Edimax IC-1000 Internet Camera

I bought this reasonably priced IP camera for €79 but when I got it home there were a few problems. First of all the Web front end doesn’t work with Firefox. I haven’t figured this out yet so I had to set the camera (resolution, IP address etc.) up with Internet Explorer (or the supplied Windows software). I had imagined that I would be able to go to the IP address and port and see pictures and/or video stream but its not so simple. Fortunately I found the script edicam2.tcl which enables linux users to use the IC-1000. Download it from http://gem.win.co.nz/mb/misc/edicam and make sure that you have tclsh installed

Now put the following script in your startup file
#!/bin/sh
tclsh8.4 edicam2.tcl -host 192.168..0.11 -port 4321 -serverport 1234&


Where
-host is where you put your edicam’s ip
-port is where you put your edicam’s listening port for the stream
-serverport is the port you want the webserver to listen on.

Now go to http://serverhost:serverport and you should see a static image.

That’s it.

Nautilus Scripts

You can add often used scripts to Nautilus so that by right clicking on a file and moving to the menu item Scripts you can select the desired script. Just drop the scripts into ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts. For example, I have scripts to open a file or directory as root, to open an ISO and a script to alter photo sizes here.

HTML variables in javascript and embedding HTML in javascript

I’m messing about with my homepage and tarting it up with a bit of javascript, which is new to me. I found it pretty easy but two things were difficult and took a huge amount of googling to get right.

First, I wanted to open a new window with a jpg in it but I wanted the window to be sized according to the size of the jpg. I couldn’t figure how to pass the height and width variables to the javascript function. I finally did it by wrapping the variable with +’s like this ‘+variable+’. Here is the javascript function code -

function pop(url, high, wide) {
newwindow=window.open(url,'','height='+high+',width='+wide+'');
}

Secondly, and I guess most of you know this, but you can embed HTML commands into javascript by typing them into a string like this -

var browserName = navigator.appName
if (browserName=="Microsoft Internet Explorer") {
document.write("You are still using Microsoft Explorer, you should upgrade to Firefox as soon as possible. Follow this link" + '<a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html" target="blank"><img alt="Firefox" src="Firefox.png"></a>')
}
else {
document.write("I can see that you are an experienced surfer because you are not using Microsoft Explorer" + '<a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html" target="blank"><img alt="NoIE" src="NoIE.jpg"></a>')
}

That’s all for now.

Windows XP, HP PSC1315 and Netgear PS121

I am not an XP user but Barbara does use it on her laptop. I had a difficult time setting the remote printing up and so I am making this post to clarify the setup so I do not forget it next time I need to do it. However I do not intend to start Windows posts here, except for this one post this will remain a Linux (Ubuntu) Blog.

1.Instal the PSC1310 drivers using the HP CD. The PSC1310 must be connected via USB for the drivers to be successfully installed.
2.Now go to the Start menu of Windows XP, then select “Printers and Faxes.” This will open the Printers and Faxes window. In the Printer Tasks menu, click the “Add a printer” icon to start the Add Printer Wizard. Click “Next” at the Add Printer Wizard welcome screen.
3.The next window of the Add Printer Wizard will ask if the printer is connected to the local computer or to a Network Printer Server. Select “Local Printer”. De-select the box next to “Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play Printer.” Click Next.
4.The next window asks for a printer port to be selected. In order to access the printer over Ethernet using TCP/IP, a new TCP/IP port must be created. Click the radio button next to “Create a new port,” and select “Standard TCP/IP Port” from the pull-down menu.Click Next.
5.This will open the Windows TCP/IP Printer Port Wizard. Make sure the PC and printer are both properly connected to the Ethernet network and that the printer is powered on. Also, make sure your printserver has been assigned an IP address . Click Next.
6.This window asks for the Printer Name or IP Address for the printer. Fill in the printer server IP address in this field. A Port Name can also be assigned in this window, in order to more easily identify the port when the time comes to select the printer. A new name can be assigned, or the system will automatically fill in a default name. Click Next.
7.The next window will ask for additional port information. Under “Device Type,” click on the “Custom” radio box and click “Settings”.
8.This will bring up the Port Settings window. Select the radio button next to “LPR.” enter “LPR1″ as the Queue Name. Click on the checkbox next to “LPR Byte Counting Enabled.” to enable byte counting. Do not make any other entries or changes in this window. Click OK to return to the Additional Port Information window, then click Next to proceed.
9.The TCP/IP Printer Port Wizard is now finished and a. window will appear summarizing the settings that have been made for the new port. Click Finish.
10.The Add Printer Wizard will now open. A list of manufacturers and printer models will appear, pick any HP printer (we will change it later). Click finish .
11.An icon for the printer will appear in the Printers and Faxes window. Rightclick on the Printer icon and click on Properties. Click on the Settings tab and you will see a dropdown menu titled Driver. Click on the menu and select “hp psc 1310 series” Click Apply and then OK and your printer is ready to use!

Netgear Printserver PS121

I have a small printserver that I bought so that Barbara counld print from her M$ laptop via my Netgear WGR614 wireless router. Unfortunately the printserver is a bit temperamental and does not boot up with the rest of my equipment and so when I want to print something I have to pull the power cord out and put it back to get the server to work. This is a pain and so I tend to not use the thing, but then every now and then Barbara needs the printer and I have to configure the PS121 again. I always forget how to configure the damn thing so this time I’m writing it down!

1) Find out the IP address of the PS121. I did this by looking at the attached devices in the WGR614 wireless router.

2) Point your browser at the IP address of the PS121.

3) You can now change the IP address from DHCP to a fixed address such as 192.168.0.205, it is recommended to to use an address out of your DHCP range. You can also change the servername if you wish, the default servername is printed on the bottom of the PS121.

4) Now go to System, Admistration, Printing, and click on New Printer.

5) Step 1 of 3, select Printer Type Network Printer and UNIX Printer (LPD) from the drop down menu. Add the IP address you chose in step 3 into the box marked Host and input the servername you chose in step 3 into the box marked Queue.

6) Step 2 of 3, select HP and 1310 for the driver

7) Step 3 of 3, give the printer a name and press apply.

That’s it from the Linux side.

I had a hard time getting the Windows XP laptop to print via the PS121 so my next post will set out how I got that working.