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Hardware

MK802 – PC on a Stick (A10S)

MK802 and it’s many clones/variants have been around for a while, I’ve just received mine from eBay and started to play around with it. Like most it comes with Android 4.X.X pre-installed and a few applications, some also come stock with XBMC. The one I purchased was described as MK802, but then later was renamed as MP802 – not sure if it was a typo. It came with 1Ghz CPU, 400MHz GPU, 1GB RAM, 1xUSB, 1xOTG and HDMI (1080 resolution), with Android 4.0.4. The version of Android installed it pretty buggy – you-tube app fails constantly, flash doesn’t work well in browser, and all in all it’s pretty slow to navigate around. If it was an Android phone, it would be unbearable. First mod to try is getting a more fully featured OS installed –… Read More »MK802 – PC on a Stick (A10S)

Larger DPF with modded firmware

Purchased a new digital photo frame from eBay, found a matching hacked firmware, and now have a screen that’ll be used for network health, weather, rss feeds, torrent stats, etc.. The resolution is 240 x 320, and you can see in the picture below, if the layout is correctly done, you can fit a lot on it. Firmware: fw_linkdelight_black_portrait (modified) LinkDelight_orig (original) Cheers.

WR703N v1.7 Warning

I bought a few more TP-Link wr703N routers and proceeded to flash the firmware like I had done with previous ones…. Bricked one, but the other is fine. The models with version 1.7 firmware cant be flashed the same way as the older ones I have. It’s serial console or brick. I did solder the serial points on the first one, but couldn’t fine the hot glue gun to hold them, so when the cables moved it ripped the pads straight off, and no matter how well I scratched the tracks back I couldnt get the wires to solder to them well enough to de-brick it. So from now on it appears to be a better idea to hot glue your cables, then solder, then flash. This is the firmware I ended up using. Which… Read More »WR703N v1.7 Warning

Failed Y Axis Solidoodle 2 1

Solidoodle Failed Again

You may have read my rant at the bottom of this post regarding to cooked hot end resistor. Today I went to try a test print again after the Y axis kept getting stuck. Another parts fail, the front Y axis bearings where cracked and crumbling, then snapped all the way through. You can see from the pieces below that the infill has been set to about 20% on parts that requires constant tension and also holds a moving, vebrating part. A pretty obvious manufacturing mistake. The images below show the second right hand bearing holder failing as I tend to the left. It appears to be a 2 for 1 special (sarcasm implied). A quick run down the hardware store, and $25 of parts/tools later, I have ever lasting bearing holders. To be fair… Read More »Solidoodle Failed Again

HP T5510 Mobo in ATX Case

HP T5510 – Low Watt Backup Storage Server – FAILED!!

This is going to be a long’ish project because I haven’t gotten all the pieces just yet. Any way I have: Main laptop HDD and cable to connect to the motherboard. 4 HDD’s and PCI SATA RAID card for software raid. Motherboard, RAM, etc.. I’m still waiting on: PCI extension cable. 3.5 to 5.25 HDD mounting brackets. Correctly fitting backplate. What the idea came when comparing the size of the motherboard, backplate, and screw holes to an empty case, apparently the thinclient uses a micro-atx compliant motherboard size and mounting holes. So if I can make it fit into a standard size case, then I can have my backups running off that. The additional storage drives will be attached to a SATA PCI card which will plug into the PCI extension cable, then into the… Read More »HP T5510 – Low Watt Backup Storage Server – FAILED!!

Collectd temps

USB Temperatures Integrated with Motion Webcams

After some damn hot days 3-4 weeks back I wanted to know exactly how hot it was both inside our house and in the Mancave/shed. I found this webpage and bought way more 1-Wire  sensors than  needed. All up I bought 10 DS18S20’s, 9 ttl to USB convertors, 5 water proof probes (DS18S20’s  included) and 2 RS-323 serial probes (DS18S20’s  included). I have 2 low powered Open-WRT devices that now have sensors connected to them via USB to TTL convertors – a wireless router and a HP T5510, both have a squeezeslave client and a security webcam. Project Summary The program used to retrieve the temperatures from the sensors is Digitemp, the output is then piped to a file on the server via NFS share. From there it gets picked up by Collectd and graphed.… Read More »USB Temperatures Integrated with Motion Webcams

Lansing ACS48 Din Pinout

Altec Lansing ACS48 – Satelite Speaker Mod

I bought an Altec Lansing ACS48 a while ago but it came without the left satelite speaker. Although I didn’t need it because I only wanted it for it’s powered sub, which still sounds perfect. Because of the way the system was designed, the right satelite speaker has all the controls and it uses a micro-controller to power on – by holding the volume up and down at the same time. Also as stated the volume controls are push button and not done using a pot or variable resistor. So what I wanted to do is remove the need for the salelite speaker, but still have the option too add mid to high left and right speakers. I first looked around for the pin-outs for the DIN for the salelite speaker, couldn’t find them, but… Read More »Altec Lansing ACS48 – Satelite Speaker Mod

Rear of DWL-2100AP PCB with USB power cable

D-Link DWL-2100AP – USB Powered Mod

I obtained 5 D-Link DWL-2100AP ages ago and the power supplies have mostly all died. The requirements stated on the back are 5v 2amps. So I desoldered the power connector and replaced it with a cut off USB cable and tried it on a phone charger (5v 1amp) it booted and seemed to be OK. After that I tried my laptop USB charging port – again all seemed OK. Then I tried setting it up with my PC and plugging it into the back of a HP T5500 – All good and the wireless (I assume the most power draining component) was also working in client mode. So now I have it powered via the HP 5500 USB port and the ethernet connects the two for wireless communication with the rest of the network. Easy… Read More »D-Link DWL-2100AP – USB Powered Mod

Poormans UPS

Poor Mans UPS

During a bad storm a few weeks ago, we lost internet then power for a few hours. I’m not a fan of playing cards by candle light and the only UPS I have lasts for a few days then dies a terrible death screaming to be put down. Anyway, below is a picture of what I was able to scrounge up to recharge my phone and listen to music. Unfortunately I only remembered I had the car inverter the day after… Next time will be better 🙂 The big yellow device is a car jump start kit with 2x 12v cigarette lighter ports in the front. It also has a light, and compressor if needed. The silver device in front of that is the car inverter, but will only power low wattage devices off the… Read More »Poor Mans UPS

Wireless Serial Convertor

WR703N Project Box’s

I’ve been inserting the WR703N’s into cases to make them more durable and less ‘touchy-feely’. The Serial to Wireless convertor – used when configuring Cisco switches, you an configure and upgrade the IOS on using it. This has been great for large installs then having to setup 20+ switches. Benefits include being able to sit comfortably at a desk while setting it up, and it runs off a phone backup battery so it doesn’t need to be plugged into a power outlet or USB – general run time is  > 2-3hrs. The case/enclosure allows it to be hanging from a switch without caring a lot for it’s safety. It can take bumps and drops very well. The external connections are RS232, Ethernet, and the hole on the right is for a micro USB power cable.… Read More »WR703N Project Box’s