000 Kernel
# mtd0 0x900d0000,0x903e0000 ROOTFS
# mtd3 0x903e0000,0x903f0000 Probably Netgear firmware config
# mtd4 0x903f0000,0x90400000 Prob. ADAM2 config

echo "Install needed packages..."
sudo apt-get install wget
sudo apt-get install expect
sudo apt-get install mini-httpd

echo "Get openwrt image - this is for mtd0 and mtd1 so it needs to be split..."

which wget || { echo "ERROR: wget not installed"; exit 1; }

OPENWRT="openwrt-ar7-squashfs.bin"

[[ -f ${OPENWRT} ]] \
|| wget "http://downloads.openwrt.org/backfire/10.03.1/ar7/${OPENWRT}"

echo "Configure this script..."

# ip address of router - should be 192.168.0.1 after factory reboot
ROUTER="192.168.0.1"

# ip address on this host - should not need to change
HOST="192.168.0.10"

# port on this host that has ethernet cable to router plugged in - should be same
ETH="eth0"

echo "Configure this script (ROUTER, HOST, and ETH) variables."
echo "Disconnect from all other networks."
echo "Next time you run this it will reconfigure your ETH port and "
echo "connect to your router."
echo
echo "If you have configured variables correctly, comment out next line."
exit 0

echo "Split OpenWRT image file..."

OPEN0="ow-mtd0.bin"
OPEN1="ow-mtd1.bin"

which dd || { echo "ERROR: dd not installed"; exit 1; }

dd if=${OPENWRT} of=${OPEN1} count=720896 bs=1
dd if=${OPENWRT} of=${OPEN0} skip=720896 bs=1

echo "Reconfigure ETH port..."

which ifconfig || { echo "ERROR: ifconfig not installed"; exit 1; }

sudo ifconfig ${ETH} ${HOST} netmask 255.255.255.0

echo "Turn on telnet - assumes your reouter has been factory defaulted..."

LOGIN="--user=admin --password=password"

wget -v -O debug.log ${LOGIN} "http://${ROUTER}/setup.cgi?todo=debug"

echo "Telnet to router, and do some heavy stuff - but nothing dangerous...yet..."

# Assign an IP address to ADAM2 (patch)
# Backup each MTD Block to RAM
# Spawn a HTTP Daemon to download MTD Backups
which expect || { echo "ERROR: expect not installed"; exit 1; }
which telnet || { echo "ERROR: telnet not installed"; exit 1; }

expect >telnet.log <
set timeout 30
set send_human {.1 .3 1 .05 2}
spawn telnet ${ROUTER}; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send_error "Telnet script\n";
send -h "cat /proc/sys/dev/adam2/environment | grep -v \"^my\" > /proc/sys/dev/adam2/environment\r";
expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "echo \"my_ipaddress ${ROUTER}\" > /proc/sys/dev/adam2/environment\r";
expect "# "; sleep 1;
send_error "Cat environment file...\n";
send -h "cat /proc/sys/dev/adam2/environment\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send_error "Copy partitions to tmp...\n";
send -h "dd if=/dev/mtdblock/0 of=/tmp/mtd0.bin\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "dd if=/dev/mtdblock/1 of=/tmp/mtd1.bin\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "dd if=/dev/mtdblock/2 of=/tmp/mtd2.bin\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "dd if=/dev/mtdblock/3 of=/tmp/mtd3.bin\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "dd if=/dev/mtdblock/4 of=/tmp/mtd4.bin\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send_error "Copy environment file...\n";
send -h "cat /proc/sys/dev/adam2/environment > /tmp/environment.bak\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "cd /tmp\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send_error "Start web server...\n";send -h "mini_httpd -p 1080\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "exit\r";
EOF

echo "Pull files from router..."
wget ${LOGIN} -O mtd0.bin "http://${ROUTER}:1080/mtd0.bin"
wget ${LOGIN} -O mtd1.bin "http://${ROUTER}:1080/mtd1.bin"
wget ${LOGIN} -O mtd2.bin "http://${ROUTER}:1080/mtd2.bin"
wget ${LOGIN} -O mtd3.bin "http://${ROUTER}:1080/mtd3.bin"
wget ${LOGIN} -O mtd4.bin "http://${ROUTER}:1080/mtd4.bin"
wget ${LOGIN} -O environment.bak "http://${ROUTER}:1080/environment.bak"

echo "See if correct ADAM2 versio is installed..."

which grep || { echo "ERROR: grep not installed"; exit 1; }

grep "bootloaderVersion.*0.18.01" environment.bak \
|| { echo "HALT: Boot loader version is not 0.18.01"; exit 1; }

echo "See if ADAM2 is already patched..."

ADAM2NEW="mtd2.bin.new"

which md5sum || { echo "ERROR: md5sum not installed"; exit 1; }

MDS2=$( md5sum mtd2.bin | cut -d' ' -f1 )

if [[ "$MDS2" == "d8a2f4623bf6f64b7427812f0e849aa7" ]]; then
echo "mtd2.bin already patched"
cp mtd2.bin ${ADAM2NEW}
else
echo "mtd2.bin not patched"
echo "Verify ADAM2 file..."
MDS=$( md5sum mtd2.bin | cut -d' ' -f1 )
if [[ "$MDS" != "0530bfdf00ec155f4182afd70da028c1" ]]; then
echo "HALT: ADAM2 (mtd2.bin) MD5 sum does not match"
exit 1
fi
echo "Patch ADAM2..."
cp mtd2.bin ${ADAM2NEW}
printf '\x00\x00\x00\x00' | dd of=${ADAM2NEW} bs=1 seek=14660 count=4 conv=notrunc
echo "Verify patched ADAM2..."
MDS2=$( md5sum ${ADAM2NEW} | cut -d' ' -f1 )
if [[ "$MDS2" != "d8a2f4623bf6f64b7427812f0e849aa7" ]]; then
echo "HALT: Modified ADAM2 (${ADAM2NEW}) MD5 sum does not match"
exit 1
fi
fi

echo "Kill off any legacy http servers (if we have somehow left them running)..."
killall mini-httpd

echo "Start local web server..."
sudo mini-httpd -p 8000 || { echo "ERROR: mini-httpd did not start"; exit 1; }

echo "Download modified ADAM2 and OpenWRT files to router and install them..."

expect >flash.log <
set timeout 30
set send_human {.1 .3 1 .05 2}
spawn telnet ${ROUTER}; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send_error "Telnet script to install modified ${ADAM2NEW}\n";
send -h "cd /tmp\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "rm mtd0.bin\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "rm mtd1.bin\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "rm mtd2.bin\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "rm mtd3.bin\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "rm mtd4.bin\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "rm ${ADAM2NEW}\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send_error "Download modified ${ADAM2NEW} from ${HOST}...\n";
send -h "wget http://${HOST}:8000/${ADAM2NEW}\r"; expect "# "; sleep 10;
send -h "dd if=${ADAM2NEW} bs=1 skip=110747 count=5\r";
expect {
"DG834" { send_error "GOOD: ${ADAM2NEW} contains DG834 string\n"; };
timeout { send_error "ERROR: TIMEOUT: Did not get DG834\n"; exit; };
"# " { send_error "ERROR: Got prompt instead of DG834\n"; exit; };
}
sleep 1;
send_error "Install modified ${ADAM2NEW}...\n";
send -h "dd if=${ADAM2NEW} of=/dev/mtdblock/2\r"; expect "# "; sleep 20;
send -h "rm ${ADAM2NEW}\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "rm ${OPEN0}\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send_error "Download ${OPEN0} from ${HOST}...\n";
send -h "wget http://${HOST}:8000/${OPEN0}\r"; expect "# "; sleep 10;
send_error "Install ${OPEN0}...\n";
send -h "dd if=${OPEN0} of=/dev/mtdblock/0\r"; expect "# "; sleep 20;
send -h "rm ${OPEN0}\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "rm ${OPEN1}\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send_error "Download ${OPEN1} from ${HOST}...\n";
send -h "wget http://${HOST}:8000/${OPEN1}\r"; expect "# "; sleep 10;
send_error "Install ${OPEN1}...\n";
send -h "dd if=${OPEN1} of=/dev/mtdblock/1\r"; expect "# "; sleep 20;
send -h "rm ${OPEN1}\r"; expect "# "; sleep 1;
send -h "reboot\r";
EOF

echo "Shutdown local web server..."
killall mini-httpd

echo "All done."
echo
echo "Power cycle router."
echo "Reconnect ethernet interface - may take 1-2 minutes"
echo "Browse to http://192.168.1.1"
exit 0

Basic Configuration Steps

Save and Apply after each change.

If unsure, power cycle router.

Set password

Set timezone

Set dropbear (ssh) interface to lan

Edit LAN interface

IP address (WARNING: This gives me most headaches - perhaps leave it alone for a while)

(When you save and apply, you may need to disconnect/reconnect ethernet interface on pc)

I set MTU to 1474

Add new (PPPoATM) interface

Set username and password

Set custom DNS servers to OpenDNS 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220

Assign ADSL interface to WAN

Edit Wifi

Enable

Set SSID etc.

Set to WEP and generate WEP hex key somehow.

No WPA???

Virtualize an old Windows XP disk partition (howto convert disk partition to virtual disk for VirtualBox)

2014-01-12T18:55:00.001+11:00

I dug out an old hard disk. I was curious: what gems are stored here?

Turns out there was nothing, but it was in interesting exercise in converting a single disk partition into a VM - something that is not trivial.

I plugged my old drive into a USB hard disk docking station and had a look. It contained Windows XP and Linux from an old PC dating from 2004-2007 I believe.

"Hey!" I thought. I could virtualize this for no good reason and show how easy it is using free and open source software.

Ubuntu Packages

I installed VirtualBox and mbr.

Create VirtualBox VM

Select New
Name your VM (say TEST)
Select Windows and Windows XP
Set memory size (default is ok)
Select 'do not add a virtual hard drive' - we will create this later in tis VM's directory.

Create Virtual Disk Drive

Open a terminal and change to your ~/VirtualBox\ VM/TEST directory for this example.

Copy and paste my script into your editor.

#!/bin/bash

DISK=/dev/sdd
PART=1

printf "Copy boot sector image...\n"
sudo dd if=$DISK of=mbr.img bs=512 count=1 || { printf "FAILED\n"; exit 1; }
printf "Done\n"

# put 'normal' mbr incase grub or something was used
printf "Replace MBR code..."
sudo install-mbr mbr.img -t 36 || { printf "FAILED\n"; exit 1; }

printf "Done\n"

printf "Copy disk (%s) partition %d...(at 10MB/s 1GB will take 100s)...\n" "$DISK" $PART
PARTIMG=part${PART}.img
sudo dd if=${DISK}${PART} of=$PARTIMG bs=512 || { printf "FAILED\n"; exit 1; }
sudo chown $USER:$USER $PARTIMG
printf "Done\n"

printf "Make VirtualBox VMDK image with MBR...\n"

sudo VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename ./disk.vmdk -rawdisk $DISK -partitions $PART -mbr ./mbr.img || { printf "FAILED\n"; exit 1; }
# VB needs this owned by user
sudo chown $USER:$USER disk-pt.vmdk

printf "Done\n"

# switch to partition image and zero starting offset
# eg.
# from this: RW 8514387 FLAT "/dev/sdd" 63
# to this: RW 8514387 FLAT "/home/phil/Development/pc-part2disk/part1.img" 0

printf "Modify VMDK files to use disk partition image...\n"
sudo cat disk.vmdk | sed "s@\"$DISK.*@\"./$PARTIMG\" 0@" > diskimage.vmdk
sudo chown $USER:$USER diskimage.vmdk
printf "Done\n"

# remove VB vmdk that points to physical drive - no longer required
sudo rm disk.vmdk

exit 0

Change DISK and PART to suit your case. This example uses disk /dev/sdd and partition 1.

Also, run chmod +x

Howto enable AHCI Mode MacBookPro1,2 and MacBookPro4,1

2013-06-15T23:46:00.003+10:00

I added this after insmod ext2 in grub:

setpci -s 0:1f.2 90.b=40

This sets Intel ICH7 (page 509) or ICH8 (page 486) controller into AHCI mode.

A similar command will probably work for other ICHx devices.

I got my bus:slot.function from running lspci - take value from line that states SATA IDE mode

eg.

00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 02)

Both MBP1,2 and MBP4,1 have same bus:slot.function and use same value (40h) to put controller into AHCI mode.

UPDATE: Should be MacBookPro1,2 not MacBookPro2,1

Root Huawei X3 8150 Without Windows or a Working Touchscreen

2013-06-03T00:21:00.000+10:00

I got some of this from here

Some phone modes

Enter FASTBOOT Mode

Disconnect USB.
Power-off phone.
RED+VOL-DN+POWER - hold for about 5 seconds. Phone will vibrate and show a white screen with IDEOS displayed.
Connect USB.

Enter RECOVERY Mode

Disconnect USB.
Power-off phone.
GREEN+VOL-UP+POWER - hold for about 5 seconds. Phone will vibrate, show a white screen with IDEOS displayed and then show Recovery menu.
Connect USB.

Enter DOWNLOAD mode

Disconnect USB.
Power-off phone.
RED+GREEN+POWER - hold for a few seconds until screen turns pink/magenta.
Connect USB.

(This does not work for me under Linux)

Replace Stock Recovery with ClockWork Recovery

Install Android SDK
From ubuntu this is very easy now:
apt-get install android-tools-adb
apt-get install android-tools-fastboot
Open root terminal or open terminal and sudo su.

Check that all is well, that USB connection is working and that ADB is correctly installed

Enter RECOVERY mode
Phone should boot into 'Android system recovery'

# adb devices
List of devices attached
308730C82377 recovery

Enter FASTBOOT mode

# fastboot erase recovery
erasing 'recovery'...
OKAY [ 0.033s]
finished. total time: 0.033s

Get ClockWorkMod Recovery

All available Recovery's are here: http://clockworkmod.com/rommanager

Get ClockWork Recovery fro IDEOS

I used http://download2.clockworkmod.com/recoveries/recovery-clockwork-3.0.2.4-ideos.img

# fastboot flash recovery /home/phil/Downloads/recovery-clockwork-3.0.2.4-ideos.img

sending 'recovery' (3796 KB)...

OKAY [ 0.255s]

writing 'recovery'...

OKAY [ 0.806s]

finished. total time: 1.061s

Reboot

# fastboot reboot

Phone should reboot.

Get Root

Get files from http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=416413&d=1286678225

# adb push ../../rootme/rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin /data/local/tmp

127 KB/s (5392 bytes in 0.041s)

# adb ls /data/local/tmp

000041fd 00000000 51208853 .

000041fd 00000000 51208845 ..

000081b6 00001510 4c77ab24 rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin

# adb shell

~ # cd /data/local/tmp

/data/local/tmp # chmod 0755 rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin

/data/local/tmp # ./rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin

/sbin/sh: ./rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin: not found

I give up. I'll exit shell and try again.

/data/local/tmp # exit

# adb shell

~ # whoami

root

Hmm. It seem I was already root! I suspect that SuperuserOneClick that I experimented with - but did not log - using mono under linux may have worked - although I had no indication that it did.

I'll carry on.

Next I remount mdtblock4 to be able to write to it.

~ # mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/mdtblock4 /system

mount: mounting /dev/block/mdtblock4 on /system failed: Invalid argument

But it seems it is not mounted.

~ # mount

rootfs on / type rootfs (rw)

tmpfs on /dev type tmpfs (rw,relatime,mode=755)

devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,relatime,mode=600)

proc on /proc type proc (rw,relatime)

sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,relatime)

/dev/block/mtdblock5 on /cache type yaffs2 (rw,nodev,noatime,nodiratime)

~ # df

Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on

tmpfs 91624 32 91592 0% /dev

/dev/block/mtdblock5 95232 1688 93544 2% /cache

In my case, mtdblock4 is not mounted so I mounted it.

~ # mount /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system

~ # ls /system/

app etc lib tts xbin

bin fonts lost+found usr

build.prop framework media wifi

Now I realise that I made a typo: I entered mdtblock4 instead of mtdblock4.

~ # mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system

~ # df

Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on

tmpfs 91624 32 91592 0% /dev

/dev/block/mtdblock5 95232 1688 93544 2% /cache

/dev/block/mtdblock4 174080 131780 42300 76% /system

Ok. mtdblock4 is now writeable.

Copy su, busybox, sqlite3, Superuser.apk to device.

# adb push rootme/su /system/bin/su

837 KB/s (26264 bytes in 0.030s)

# adb push SuperOneClickv2.3.3-ShortFuse\ $1$/Dependencies/busybox /system/bin/busybox

1978 KB/s (1075144 bytes in 0.530s)

# adb push SuperOneClickv2.3.3-ShortFuse\ $1$/Dependencies/sqlite3 /system/bin/sqlite3

333 KB/s (24120 bytes in 0.070s)

# adb push SuperOneClickv2.3.3-ShortFuse\ $1$/Root/ /system/bin/sqlite3

Superuser.apk su-v1 su-v2

# adb push SuperOneClickv2.3.3-ShortFuse\ $1$/Root/Superuser.apk /system/app/Superuser.apk

2095 KB/s (843503 bytes in 0.393s)

Now to change permissions.

# adb shell

~ # cd /system/bin

/system/bin # chmod 4755 su

/system/bin # chmod 4755 busybox

/system/bin # chmod 4755 sqlite3

/system/bin # cat /proc/cpu

/proc/cpu/ /proc/cpuinfo

What CPU do we have?

/system/bin # cat /proc/cpuinfo

Processor : ARMv6-compatible processor rev 2 (v6l)

BogoMIPS : 594.73

Features : swp half thumb fastmult edsp java

CPU implementer : 0x41

CPU architecture: 6TEJ

CPU variant : 0x1

CPU part : 0xb36

CPU revision : 2

Hardware : HUAWEI U8150 BOARD

Revision : 0000

Serial : 0000000000000000

Mount /data using ClockWorkMod Recovery

(could have done this using adb)

/system/bin # df

Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on

tmpfs 91624 32 91592 0% /dev

/dev/block/mtdblock5 95232 1688 93544 2% /cache

/dev/block/mtdblock4 174080 133716 40364 77% /system

/dev/block/mtdblock6 170624 12340 158284 7% /data

/data is mounted and this seems to be where settings are stored.

Open settings using sqlite3

/system/bin # ./sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db

SQLite version 3.6.22

Enter ".help" for instructions

sqlite>

sqlite> .dump

BEGIN TRANSACTION;

CREATE TABLE android_metadata (locale TEXT);

INSERT INTO "android_metadata" VALUES('en_AU');

CREATE TABLE system (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,name TEXT UNIQUE ON CONFLICT REPLACE,value TEXT);

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(4,'volume_voice','4');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(5,'volume_alarm','6');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(6,'volume_notification','5');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(7,'volume_bluetooth_sco','7');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(9,'vibrate_on','6');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(10,'mode_ringer_streams_affected','166');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(11,'mute_streams_affected','46');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(12,'dim_screen','1');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(13,'stay_on_while_plugged_in','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(14,'screen_off_timeout','60000');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(15,'emergency_tone','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(16,'call_auto_retry','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(17,'dtmf_tone_type','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(18,'hearing_aid','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(19,'tty_mode','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(20,'airplane_mode_on','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(21,'airplane_mode_radios','cell,bluetooth,wifi');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(22,'airplane_mode_toggleable_radios','wifi');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(23,'auto_time','1');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(24,'screen_brightness','77');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(25,'screen_brightness_mode','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(26,'window_animation_scale','0.0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(27,'transition_animation_scale','0.0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(28,'accelerometer_rotation','1');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(29,'haptic_feedback_enabled','1');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(30,'end_button_behavior','1');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(31,'notification_light_pulse','1');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(32,'set_install_location','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(33,'default_install_location','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(34,'power_sounds_enabled','1');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(35,'low_battery_sound','/system/media/audio/ui/LowBattery.ogg');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(36,'dock_sounds_enabled','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(37,'desk_dock_sound','/system/media/audio/ui/Dock.ogg');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(38,'desk_undock_sound','/system/media/audio/ui/Undock.ogg');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(39,'car_dock_sound','/system/media/audio/ui/Dock.ogg');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(40,'car_undock_sound','/system/media/audio/ui/Undock.ogg');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(41,'lockscreen_sounds_enabled','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(42,'lock_sound','/system/media/audio/ui/Lock.ogg');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(43,'unlock_sound','/system/media/audio/ui/Unlock.ogg');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(44,'vibrate_in_silent','1');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(47,'alarm_alert','content://media/internal/audio/media/5');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(48,'notification_sound','content://media/internal/audio/media/28');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(49,'ringtone','content://media/internal/audio/media/55');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(57,'volume_system','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(58,'volume_system_last_audible','7');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(59,'volume_ring','0');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(60,'volume_ring_last_audible','1');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(61,'mode_ringer','1');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(62,'volume_music','10');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(63,'volume_music_last_audible','10');

INSERT INTO "system" VALUES(75,'next_alarm_formatted','');

DELETE FROM sqlite_sequence;

INSERT INTO "sqlite_sequence" VALUES('system',75);

INSERT INTO "sqlite_sequence" VALUES('secure',25);

INSERT INTO "sqlite_sequence" VALUES('systemex',1);

CREATE TABLE secure (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,name TEXT UNIQUE ON CONFLICT REPLACE,value TEXT);

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(1,'bluetooth_on','0');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(2,'data_roaming','0');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(3,'default_input_method','com.android.inputmethod.latin/.LatinIME');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(4,'enabled_input_methods','com.huawei.inputmethod.hwpal/.PinyinIME:com.android.inputmethod.latin/.LatinIME:com.android.inputmethod.pinyin/.PinyinIME:jp.co.omronsoft.openwnn/.OpenWnnJAJP');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(5,'install_non_market_apps','0');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(6,'location_providers_allowed','gps');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(7,'assisted_gps_enabled','1');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(8,'network_preference','1');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(9,'usb_mass_storage_enabled','1');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(10,'wifi_on','0');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(11,'wifi_networks_available_notification_on','1');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(12,'preferred_network_mode','0');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(13,'cdma_cell_broadcast_sms','1');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(14,'preferred_cdma_subscription','0');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(15,'mock_location','0');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(16,'backup_enabled','1');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(17,'backup_transport','com.google.android.backup/.BackupTransportService');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(18,'mount_play_not_snd','1');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(19,'mount_ums_autostart','0');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(20,'mount_ums_prompt','1');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(21,'mount_ums_notify_enabled','1');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(22,'android_id','9774d56d682e549c');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(23,'adb_enabled','0');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(24,'voice_recognition_service','com.google.android.voicesearch/.GoogleRecognitionService');

INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(25,'throttle_reset_day','3');

CREATE TABLE bluetooth_devices (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,name TEXT,addr TEXT,channel INTEGER,type INTEGER);

CREATE TABLE bookmarks (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,title TEXT,folder TEXT,intent TEXT,shortcut INTEGER,ordering INTEGER);

INSERT INTO "bookmarks" VALUES(1,'Browser',NULL,'#Intent;action=android.intent.action.MAIN;category=android.intent.category.LAUNCHER;launchFlags=0x10000000;component=com.android.browser/.BrowserActivity;end',98,NULL);

INSERT INTO "bookmarks" VALUES(2,'Contacts',NULL,'#Intent;action=android.intent.action.MAIN;category=android.intent.category.LAUNCHER;launchFlags=0x10000000;component=com.android.contacts/.DialtactsContactsEntryActivity;end',99,NULL);

INSERT INTO "bookmarks" VALUES(3,'Email',NULL,'#Intent;action=android.intent.action.MAIN;category=android.intent.category.LAUNCHER;launchFlags=0x10000000;component=com.android.email/.activity.Welcome;end',101,NULL);

INSERT INTO "bookmarks" VALUES(4,'Gmail',NULL,'#Intent;action=android.intent.action.MAIN;category=android.intent.category.LAUNCHER;launchFlags=0x10000000;component=com.google.android.gm/.ConversationListActivityGmail;end',103,NULL);

INSERT INTO "bookmarks" VALUES(5,'Calendar',NULL,'#Intent;action=android.intent.action.MAIN;category=android.intent.category.LAUNCHER;launchFlags=0x10000000;component=com.android.calendar/.LaunchActivity;end',108,NULL);

INSERT INTO "bookmarks" VALUES(6,'Music',NULL,'#Intent;action=android.intent.action.MAIN;category=android.intent.category.LAUNCHER;launchFlags=0x10000000;component=com.android.music/.MusicBrowserActivity;end',112,NULL);

INSERT INTO "bookmarks" VALUES(7,'Messaging',NULL,'#Intent;action=android.intent.action.MAIN;category=android.intent.category.LAUNCHER;launchFlags=0x10000000;component=com.android.mms/.ui.ConversationList;end',115,NULL);

CREATE TABLE systemex (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,name TEXT UNIQUE ON CONFLICT REPLACE,value TEXT);

INSERT INTO "systemex" VALUES(1,'white_languages','en_PK,en_AU,en_US,es_ES');

CREATE INDEX systemIndex1 ON system (name);

CREATE INDEX secureIndex1 ON secure (name);

CREATE INDEX bookmarksIndex1 ON bookmarks (folder);

CREATE INDEX bookmarksIndex2 ON bookmarks (shortcut);

CREATE INDEX systemexIndex1 ON systemex (name);

COMMIT;

I wonder what INSERT INTO "secure" VALUES(23,'adb_enabled','0'); is?

I think I want to try this to turn USB Debugging on (based on http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10282484/android-adb-turn-on-wifi-via-adb)

update secure set value=1 where name='adb_enabled';

So here goes...

/system/bin # ./sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/sett

ings.db

sqlite> select * from secure;

1|bluetooth_on|0

2|data_roaming|0

3|default_input_method|com.android.inputmethod.latin/.LatinIME

4|enabled_input_methods|com.huawei.inputmethod.hwpal/.PinyinIME:com.android.inputmethod.latin/.LatinIME:com.android.inputmethod.pinyin/.PinyinIME:jp.co.omronsoft.openwnn/.OpenWnnJAJP

5|install_non_market_apps|0

6|location_providers_allowed|gps

7|assisted_gps_enabled|1

8|network_preference|1

9|usb_mass_storage_enabled|1

10|wifi_on|0

11|wifi_networks_available_notification_on|1

12|preferred_network_mode|0

13|cdma_cell_broadcast_sms|1

14|preferred_cdma_subscription|0

15|mock_location|0

16|backup_enabled|1

17|backup_transport|com.google.android.backup/.BackupTransportService

18|mount_play_not_snd|1

19|mount_ums_autostart|0

20|mount_ums_prompt|1

21|mount_ums_notify_enabled|1

22|android_id|9774d56d682e549c

23|adb_enabled|1

24|voice_recognition_service|com.google.android.voicesearch/.GoogleRecognitionService

25|throttle_reset_day|3

sqlite>

Reboot phone.

No good.

I then installed CyanogenMod 7 for Huewei IDEOS 8150.

It supports adb so I should have done this ages ago.

I wrote this bash script to begin phone setup without a touchscreen.

#!/bin/bash

adb_sendevent(){
    local -i _a=$1 _k=$2 _v=$3
    printf "$FUNCNAME: _a=%d  _k=%d  _v=%d\n" $_a $_k $_v
    adb shell sendevent "/dev/input/event2" $_a $_k $_v
}

adb_touch1(){
    local -i _a=$1 _x=$2 _y=$3 _w=$4
    #printf "$FUNCNAME: _a=%d  _x=%d  _y=%d  _w=%d\n" $_a $_x $_y $_w
    # send touch event x y
    adb_sendevent 3 0x39 $_a  # start event?
    adb_sendevent 3 0x35 $_x
    adb_sendevent 3 0x36 $_y
    adb_sendevent 3 0x30 $_w  # finger width?
    adb_sendevent 3 0x31 0  # x moved?
    adb_sendevent 3 0x34 0
    adb_sendevent 3 0x32 0  # y moved?
    adb_sendevent 0 0x02 0  # end event?
}

adb_touch(){
    local -i _x=$1 _y=$2 _w=$3
    #adb_sendevent 0 0 0
    adb_touch1 0 $_x $_y   $_w
    adb_touch1 1 0   0x15b 0
    adb_sendevent 0 0 0
}

adb_tap(){
    local -i _x=$1 _y=$2
    adb_touch $_x $_y 0x20
    # android icon selected
    adb_touch $_x $_y 0
}

#0 -->  "KEYCODE_UNKNOWN" 
#1 -->  "KEYCODE_MENU" 
#2 -->  "KEYCODE_SOFT_RIGHT" 
#3 -->  "KEYCODE_HOME" 
#4 -->  "KEYCODE_BACK" 
#5 -->  "KEYCODE_CALL" 
#6 -->  "KEYCODE_ENDCALL" 
#7 -->  "KEYCODE_0" 
#8 -->  "KEYCODE_1" 
#9 -->  "KEYCODE_2" 
#10 -->  "KEYCODE_3" 
#11 -->  "KEYCODE_4" 
#12 -->  "KEYCODE_5" 
#13 -->  "KEYCODE_6" 
#14 -->  "KEYCODE_7" 
#15 -->  "KEYCODE_8" 
#16 -->  "KEYCODE_9" 
#17 -->  "KEYCODE_STAR" 
#18 -->  "KEYCODE_POUND" 
#19 -->  "KEYCODE_DPAD_UP" 
#20 -->  "KEYCODE_DPAD_DOWN" 
#21 -->  "KEYCODE_DPAD_LEFT" 
#22 -->  "KEYCODE_DPAD_RIGHT" 
#23 -->  "KEYCODE_DPAD_CENTER" 
#24 -->  "KEYCODE_VOLUME_UP" 
#25 -->  "KEYCODE_VOLUME_DOWN" 
#26 -->  "KEYCODE_POWER" 
#27 -->  "KEYCODE_CAMERA" 
#28 -->  "KEYCODE_CLEAR" 
#29 -->  "KEYCODE_A" 
#30 -->  "KEYCODE_B" 
#31 -->  "KEYCODE_C" 
#32 -->  "KEYCODE_D" 
#33 -->  "KEYCODE_E" 
#34 -->  "KEYCODE_F" 
#35 -->  "KEYCODE_G" 
#36 -->  "KEYCODE_H" 
#37 -->  "KEYCODE_I" 
#38 -->  "KEYCODE_J" 
#39 -->  "KEYCODE_K" 
#40 -->  "KEYCODE_L" 
#41 -->  "KEYCODE_M" 
#42 -->  "KEYCODE_N" 
#43 -->  "KEYCODE_O" 
#44 -->  "KEYCODE_P" 
#45 -->  "KEYCODE_Q" 
#46 -->  "KEYCODE_R" 
#47 -->  "KEYCODE_S" 
#48 -->  "KEYCODE_T" 
#49 -->  "KEYCODE_U" 
#50 -->  "KEYCODE_V" 
#51 -->  "KEYCODE_W" 
#52 -->  "KEYCODE_X" 
#53 -->  "KEYCODE_Y" 
#54 -->  "KEYCODE_Z" 
#55 -->  "KEYCODE_COMMA" 
#56 -->  "KEYCODE_PERIOD" 
#57 -->  "KEYCODE_ALT_LEFT" 
#58 -->  "KEYCODE_ALT_RIGHT" 
#59 -->  "KEYCODE_SHIFT_LEFT" 
#60 -->  "KEYCODE_SHIFT_RIGHT" 
#61 -->  "KEYCODE_TAB" 
#62 -->  "KEYCODE_SPACE" 
#63 -->  "KEYCODE_SYM" 
#64 -->  "KEYCODE_EXPLORER" 
#65 -->  "KEYCODE_ENVELOPE" 
#66 -->  "KEYCODE_ENTER" 
#67 -->  "KEYCODE_DEL" 
#68 -->  "KEYCODE_GRAVE" 
#69 -->  "KEYCODE_MINUS" 
#70 -->  "KEYCODE_EQUALS" 
#71 -->  "KEYCODE_LEFT_BRACKET" 
#72 -->  "KEYCODE_RIGHT_BRACKET" 
#73 -->  "KEYCODE_BACKSLASH" 
#74 -->  "KEYCODE_SEMICOLON" 
#75 -->  "KEYCODE_APOSTROPHE" 
#76 -->  "KEYCODE_SLASH" 
#77 -->  "KEYCODE_AT" 
#78 -->  "KEYCODE_NUM" 
#79 -->  "KEYCODE_HEADSETHOOK" 
#80 -->  "KEYCODE_FOCUS" 
#81 -->  "KEYCODE_PLUS" 
#82 -->  "KEYCODE_MENU" 
#83 -->  "KEYCODE_NOTIFICATION" 
#84 -->  "KEYCODE_SEARCH" 
#85 -->  "TAG_LAST_KEYCODE"

adb_tap 0x70 0x80  # tap on android icon
adb shell input keyevent 20  # down to 'Create'
adb shell input keyevent 20  # down to 'Sign in'
adb shell input keyevent 23  # enter
adb shell input text 'username@gmail.com'
adb shell input keyevent 20  # down to 'password'
adb shell input text 'password or 2-factor code'  # 2-factor pw
adb shell input keyevent 23  # enter
adb shell input keyevent 20  # down to 'Sign in'
adb shell input keyevent 23  # enter

My phone is now setup and working.

Now to setup WiFi.

Install Lubuntu 13.04 on PowerBook G4 17" (REV D? 2005)

2013-05-31T19:57:00.001+10:00

Get ISO from here

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/raring/release/lubuntu-13.04-desktop-powerpc.iso

Boot ISO (Option-C) when power on or 'c' if yaboot is already installed.

At the boot: prompt type:

live video=radeonfb:1024x768-32@60

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Documentation/FAQ/PPC

Install!

10W for a MacBook Pro 9,1 Mid 2012 non-retina

2013-04-21T21:04:00.000+10:00

As measured by PowerTop

How did I do it?

See here

Howto Telnet into Netgear DG834GVv1

2013-02-23T14:44:00.003+11:00

This probably works for any Netgear DG834*

Your default router IP address is 192.168.0.1 unless you have changed it.

Start Telnet Daemon

http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?todo=ping_test&c4_IPAddr=%26/usr/sbin/utelnetd+-d

You may now telnet to your router's IP address.

eg. telnet 192.168.0.1

NB: This may enable telnet access from any Internet host.
In my case on a DG834GV v1, I could not connect to my router over Internet.

To run any installed program, use this general form.
It will launch program and redirect output to ppp_log.

General Form

http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?todo=ping_test&c4_IPAddr=%26
+

View ppp_log

http://192.168.0.1/ppp_log

Read a File

eg. to read /etc/hosts

http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?todo=ping_test&c4_IPAddr=%26/bin/cat+/etc/hosts+%3E+/www/ppp_log

Ignore Ping error message and read ppp_log:

http://192.168.0.1/ppp_log

Stop Telnet Daemon

From telnet session

/bin/ps

Find PID (first number) for utelnetd daemon

/bin/kill

You should see a message on your console like "Connection closed by foreign host."

Via browser

http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?todo=ping_test&c4_IPAddr=%26/usr/bin/killall+utelnetd

Ensure you can no longer login into your router.

Spell checker and corrector in BASH

2013-01-28T23:32:00.000+11:00

Why? Because it can be done.

I have used nothing but BASH.

Sample run:

I tried to make it very feature rich while keeping code to about 100 lines - this version is about 80.

Can you make it smaller?

Features:
* Auto-corrects if it can only find 1 suggested correction.
* Lists all words in dictionary that could be corrections and lets user choose or replace word.
* Suggestions only consider words with single letter deletions, additions or changes.
* Spelling errors are highlighted in yellow.
* Corrections are highlighted in green.

Todo:
* Save result to a file (Currently just displays result on terminal).

I did go a little overboard with processing word case.

#!/bin/bash

[[ -z "$1" ]] && echo "Usage: $0 " && exit 1
ERR=33; COR=32 # error and corrected colours
PS3="Select or manually enter a correction: "
L="a-zA-Z'" # these letters are deemed part of words
FINAL=
shopt -s extglob
shopt -u nocasematch
declare -A WORD
while read W; do WORD[${W,,}]=${W,,}; done < /usr/share/dict/words

function checkSuggestion() {
local p=$1 S=$1 C # uses CASE and SUGGEST from caller
[ -z "${WORD[$p]}" ] && return 1 # matches word in dict!
[ $CASE = PROP ] && S=${p^} # change case to original word
[ $CASE = CAP ] && S=${p^^}
[ $CASE = CAPs ] && { S=${p%%\'*}; S="${S^^}'${p#*\'}"; }
[ $CASE = LAT ] && { S=${p##*\'}; S="${p%\'*}'${S^^}"; }
[ $CASE = OPROP ] && { S=${p%%\'*}; C=${p#*\'}; S="${S^^}'${C^}"; }
SUGGEST="${SUGGEST/ $S /} $S " # add to suggestion list
}

function getSuggestions() {
local W=$1 t l # p
SUGGEST=; CASE=LOWER
[[ $W =~ ^[A-Z][a-z] ]] && CASE=PROP # Prop
[[ $W =~ ^[A-Z][A-Z] ]] && CASE=CAP # CAP
[[ $W =~ ^[A-Z]\'[a-z] ]] && CASE=PROP # P'rop
[[ $W =~ [A-Z]\'[a-z]$ ]] && CASE=CAPs # CAP's
[[ $W =~ ^[a-z]\'[A-Z] ]] && CASE=LAT # l'At
[[ $W =~ ^[A-Z]\'[A-Z][A-Z] ]] && CASE=CAP # C'AP
[[ $W =~ ^[A-Z]\'[A-Z][a-z] ]] && CASE=OPROP # O'Prop
W=${W,,} # lowercase word
for (( t=0 ; t<=${#W} ; t++ )); do # for each letter position of word, delete|change|insert a letter
checkSuggestion ${W:0:t}${W:t+1} # try deleting letter at position t
for l in {a..z} "'"; do # try changing and inserting letters
checkSuggestion ${W:0:t}$l${W:t+1} # try changing letter
checkSuggestion ${W:0:t}$l${W:t} # try inserting letter
done
done
}

function correctWord() { # correct word and return in RET as well as pattern in PAT
local W=$1 D1 D2 SUGGEST # uses L RESULT
getSuggestions "$W"
[[ ! "$RESULT" =~ ([^$L]|^)$W([^$L]|$) ]] && { printf "ERROR: Could not find [%s] in %s\n" "$W" "$LINE"; exit 1; }
D1="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"; D2="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}" # get delimiters around word
PAT="${D1:-#}$W${D2:-%}" # match pattern
case $SUGGEST in
'') echo -e "${RESULT/$PAT/$D1\e[${ERR}m$W\e[0m$D2}" # display line with spelling mistake highlighted
read -p "Enter correction [$W]: " RET < /dev/fd/3 # no suggestions - let user correct
RET=${RET:-$W};;
+([$L ])\ +([$L ])) # multiple suggestions
echo -e "${RESULT/$PAT/$D1\e[${ERR}m$W\e[0m$D2}" # display line with spelling mistake highlighted
select RET in "(IGNORE)" $SUGGEST; do # get correction
RET=${RET:-$REPLY} # user entered a word instead
[ "$REPLY" = "1" ] && RET=$W # no change
break
done < /dev/fd/3;;
*) RET=${SUGGEST// /} # get single suggestion
printf "%b\n" "\e[31mAuto:\e[0m ${RESULT/$PAT/$D1\e[9;${ERR}m$W\e[0;${COR}m $RET\e[0m$D2}"
esac
COL=$COR; [ "$RET" = "$W" ] && COL=$ERR # if unchanged, highlight in error colour
RESULT="${RESULT/$PAT/$D1\e[${COL}m${RET}\e[0m$D2}" # correct word
}

function correctLine(){
local LINE="$1" W # uses RESULT
while read -d' ' W; do # for each word in line
[[ -z "$W" || -n ${WORD[${W,,}]} ]] 2> /dev/null && continue # null or word in dict so ignore it
correctWord $W
printf ">> %b\n\n" "$RESULT"
done <<< "$LINE"
}

while read LINE; do # for each line
RESULT="$LINE"
correctLine " ${LINE//[^$L ]/ } " # replace punctuation with spaces
FINAL+="$RESULT\n" # append corrected line to result
done 3<&0 < $1 # redirect stdin to /dev/fd/3 for select and read

printf "\nCORRECTED TEXT\n\n%b\n" "$FINAL"

Replacing Ford NL Fairlane Power Steering Nut

2013-01-22T22:27:00.001+11:00

Based on advice from fordmods, I purchased a BA 3F656B Nut from Ford. $17.

It looks like this one from ebay:

My original one looks very different - like this one:

I cut two grooves on opposite sides into my old nut using a ruby cutting blade and a Dremel.

I cut carefully using nut's internal rubber seal groove as a guide. Once I cut into this groove, I stopped cutting. I didn't cut deep enough to reach the other groove.

With a length of hardwood resting on concrete floor and cut to length, we used a cold chisel to crack nut in half. We were chiselling on hex part rather than on thread.

After a few hits it split.

My original nut had a small white nylon seal. New nut did not have anything like that so I installed a thin rubber o-ring - couldn't hurt I reasoned.

New nut just slides on to hose and clicks in place.

This is my new nut installed. The blue 'cape' is used to keep drips away from alternator.

How to Import Birthdays and Anniversaries into Google Calendar

2013-01-18T13:34:00.000+11:00

This is a quick bash script I made that reads a file of events and creates an ical file suitable for importing into Google Calendar.

Date file supports these event formats:

day/month event description
day/month/year event description

Brief Instructions

1. Cut and paste program into a text file.

2. Save file as pc-ssv-to-ical.bash (or whatever you like)

3. In a terminal, chmod +x pc-ssv-to-ical.bash

4. Make an event file (eg. special dates) lile this:
1/1 New Year
26/1 Australia Day
4/4/1914 Someon'es Birthday
5/5/1915 Bill/Jill Wedding (1915)

5. Run ./pc-ssv-to-ical.bash special.dates > cal-import.ics
6. Import cal-import.ics into a Google Calendar

Script

#!/bin/bash

# This script takes events from a file and outputs in ical format
# suitable for importing into a Google Calendar.
#
# Copyright (C) 2013 phil colbourn
#
# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
# GNU General Public License for more details.
#
# A copy of the GNU General Public License can be obtained from
# .

SSV=$1

shopt -s extglob

# load special dates as day/month[/year] event description
# eg. 1/5/2004 A Person of Interest
# eg. 24/5 Not Sure When Born

# use this to convert SSV to CVS
# cat special-dates.ssv | sed 's/ /,/' > special-dates.csv

printf "BEGIN:VCALENDAR\nVERSION:2.0\nCALSCALE:GREGORIAN\n"

IFS+=","

while read DATE EVENT; do
[[ -z $DATE ]] && continue # ignore null dates
# D/M[/Y] format
D="0${DATE%%/*}" # get day part
D="${D: -2}"
M="${DATE#*/}" # get month part
M="0${M%%/*}"
M="${M: -2}"

# M/D[/Y] format
#M="0${DATE%%/*}" # get month part
#M="${M: -2}"
#D="${DATE#*/}" # get day part
#D="0${D%%/*}"
#D="${D: -2}"

Y="${DATE/[0-9]?([0-9])[\/][0-9]?([0-9])/}" # get year part
Y=${Y//[\/]/} # remove left over /
[[ -z $Y ]] && Y=$( date +%Y ) # use this year if none given

cat <
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:${Y}${M}${D}
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:${Y}${M}${D}
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY
DESCRIPTION:${EVENT}${Y:+ ($Y)}
SUMMARY:${EVENT}${Y:+ ($Y)}
END:VEVENT
EOF

done < $SSV

printf "END:VCALENDAR\n"

unset IFS

Notes

1. Code could be simplified if a more strict date format was used. eg. DD/MM[/YYYY]

2. Code will need to be changed for M/D[/Y] dates.

3. Space separated (SSV) and CSV formats both work. Quoted and double-quoted events also seem to work.

Building and using a Linux UML environment

2012-12-16T10:30:00.003+11:00

Intro

I want to test a script that randomly creates files all over a file system.

Naturally, I don't want to test this on my Linux system.

I tried fakechroot fakeroot chroot and schroot but I could not get them to do what I wanted.
fakechroot fakeroot chroot in particular allowed access to all files using '/..' - not what I wanted at all.

Method

I'm using pbuilder because it seems easy (once you know how).

It can also be run as a user.
It does not take up much space since UML environment is in a tar gzip file.
Changes within UML can be saved or lost (default).

To construct your sandpit

I called it 'sandpit', but you can call it what you like. Just replace sandpit with your preferred name.
Also, there is nothing stopping you making multiple sandpits.

pcreate -a amd64 -d lucid sandpit

I was running 64 bit Linux so I choose amd64
I did not care what distro I used so I choose lucid

To put/copy files into your sandpit

Files in ~/Projects/sandpit are available within your sandpit

cp ~/Projects/sandpit/

To get into your sandpit

ptest -p sandpit

After you exit, any changes will be gone.

To save changes in your sandpit

ptest -p sandpit --save

Cleaning and Idle Speed Control Valve

2012-11-18T23:16:00.001+11:00

In a previous post, I described how my NL Fairlane had an Idle problem and how I eventually got it fixed.

I later concluded that my old ISC must simply be clogged and devised a method to clean it.

Background

Idle Speed Control (ISC) valves are also known as Idle Air Controllers (IAC) and Bypass valves (BYP).

There are numerous patents for these devices. Mine is made by Hitachi, but this patent from BLD seems closest:

These Hitachi patents are also similar: US5188073, US6571766, and US6065447

You can see that there are numerous patents for variations on this theme and I did not find them all.

Some describe how certain features work, but it seems that my ISC is powered by vacuum and limited by its solenoid.

These designs have long-thin hollow shafts and tiny vent holes. It is very important to have these clean.

One patent discusses how it should keep working even if these holes get blocked - sort of limp-home-mode.

Inside an ISC

I pulled apart an ISC that was supposed to be a replacement part for my car. It did not work and I decided to dismantle it.

A close-up of actual valve, shaft, and diaphragm.

These solenoids are complex. What is interesting is that they do not directly move a valve. They simply limit how far its valve can open.

Cleaning

Cleaning should not be a problem except that this is an electrical component and contains rubber seals and diaphragms that can not be directly seen or accessed.

I decided that I'd limit cleaning fluids to WD40 (or similar), Isopropyl alcohol, and compressed air.

Cleaning the parts that can be seen is straight forward: spray with WD40, scrub components gently with a small brush, blow out excess. Later you can rinse and with Isopropyl alcohol.

At one end you will see a spring over a tube that guides a valve shaft. This tube is fixed in place by a cast socket that has a small 3 mm diameter hole. This hole allows vacuum to pass through a shaft and into a space between solenoid and diaphragm. This space is also vented by brass fitting that is usually covered by a black filter.

Pull off this filter. At first this will be hard to do. Be gentle and work on it slowly to remove it undamaged.

I sprayed in WD40 through this vent and also through that hole mentioned above.

I then ran my air compressor up to about 10 PSI and connected it to that vent as shown below.

I cut a piece of plastic tube to force close my ISC's valve.

(My old ISC has a LPG modification that I have sealed with a blocked pipe. I also snapped off a flange by using an incorrect gasket.)

With this tube in place, I can pressurised diaphragm space using vent fitting, and by covering a large vent hole with my thumb.

By gently forcing air and WD40 through my ISC I was able to flush and clean out shaft and vents.