A home for Science, Technology, and Slackware.
Posted on Feb 25, 2023 by kingbeowulf
Instead of buying expensive security cameras or USB webcams, older cell phones (iOS and Android) can be repurposed as internet (IP) cameras via WIFI. SIM card not required. In this post, I'll describe a two camera security configuration with ZoneMinder video surveillance software system.
For each phone, you'll need to install software to stream the camera video in format accessible to web browsers (Firefox, etc). For my cameras I chose:
These apps will allow you to stream video inside your WiFi network without internet access via http access. There are others; choose wisely.
I recommend setting the phones for a fixed IP address so that the same IP is assigned should the phone restart. One way (recommended), is to set your router to provide static leases and block traffic to the internet (WAN). In the iOS and Android settings, under network, look up the MAC address of your phone.
NOTE: Some Android configurations set up a random MAC address. You'll need to turn this off and use the actual hardware address.
My Wifi router utilizes OpenWrt firmware. Others are similar. To set the static lease and profide a fixed IP address when the phone connects to Wifi:
Network -> DHCP and DNS -> Static Leases -> Add
Enter in the camera hostname, MAC address and IP address to use. Enter the values in the --custom-- field. The values below are examples. You will need to select an IP address that doesn't conflict with any other devices on your network.
Posted on Jan 23, 2023 by kingbeowulf
As a follow-up to my previous post regarding obtaining system information via dmidecode, here is a small bash script for a quick motherboard summary using string keywords. This will display a short summary of your motherboard.
Posted on Jan 22, 2023 by kingbeowulf
Slackware 15.0 has been out in the wild for nigh on a year now. So far I am quite pleased. Modern and versatile for my varied requirements. I won't do a review here; that you can get elsewhere. For me, Slackware for many years has been my daily driver at home for general purpose office computing, simple image and video editing, internet access and video games. I was recently laid up at home on medical leave after surgery. Between Steam (native and Proton), WINE and DOSBOX, I made a bit of a dent in my Linux, Windows, and old MSDOS game collections. One Slackware box is dedicated to host my Gopher, Mumble, local LAN time servers, as well as my Valheim dedicated game server. It was also my backup NAS until I added added a separate Synology DS220+.
(Aside: If you haven't played Valheim, you are missing out on a great Adventure. Fun solo, but best with friends!)
Posted on Aug 23, 2022 by kingbeowulf
I've updated the INDI libraries and drivers on Slackbuilds.org (SBo). INDI Library is a collection of programs designed to control astronomical equipment, such as, cameras, telescopes, etc. In addition to the drivers and modules provided in the main INDI distribution, there are a number of third party drivers available. For more information on INDI refer to https://www.indilib.org/
Stellarium (https://slackbuilds.org/repository/15.0/academic/stellarium/) has INDI support to directly control telescope positioning. Kstars, included with Slackware's KDE, Provides INDI support via the built-in EKOS client. Besides telescope control, numerous devices are supported, including CCD cameras. Why pay good money for proprietary and expensive telescope GOTO and astrophotography software when perfectly functional opensource alternatives exist?
To get Kstars/Ekos operational in Slackware (or whatever other Linux distribution. I won't judge.), you will need to recompile Kstars. INDI is a compile-time dependency; therefore, the Kstars package included with Slackware does not include INDI functionality.
Feedback is appreciated, for bugs and improvements, via sbo@linuxgalaxy.org
For Slackware (What? Are you still using that *other* distro?), follow this build order. Everything needed is included either in the main Slackware tree or on SBo. Note that the SBo buildscripts for libindi-libraries and libindi-drivers are optional. These include the third party drivers not present in the main libindi build. This list is also the recommended build and installation order. If you do not know what drivers you need (!!), install everything.
Dependency
libev
libnova
wcslib
stellarsolver
[optional for third-pary drivers]
gpsd
libdc1394
libftdi1
INDI
libindi
libindi-libraries (optional)
libindi-drivers (optional)
Kstars INDI Client
Kstars in Slackware-15 is a bit too old. Grab the Kstars source from Slackware current or from https://invent.kde.org/education/kstars/-/branches (version 3.6.0 as of this post). On Slackware current, this should be enough to recompile Kstars so that INDI gets incorporated. Example is for Slackware-current downloaded to '/data/ and assuming KDE is installed.
Posted on Aug 09, 2022 by kingbeowulf
After the release of Slackware-15.0 (stable), not only is our BDFL* keeping up with security updates, but Slackware-current is progressing at at relentless pass. This week the Slackware gaphics stack gets upgrades for Mesa, X.org and Wayland, but more significantly, also removes a bunch of legacy drivers.
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