Raspberry Pi with Stretch – Static IP, Video Streaming, and Scheduling a Program.

Posted by on August 27, 2017
Posted in: Music.

Raspberry Pi with Stretch – Static IP, Video Streaming, and CRONTAB Scheduling programs to start and stop

If you hit this page you probably already learned there is a tremendous amount of misinformation and overly complicated comments out there about using the Raspberry Pi.

I wanted to do a fairly simple thing: stream an IP surveillance camera to my 65” television. Well, I may as well have wanted to travel to Mars. Every single piece of information I Googled was either flat wrong or didn’t work. Part of this problem is that the Debian Linux for PI has changed twice in the past two years and is completely different from earlier versions. Another issue is that so called ‘gurus’ always like to leave out parts of the commands and codes that are critical – either thinking you already know them or just to be funny. So here is my step by step procedure based on the latest version of Raspbian Stretch.

SETTING A STATIC IP

First I needed to set a wired static IP address for my Pi so I could find it on my network and hard code that IP into another program. Don’t believe anything you’ve read because it doesn’t work. The only way I’ve been able to set a permanent static IP is the following:

On the console terminal or SSH window – type ifconfig

You’ll get back a lot of info but the important one is the number at the top starting with enx

enxb827eb40e363

Next type in:   sudo nano dhcpcd.conf

Using the DOWN arrow key move the cursor all the way past the last line and type in the following:

interface enxb827eb40e363 (this is the number you got on the first step)

static ip_address=192.168.0.75/24 (this is the IP address you want to be static – the /24 is critical)

static routers=192.168.0.1

static domain_name_servers=192.168.0.1 (if your router is doing the DNS, other wise whatever DNS server you want.)

Type CNTL X, then Y, then RETURN (ENTER)

Type sudo reboot and the PI will reboot. When it starts it should have the IP address you specified above.

STREAMING VIDEO

Now we want to stream the video from the camera. I’m using an Axis camera so all the info is based on that. If you are using a different one get the RTSP stream parameters for that camera. We will use omxplayer to do the streaming.

At the terminal, console, or SSH type:

omxplayer –avdict rtsp_transport:tcp rtsp://your username:yourpassword@192.168.0.101:554/axis-media/media.amp

This command assumes the camera is at 192.168.0.101. Substitue your camera’s IP. This command also forces the omxplayer to use TCP instead of UDP. TCP is the only format that works. UPD (the default) will result in a pixelated video display. Your camera should now be displayed on your television (assuming you have the HDMI output of the PI connected to it.

To stop the program, type ESCAPE or Q.

SCHEDULING A PROGRAM TO START AND STOP

Next I wanted to schedule the video display when I was in front of my television – ON at 5pm off at 10pm. Again, after weeks of trying and failing and getting wrong information, here is my method that works:

At the terminal console or SSH, type:

crontab –e

Using the DOWN ARROW key, move the cursor to past the last line and type:

00 17 * * * usr/bin/omxplayer –avdict rtsp_transport:tcp rtsp://admin:1449brad@192.168.0.101:554/axis-media/media.amp

00 22 * * * pkill omxplayer

Press  DOWN ARROW key once (crontab must have a newline at the end of the file)

Type CNTL X, then Y, then RETURN (ENTER)

The number 17 is 5pm in military or 24 hour time format. The 22 is 10pm. The asterisks mean every day, every month, every year.

Because the crazy Raspbian won’t tell you out of the box if something is going wrong with your crontab jobs, it’s a good idea to install an email server because that’s where the error messages will go. I didn’t want to go to all that trouble, but I did learn an easier way to get the info.

Type sudo apt-get install postfix

When the configuration menu comes up, select LOCAL ONLY at the bottom. This avoids all the tedious email setup and sends email to your local Pi account. When you log on the Pi will tell you if you have new mail. You can read the mail by typing:  cat  /var/mail/pi

One important final note: if you want to run a program other than omxplayer then use this command to find the exact path and edit the above lines accordingly-

Which (command or program). For example which date

Will give you /bin/date and that is what should be put in the crontab file.

By the way an UP ARROW will repeat the last line you typed in terminal.

Don’t ask me why these specific commands work and all the others around don’t – I don’t know. This was all trial and error. The code above works for me and is in use every day without a hitch.

My Books

Posted by on June 5, 2017
Posted in: Books.

So, what are my books about?

They are in essence about strong women and the men who love them. The men usually get the short end of the stick, as quite often in real life. My books are about unrequited love, but none are romances in the traditional sense of the word. ‘Sacrifice‘ plays a huge role in my books. My male characters are good men, trying to do what’s best and what’s right but often run counter to what is considered ethical or moral except in their own minds. My books are thrillers and filled with life experiences. In fact my books are very factual and I strive for realism in all aspects. My books are full of unintended consequences. Oh, and they also have a lot of sex.

Bridge – this is the first book about Wolinski, a vigilante cop who will do anything to stop criminals. He has no morals except his own. Wolinski is faced with a hostile neighboring state across the bridge while hunting a serial killer, facing down the Mob, and dodging the FBI.

Golden Triangle – the second Wolinski book where our hero meets three different women who shape his life and nearly change it completely. But, as usual, it is not to be.

Bloodsucking Vampires – strays from my norm in that here the main character is a female who rides herd over a group of attractive frat boy detectives. It is humorous and horrifying.

ALoner – is about a man who hates people. When everyone around him dies he couldn’t be happier. He builds a life for himself of utter loneliness. His only real interest is finding out what happened to all the people on earth. – and then some survivors show up.

Afterlife – is about a world of limited resources and people going hungry. Religions rule in this near future. The world government is braced for catastrophe if one crop yield is too low. They are desperate to relieve the situation and when someone comes up with a unique solution they go all in. This book is full of symbolism and what I think are creative ideas. But as usual, no one wins.

FLIT – is due to be published in March 2018. It is a fake history story of teleportation as told from the future. Teleportation sounds great, but what would such an invention do to society? Find out.

Clones Don’t Fall in Love – would identical clones make great lovers for each other? Yeah, we think so.  This is told in the context of two worlds where clones were used as slaves and escape to form their own perfect society while humans inhabit the other planet. One day they are forced to work together again as equals.

Perceiver – also published originally under the title ‘View’ this is a story of ‘Remote Viewing and a strange young girl who has a talent for it. She works for the government now and meets an interesting young man… Well, you know it’s not going to end well.

Probe – coming soon. Aliens are sending probes to study humans. These are beautiful women, artificial women. The aliens do not have emotions and the probes must learn about these uniquely human traits in preparation for further exploration. One of the probes meets a young man who forces her to question her objectives. Will this one end well? Wait and see.

Goddess of Grass – few people know the real story of Cortez and how he conquered Mexico, and many of those who do view him as a ruthless Conquistador. Did you know he relied on a young teenage slave girl to help him conquer the mighty Aztecs? La Malinche is probably the least known and yet strongest and most misunderstood heroine in all of history. I try to set the record straight.

 

Programming a 2013-up Ford Remote Keyless Entry

Posted by on April 30, 2017
Posted in: Music.

We bought a couple of these remotes for our 2013 Ford Taurus. They came with programming instructions but after many frustrating attempts nthe procedure provided didn’t work. Apparently Ford changed the programming procedure in 2013 through at least 2016.

Here is the correct step by step guide:

  1. With NO key in the ignition, open the driver’s door and leave it open.
  2. Press the UNLOCK button on the driver’s door.
  3. Insert your key and turn it from OFF to ON EIGHT times very quickly, on the 8th time leave it in ON
  4. You should here the door locks cycle lock and unlocked. This is critical. If you don’t hear the locks you are not in program mode.
  5. Once you hear the locks cycle press any key on each remote you want to program (including your original one).
  6. Turn the key off.
  7. Test all the remotes you just programmed and they should all work.
  8. Steps 1 & 2 are missing from most instructions provided with the remotes or available on line so pay close attention to that.