Good tutorial on adding a swap space. I've been having memory freezes since adding my new Ultra widescreen monitor.
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-add-swap-space-on-ubuntu-16-04
Sunday, 24 September 2017
Sunday, 7 May 2017
Back up Pi (on Mint)
To backup the Raspberry Pi SD Card
dd if=/dev/sdx of=/path/to/imageTo restoredd if=/path/to/image of=/dev/sdx
From here:https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/311/how-do-i-backup-my-raspberry-pi
Thursday, 13 April 2017
Check if Pi Zero Working (on MINT)
Remove SD card.
Micro USB to USB A male.
Plug in to USB on PC.
Plug Micro USB into USB port (not end of board Power micro USB) the other.
Open Terminal and type dmesg to check USB port connections.
Should see "Broadcom" come up as a connected device.
Wipe brow as not wasted a fiver by blowing Zero up.
Sunday, 12 March 2017
Kill
Just another note to myself.
Using Kill
Noticed my CPU was using 3 out of the 4 cores at 100% and the fan was pretty noisy.
I initially thought it was Cinnamon but it wasn't.
I opened Terminal and used Top
Top
This listed the top three processes being used by FoxitReader. Earlier I had accidently tried to open a file with it that was not PDF.
Top showed me the process PID
So a quick ALT & F2 to open a console and kill followed by the PID shown next to each of the instances killed these processes and my CPU use dropped like a stone.
Using Kill
Noticed my CPU was using 3 out of the 4 cores at 100% and the fan was pretty noisy.
I initially thought it was Cinnamon but it wasn't.
I opened Terminal and used Top
Top
This listed the top three processes being used by FoxitReader. Earlier I had accidently tried to open a file with it that was not PDF.
Top showed me the process PID
So a quick ALT & F2 to open a console and kill followed by the PID shown next to each of the instances killed these processes and my CPU use dropped like a stone.
Sunday, 5 March 2017
Uploading Sailfish 3D Printer Software from 64 bit Linux Mint
My God, I've had my 3D printer for a year now and have not been able to upgrade the stock Makerbot firmware to the newer Sailfish firmware until NOW.
My Printer:
CTC 3D Printer (This is a Makerbot Dual Clone) equivalent to a Flashforge Creator)
The control board is a Mightyboard with an AT Mega 1280 Chip (I believe CTC have now updated the chip to the version with more memory)
Print area 220 x 140 x 150
Anyways, after watching video's, reading posts and getting nowhere I had nearly given up.
The problem I and it seems many others have had using Linux (not just Mint) was pressing the upload button to flash the new firmware onto the chip while simultaneously pressing the reset button on the printer.
Nothing was working, however many times I pressed, waited, pressed etc.
Finally I think I have cracked it after reading a post I will link to later for reference.
It seems that the problem on my 64 bit Linux install is avrdude.
So what I did...
1,Made sure I had the last version 7.5 of the Makerbot software.
2, Downloaded and installed all dependencies for ReplicatorG. You need the Sailfish version not the standard version. It can be found on Thingiverse Version 40 r33.
3, I then set up in ReplicatorG from File / Preferences / advanced / the new path to upload the updated firmware Hex files to RepG just as the Sailfish homepage instructions said (the new path is noted on Thingiverse as it has changed since the page was written).
4, I watched as in the command line view at the bottom of RepG uploaded the new software and a list flew by in green text.
5, I followed the instructions again on the main sailfish site until I got to the part where I would be pressing update and the reset button.
(After my previous tries I had opened RepG in Terminal and behind the program in the terminal window I saw the fail was saying something about libusb not working. This new field of enquiry led me to a discussion about Avrdude and the version supplied with sailfish V 40r33 not working correctly on 64 bit Linux Ubuntu systems. A contributor had suggested the OP try calling the newer version installed on their system via the command line to do the flashing and so I followed that advice)
6, I opened up a command line terminal and input:
avrdude -c stk500v1 -P/dev/ttyACM0 -b57600 -D -Uflash:w:/home/my_name/.repl
replacing "my_name" with my login of course.
The cursor sat there flashing an underscore. I'm not really sure what I was expecting and I turned, not very fast I admit and pressed the reset button on the back of the printer.
Bang... The terminal changed
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s
avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e9703 (probably m1280)
avrdude: reading input file "/home/my_name/.replicatorg/firmware/ff_creator-Sailfish-v7.7.0-r1432.hex"
avrdude: writing flash (125440 bytes):
Writing | ################################################## | 100% 30.11s
avrdude: 125440 bytes of flash written
avrdude: verifying flash memory against /home/my_name/.replicatorg/firmware/ff_creator-Sailfish-v7.7.0-r1432.hex:
avrdude: load data flash data from input file /home/my_name/.replicatorg/firmware/ff_creator-Sailfish-v7.7.0-r1432.hex:
avrdude: input file /home/my_name/.replicatorg/firmware/ff_creator-Sailfish-v7.7.0-r1432.hex contains 125440 bytes
avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 25.80s
avrdude: verifying ...
avrdude: 125440 bytes of flash verified
avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK (E:00, H:00, L:00)
avrdude done. Thank you.
So the instructions set the USB port output and Uflash was directed to the Hex file to flash.
As you can see it was set for the flashforge Hex file. I believe this is because this is the same as the Makerbot Sailfish software but allows the heater bed on the printer to heat at the same time as the heating element on the head. Some power supplies on the Makerbot were not powerful enough to do both these things at the same time but apparently the Flashforge and the CTC have bigger power supplies.
I'd like to thank the people on this thread for getting me further than anyone else
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/ctc3dprinters/IdgMcZT7zVg
Connections for Repetier Host: (Printing software just for my notes !)
serial connection set serial port to /dev/tty/ACM0 and Baudrate to 115200
GPX plugin - Change setting to Replicator 1 Dual NOT replicator 2
Slic3r - set options to printer settings / general / sailfish (makerbot)
Print area (x)220 x (y)140 x (z)150 Origin 112 x 72 Centre (important for Octoprint)
Also Octoprint /Slic3r info, Set custom Left Tool (T1) Right Tool(T0) and Dual profiles. When slicing with one loaded filement make sure correct one is selected.
tool1 offset x34 y0
Use scrip section to set start and end gcode, If you want to print in dual color/materials remember to remove the tool1 offset from the slicer or from the printer setting or the software will add both.
More Slic3r info here:
https://3duniverse.org/2014/01/05/using-slic3r-with-a-flashforge-creator/
JST -VH (The Jst connector to the heater bed, just a reminder to myself)
My Printer:
CTC 3D Printer (This is a Makerbot Dual Clone) equivalent to a Flashforge Creator)
The control board is a Mightyboard with an AT Mega 1280 Chip (I believe CTC have now updated the chip to the version with more memory)
Print area 220 x 140 x 150
Anyways, after watching video's, reading posts and getting nowhere I had nearly given up.
The problem I and it seems many others have had using Linux (not just Mint) was pressing the upload button to flash the new firmware onto the chip while simultaneously pressing the reset button on the printer.
Nothing was working, however many times I pressed, waited, pressed etc.
Finally I think I have cracked it after reading a post I will link to later for reference.
It seems that the problem on my 64 bit Linux install is avrdude.
So what I did...
1,Made sure I had the last version 7.5 of the Makerbot software.
2, Downloaded and installed all dependencies for ReplicatorG. You need the Sailfish version not the standard version. It can be found on Thingiverse Version 40 r33.
3, I then set up in ReplicatorG from File / Preferences / advanced / the new path to upload the updated firmware Hex files to RepG just as the Sailfish homepage instructions said (the new path is noted on Thingiverse as it has changed since the page was written).
4, I watched as in the command line view at the bottom of RepG uploaded the new software and a list flew by in green text.
5, I followed the instructions again on the main sailfish site until I got to the part where I would be pressing update and the reset button.
(After my previous tries I had opened RepG in Terminal and behind the program in the terminal window I saw the fail was saying something about libusb not working. This new field of enquiry led me to a discussion about Avrdude and the version supplied with sailfish V 40r33 not working correctly on 64 bit Linux Ubuntu systems. A contributor had suggested the OP try calling the newer version installed on their system via the command line to do the flashing and so I followed that advice)
6, I opened up a command line terminal and input:
avrdude -c stk500v1 -P/dev/ttyACM0 -b57600 -D -Uflash:w:/home/my_name/.repl
replacing "my_name" with my login of course.
The cursor sat there flashing an underscore. I'm not really sure what I was expecting and I turned, not very fast I admit and pressed the reset button on the back of the printer.
Bang... The terminal changed
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.01s
avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e9703 (probably m1280)
avrdude: reading input file "/home/my_name/.replicatorg/firmware/ff_creator-Sailfish-v7.7.0-r1432.hex"
avrdude: writing flash (125440 bytes):
Writing | ################################################## | 100% 30.11s
avrdude: 125440 bytes of flash written
avrdude: verifying flash memory against /home/my_name/.replicatorg/firmware/ff_creator-Sailfish-v7.7.0-r1432.hex:
avrdude: load data flash data from input file /home/my_name/.replicatorg/firmware/ff_creator-Sailfish-v7.7.0-r1432.hex:
avrdude: input file /home/my_name/.replicatorg/firmware/ff_creator-Sailfish-v7.7.0-r1432.hex contains 125440 bytes
avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:
Reading | ################################################## | 100% 25.80s
avrdude: verifying ...
avrdude: 125440 bytes of flash verified
avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK (E:00, H:00, L:00)
avrdude done. Thank you.
As you can see it was set for the flashforge Hex file. I believe this is because this is the same as the Makerbot Sailfish software but allows the heater bed on the printer to heat at the same time as the heating element on the head. Some power supplies on the Makerbot were not powerful enough to do both these things at the same time but apparently the Flashforge and the CTC have bigger power supplies.
I'd like to thank the people on this thread for getting me further than anyone else
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/ctc3dprinters/IdgMcZT7zVg
Connections for Repetier Host: (Printing software just for my notes !)
serial connection set serial port to /dev/tty/ACM0 and Baudrate to 115200
GPX plugin - Change setting to Replicator 1 Dual NOT replicator 2
Slic3r - set options to printer settings / general / sailfish (makerbot)
Print area (x)220 x (y)140 x (z)150 Origin 112 x 72 Centre (important for Octoprint)
Also Octoprint /Slic3r info, Set custom Left Tool (T1) Right Tool(T0) and Dual profiles. When slicing with one loaded filement make sure correct one is selected.
tool1 offset x34 y0
Use scrip section to set start and end gcode, If you want to print in dual color/materials remember to remove the tool1 offset from the slicer or from the printer setting or the software will add both.
More Slic3r info here:
https://3duniverse.org/2014/01/05/using-slic3r-with-a-flashforge-creator/
JST -VH (The Jst connector to the heater bed, just a reminder to myself)
Monday, 9 January 2017
System Sounds missing / not working
Yesterday I lost all my system sounds after a new install (done as an upgrade ) of Mint Sarah.
Actually it had been lost in 17.3 and I had done the upgrade after screwing it up there while trying to change the sound inputs to accept a 5.1 surround sound system. I had hoped with the new Kernel it would fix it.
Lot's of complicated advice out there for this issue and ideas for fault finding.
Turns out all I had to do was open Synaptic Package manager and search for libcanberra-pulse, it was not installed so I ticked it and applied the change. Voila I now have desktop sounds again.
Incidentally the issued with the Creative 5.1 surround sound system was a fixed to an extent, after screwing everything up by following several different fixes first.
My internal sound card on the motherboard has three, three-pin phono input/outputs.
My Sub woofer was connected to PINK (mic) connection nearest the board.
Next to that was FRONT connecting to the middle LIME (line-out).
Finally REAR was connected to LIGHT BLUE (line-in).
With these connections set up correctly from the manual's of both the ASROCK 960GM motherboard and the CREATIVE Inspire T6300 surround sound system it was just the software to tackle.
It seems like you have to change the options in the /etc/modprobe.d folder. there can be found the text file alsa-base.conf
By changing (as root) and adding the yellow highlighted line to the file I seem to have made the sound chip on the motherboard's connection be recognised as an analogue 3 pin phono connector thus enabling it to send the correct signals out and not expecting a microphone signal in and line in to be received.
# Prevent abnormal drivers from grabbing index 0
options snd_hda_intel model=3stack
options bt87x index=-2
options cx88_alsa index=-2
options saa7134-alsa index=-2
options snd-atiixp-modem index=-2
options snd-intel8x0m index=-2
options snd-via82xx-modem index=-2
options snd-usb-audio index=-2
options snd-usb-caiaq index=-2
options snd-usb-ua101 index=-2
options snd-usb-us122l index=-2
options snd-usb-usx2y index=-2
I still have some work to do on this as I'm not sure if everything is working OK but I am getting there.
Finally I checked that the option of 5.1 was now there in the sound options of the control panel and moved the option from 2 channel stereo to 5.1 stereo.
I also checked alsamixer from the Terminal which seemed to only show the first 5 channel volume options by moving across with the right arrow the other options appeared from the edge of the screen to check also. I made sure the correct options for volume were set here also.
Thats where I'm up to.
Actually it had been lost in 17.3 and I had done the upgrade after screwing it up there while trying to change the sound inputs to accept a 5.1 surround sound system. I had hoped with the new Kernel it would fix it.
Lot's of complicated advice out there for this issue and ideas for fault finding.
Turns out all I had to do was open Synaptic Package manager and search for libcanberra-pulse, it was not installed so I ticked it and applied the change. Voila I now have desktop sounds again.
Incidentally the issued with the Creative 5.1 surround sound system was a fixed to an extent, after screwing everything up by following several different fixes first.
My internal sound card on the motherboard has three, three-pin phono input/outputs.
My Sub woofer was connected to PINK (mic) connection nearest the board.
Next to that was FRONT connecting to the middle LIME (line-out).
Finally REAR was connected to LIGHT BLUE (line-in).
With these connections set up correctly from the manual's of both the ASROCK 960GM motherboard and the CREATIVE Inspire T6300 surround sound system it was just the software to tackle.
It seems like you have to change the options in the /etc/modprobe.d folder. there can be found the text file alsa-base.conf
By changing (as root) and adding the yellow highlighted line to the file I seem to have made the sound chip on the motherboard's connection be recognised as an analogue 3 pin phono connector thus enabling it to send the correct signals out and not expecting a microphone signal in and line in to be received.
# Prevent abnormal drivers from grabbing index 0
options snd_hda_intel model=3stack
options bt87x index=-2
options cx88_alsa index=-2
options saa7134-alsa index=-2
options snd-atiixp-modem index=-2
options snd-intel8x0m index=-2
options snd-via82xx-modem index=-2
options snd-usb-audio index=-2
options snd-usb-caiaq index=-2
options snd-usb-ua101 index=-2
options snd-usb-us122l index=-2
options snd-usb-usx2y index=-2
I still have some work to do on this as I'm not sure if everything is working OK but I am getting there.
Finally I checked that the option of 5.1 was now there in the sound options of the control panel and moved the option from 2 channel stereo to 5.1 stereo.
I also checked alsamixer from the Terminal which seemed to only show the first 5 channel volume options by moving across with the right arrow the other options appeared from the edge of the screen to check also. I made sure the correct options for volume were set here also.
Thats where I'm up to.
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