Orange PI Zero (H2+) as a GPS "compass" from box to works

SCerovec · 02-15-2019, 05:18 PM

So how in the world do you use an computer that has no video output device?

You VNC in and out of it.

How?

file: /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-libvnc.conf

Code:

# This file contains configuration of libvnc.so module
# Source: http://pkgs.fedoraproject.org/cgit/tigervnc.git/plain/10-libvnc.conf
#
# To get libvnc.so module working, do this:
# 1. run "vncpasswd" as root user
# 2. uncomment configuration lines below
#
# Please note you can specify any option which Xvnc accepts.
# Refer to `Xvnc -help` output for detailed list of options.

Section "Module"
    Load "vnc"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    DefaultDepth 16
    Option "SecurityTypes" "VncAuth"
    Option "PasswordFile" "/root/.vnc/passwd"
EndSection

And on the other side you TigerVNC into it by entering it's IP

Now you can set up many and wast things that can only be solved on X...

In the following replays i plan to publish the LCD config and the remaining tools used in rc.local

SCerovec · 02-16-2019, 06:03 AM

the SPI connected tiny adafruit/sainsmart compatible LCD need the following X config:

file: /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-opi.conf

Code:

Section "Device"
    Identifier "SPI_fb"
    Driver "fbdev"
# options : CW CCW and UD
    Option "rotate" "UD" #upside down
    Option "fbdev" "/dev/fb0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "Tiny_LCD"
# overblown in [mm] for 50DPI
    DisplaySize 80 64
#    UseModes "160x128"
    Option "DPMS" "false"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "My Screen"
    Device      "SPI_fb"
    Monitor     "Tiny_LCD"


    DefaultDepth 16

    Subsection "Display"
    Depth       16
    Virtual 160 128
#    Viewport 160 128
    Modes "160x128"
    EndSubsection

EndSection

next to it i have also: 00-ServerFlags.conf

Code:

Section "ServerFlags"
# GPS should always run the screen:
    Option      "NoPM"        "true"
    Option      "blank time"    "0"
    Option      "standby time"  "0"
    Option      "suspend time"  "0"
    Option      "off time"      "0"
EndSection

To prevent any accidental blanking. Furthermore i have the xscreensaver package completely removed as well.

...to be continued

SCerovec · 02-16-2019, 06:22 AM

there is one more ingredient left:
con2fbmap

find the fbset cource code and put the following slackbuild right next to the "debian" folder:

file: con2fbmap.SlackBuild

Code:

srcdir=$(pwd)
pkgdir=/

cd "${srcdir}"
patch -i debian/patches/03_con2fbmap.patch
gcc con2fbmap.c -o con2fbmap

install -Dm755 con2fbmap ${pkgdir}/usr/local/bin/con2fbmap

and fiddle with it until it works, or, run the listed commands by hand

Feedback would be highly welcome

Now i'm out to try make some photos of this all :^]

SCerovec · 02-19-2019, 02:51 PM

Gallery on imgur
I plan to replace the 5V 5A SBEC with an single cell boost converter (1S -> 5V 2A) and still use two 18650 cells but then switched in parallel.

Also i plan to duct the light from the two LEDs properly to the side light duct.

Then i will check why the pi won't boot each time its switched on - does it need switch de-bounce or brown out prevention?

Further I plan to replace the wireless keyboard with a WiFi dongle for remote ssh and VNC access

Enjoy

SCerovec · 02-27-2019, 04:12 AM

A big caveat for eventual kernel upgrade:

All of sudden the display stopped working - had to enable the SPI in the device tree. Luckily i had a dtedit wrapper i intend to post yet.

I found this out only after going thru numerous loops

of editing the boot environment and kernel commandline to no avail.

I find that the process of tweaking the dtb/dts files is quite simpler when using this wrapper.

Stay tuned for the bootedit script

SCerovec · 02-27-2019, 04:42 AM

file:/usr/local/sbin/bootedit

Code:

#!/bin/sh

#wrapper for editing /boot.src
# ISC apply - support on Linuxquestions.org for Slackware ARM
# author: cest73@ya.ru
# version V1.2
# file /usr/local/sbin/bootedit
#

Editor="$(which vi)"
Converter="$(which mkimage)"
pars='-vC none -A arm -T script'
tgt='boot.scr'
src='boot.cmd'
bootdir='/boot'

if [[ -d $bootdir ]]; then
  cd $bootdir
else
  echo "Wrong (?) bootdir defined, aborting!"
  exit 2
fi

if [[ -x ${Editor} ]] ; then
if [[ -x ${Converter} ]] ; then
 if $Editor ${src}
   then echo "$Converter ${pars} -d ${src} ${tgt}"
   $Converter ${pars} -d ${src} ${tgt}
 fi
else
echo "converter [${Converter}] not found! aborting."
exit 2
fi
else
echo "editor [${Editor}] not found! aborting."
exit 2
fi
echo "done."

file:/usr/local/sbin/dtedit

Code:

#!/bin/bash

# cest73@ya.ru under ISC license for Slackware-current 2017 onward
#
EDITOR="/usr/bin/mcedit -S gotar" # gotar is a skin of mc ;-)
#EDITOR="/usr/bin/vi"

filter=$1

case $filter in
"-h"|*usage|*help|"-?")
  echo "Usage:"
  echo "dtedit [regexp]"
  echo
  echo "Edit one of the dts files as dtb and store back as dts"
  echo "Filer the list with optional [regexp] like 'sun8' or 'zero'"
  echo "without quotes:"
  echo
  echo "dtedit zero"
  echo "help keys: '-?','-h','--help','usage'"
  echo "happy hacking!"
  exit 0
esac
#we rely on symlink here:
kver="dtb"

dt_path='/boot'

cd $dt_path

configs=$(ls ${kver} | grep ".dtb" | grep "${filter}" | awk -F.dtb '{print $1 " " $1 }')

if [[ "X$configs" == "X" ]]; then
  echo "filter ["$filter"], you provided, yileded no results in ["$dt_path"/"$kver"/*.dtb]."
  echo "Please retry."
  exit 2
fi

dialog --backtitle "Board selection list, cancel to abort" --no-tags --menu "Boards to pick from:" 0 0 12 ${configs} 2>/dev/shm/result

selection=$(cat /dev/shm/result)
echo "our target is: ["$selection"]"

if [[ "X$selection" == "X" ]]; then
  echo "exiting due to user cancels"
  exit 1
fi

dtb_file="${dt_path}/${kver}/${selection}.dtb"
back_file="${dt_path}/${kver}/${selection}.dtb.orig"
dts_file="${dt_path}/${kver}/${selection}.dts"
edited_file="/tmp/${selection}.dts"

ls $dtb_file
rm -v $dts_file
rm -v $edited_file

dtc -W no-unit_address_vs_reg -I dtb -O dts $dtb_file -o $edited_file

$EDITOR $edited_file

dtc -W no-unit_address_vs_reg -O dtb -I dts $edited_file -o $dtb_file

Code:

# dtedit orangepi

... and pick my exact version listed from the /boot/ dir. after editing the instant i leave the editor the file gets saved and generated.
All that is left to do is to reboot - maybe it could be possible to force the change in runtime - but i had no interest in that (yet).
I had picked vi for the editor (free choice) because it is complying with most adverse terminal environments - despite i like mcedit more - as soon as i could i opted back for mcedit - maybe nano could be good there too.