Recent Posts

61

Blogs / Re: HP Victus - Bad Omen

« Last post by Dragon on November 08, 2023, 20:08:15 »

I have a laptop for work that charges via USB, which is handy because a powered docking station can be used to connect multiple monitors along with charging the HP Probook laptop without needing a separate power cord. That lead me to another discovery about my HP Victus - USB-C charging is NOT SUPPORTED. There's a little lightning bolt icon next to the USB-C port, and I was able to try it out with a powered docking station with USB-C, only to discover that it doesn't charge the laptop at all. Apparently the charging feature that it has is just to provide a little bit of charge to other small devices, such as a phone, even when the laptop is powered off. So... there's another thing to consider for this laptop and future purchases.

62

General Discussions / Re: 3D Printer Projects

« Last post by Dragon on November 05, 2023, 21:24:20 »

Since the wind-up car turned out so well... I was thinking this 5-speed gear box would be a neat one to put together.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6280779

63

General Discussions / Re: 3D Printer Projects

« Last post by Dragon on November 05, 2023, 15:03:19 »

The Raspberry Pi Case turned out nicely using the Clear Green and Gold filament, colors inspired by The Legend Of Zelda games. The logo piece didn't fit snuggly into the lid though, so I did need to glue it. Also, that piece isn't the same thickness as the top, so it will either be raised on the box, which is how I chose to do it, or it will take more space inside. I was concerned that the box wouldn't close tightly if I had it inside more because of how close the opening is to the network port.  The top and bottom fit tightly enough together though that I've gone without screws for now. It doesn't snap together, but it holds well just against the RPI itself.

64

Blogs / Re: Raspberry Pi and Python

« Last post by Dragon on November 01, 2023, 18:05:27 »

Looks like the Ralink firmware isn't the right thing for this hardware. Running a different command, lsusb, I see [Zydas ZD12118] at the end of the line for the Belkin Components, so I'm going to try installing the zd1211 firmware, which is actually the same one mentioned on page 56 in the book I got.

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get install firmware-zd1211

65

Blogs / Re: Raspberry Pi and Python

« Last post by Dragon on October 25, 2023, 22:49:50 »

I saw on the previously mentioned website that the drivers were available at http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/pool/non-free/f/firmware-nonfree/firmware-ralink_0.28+squeeze1_all.deb, unfortunately, the file doesn't exist there anymore. However, I did take a look in
http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/pool/non-free/f/firmware-nonfree/ and found a more recent Ralink file: firmware-ralink_20190114-2_all.deb. Also, https://archive.debian.org/debian-archive/debian/pool/non-free/f/firmware-nonfree/ does have the firmware-ralink_0.28+squeeze1_all.deb and 5 others that appear to be in between those.   

66

Blogs / Re: Raspberry Pi and Python

« Last post by Dragon on October 25, 2023, 19:57:06 »

On my quest, I've discovered that I have Raspberry Pi B+ with 512 MB RAM, which unfortunately doesn't have Wi-Fi built in. I do have an old Ativa Wireless USB Network Adapter, but it wasn't just plug-and-play.

I found a list of tested Wi-Fi Adapters, https://elinux.org/RPi_USB_Wi-Fi_Adapters, but the Ativa AWGUA54 was not on the list.

A quick Google search and I've come across this: 

...you can use USB adapters if they have Raspberry PI (Linux for ARM6) drivers.

And on another site:

This adapter is the same as the Belkin F5D7050 v4.

Back to the first list, the entry for the Belkin says "install firmware-ralink and add usbcore to /etc/modules; use guide" and links to another site. A blogger explained the process of installing the drivers for the Raspberry Pi on Raspberry Pi Wireless - Belkin 802.11g usb adapter Ralink RT2750W.

67

Blogs / Raspberry Pi and Python

« Last post by Dragon on October 24, 2023, 23:25:59 »

I recently picked up a book called Raspberry Pi 3 Cookbook for Python Programmers, so here we go. 

Out come the Raspberry Pi hardware again. It's been sitting on the shelf for much too long.

I couldn't remember sure which versions of the hardware that I have. Fortunately I found a handy reference: https://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2012/09/checking-your-raspberry-pi-board-version/

I also discovered that https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/ has a Raspberry Pi Imager program that can be run on Windows, Linux, or Mac, to make it even easier than before to setup the Raspberry Pi OS onto an SD card than it was last time I had tried it.

68

General Discussions / Artillery Sidewinder X2 - 3D Printer

« Last post by Dragon on October 24, 2023, 18:34:33 »

For my birthday I got a new 3D Printer, the Artillery Sidewinder X2. The instructions in the manual that came with it was pretty good, but still left some stuff unmentioned that I wasn't aware of beforehand. I found a great video on YouTube that helped out.

https://youtu.be/9JZqosMxmxk?si=tl2ciPbzQ4waqg4X

Thanks to Just Vlad for this. Check out his channel at www.youtube.com/@Just_Print

69

General Discussions / Re: 3D Printer Projects

« Last post by Dragon on October 24, 2023, 17:44:34 »

I'm going to try to print this case for my Raspberry Pi B+: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5190138, but I'm going to use a clear green filament and gold for the logo - Legend of Zelda colors. 

Here are some neat looking alternatives that I've found:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1226828
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2836010
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1327409
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:710688
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1091071
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1727668

70

Table-top Games / Re: Jaipur

« Last post by Dragon on October 23, 2023, 18:48:08 »

Last night Beth and I played Jaipur. She hadn't played it before, but it's not too difficult to learn so it was a good choice for the evening to just relax. Beth won the first round, but I won the next two rounds to win the game. I do hope that we're able to get this game out again. I play it often on BoardGameArena.com, but not nearly as much face-to-face.