www.ply.me.uk My computers

My computers and other hardware

Desktop machine

Asus M2N motherboard, AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core 5600+ 2.8GHz CPU, 6Gb DDR2 RAM, NV44 graphics card, 200GB IDE HD all in an Antec P180 case running Debian Wheezy linux

Backup machine

Previous - Asus M2V motherboard, AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core 3600+ 2.0GHz CPU, 4Gb RAM, 160GB HD running Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Debian Wheezy linux

Current - Fujitsu Esprimo C5730 running Microsoft Windows 7 Professional and linux Mint.

Laptop

Acer Travelmate 4400, AMD Turion T 64 Mobile 1.6GHz CPU, 1.5Gb RAM, 80GB HD with Microsoft Windows XP Professional and kubuntu linux

Firewall

PCEngines Alix 2D3 running embedded ~~M0n0wall~~ SmallWall an IPv6 capable software.

It was recently announced that there will be no further development on m0n0wall. A great shame but I hope to continue using it for some time to come.
My thanks to Manuel for what he has done in the past and good wishes for the future. m0n0wall has been the basis of many other related applications.
It is so useful for running and configuring my network, and the Alix enclosure is so small it will be hard to replace.

SmallWall is a continuation of m0n0wall for those of us who feel the need for a small and lean firewall.

Mini Server

PCEngines Alix 2D13 running read-only Debian Stable on aufs with a 2½" IDE hard drive and USB attached drive. This has now been retired, though I expect I will find another use for it soon enough, and been replaced with a Raspberry Pi running raspbian on an 80Gb USB drive. It is acting as a mail and smb server as well as running fhem to control my home heating system.
I now have several Raspberry Pis doing various things around the house, two with cameras, one playing music, another for coding and playing with Arduinos.

I also have a Cubetruck running my home automation.

TV & media - no longer used as I find so little worth watching.

MSI Hetis 865GV Giga micro-ATX barebone case and motherboard, Intel Celeron CPU 2.00GHz CPU, 1024Mb RAM, 160GB HD andHauppauge Nova T-500 (twin tuner) and DVB-s cards running Debian linux with VDR

Router

Draytek Vigor 120 connected to 15Mb/s ADSL from Andrews and Arnold This has now broken after just 14 months, LAN port won't talk any more.

Technicolor TG582N has now been installed. Tried connecting it to Monowall but unable to get IPv6 onto its WAN, my fault for sure. To do anything useful with it requires telnet access. I've had a number of issues with this device and now have another Vigor 120 so have reverted to Monowall and my old setup.

My new Draytek Vigor 120 is a V2 and seems improved over the V1, losing the sporadic latency spikes and is very stable.

~~RiscPC~~

~~StrongARM CPU at 203 MHz, sadly not used much these days but was a great workhorse for nearly 10 years. RISC OS 4~~

Now gone to a dealer who recycles a lot of Acorn/Risc OS hardware along with other hardware and many documents and manuals.

Handheld

Ipaq 2210, 400 MHz Intel XScale PXA250 CPU, Microsoft Pocket PC 2003 - not used any more as no OS support.

Other hardware

Laser distance meter

Leica Disto Plus

Total station

Leica Builder RM200

Laser printer

Kyocera FS-1370DN - works very well under linux.

Inkjet printers

Epson ~~Stylus Photo 890 - an excellent printer, works well under linux but ink cost is high.~~ - recycled.

Epson ~~Stylus Color 3000 - a rather old large format printer that will print up to A2 size.~~ - recycled.

Thermal printers

Dymo 450 Duo An excellent label printer. (I chose this in preference to a Brother label printer as Dymo provide some linux support. I must add that I have also had excellent service from the supplier Label King too.)
I had more trouble installing this on Windows 7 (it required the x86 driver for D1 tapes a separate download and install from the Dymo site) than in linux. I'm able to print to both labels and tape using glabels and the CUPS driver included in debian linux and Mint.
Note that the printer installs as two devices one for LW labels the other for D1 tapes. (If the tape printer does not appear automatically open and close the tape tray to wake the printer up.)

The current version of CUPs includes various paper sizes for Dymo LW labels.

Some gLabels templates are available from http://sourceforge.net/p/glabels/glabels/ci/master/tree/templates/ simply drop these into your local gLabels config directory.
For others you can add your own based on these.
Choose Dymo label printer when when you want to print labels.

There are no included templates for D1 labels, to create one for example a 12mm tape 50mm long name it D1 12x50 or similar with width 12mm height 50mm.
Choose Dymo tape printer when when you want to print tape.

Warning! If you print and nothing comes out check for paper or tape jams and sort immediately, further attempts at printing whilst jammed will only make a bigger, messier jam for you to unravel.

My only gripe is with the PSU and its lead, the lead is a very poor, thin and very stiff cable - perhaps it's just the UK version.

Cameras
I have owned a number of digital cameras. All have lasted well, especially considering they have been used extensively for photographing architectural, structural and other elements of construction sites and projects.

My first was an Olympus C-900 zoom 1.3Mpixel, bought new, shortly after its release and very expensive. However it lasted me well and for many years until the plastic front slide broke.

Pros: Standard batteries. Excellent focusing in low light.
Cons: Allows only small size memory card.

Konica Minolta Dimage 7i which is a rather bulky 5Mpixel camera but very versatile and produces excellent images. I also have a Konica Minolta Program / Maxxum Flash 5600HS(D) for use with this camera. It has had a hard life but not suffered too badly. The body is alloy, but the mode dial release button on mine has split in two and the rubber eyepiece hood has also suffered. I guess I'll have to look at replacement sometime, but Konica Minolta have ceased producing cameras, perhaps I should look at the Sony α series compatible with the flash.

Pros: Standard batteries and CF memory card.
Cons: Poor focusing in low light. Requires high power batteries for useful sessions.

Konica Minolta Dimage X31 a very small and compact 3.2Mpixel camera which fits easily into the smallest pocket.

Pros: Standard batteries and SD memory card.
Cons: Poor focusing in low light.

Olympus mju 400 similar in style to the C-900 Zoom above but much smaller physical size and 4 Mpixel.

Pros: Excellent focusing in low light.
Cons: Proprietary battery pack. xD memory card.

I have just resurrected this camera (August 2015), it's such a useful and handy device, pocket sized and very robust with its metal casing.
The battery is dead, to be expected but equivalent replacements are available from The Small Battery Company - their range is extensive and orders are usually by return of post.
xD memory cards are more difficult to find than they used to be too!

I am currently using a Sony DSLR-A350 and DSLR-A580 These have both proved to be reliable and produce decent images.

I have since added a Canon PowerShot SX230-HS as well, a very useful pocket size camera with GPS, handy when I am out and about - the two Sony DSLRs are rather bulky.

Dashcam
Nextbase 402G dashcam. I thought I'd add a bit here as there is little online specifically about this model.

I bought mine from Halfords, they matched the price shown on their website, which was a good deal cheaper than marked up in the shop. I also bought the Nextbase hardwire installation kit, very good value at £10 in my opinion.

According to several sources it is a rebadged DOD LS430W - different case as well that looks more like the LS460W.

References to the LS430W seem to suggest that firmware updates are not generally available however Nextbase do provide firmware update files - no detail of changes, sadly.
My 402G came with version R07, I believe this is a very recent update from R06.

In the last week (beginning of June 2015) a new download has appeared but is only labelled as 'latest firmware'. It is not the same (viewing using a hex editor) as the R06 version available last week - in fact it appears to be R08, so even newer than the R07 I have.
It's really not at all helpful or useful to provide such an update with no version or changes information whatsoever. The provided upgrade instructions include...

Firstly, check which firmware version is currently installed on your iN-CAR CAM, to view your firmware version use the Setup menu and select "Version". If your iN-CAR CAM has the firmware version as detailed on the website, there is no need to download and install it. Should a later version be available for download please follow instructions given below.
Nextbase need to sort this out!

Well, they have almost sorted it (August 2015), the latest version R09 is labelled but there is still no changelog or list of bug fixes/improvements.
I had to resort to Windows to format the SD for the update to work.
(June 2016 and listing R09-1).

I have been using it for a few weeks now, it works well and gives very good results. I have not driven in darkness with it yet (it's almost midsummer as I write) but transitions through tunnels are very good.

I have covered the white markings on the front of my camera with black insulating tape to make it less conspicuous.
I had to reposition the mount slightly after my initial install to avoid occasional contact with the rear-view mirror causing a loud knocking noise in the audio playback.

If you intend to remove the device on a regular basis you may find the release clip a bit of a fiddle and struggle with it in situ as it is a very tight fit, presumably to avoid any chance of additional vibration of the device.
I applied the merest smear of silicone grease (before wiping over to leave even less, just a trace) to mine to help it slide, silicone based furniture polish may work too if you don't have silicone grease - but don't get any on, or close to, either the lens or the screen!

I have not installed, or even tried, the supplied software for viewing but Registrator Viewer is excellent.

NB. It is surprisingly easy to fill even a 32Gb card (around four hours driving/recording), I have lost the first twenty minutes or so on two journeys this week, neither seemed excessively long.
If you wish to record all your travel keep a spare card with you and swap it in good time!

NB. Do check your card regularly and ensure that it is still recording your trips!
SD cards can fail for many reasons and you may regret not checking when you find an incident you expect to have been recorded has not in fact been recorded or saved at all!

NB. The internal battery will deteriorate rapidly if left mounted in a hot vehicle - even autumn sunshine!
Mine hasn't died completely but life is considerably shorter than it used to be - it won't hold a charge if it hasn't been used for a day or so.

There is a post here that suggests a battery fault in devices with serial numbers that start lower than 1525.
If you have one of these it may be worth contacting Nextbase Customer Support, I know of a case where they have authorised a replacement unit.

There are some links here and here about taking apart and replacing the battery in a DOD LS430W.
Taking apart the Nextbase is a very similar procedure but the battery sizes are not the same (there are eight screws in the GPS housing)! Available space in the Nextbase is much smaller.
You must take the memory card out of the camera before splitting the case otherwise you may pull the SD cardholder and its PCB traces away from the PCB!
The original battery is 30.9 x 20 x 5.2mm (measured here) and probably best to look for a replacement of about the same size.

========================

Update June 2016:
The original battery is now very close to dead - and a bit puffy. Removing external power causes it to continuously cycle Off-On-Off-On until the minimal remaining charge is exhausted.
Finding a replacement is not that easy, no-one seems to offer anything specifically for the Nextbase 402G.

Markings on my original battery are...

BP1-403025P 0.555W
XR150314W 5C

The closest I have been able to find is a small 30 x 20 x 6.9mm 240mAh battery.
Markings on this one are...

502030 20C
240mAh 3.7V

Actual replacement is a bit fiddly and wires are thin but all seems OK.
(January 2017 - Replacement battery is holding up well, a worthwhile DIY task.)

NB. Unless you are aware of the dangers involved and understand all the necessary precautions to take when handling, connecting and soldering this type of battery then do not even attempt to replace your own!

Mid-August 2016...

Even though my new battery is performing well after the issues and replacement described above I have been looking to switch to a super-capacitor powered dashcam so that I can leave it permanently mounted without having to worry about cooking another battery.

I have been following development of the Joovuu X cam for a long time. It looks very promising and by now early teething problems should have been ironed out.

I placed my order on https://www.joovuu.com/. It took almost a week to arrive (UK to UK), rather disappointing.
There was no included CD as in the contents list on site, the CPL element in my filter was the wrong way round as has been reported by other users (takes only a couple of minutes to swap it around).

Both the websites need some attention, expired postage discount codes, specification duplicated on one page, navigation and finding things is generally difficult.
Manuals are not easy to locate and the site used to host the V2 version tells me my browser is no longer supported then shows a javascript error!
At the time of writing I had to grab both the V1 and V2 manuals so that I had enough information to hand before starting to use the X.

Communication with the camera is via wifi and a Windows or Android app neither of which are really fit for purpose yet. They sort of work some of the time.
There is an option from the PC app only to use a text file to update settings but there are fewer settings available and the resulting text file is not human readable sadly.

The link to downloads is at the bottom of the main page. Why is it not included in the Support tab?
Version and/or date info for these downloads is not clear.

The site used to obtain the PC app and firmware is a horrible choice.
First option is to install their Cloud app.
I value my privacy, my data and my security. There is no way I will install such an app on any machine in my network.
The second option is to download through a browser.
Looks better until tried. It requires Flash to be installed!
For similar reasons to the above I will not install Flash with its abysmal security record, not to mention Flash cookies.
As a workaround I installed chromium (OS version of Chrome) which contains its own Flash app, downloaded what I needed then purged it and removed all local settings.
I don't get on with chromium for general browsing.

In use the videos are OK but so far I have been able to pick out number plates on oncoming vehicles far easier from the Nextbase footage than the X. This may relate to the settings I am using on the X.
I have been using Registrator Viewer to view these, the PC app fails with script errors and wifi is too flakey using the Android app .
A trip yesterday recorded only footage of my two hour return journey with no trace of outbound journey other than two files from the start (plenty of empty space on the card), all date stamps were two days out of date!
Did the camera stop recording for some reason? It still had power and bleeped regularly as the G-sensor was triggered and surely the camera's internal time/date should be updated from the GPS module if attached?
Perhaps I have a dead super-capacitor? (I realise missing files could be a card read/write issue and I will check future trips to be sure.)

I think (and hope) the X will turn out to be a good choice despite so many negative comments based on my early impressions, most of which relate to web sites and choice of hosting and I appreciate that many/most users may have no issue with these. I am sure that Joovuu's resources may well be stretched with development to date and this may be having an effect on both the existence and resolution of some issues.

I do hope to be able to update this section soon with better news.

A week on and I have installed new firmware and updated the Android app.

Things are a little better, wifi is much more stable but I still cannot view video on my Galaxy Tab2 (I'm not really bothered by that).
I have not bothered to look at the PC app since my early attempts.

Number plates are still much easier to read in the Nextbase footage so I am thinking my X must be out of focus slightly and I may have to tackle a refocus myself to resolve.

I filed a support ticket from my Joovuu account pages in relation to my possibly dead super-cap.
Joovuu have stated they are sending out another component, I appreciate that, it's good support, but they have marked my issue as resolved before I have even received and installed it!

It's a very strange ticketing system too, email alerts are issued when a ticket is updated, which is good, but they do not contain any of the text in the update or any response to a query!
To see that I have to log back in to my Joovuu account pages - in my case this requires booting up another machine.

Finally my replacement super-caps have arrived, that's just over two weeks after submitting the ticket.
I have now fitted them and tweaked the camera focus slightly so now have to test in action and compare with the Nextbase.

I really do not appreciate being spammed with html only mails requesting feedback on a third-party site, based incidentally in Tel Aviv so out of EU jurisdiction and data protection legislation!

I almost get the feeling that the online experience is intended to be as awkward and confusing as possible though I'm sure that cannot be the case.
Probably just me I guess :/

Update many months later
It is now January 2017. There have been so many promises and so many excuses for lack of progress and poor communication since my last writing here but little has changed, I still have a poorly performing camera.
End of story for the Joovuu X I guess.

Bitscope
Some time back I bought a Bitscope BS10.

There are many online criticisms and suggestions to buy a proper desktop scope instead but it suits what I need, including its very small size.

There is extensive documentation - too much to be useful IMO - and none of it is indexed!
There are no real how-tos or practical examples which I find very surprising in a product that appears to be targeted at schools and educational establishments.

Support is via their Trello site.
To my eyes it's messy and I wonder how anyone ever thought it might be useful as a support platform.

All that said, a Bitscope is a useful tool for the hobbyist.

Software I have found useful

Bricscad

A very capable and reasonably priced CAD package. 3D work is almost intuitive although I have never worked with anything acad-like before. This is now the program I'm using for all my CAD work and now I can use the Bricscad version that runs natively under linux.

Bricscad Architecturals

Architecturals is a 3D modeler for DWG that offers real connectivity between all the elements. When you move a floor or a complex roof, all connected walls modify themselves, or if you move a wall, windows and doors move along. Microsoft Windows.

Sketchup

A very useful application ideal for the conceptual stages of design, it is powerful yet easy-to-learn 3D software at very good price. Microsoft Windows.

~~Copilot Live~~

Satellite navigation software for PC and Ipaq which is usually on when I'm in the car and has saved me much time and many wasted miles travelling to various sites. Microsoft Windows and PocketPC.

No longer used as support for the OS ceased. Replaced with a Garmin 2460 LMT.

gramps

gramps is a Free Software Project for genealogy, offering a professional genealogy program. It is a community project, created, developed and governed by genealogists. linux, though also possible to run on Microsoft Windows.

debian is way behind on this! I now have an install of PClinuxOS to run the latest versions under lxde.

nvu and kompozer

A complete Web Authoring System for Linux desktop users as well as Microsoft Windows and Macintosh users. Nvu (which stands for "new view") makes managing a web site a snap. Now anyone can create web pages and manage a website with no technical expertise or knowledge of HTML. kompozer is a bug-fix and updated version of nvu which has now ceased development. Microsoft Windows and linux.

This is old software now and I currently use Bluefish for my pages - it helps if you have a reasonable knowledge of html.

It's not perfect, and the version I have from debian wheezy seems to crash every time I use Tools->Tidy HTML.
The way around this is to save, quit, reopen then Tools->Tidy HTML.

planner

Planner is the GNOME project management tool. linux, though also possible to run on Microsoft Windows..

IPCop

IPCop Linux is a complete linux distribution whose sole purpose is to protect the networks it is installed on, linux.

At the time of writing, the developers appear to have very little interest in supporting IPv6. As my home network and internet connection is IPv6 I am now running ~~m0n0wall~~ Smallwall.

SMEserver

SME Server integrates easily with Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, and Unix/Linux clients, and within a Windows network environment. It's as simple to use as a server appliance, but unlike a 'sealed-box' appliance the entire system is modular and extensible, so it can be tailored to the needs of individual businesses. linux.

No longer used as the office in which it was installed have other solutions now - no idea what.

OvationPro

An excellent and very versatile desktop publishing application. Risc OS and Microsoft Windows, and I believe also under wine on linux with latest versions.

Accountz

Business and home accounting software. linux, Microsoft Windows and MacOS.
I have used the business version as well as the older, now seemingly unsupported, personal version for accounting and to keep track of expenditure and bank accounts.

Support is nowhere near as good as it was within the forums. Most official responses request the poster to phone their office.
The ability to de-register for VAT has not not yet been implemented so I am now using gnucash for both personal and business accounting.

No longer used as I am no longer trading - and to be honest I have found that GnuCash suits me better.

Smallwall

Smallwall is a complete, embedded firewall software package that, when used together with an embedded PC, provides all the important features of commercial firewall boxes (including ease of use) at a fraction of the price (free software).

Smallwall is based on the now discontinued m0n0wall code and in most cases is a drop-in replacement.

Ghini

Ghini is an application for managing botanical specimen collections.
It turns out to be a great application for cataloguing home, garden or greenhouse plant collections as well.

It started life quite some years ago as bauble and, as you will read in those pages, it is rather a specialist application designed originally for a botanical garden to be used by botanists and taxonomists cataloguing their diverse collections - a biodiversity collection manager.

I came across it quite by chance when I was looking for an application to catalogue my small collection of cacti and succulents.
It has turned out to be very useful and using a ready made application is much easier than creating a database and front-end from scratch as I thought I might have to attempt!

It's a lot more than required by most of us with a small collection of plants, however, it does the job very well.
I believe it could be a very useful tool for many gardeners and collectors and I am really surprised it has remained so well hidden for so long.

There isn't much around in the way of documentation and it took me a while to get started so I will run very briefly through my first steps.
There are a few youtube video tutorials featuring bauble, this is the first and maybe the others will be linked from that page.

Install as suggested in the Ghini docs (linux, Windows or Mac), distro versions, if available, may be old and out of date.

As you start you need to set up your database, just choose a name eg. myPlants and choose SQLite. You can try others later. (I have found SQLite to be a good choice here. It is easy to back up and very simple to transfer to a more portable device, in my case a Raspberry Pi.)

My first attempt was to try to add a Family and Genus but many/most of those are already included within ghini so start from Insert -> Species, enter species name, start typing Genus and a list of suggestions will appear for you to choose from.
The completed entry can now be checked against The Plant List using the green button if you wish.

Plants in my collection will have come from somewhere, a nursery, garden centre, shop or perhaps another collector.
For this information I use Accession. Note that a different source or date of acquisition will require a new and separate Accession.
(When first setting up my database I changed the first part of the Accession ID to reflect the year of acquisition for my older plants).

Each specimen is then added using Insert -> Plant or Add Plant under its relevant Accession.
Note that each Plant is automatically given a Unique ID as it is added, a very useful feature and ideal for barcoded labels.

That's all there is to it really.
There are many places where you can add relevant and useful data as well as Notes and Pictures of Plants.

It is possible to produce reports too but the included examples are rather simple though useful as a basis for creating your own.
I have modified one to produce output that can easily be manipulated in an editor, once extracted as text from PDF, to produce a csv file, useful for printing labels with glabels etc. - including a barcode.

Jul 12 21:10:46	kernel: [942015.780200] eth0: link down
Jul 13 05:23:48	kernel: [971597.853815] eth0: link down
Jul 13 18:52:47	kernel: [1020136.270393] eth0: link down
Jul 16 06:34:49	kernel: [1235058.703113] eth0: link down
Jul 17 20:17:48	kernel: [1370837.491100] eth0: link down
Jul 21 19:17:04	kernel: [1712793.313726] eth0: link down
Jul 21 20:39:12	kernel: [1717721.712052] eth0: link down
Jul 22 02:01:05	kernel: [1737034.136451] eth0: link down
Jul 22 05:32:56	kernel: [1749745.085995] eth0: link down
Jul 23 02:52:19	kernel: [1826508.535936] eth0: link down
Jul 23 06:46:14	kernel: [1840543.510917] eth0: link down
Jul 23 22:25:48	kernel: [1896917.415049] eth0: link down
Jul 24 06:12:00	kernel: [1924889.131369] eth0: link down

Aug 19 17:11:53	m0n0wall mpd: [L1] LCP: no reply to 1 echo request(s)
Aug 23 10:57:56	m0n0wall mpd: [L1] LCP: no reply to 1 echo request(s)
Aug 28 09:25:04	m0n0wall mpd: [L1] LCP: no reply to 1 echo request(s)
Sep 8 14:44:49	m0n0wall mpd: [L1] LCP: no reply to 1 echo request(s)