LinuxMCE Forums

General => Developers => Topic started by: SBCC on June 11, 2014, 02:29:34 am

Title: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: SBCC on June 11, 2014, 02:29:34 am
Hello, has Generic Serial Device been built for the Raspberry MD? Doesn't seem to be loading it when I add a device. By the way great job on this!!! Starts up and runs fine. Video and sound. Thanks to everyone with that effort!
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: SBCC on June 13, 2014, 09:46:45 pm
Sorry I acted to soon. It loaded and works fine. Serial ports aren't being listed correctly. Shows as platform/bcm2708_usb+1.3 but that gives me;
Code: [Select]
Failed Opening serial port: platform/bcm2708_usb+1.3.If I change it in the database to /dev/ttyUSB0 works fine. I know I looked at this a while back and I believe Radu fixed it. I may dig into it more.

Thanks again!
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: phenigma on June 28, 2014, 06:41:49 am
Hey, sorry for the delay, I'm really busy.  I *though* gsd was built ok for the rpi.  If you could detail some of your specifics in a trac ticket with me as the owner I will have a look.   Thanks for testing btw!  I really appreciate it.

J.
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: SBCC on September 17, 2014, 11:09:14 pm
Hi Jason

Thanks for getting back to me!

It is built. The problem I'm having is with PlutoUtils/LinuxSerialUSB. I keep coming up with
Code: [Select]
TranslateSerialUSB platform/bcm2708_usb+1.2 isn't serial usb <0xb44ff460>
That would mean that
Code: [Select]
if( sInput.size()<6 || ( sInput.substr(0,3)!="pci" && sInput.substr(0,8) != "platform" ) )
{
LoggerWrapper::GetInstance()->Write(LV_STATUS,"TranslateSerialUSB %s isn't serial usb",sInput.c_str());
return sInput;
}

Is not working as it should and it looks like it should so maybe it is old? I tried to setup a build environment again but lost your instructions and forgot how. I think I might be able to build it on the Pi but that could be slow. Do you have those instructions?

Thanks

Jim
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: SBCC on September 18, 2014, 03:00:38 pm
Hi Jason

I just noticed you made that change to LinuxSerialUSB.cpp 3 weeks ago and my installation is older than that. I will upgrade and I'm sure that it will work. Thanks for your time and effort!

Jim
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: phenigma on September 18, 2014, 06:17:52 pm
Hey!  Yes, I tested GSD a few weeks ago and found that little issue finally.  If your installation is that old you are probably pointing to the old repository and likely will not see any updates.  I *highly* recommend that you re-visit the wiki (http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/RaspberryPi) and grab the new sd card contents, update your core, build a new diskless image for raspbian and hit the 'Rebuild' button in webadmin for that MD.  This will give you all the latest, there have been a lot of changes/improvements over the last 2 months.

J.

PS.  thanks for testing!
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: SBCC on September 24, 2014, 10:29:42 pm
Hi J

There seems to be a problem. I downloaded the latest SDcard and deb file. Installed the deb and sdcard contents, ran Diskless_CreateTBZ.sh, rebuilt the image for the MD through the web admin, plugged in the RPI and when it gets to "Diskless_InstallKernel.sh" it reboots immediately... then it gets to "Diskless_InstallKernel.sh" and reboots and just repeats this. I tried this with a new RPI and I get the same results. One thing I noticed was the kernel link is bad in the tarball and that Diskless_CreateTBZ.sh has changed. I copied the old Diskless_CreateTBZ.sh over and am now looking to see what happens with that. I am still poking around to see what went wrong but thought I'd let you know and to see if you had any thoughts. Thanks again for all your effort here.

Jim
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: phenigma on September 25, 2014, 06:15:48 pm
Diskless Create has changed, a lot has changed.  Packages are not in the same location they used to be and most packages have been updated/upgraded.  I will test this immediately and get back to you.  It looks like your 'rebuild' did not complete properly or you would not be seeing the diskless setup aspects during boot.

J.
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: phenigma on September 25, 2014, 07:19:09 pm
Ok, I see what I did.  You are correct, I created a bad softlink to the kernel.  Do this on your core:

Code: [Select]
cd /usr/pluto/diskless/XX/boot
ln -sf kernel.img vmlinuz-3.6-trunk-rpi
cd /usr/pluto/bin
./Diskless_Setup.sh

where XX is the device # of your MD.  That should fix you up for now and I'll get a new Diskless_CreateTBZ.sh out with a fix.

J.
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: SBCC on September 26, 2014, 03:01:06 pm
Hi

Ok I will do that this morning and let you know. Thanks again!
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: phenigma on September 26, 2014, 03:43:46 pm
You're very welcome.  Sorry for the issues with the diskless image, I am trying to keep things fairly stable. 

BTW, my testing of the rpi for serial based GSD devices has worked, but it serial GSD consumes significant resources on the pi CPU and USB bus.

J.
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: SBCC on September 27, 2014, 03:18:39 pm
Creating the link works perfect! The updated serial works great as well.

The GSD devices I use are small homemade stuff. The RPI is perfect to use in remote locations. So far I use one RPI with one device and they hum along fine.

Thanks again for your efforts!
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: phenigma on September 30, 2014, 12:17:17 am
I agree that the rpi is perfect for things like this!  Don't forget to disable media (orbiter) startup by setting the AutostartMedia=0 option in /etc/pluto.conf, assuming you aren't using media on them.  The GSD devices should still be started by Launch_Manager, and if you notice they don't please let me know and I'll make that work (but I think I tested that).

BTW, I'm interested in what sort of devices you are interfacing with!   :)

J.
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: SBCC on September 30, 2014, 02:36:38 am
Thanks for the info on stopping the media. You are correct I don'the use the orbiter. The GSD device starts up fine. The only issue was I needed to install a new temp child device to get the RPI to download the needed software to run the devices previously created prior to the update. Then I deleted the temp device. Not a big issue.

I have a couple of relay controllers that I made that control irrigation out at the gardens and green house. They are built around MSP430G2553 micro controller. I have built a new version that has inputs that I am using out at the end of my driveway, which is 700' long, to monitor vehicle and pedestrian sensors. I wanted the ability to reset the power to the USB port if the device goes stupid, mostly due to a switch debounce problem. Having the serial port nicely mapped to the usb port is perfect to make a shell script that lmce can call if all else fails. I am now building an audio switcher. This will have 12 outputs that can choose up to 16 inputs. This way I can use any of my inputs to play throughout the whole house. This is almost done. I will need to work on the device template after the build is complete.

All these devices are cheap. If you or anyone is interested I can post the schematics and/or the pc board layouts. I do have some extra boards as well.

Jim
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: phenigma on September 30, 2014, 06:13:57 pm
Neato!  Sounds like great fun!

J.
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: totallymaxed on October 02, 2014, 03:00:33 pm
Thanks for the info on stopping the media. You are correct I don'the use the orbiter. The GSD device starts up fine. The only issue was I needed to install a new temp child device to get the RPI to download the needed software to run the devices previously created prior to the update. Then I deleted the temp device. Not a big issue.

I have a couple of relay controllers that I made that control irrigation out at the gardens and green house. They are built around MSP430G2553 micro controller. I have built a new version that has inputs that I am using out at the end of my driveway, which is 700' long, to monitor vehicle and pedestrian sensors. I wanted the ability to reset the power to the USB port if the device goes stupid, mostly due to a switch debounce problem. Having the serial port nicely mapped to the usb port is perfect to make a shell script that lmce can call if all else fails. I am now building an audio switcher. This will have 12 outputs that can choose up to 16 inputs. This way I can use any of my inputs to play throughout the whole house. This is almost done. I will need to work on the device template after the build is complete.

All these devices are cheap. If you or anyone is interested I can post the schematics and/or the pc board layouts. I do have some extra boards as well.

Jim

I'd be interested to hear more about what your doing with your MSP430G2553 based micro controller both in the garden setting and at the end of your drive. Both sound very interesting indeed.

All the best

Andy
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: SBCC on November 24, 2014, 05:03:55 pm
I'd be interested to hear more about what your doing with your MSP430G2553 based micro controller both in the garden setting and at the end of your drive. Both sound very interesting indeed.

All the best

Andy

Hi Andy

Sorry just saw this. I have 2 devices so far. The 1st one is a switch and input device. The switch drives some 12 volt relays that can switch up to 120v ac but with a small amp rating at 120v ac. Great for irrigation or a gate etc. It could be coupled with a contactor for more current if needed. The inputs are digital (for now) that can be connected to say a rain sensor or a photo eye. I have some vehicle loop sensor connected. I am working on analog devices now like temp and moisture. Pretty straight forward.
The 2nd device is an audio switch that uses digital switches. The one I have take 16 inputs and can switch it to one or all of 12 outputs.
If you can make your own PCBs (which is pretty easy) the costs are very cheap for the switch. The audio switch can get pricey with each of the digital switches around $2.50US each. You need 1 for each output zone per channel with 8 inputs max. So 4 chips for each output zone for my setup with 16 inputs. This could start small and chips added as needed to keep the cost down.

I do have some extra PCBs if you are interested. I had some made in China.

I just started to work on a touch screen controller for lmce. Not an orbiter but basically a switch that would be tied to events. trying to get it to fit in a j box with a standard decora plate.

Sorry for the late reponse

Jim
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: totallymaxed on November 25, 2014, 10:20:13 am
Hi Andy

Sorry just saw this. I have 2 devices so far. The 1st one is a switch and input device. The switch drives some 12 volt relays that can switch up to 120v ac but with a small amp rating at 120v ac. Great for irrigation or a gate etc. It could be coupled with a contactor for more current if needed. The inputs are digital (for now) that can be connected to say a rain sensor or a photo eye. I have some vehicle loop sensor connected. I am working on analog devices now like temp and moisture. Pretty straight forward.
The 2nd device is an audio switch that uses digital switches. The one I have take 16 inputs and can switch it to one or all of 12 outputs.
If you can make your own PCBs (which is pretty easy) the costs are very cheap for the switch. The audio switch can get pricey with each of the digital switches around $2.50US each. You need 1 for each output zone per channel with 8 inputs max. So 4 chips for each output zone for my setup with 16 inputs. This could start small and chips added as needed to keep the cost down.

I do have some extra PCBs if you are interested. I had some made in China.

I just started to work on a touch screen controller for lmce. Not an orbiter but basically a switch that would be tied to events. trying to get it to fit in a j box with a standard decora plate.

Sorry for the late reponse

Jim

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the reply.

Have you built some Core side devices/code that provides the logic for controlling the device switching? ie green house application. I guess you could do that with custom scenarios though in fact as you have all the time/season type logic available there etc.

In your original post you mention a Raspberry Pi - what are you using that for? I'll think about the PCB's - thanks.

The new Raspberry Pi Model A+ might be worth looking at for your touch screen controller - its much smaller than the B/B+ and only $20 USD + shipping/Tax

All the best

Andy
Title: Re: Raspberry Pi Generic Serial Device
Post by: SBCC on November 25, 2014, 02:43:08 pm
Hi Andy

I do have devices/code for the core/pc. They are written in Ruby. I do have one written in C++ but kept having problems with the device becoming disabled after a Quick Reload and switched back to Ruby. I know it's something I'm doing but just lost patience with myself. Everything is still pretty much event driven still with the hardware having a parent GSD device on any PC (including the RPI) handling the serial communication, then children under it like a door sensor or an on/off switch. This is pretty basic. I would like to put together an irrigation controller that would be a bit smarter. I was waiting to see what happens with the weather plugin and see if I can use that to effect zone times based on recent climate data. I am also adding functionality to handle analog inputs like temperature sensors.

The audio switch is a bit more complex but still basically event driven. The parent device handles serial communication with the hardware and then I adapted the audio zone template #1867 as child devices. The event would be something like "listening to music in bedroom - turn on audio switch bedroom input to bedroom output". I create some custom scenarios where I can set up a group of output zones to be connected to a single input. The last being the reason for building it.

For the RPI I use it in remote locations. At the end of my driveway (which is 600' long) I have one of my switches connected to it. The hardware is connected to roadway and photo eye sensors. I have a directional wifi bridge set up that also sends an IP camera's RTSP stream. (I wrote an adapter so LMCE could handle the RTSP stream). I have the same setup at the garden/green house.

Funny you mentioned the RPI A+ I saw that and I received a touch screen for the RPI ($25US) and plan on using it with the A+. It looks real interesting but I think it will need a custom J-box plate. Not the end of the world and it would be a lot more powerful than the micro controller type I was thinking of and I think a bit easier to get to the end product. I will keep you informed on the progress with that.

Take care

Jim