I'm using blogspot for content that I want to preserve publicly. This is about Andrzej Georgiew, a spectacular photographer that did amazing portraits. Check the links:
One of the very few articles that apart from saying that life is shit, actually tries to produce some suggestions on how to improve the situation and proposes other metrics to differentiate low and high IT R&D performers.
Ubuntu 19.04 now contains samba 4.10, that should support all the SMB/CIFS extensions needed by MacOS to use the samba shares as TimeMachine storage. Tested with MacOS 10.14.5.
So let's do some TimeMachine backups on Ubuntu 19.04!
Assumptions:
your Ubuntu is running on some PC, with some fixed IP,
you have your Mac connected to the same network.
First install Samba:
apt install samba
Let's get the old samba config out of the way
mv /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.confORG
Now create and edit /etc/samba/smb.conf (this is the same as in previous samba mac backups howto)
[global] server role = standalone server passdb backend = tdbsam obey pam restrictions = yes security = user printcap name = /dev/null load printers = no socket options = TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY SO_RCVBUF=524288 SO_SNDBUF=524288 server string = Samba Server %v dns proxy = no wide links = yes follow symlinks = yes unix extensions = no acl allow execute always = yes # Special configuration for Apple's Time Machine fruit:model = MacPro fruit:advertise_fullsync = true fruit:aapl = yes fruit:time machine = yes ## Definde your shares here [backup] path = /space/backups valid users = backups writable = yes durable handles = yes kernel oplocks = no kernel share modes = no posix locking = no vfs objects = catia fruit streams_xattr ea support = yes browseable = yes read only = No inherit acls = yes
Create and edit /etc/avahi/services/timemachine.service (this is the same as in previous samba mac backups howto)
Add the backup directory, backup user and set permissions on the directory. This also sets the password for SMB/CIFS access: useradd -m backups smbpasswd -a backups mkdir -p /space/backups chown backups /space/backups chmod 700 /space/backups
Now either reboot your Ubuntu or restart avahi and samba.
And there, the new backup destination should show up in all macs connected to the same network. REMEMBER KIDS, DO ENCRYPTED BACKUPS!
There are lot's of howtos out there how to get Linux servers to support TimeMachine networked backups for Mac clients. But lately they all stopped working due to latest Mac High Sierra updates. Apple moves away from Netatalk protocol and recommends using SMB. Unfortunately the latest Samba you will get on Ubuntu 18.04 is 4.7, and this does not support so called fruit extensions needed by Mac to have Time Machine writing it's data to the destinations. We need to get Samba 4.8 that was released not so long ago.
So let's start. I'm assuming you do not have any other samba installed. The backup folder will pop up as "backup on <your linux server name>" and you will be using user name backups with the password you'll set on the way. I strongly recommend to read the howto I've posted at the end. It allows for a multi user setup.
So I'm still using the Arduino racing pad since 2 years. I'm still racing in LFS, now in Assetto Corsa with it. I've complained about what's bad about it. And now I've solved another issue that I've had - the crappy joysticks. I've used FSR402 tensiometers for both accelerator and braking. This seems much more natural than using the lever sticks. And precise. Now I can drive powerful cars with no ABS and TC in Assetto Corsa :)
Why tensiometers?
When I've started thinking about that crappy joysticks, I've looked at what the game consoles are doing for the trigger buttons on the pads:
X360 pad uses a potentiometer with clever levers,
Playstation uses tensiometers,
X One uses Hall Effect sensors.
I wanted to buy the replacement parts for the X360 to check the levers, but the tensiometers are just cheaper. The Hall Effect sensors seem to be a very cool idea, but you really need to have an idea how to sort out the mechanics.
How does it look:
Bad. Ugly. But works.
I've placed the tensiometers along another edge of this beautiful lunch box. And now I can use both methods of controlling the speed of the car by just remapping controls. Frankly speaking - I haven't used the levers since I've got the tensiometers running.
This just works. I'm using this for gaming weekly or biweekly (you know, 3 kids) for the last 3-4 months.
Using tensiometers for game controlers has another potential application. People making pedals for racing always look for methods to measure travel for acceleration and pressure for braking - to simulate real car hydraulics. All not ridiculously expensive steering wheels on the market use potentiometers for all pedals. And with a very simple mechanism (1 swing, some foam) you can get a pressure measuring tensiometer based pedal - you'll need a bigger tensiometer thou.
Code:
The requirements for having this running are described in the part3 of this "journey".
#include "HID-Project.h"
const int pinLed = LED_BUILTIN;
const int pinButton = 2;
// this is for printing to COM - set to 1 to get printouts
I've posted these articles on the Arduino racing pad that I've built: part1, part2 and the video and problems. I've complained a bit on the fact that what I have done has only 8bits of information for the steering wheel. That should be enough for steering, but when driving straight in LFS, you could see that the steering wheel "jumps" between positions. 8bits of information is 256 possible positions of the wheel and when you get 270 degrees of rotation on a potentiometer, that is visible - you cannot turn the wheel by a half of a degree.
My third kid started sleeping better, so now I have bits of time here and there to play around with toys. After a beer or two I've said to my self "8bits steering improvement - how hard can it be?".
The ingredients
Back then, one year ago, you needed to copy the custom HID.cpp and USBAPI.h files into the Arduino IDE libraries to get the Joystick definition. Now you don't have to. Arduino 1.6.8 IDE allows for libraries to be added and guy named Nico prepared marvelous library called Arduino HID Project 2.4.3. This library contains Gamepad definition with 32 buttons, 2 dpads, 4 16bit axis and 2 8bit axis.
So I've used:
Arduino Leonardo with the tupperware racing pad I've build in the previous posts,
Arduino IDE 1.6.8,
Arduino HID Project 2.4.3,
moderate amount of alcohol.
The solution
The new Arduino HID project makes it very tidy and simple to set up the controler I needed. The code for the Arduino Sketch is given below. When someone will try to copy and play with that, be sure to check which axis has how many bits. X, Y, RX, RY are 16bits, Z and RZ are 8bits. The Arduino HID needs to be downloaded and copied into the libraries directory of your Arduino IDE installation. I'm sure there are other places you can put it in, but I guess I'm too lazy :)
The results
Now I've got all axis on 16 bits. Arduino Leonardo A/D has 10 bits resolution, so that is an overkill. The USB device is 64 times more precise than what Arduino can return, but it does not matter. I got what I needed on a very simple set of libraries. Now when I turn the wheel knob everything is super smooth.
Now the only thing keeping me from winning every LFS game is my set of mediocre virtual driving skills. Next improvement - some other mechanical potentiometers for the throttle and brakes.
The Code
#include "HID-Project.h"
const int pinLed = LED_BUILTIN; const int pinButton = 2;
float steer = (float)analogRead(0)/(steeringmax-steeringmin)*diff + min; float accel = ((float)analogRead(2)/(accelmax-accelmin))*diff + min; float brake = ((float)analogRead(1)/(brakemax-brakemin))*diff + min; // on second thought, I just could have multiplied one thing by 64 to get the result
int gearup = digitalRead(2); int geardown = digitalRead(3);
if ((accel <= 3) and (accel >= -3)) { accel=0; } if ((brake <= 3) and (brake >= -3)) { brake=0; }