Category: Programming

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module is Now Supported in Arduino IDE

ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module is Now Supported in Arduino IDE

ESP8266 revolutionized the IoT world by offering an ultra low cost Wi-Fi solution either standalone or connected to a micro-controller board via SPI or UART. There are plenty of tutorials on the web to play with the Wi-Fi module, but it’s only recently an Arduino IDE has added support for ESP8266. If you want to try it, you can download the binary for Linux, Windows, or Mac OS X. Since my computer is running Ubuntu 14.04, I download and extracted arduino-1.6.1-linux64.tar.xz to install it in my PC. Now simply run the arduino script to start the IDE, and select to Tools->Board->Generic ESP8266 board. I don’t own an ESP8266 module myself, but Olimex tried it on their ESP8266-EVB: They connected a serial debug board and selected Tools->Port->/dev/ttyUSB0 in the IDE Selected Tools-> Programmer->esptool Loaded Blink example, and modified it to turn on and off the relay on their evaluation board. If […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on WordPress Mobile Caching with Zencache PRO Cache Plugin

WordPress Mobile Caching with Zencache PRO Cache Plugin

This post has nothing to do with embedded systems, but I’ll document some of the changes I made to the website in the last few days for better mobile support. Recently Google sent me a message recommending to “Fix mobile usability issues found on http://www.cnx-software.com” via Webmaster Tools, and a user recently complained about readability from his smartphone.  So I had to fix this issue. This involves WordPress cache plugins and WPtouch Mobile Plugin, the latter automatically generates a mobile version of the website as shown on the right in the screenshot above. In theory, it’s very easy, you simply install WPtouch Mobile plugin, and mobile user agents get served the mobile page while other get the desktop version. But when you mix it with a cache plugin, it can become more complicated, and desktop user may be served mobile pages, and mobile user may get desktop pages. The easiest […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments on Allwinner CedarX Media Codec Library GPL/LGPL Compliance Update

Allwinner CedarX Media Codec Library GPL/LGPL Compliance Update

Last month, I wrote about potential open source licenses and VP6 copyright infringement by Allwinner with their CedarX media codec library, and then since there’s been a few developments. First, Allwinner sent me an email saying they’ve now updated Cedarx library and referring my previous article. Here’s an extract: Here, I have some update of the Allwinner’s open-source status. We have done a lot of discussion with the developers from the linux-sunxi communication about the software license of CedarX. For each question or requirement asked by the developers, Allwinner has identify and try to give the best solution. Now, we believe Allwinner’s CedarX license is fully compliant and resolves concerns from the community. And you can take the announcement https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg10597.html as a reference. Allwinner is always supporting the open-source, and try to do better and better. You can see some update on the github https://github.com/allwinner-zh, and some feedback from developers: […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Google Summer of Code 2015 is Now Open for Student Applications

Google Summer of Code 2015 is Now Open for Student Applications

Google has now announced that students applications for Google Summer of Code (GSoC) are now open. Students can get paid up to $5,500 to work on various open source projects selected for the event. Fewer companies have been accepted this year, and even big names like the Linux Foundation and Mozilla got their application rejected. There are still over 137 open source projects to work on including: MinnowBoard  project – Potential software projects for the Intel Atom embedded board include making low speed I/O buses more accessible via intermediate open source libraries (e.g. SMBus/PMBus/Wiring libraries), and improving the open source firmware. lowRISC SoC project – Potential projects: Schematic Viewer for Netlists (SVG/JavaScript), open source FPGA compilation flow using Yosys, accessing the OpenCores ecosystem, etc… BeagleBoard.org – Lots of project ideas relying on the BeagleBone Black board, dealing with Linux kernel support for embedded devices and interfaces, ARM processor support in […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Embedded Systems Conference 2015 Schedule – May 6-7, 2015

Embedded Systems Conference 2015 Schedule – May 6-7, 2015

The Embedded Systems Conference took the name “Design West” for a couple of years, but this year, there’s no mention of Design West, and the Embedded System Conference 2015 will take place in Boston, MA, US on May 6-7, 2015. The 2-day event will have a demo hall, and well as sessions divided into 8 tracks: Connected Devices and the IoT Embedded Software Design Hardware: Design, I/O and Interfacing Prototyping Embedded Systems Design Software: Design, Languages, & Quality Fantastical Theater Teardowns The full schedule has now been posted, and I’ll build a virtual schedule with some of the sessions provided. Wednesday May 6, 2015 8:00 – 8:45 – Understanding Google/Nest Thread by Michael Anderson, Chief Scientist, The PTR Group, Inc. The IoT will live or die based on its connectivity. In examining existing wireless protocols, Google/Nest found most of them lacking. In order to address the needs for low-power wireless […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on Android 4.4 Source Code Released for ODROID-C1 Board

Android 4.4 Source Code Released for ODROID-C1 Board

ODROID-C1 development board was launched on December 10, 2014, and a few days later U-boot and Linux source code was released for this low cost Amlogic S805 board, but Android was only due later due to licensing issues. I’ve just noticed Hardkernel uploaded Android 4.4 source code to github at the end of February. The build instructions are provided on ODROID-C1 wiki, and there are quite straightforward. You’ll need to type four command lines to get the code in a working directory:

and three more to build an Android image:

All relevant binary files (system, userdata, bootloader, kernel…) will be located in out/target/product/odroidc/ directory, and can be flash to your board via fastboot. Alternatvely, you can create an Android SD card image (out/target/product/odroidc/selfinstall-odroidc.bin) with:

That means developers will be able to easily customize source code for ODROID-C1 board, but they should also be able use this base […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on FOSDEM 2015 Schedule – January 31 – February 1 2015

FOSDEM 2015 Schedule – January 31 – February 1 2015

FOSDEM (Free and Open Source Software Developers’ European Meeting) takes place every year during the first week-end of February. This year the developer-oriented event expects to bring over 5000 geeks to share ideas and collaborate on open source projects. Contrary to most other events, it’s free to attend, and you don’t even need to register, just show up. FOSDEM 2015 will take place on January 31- February 1 in Brussels. There will be 551 sessions divided into 5 keynotes, 40 lightning talks, 6 certification exams, and with the bulk being developer rooms and main tracks,  divided into 7 main tracks this year: Languages, Performance, Time, Typesetting, Hardware, Security and Miscellaneous. I’m not going to attend, but it’s still interested to see what will be talked about, and I’ve concocted my own little virtual program out of the main tracks and developers’ rooms. There’s a few minutes overlap between some talks […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Linaro Connect Hong Kong 2015 Schedule and Demos

Linaro Connect Hong Kong 2015 Schedule and Demos

Linaro Connect Hong Kong 2015 will take place on February 9 – 13,2015 in Hong Kong, and the organization has released the schedule for the five days events with keynotes, sessions, and demos. Each day will start with the keynote including speakers such as: George Grey, Linaro CEO, who will welcome attendees to Linaro Connect, and provide an update on the latest Linaro developments Jon Masters, Chief ARM Architect, Redhat, who will present Red Hat update and latest ARMv8-A demonstrations Dejan Milojicic, Senior Researcher & Manager, HP Labs Bob Monkman, Enterprise Segment Marketing Manager, ARM, will discuss about  the impact of ARM in next generation cloud and communication network infrastructure Greg Kroah-Hartman, Linux Foundation Fellow, will introduce the Greybus Project (Linux for Project Ara modular phones) Warren Rehman,  Android Partner Engineering Manager, Google The agenda also features sessions covering Android, ARMv8-A, Automation & Validation, Digital Home, Enterprise Servers, LAVA, Linux […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC