Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Samsung ML-1666 printer in Linux

Samsung ML-1666


Unfortunately, splix does not support this model. So, you have to download Linux driver from: Samsung Website

You can either run their automated installer or install it manually.
I prefer manual installation because, automated installer install many unnecessary tools in my system.

 1. locate the ML-1660 from the Unified driver PPD while adding printer:
/cdroot/Linux/noarch/at_opt/share/ppd/ML-1660spl.ppd

2.Copy the filter, depending on your system (32bit or 64bit):
 /cdroot/Linux/x86_64/at_root/usr/lib64/cups/filter/rastertosamsungspl --> /usr/lib/cups/filter/ 

3. You may need to install libtiff and splix or may try to modify the ML-1660.ppd for splix support. But, be inform that, from splix website "Splix won't support old SPL(1) printers."

Monday, August 09, 2010

Multiple Internet connection in Linux

I was facing trouble to use EDGE/GPRS (ppp) with another Ethernet connection together.
Ethernet connection was used for local network.

# ip route show
10.64.64.64 dev ppp0  proto kernel  scope link  src 10.130.4.218
192.168.1.0/24 dev eth0  proto kernel  scope link  src 192.168.1.2  metric 1
default via 192.168.1.1 dev eth0  proto static

ppp connected but still default route is eth0. To use the ppp connection as default
# ip route change default via 10.64.64.64 dev ppp0

You will find
# ip route show
10.64.64.64 dev ppp0  proto kernel  scope link  src 10.130.4.218
192.168.1.0/24 dev eth0  proto kernel  scope link  src 192.168.1.2  metric 1
default via 10.64.64.64 dev ppp0
remember you may need to set the nameserver (edit the /etc/resolv.conf).


On the other hand you may have 2 default connection settings:
# ip route show
10.64.64.64 dev ppp0  proto kernel  scope link  src 10.130.130.252
192.168.1.0/24 dev eth0  proto kernel  scope link  src 192.168.1.1
172.16.0.0/16 dev eth1  proto kernel  scope link  src 172.16.8.69
default via 172.16.8.1 dev eth1
default via 10.64.64.64 dev ppp0  proto static

I mainly want to use ppp0, so I am removing the eth1 from default list:
#ip route del default via 172.16.8.1


If you want to use multiple uplinks/providers:
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Adv-Routing-HOWTO/lartc.rpdb.multiple-links.html
http://lartc.org/howto/lartc.rpdb.multiple-links.html

example:
#ip route change default scope global nexthop via 10.64.64.64 dev ppp0  weight 2 nexthop via 192.168.1.1 dev eth0 weight 1

Install "iptraf", which is an useful tool for analysis:
#apt-get install iptraf

You can also define any IP address  to use specific connection.
This might helpful if you want to listen on-line radio without interrupting your main work.

I am specifying an IP address for listening an on-line radio station by using a backup slow connection via eth1:
#ip route add 85.xx.174.181 via 172.16.8.1 dev eth1

-enjoy

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Antiderivative to find Area

"Why should I apply Antiderivative to find area of a function ?"

It might seems a very silly question, but I was searching for a solution.
I got some idea from Wikipedia Fundamental theorem of calculus , but still I was looking for example.

At last, I have found answer from these:

1. Area function f(x) = 2 within interval [a,x] = [-1,x]


Let assume, the distance of the rectangle from 0 is x.
Total Length of the rectangle will be x+1 over x-axis and width is 2.

Area = length * width

A(x) = 2(x+1) = 2x + 2

Derivative of A(x) is:
A/(x) = 2 = f(x)


2. Area function f(x) =x+1 within interval [a,x] = [-1,x]


Triangle Area = 1/2 * base * height

A(x) = 1/2 (x+1)(x+1) = x2/2 + x + 1/2

Derivative of A(x) is:
A/(x) = x + 1 = f(x)


3. Area function f(x) = 2x+3 within interval [a,x] = [-1,x]


Trapezoid Area = 1/2 * h * (a+b)

h = heigh
a,b is the parallel sides lengths.

A(x) = 1/2 (x+1)((2x+3)+1) = x2 + 3x + 2

Derivative of A(x) is:
A/(x) = 2x + 3 = f(x)


Result:
This is not only valid for linear function, but also for continuous function.
To find the area of  a function we can simply apply antidifferentiation.

A(x)  representing the area
A/(x) representing the area function.

If we know the area function A/(x) we can get the area by antidifferentiation which will provide us A(x) (area of the function).


Powered by gnuplot

Source:
Calculus - Early Transcendentals by Anton, Bivens, Davis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_theorem_of_calculus#Geometric_intuition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectangle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapezoid

Monday, April 12, 2010

Debian Kiosk

I have configured a kiosk using Debian GNU/Linux with blackbox window manager.

The challenges:
1. Touchscreen configuration.
2. Autometic login and start X server.
3. Start desired application for kiosk.
4. A boot splash for booting and shutdown.
 
1. Touchscreen configuration:
First, setup touchscreen driver and configure it according to your device specification.
I was using eGalax driver, which I have downloaded from
source: http://home.eeti.com.tw/web20/eg/drivers.htm

2. Automatic login:
Edit /etc/inittab and comment the following line:

#1:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty1
add the following line below:
1:2345:respawn:/bin/login -f USER_LOGIN tty1 /dev/tty1 2>&1 

Edit .bash_profile (create if require) and add the following line at bottom:
startx
source: http://www.debianadmin.com/how-to-auto-login-and-startx-without-a-display-manager-in-debian.html

Blackbox window manager:
Edit ~/.xinitrc (or ~/.Xsession), create if require, and add the following line:
exec blackbox
3. Autostart application:
To autostart iceweasel/firefox:
Again edit ~/.xinitrc (or ~/.Xsession) and add the following line:
firefox &
exec blackbox
source: http://blackboxwm.sourceforge.net/BlackboxFAQ/StartupAndShutdown

Install iceweasel/firefox plugin "R-kiosk" from https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1659

3. Bootsplash:
Install a bootsplash
apt-get install splashy
Create your own bootsplash and set it
# splashy_config -c
To enable splashy, you may need to edit grub.config and add the following after "kernel...ro quiet"
vga=791 splash
source: http://splashy.alioth.debian.org/wiki/faq

Tips and tricks:
"X: user not authorized to run the X server"
You can allow the user to use run startx by:
#dpkg-reconfigure x11-common
or edit  /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config
allowed_users=anybody 
"Auto login problem"
 If you have setup GDM (XDM) earlier, then you need to disable it for automatic log in
#update-rc.d -f gdm remove
If you want to enable it simply run (experiment purpose):
#update-rc.d -f gdm defaults
source: http://www.debianadmin.com/howto-boot-debian-in-text-mode-instead-of-graphical-mode-gui.html

Kiosk performance tuning:
Install the CPU frequency related tools and configure it.
details: http://wiki.debian.org/HowTo/CpuFrequencyScaling

resources:
http://www.debianadmin.com/debirf-build-a-kernel-and-initrd-to-run-debian-from-ram.html
http://cmrg.fifthhorseman.net/wiki/debirf

Friday, April 02, 2010

Custom Font Example iPhone

An example for using custom font in iPhone.





Initially, I have tried with UIFont for using custom font, but it seems not possible.

Documents from apple:
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/GraphicsImaging/Reference/CGFont/Reference/reference.html

Create custom font using CGDataProvider:

NSString *fontPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"CUSTOM_FONT" ofType:@"ttf"];
CGDataProviderRef fontDataProvider = CGDataProviderCreateWithFilename([fontPath UTF8String]); CGFontRef customFont = CGFontCreateWithDataProvider(fontDataProvider);


Use the font:

CGContextSetFont(context, customFont);
CGContextSetFontSize(context, 34.0);
CGContextSetTextDrawingMode(context, kCGTextFill);
CGGlyph textToPrint[[mainString length]];
// Loop through the entire length of the text.
for (int i = 0; i < [mainString length]; ++i) { // Store each letter in a Glyph and subtract the MagicNumber to get appropriate value.
textToPrint[i] = [[mainString uppercaseString] characterAtIndex:i] + 3 - 32;
}

//to understand the MagicNumber, I open the font file using FontForge
//found that the font I am using started from location 32
//after I changed the "Encoding->Reencode" to "Glyph Order"
//I found that the "U+0020 space" started from location 3
//

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Speech detection example iPhone

This is an example, how to start working on speech detection application for iPhone.

We have two major task:
1. Access the audio data.
2. Implement the logic part.

Task1: Access the audio data:
Download SpeakHere Example code from Apple:
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/samplecode/SpeakHere/index.html

Open "Classes->Play & Record->AQRecorder.mm" and edit the folloding function:

// AudioQueue callback function, called when an input buffers has been filled. void AQRecorder::MyInputBufferHandler(...)
Add the following code to access the audio data:

 //for signed 16-bit little-endian
 SInt16 *buf = (SInt16 *)inBuffer->mAudioData;
 for(int i=0; i< inBuffer->mAudioDataByteSize / 2; i=i+2) {
  printf("\n%d\n%d ", buf[i], buf[i+1]);
 }


(Please feel free to let me know if I am doing anything wrong...)

Run the application. You will get the raw data in gdb/console/log.
Copy the data in a text file and plot it.

Download gnuplot and AquaTerm

I have copied the data in a text file name "hello.txt" and saved it in my home directory.
Plot this, in gnuplot using the following command:

gnuplot>plot "hello.txt"



Task2: Implement the logic part:

For speech detection purpose we do not need to check all the data. Set some filter to check the data within some range. You can also try with the maximum and minimum value.


As the maximum and minumum value is similar, you can simply check one part.

If you want to detect specific type of speech or sound, analyze the graph by taking some sample.
Understand the logic and implement a coded logic to detect it.

For normal detection purpose take many sample and do R&D youself.

Please note that the mic "Input Volume" may affect your data.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Radio App Example iPhone

I was working on an application to play audio stream from an online radio. Here is some hints for the developers who want to do similar types of work.

Initially we have two major task:
1. Read stream data.
2. Play the stream data.

From apple developer documentation:

http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/codinghowtos/AudioAndVideo/index.html#STREAMING

How do I play streamed audio?

To play streamed audio, you connect to a network stream using the CFNetwork interfaces from Core Foundation, such as those in CFHTTPMessage. You then parse the network packets into audio packets using Audio File Stream Services (AudioToolbox/AudioFileStream.h). Finally, you play the audio packets using Audio Queue Services (AudioToolbox/AudioQueue.h). You can also use Audio File Stream Services to parse audio packets from an on-disk file.

Task 1: Working with HTTP stream

Read "CFNetwork Programming Guide" specially the "Communicating with HTTP Servers" part.

Use the callback
if (CFReadStreamSetClient(myReadStream, registeredEvents, myCallBack, &myContext) {...}


A sample callback:
static void myCallBack
(CFReadStreamRef stream, CFStreamEventType type, void *clientCallBackInfo) {
if(type == kCFStreamEventHasBytesAvailable) {
UInt8 buffer[2048];
CFIndex bytesRead = CFReadStreamRead(stream, buffer, sizeof(buffer));

if (bytesRead > 0) {
//nothing
}
else if (bytesRead) {
NSString* to_add = [NSString stringWithCString: (char*)buffer length: bytesRead];
NSLog(@"%@", to_add);
}
}
}


Run the application. If you can see the HTML tag in your debug console, then your network stream reading is working fine.


Task 2: Working with audio

Read "Audio File Stream Services Reference" to get basic idea about the streaming audio.

Check the "AudioFileStreamExample" from:
http://developer.apple.com/Mac/library/samplecode/AudioFileStreamExample/index.html

Merge the "AudioFileStreamParseBytes" with the "myCallBack" method.

Download Sample Code:
http://www.mymacbd.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=26