Pathfinder Tech

3September2012

Install cygwin sshd on Windows

Posted by pathfinder under: General.

Here is a quick tutorial to install cygwin on your windows computer to make your windows computer an SSH and SFTP SERVER.   A couple of house cleaning things before we get started.

• Note:  If you are looking for a SSH client then download putty.exe as it make s a great SSH client.
• This tutorial only applies to Cygwin 1.7, installer version 2.774
• I have only installed this twice so I am by far no expert.  If I missed a step you will have to figure it out yourself.

Now lets get started.

1. First thing you need to do is download the cygwin setup.exe  from here Cygwin.com.
2. After downloading, run the setup.exe.  Click Next and choose Install from Internet.
3. Leave the install directly as c:\cygwin  (unless you have some specific reason to change it.   if you do decide to change, you will be on your own).
4. Click next and chose a Local Package directly.  In my case I made it my downloads folder “C:\Users\xxxxx\Downloads”
5. Click next and leave the default option: Direct Connection.
6. Now you will need to choose a download mirror.    Go to http://cygwin.com/mirrors.html and find the download location closest to where you live.  Find it in the list and select next.
7. After a moment you will get a list of packages to install.
   1. In the Search box type “ssh”
   2. Expand NET
   3. Click on the “skip”  for the openssh:”The OpenSSH server and client programs”

   

8. Click Next
9. You will get a screen to automatically Resolve dependencies.  Make sure the RECOMMENED option is selected and Click Next.
   
10.   The install may take a few minutes to download the necessary packates.   (they will be save to the location you selected in step 4)
11. After the packages are downloaded and installed,  you will get an option if you want to create shortcuts.   I chose to let the install create the shortcuts and clicked finish.
12. After installation is finished, open the cygwin terminal as Administrator by righ clicking on the shortcut   and choose Run as Administrator.
13. In the cygwin terminal type in ssh-host-config
14. At the first option “Should privelage separation be used? (yes/no)”  type “yes”  (this is the default option)
15. “new local account ‘sshd’? (yes/no)  type “yes”
16. “Do you want to install sshd as a service?”  Type “yes”
17. Next you’ll be asked to “Enter the value of CYGWIN for the daemon: []“  Type “ntsec”
18. Cygwin will now need to create a user for the service.  The default is ‘cyg_server’.  To use the default Type “no”.
19. You will be prompted for a password (twice) to assign to this account.  Enter a password.
20. You have completed the install.   Type “net start sshd” to start the server.
21. Now you will need to create the user keys.
22. Exit cygwin by typing in “exit”
23. Re-open cygwin-terminal as a normal user by clicking on the cygwin-terminal shortcut.  (This will be the user that you will log into ssh terminal with)
24. In the Terminal type “ssh-user-config”
25. At the prompt “Shall I create a SSH2 RSA identity file for you? (yes/no)”  Type “yes”
26. enter a passphrase.  it can be anything you want.
27. At the prompt “Do you want to use this identity to login to this machine (yes/no) Type “yes”
28. Next, you’ll be asked to create an SSH2 DSA identiy file, if you want to use password-less access. I declined at this step so I typed “no”
29. Next you’ll be asked to create an SSH2 ECDSA identity file.  Again I declined and so I typed “no”
30. Last you’ll be asked to create a (depricated) SSH1 RSA identity file.  I declined this step so I typed “no”
31. You have now completed setting up your user.
32. The final step is to add the program C:\cygwin\usr\sbin\sshd.exe to your firewall rules.
    1. Windows Control Panel -> System and Security -> Windows Firewall -> Allow a program through Windows Firewall
    2. Click Change settings
    3. Towards the bottom of the screen click “allow another program…”
    4. Browse to C:\cygwin\usr\sbin\sshd.exe
33. Also, I needed to set my password before I could log in with putty from a remote computer, so at the cygwin prompt I typed in “passwd” to set my password.  (Note: this will change your windows login password also).

You will now have putty and sftp access to your computer.

25July2012

Joomla 1.5 and link rel canonical seo

Posted by pathfinder under: General.

I have several sites running on Joomla! but I have been suffering with the my search engine optimization ever since google released Panda.  I think the primary reason was due to duplicate content.    After researching on the issue I really could not find a  good solution that met my specific need.

What I wanted, was if I had several menus that pointed to the same article generate a <link rel=”canonical” href=”"> meta tag. 

Below is the code that I came up with to generate a meta tag on every page.   I will attached a text file with the code to the post also and you can download the joomla_code here.   Simply copy this code and put it in between the <HEAD></HEAD> tags if your /template/[TEMPLATE_NAME]/index.php file.

To see this code in action visit my Pest Control Site at www.callprobest.com and view the source and you will see that every page has the new meta tag.

<?php
$db =& JFactory::getDBO();
$menu = &JSite::getMenu();
$active = $menu->getActive()->id;
$query = "
SELECT m2.".$db->nameQuote('alias')."
FROM ".$db->nameQuote('#__menu')." m1
JOIN ".$db->nameQuote('#__menu')." m2
ON m1.".$db->nameQuote('link')." = m2.".$db->nameQuote('link')."
WHERE m1.".$db->nameQuote('id')." = ".$db->quote($active)."
AND m2.".$db->nameQuote('published')." = ".$db->quote('1')."
ORDER BY m2.".$db->nameQuote('ordering')."
LIMIT 1;
";
$db->setQuery($query);
$relLink = $db->loadResult();
printf("<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"%s/%s\" />\n",JURI::base(),$relLink);
?>


23July2012

Android 4.04 (ICS) version is now available for the AirPad 7P

Posted by pathfinder under: Android.

The Android 4.04 version is now available for the AirPad.  Here is a page with a list of links

http://www.virtual-productions.nl/default.asp?page=21

The direct link to the firmware is http://www.virtual-productions.nl/default.asp?page=21

Also you will need to download LiveSuite 1.07 http://www.mediafire.com/?7yh4iaorj01n3d7

Before you start, I will warn you that the default language is in Chinese after installing the firmware.  So you will need to navigate blindly (unless you know chinese) through the menus to the language to select English.  Fortunately the English Option is in English.

The version

1. The tablet should be off and not connected to the computer, however it should be plugged into power

2.Extract the firmware so you can see the image named “97F3-H1-H1-H01-2355.20120711.img”

3.Run LiveSuitPack 1.07

4. After running the exe go to the folder and run the application (LiveSuit.exe approx. 2mb)

5.Click Yes to the message

6.Click “General” for the format mode, and then click Yes.

7.Browse to the folder where the image 97F3-H1-H1-H01-2355.20120711.img  Prepare the Momo9

8 Power the Airpad 7p completely off.

9. Hold down the back button pressed and plug it in via USB, and wait about 3 seconds.

10. Keep pressing the back button and also press the power button time for 10 times (this is an art and a science and will take several tries don’t expect to get it the first time)

11.After several presses on the power button there will be a sound as Windows recognises new USB hardware

12.Windows 7 will install drivers automatically, in Windows XP you need to point windows to the directory where you extracted software (also make sure you do not have usb check marked in setup).

13.When all the drivers are installed, the firmware will start to install automatically.  If it doesn’t start automatically, unplug and try again.

14.Finishing the Installation

15. There will be no sign of loading on the Momo9, don’t worry.

16.On the PC, LiveSuit shows a bar graph showing the status. It takes about 2 mins to load the firmware

17. After the yellow bar on Livesuite is completed action (about 2 mins) nothing happens, as the Airpad will power itself off.

18. You will see an exclamation mark with no text. Click OK.

19. Then wait a few seconds. Unplug the momo9 from the USB. You will see a green battery symbol.

20. Restart the tablet manually (as normal using the on/off button).  It will take several minutes to boot up for the first time

21.  After this, you will be given two options, click start using android wizard (or something similar).

After loading you will need to change the language to English as it will be in Chinese (yikes).  Don’t freak out yet, however to do this

1. Go the the programs menu by clicking on te 6 small squares n the top right corner.

2. Go to settings app. (it is the last icon on of the second row on the second screen.

3. Scroll down till you see the icon with the “A” on it (which is Language and Input).

4. Click on the very top option and you will see a list of languages.  Scroll down to English (United States).

5. Everything should be included (Market, Navigation, Maps etc) Enjoy it!

TOTAL TIME  25 minutes.

15July2012

Disable windows 7 dnla streaming

Posted by pathfinder under: General.

I have started using the Samsung AllShare windows application on my Windows 7 computer to share/stream my digital content to to my dnla capabable Samsung TV.

So far it seems to work really well and I am having much better luck with streaming different formats to the tv.  However now my desktop computer shows up twice on my TV and it is confusing not only to me but to my family.  I disabled the sharing in windows but that only added to the confusion because the computer name is still displayed but when selected an error displays.

After digging around through windows media player and the services menu, I found a better solution.

1. Open the services menu (Start Menu, in the service box type in services and hit enter.)
2. Scroll down to Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service and double click.
3. Change the Startup Type to Disabled
4. Click the Stop button
5. Click OK to apply your changes

Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service Properties Window

26June2012

Changing your phone number on your Eaton Home Heartbeat console

Posted by pathfinder under: General.

I was playing around with my base station and came across the serial command ‘n’.

If you log into your base station via console mode and type in ‘n’ followed by the new number you want the device to dial and then hit enter folowed by ‘a’ debug mode you will see your device has updated the outbound phone number

25June2012

Home Media Server Part 1 (the requirements)

Posted by pathfinder under: General.

Its time to update the living room and bring it into the digital age.   This really is a big under taking because over the past 25 years I have amassed a large collection of VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray movies that I just am not ready to part with.  One could argue that “owning” media is a concept of the past, but I still like the idea of having physical control of my content and not rely on a content subscription with my satellite/cable company or some other online streaming service.

The first step to upgrading my living room experience was to come up with a list of requirements

• Use inexpensive hardware (less than a few hundred bucks)
• Media accessable in all rooms that have a tv
• Compatible with Samsung devices (all of tvs, dvd player, home theatre system, blu-ray are made by Samsung)
• Backup/Play my content I already own (VHS tapes, DVD, blu-ray)
• low power consumption and/or only consumes power only when in use
• remote power on/reboot
• Intuitive and easy to use for family members

There are the requirements.  In the next post I will discuss what hardware/software combination I chose to meet my requirements.

21May2012

Microsoft HomeOS

Posted by pathfinder under: General.

The lightswitch has been around for 100 years and it still is basically the same technology then as it is now.  Over the last century and more so in the last few decades we have seen companies and technologies come and go.  Many companies like Radio Shack and IBM dabbled with X10 switches in the 90′s.    Today we are starting to see a re-emergence and reinvestment in home automation by some big name companies.

Microsoft introduced the Xbox 10 years ago and the Windows Home Server about 5 years ago.  With their latest announcment it looks they will continue to play in the consumer electronics market with HomeOS.  It looks like they already support a wide range of electronics such as cameras, televisions, and z-wave devices.

I will post more details as I dig into the product myself, but they do offer an SDK for developers to start writing apps and adding functionality.

More information from microsoft and home automation can be found on their research site

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/homeos/

28March2012

Airpad Android 4.0.3 download links

Posted by pathfinder under: Android.

I have been getting a lot of requests for additional download links.

Here is a site that has all of them available.

http://www.virtual-productions.nl/default.asp?page=21

Here is a direct download link on to the 4.0.3 firmware

http://www.mediafire.com/?bx9yylmsycatu

3March2012

Unboxing Eaton Home Heartbeat Home Awareness

Posted by pathfinder under: Home Awareness.

My Eaton Home Awareness kit just arrived.  I got quite an assortment of parts for less than $50 to start playing with and hacking.    What I got is the starter kit which includes the base stations, one home key, and one door/window sensor.  Also a second home key and door/window sensor, a range extender, and the garage door sensor.

I am very impressed with the garage door sensor, and had one of those “why didn’t I think of that” moments.   I have been struggling to come up with a good clean design to detecting if the garage door is opened or closed.  All of my designs involved some type of contact switch, which I tried placing in various location and required a lot of tweaking and constant adjusments.  The solution the home awareness kit uses is very clever.  It employs a “tilt switch” that you just stick to the garage door.  If the tilt switch is vertical the garage door is closed and if the tilt swich is horizontal the garage door is open.

At this point all that I have done with the kit was simply plug it in and charge the home key, but I will post more information as I start working with the base station.

Steve has gone much more in-depth in his review and technical exploring which you can read over at his blog http://buzzdavidson.com/?p=261.

Let me know what you have discovered with this device and how you currently use it.

28February2012

x10 Airpad vs Ployer Momo9 vs Skypad Alpha2 vs Benss B7

Posted by pathfinder under: General.

I have found another clone. That makes 4 tablets that are almost identical clones sold under different brands and names and different price points.