Computer on Nico Maas

Goodbye WordPress!

Sun, 08 Nov 2026 17:31:30 +0000

I started blogging on WordPress on the 15. August 2008 - and for more than 18 years, WordPress served me well.

Well, a lot changed and its now time to move on: Welcome Hugo!

We see each other in a second… < moving server now >

It took me quite a while to migrate all of my old stuff, maybe not everything is perfect, but I think I managed to clean-up quite a bit. Also, I added Disqus for the moment, but I am not sure whether I will stay at this service for the long run. On the other hand - we got dark-mode now! Isn’t that progress? 😂. Obviously I also need to figure out a lot about how to publish texts in the future, given that I am now tied to HTML only content. But then again, that might be a blessing in todays “security climate”.

[PiAndMore] apex Mk.2/Mk.3 on DLR MAPHEUS 10 Presentation

Sat, 26 Sep 2026 11:50:27 +0000

Here is my presentation to the apex Mk.2/Mk3 @ PiAndMore 14 (University of Applied Sciences Trier, 26.09.2026)

apexMk2Mk3_PiAndMore14.pdf

Videorecording can be found here: tbd

[PiAndMore] Raspberry Pi Introduction Presentation

Sat, 26 Sep 2026 08:50:06 +0000

Here is my presentation to the Raspberry Pi Introduction @ PiAndMore 14 (University of Applied Sciences Trier, 26.09.2026)

RPi_PiAndMore14.pdf

Videorecording can be found here: tbd

Reworking a Dell Latitude XT in 2024

Sat, 07 Dec 2024 17:49:47 +0000

Intro

I had an old Dell Latitude XT (first generation) in my posession since… quite a long time. One of the first tablet/convertible laptops by Dell, released in 2007.

It was quite a nice machine, but it suffered from multiple issues. On the one hand, the ULV Core2Duo and internal 1 GB of DDR2 memory are nothing to write home about - but the biggest problem in my opinion - is the used mass memory, a 1.8’ 5400 rpm harddrive. And no, you read correctly - 1.8’. What’s that? Thats basically the size and model of HDDs used in Apples iPods: They are awfully slow and even more prone to break.

RAK3172T in Arduino

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 13:00:09 +0000

Updated on 2024-12-01 with latest fixes of STM32LoRaWAN v0.3.0

As the RAK11300 did not really match my requirements (it uses way too much energy), I looked further and found the RAK3172 which is based on an STM32WLE5CCU6 - an STM32 chip which usually include good powersaving modes. As with the RAK11300, I did not want to go down the Wisblock way and designed my own breakout board:

Turing Pi 2 - Retrofitting an EMC2301 Fancontroller

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 19:39:50 +0000

The Turing Pi 2 (v.2.4) has actually some secrets that just start to get uncovered. Looking closely at the board, you will find the red marked area with what seems to be an unpopulated 4-pin fan header (J16) and an unpopulated IC spot (U109).

These spots were, as found out by Sam Edwards (CFSworks) actually a place to install Molex 47053-1000 4-pin fan connector and a Microchip EMC2301 fan controller. It is not clear why they were left out of the production model, probably for cost savings, but without that the Turing Pi 2 lost a nice smooth fan controller. However, thanks to Sam Edwards work, the chip is now supported by the Turing Pi 2 BMC, so that after retrofitting, this will just work out of the box!

Install a bootloader onto Turing RK1 eMMC memory

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 16:45:45 +0000

The Turing RK1 is a new Compute Module, made for the Turing Pi 2 board and with compability to the Nvidia Jetson cards in mind. While the board has some impressive specs ( https://docs.turingpi.com/docs/turing-rk1-specs-and-io-ports ) it had one small issue: The used Rockchip RK3588 needed a bootloader on its eMMC to be able to boot from an attached NVMe drive. As no isolated bootloader was available, most people flashed a whole OS onto the eMMC - just to be able to use the attched NVMe drive. This process can take quite a while via the Turing Pi 2 board ( e.g. 60 - 90 minutes: https://docs.turingpi.com/docs/turing-rk1-flashing-os ) it was never a good option.

Repairing a Turing Pi 2

Sun, 03 Dec 2023 17:56:27 +0000

Intro

In April 2023 I finally got my Turing Pi 2 - happy to finally got it into my hands I plugged it in, headed over to the Turing Pi 2 Github ( https://github.com/turing-machines/BMC-Firmware ) got myself the latest BMC firmware and started to flash it. Thats when things got wrong: The power supply coils started to screech - and seconds later I was greeted with blue smoke and a dead Turing Pi 2. The firmware update actually flashed the board into a paper weight.

Building a MLX90640 Thermal Camera

Sun, 03 Dec 2023 00:15:38 +0000

Intro

Thermal Cameras are neat tools, especially in electronics: You can quickly diagnose short circuits, identify misbehaving components or quantify if subsystems get too hot. However, thermal cameras are still a luxury item which can quickly costs hunderds of euros. Sometimes - however - you do not need the accurarcy of a FLIR or similar system, somtimes its just enough to see which part of a PCB is heating up quicker than others. Enter MLX90640: A 32x24 pixel sensor in two different FoVs, exposing its data via i2c. These sensors can be had on different websites for as low as 25 euros during sale.

RAK11300 - Getting it to work with Arduino-Pico and RadioLib!

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 16:08:49 +0000

Intro

About a year ago I got some RAK11300 modules - which are a nice combination of an RP2040 alongside a SX1262 radio on one module - designed a breakout board - tested it - and quickly shelved it. Reason was that this module was somewhat Arduino compliant - as stated - however only with RAKwireless Arduino mbedOS Repo. Alongside of it being a bit… hacked together, it had the issue of not supporting any low power modes for the RP2040 - making it run on both cores at full tilt and consuming batteries in no time. Not the best thing for a portable/battery powered sensor system, I guess?

RT-Thread IoT-Contest 2023 with NXP i.MX RT1060 - CCSDS-TM-FSM

Sat, 03 Jun 2023 22:35:14 +0000

I just released my latest project, a CCSDS reassembler running on an NXP i.MX RT1060 in RT-Thread OS. You can find it on Github: https://github.com/nmaas87/CCSDS-TM-FSM

RT-Thread IoT-Contest 2023 with NXP i.MX RT1060 - Getting started

Tue, 30 May 2023 18:44:24 +0000

The folks over at RT-Thread decided to make a IOT-Contest using hardware from different vendors and their RT-Thread OS. I was luckily enough to get chosen for a networking project with the NXP i.MX RT1060 EVKB, so I decided to document my journey first getting started with RT-Thread. Here we go! 🙂

Getting started

First of all, its important to know that there are two version of the MIMXRT1060 - the EVK and the EVKB. The EVK seems to be an older version which also includes a Camera sensor module, the EVKB version the recent one. RT-Threads example on Github is for the EVK version, which means things like User LED blinking does not work out of the box, but we will take care of this later.

[PiAndMore] Raspberry Pi Introduction Presentation

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 13:51:30 +0000

Here is my presentation to the Raspberry Pi Introduction @ PiAndMore 13 (University of Applied Sciences Trier, 22.04.2023)

RPi_PiAndMore13.pdf

Videorecording can be found here

Advantech AIR-020X Review

Sun, 05 Mar 2023 12:33:21 +0000

Normally, I am not getting review units. This is due to the fact that I am only hosting this small weblog, along some conference talks - and most companies would probably be better off to send their units along someone with a reach of Linus Tech Tips, or similar.

On the other hand - when I get the possibility to do a review, it can be a bit worrisome for the companies as well, as I am a very honest person. I have been working in tech for some time now and had the honor to build stuff which went to space - and came back to tell the tale. I know what I want in a unit - and what could be a problem.

100 Euro External 13,5'' / 2256x1504 Display with 2x Mini HDMI Input

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 16:40:00 +0000

Working with telemetry, scientific data, programming, writing papers or just casually hacking the Gibson requires one thing: A lot of screen real estate. To allow for that “bit of extra space”, I built myself an external 13,5’’ / 2256x1504 display. It comes with 2x Mini HDMI Inputs and is powered over USB.

Add icons to Jetpack Social Menu

Sun, 27 Nov 2022 18:39:10 +0000

I have been looking around the net quite a lot to find a solution on how to add icons to the “social menu” in wordpress:

At first I thought this menu was a feature of the theme I am using, Independent Publisher 2. I only found a Github repo for the version 1 theme - tried all the hacks there - and finally found out that version 2 was bought by WordPress.com and customized. So all the hacks available for version 1 did not even work. Bummer.

USB C power for the Nvidia Jetson Nano 4 GB dev board

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 08:00:00 +0000

The best way to power a Jetson Nano 4 GB dev board is by using a center positive, 5 V and at least 4 A barrel connector type power adapter. However, these are often bulky and not the best travel companion - while USB C power bricks are becoming more common and the relevant USB C sockets are getting build into nearly every device (maybe yours too, Apple?).

So I set out to build a USB C power adapter for the Jetson board.

An active GNSS antenna for the CAM-M8Q breakout

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 14:00:00 +0000

I have been using multiple CAM-M8Q breakouts by Watterott and really am loving these units. They are small, reasonable priced and have the advantage of an integrated chip antenna. However, this also their small shortcoming: While the antenna is good enough for most outdoor jobs, you can run into sensitivity issues when deploying it indoors - if not setup next to a window. Luckily, the module has two additional u.fl connectors for RFin and RFout, meaning you can use an external antenna.

labSentinel 2

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 09:35:01 +0000

About nearly a year ago, I wrote the labSentinel project for my Nvidia Jetson AI Specialist certification. The basic idea of the project is to be able to supervise old Lab Equipment which does not poses any kind of log output or interface other than a graphical user interface, running on an Windows 3.11 / 95 / NT - maybe even XP system.

I solved this issue by using a video grabber attached to a Jetson Nano and “out-of-band” grabbing the screen output of the experiment computer. I then learned good and bad system states via Nvidias Inference tools and finally got the system to report via MQTT as soon as something did go wrong.

WD My Cloud Mirror Gen2 with Debian 11 and Linux Kernel 5.15 LTS

Sun, 12 Jun 2022 18:05:32 +0000

Intro

Since 2017 I have been using an Western Digital My Cloud Mirror Gen 2 which I bought at Amazons Black Friday (or similar) - because the included 2x 8 TB WD Red were even cheaper with the NAS than standalone. Using the NAS had been quite ok, especially the included Docker Engine and Plex Support were a nice to have, the included Backdoor in older Versions - not so much. Recently WD had their new “My Cloud OS 5” replace the old My Cloud OS 3 - and made things worse for a lot of people. As I don’t want any more surprises - and more control over my hardware - I decided to finally go down the road and get Debian 11 with an LTS (5.15) Kernel running on the hardware. This is how it went.

[PiAndRadio] Raspberry Pi GPS Time Server

Sat, 11 Sep 2021 10:15:00 +0000

Here is my presentation to the gpsTime Balena Project @ PiAndRadio 2021 (11.09.2021)

gpsTime_PiAndRadio2021.pdf

[PiAndRadio] Raspberry Pi Introduction Presentation

Sat, 11 Sep 2021 07:15:00 +0000

Here is my presentation to the Raspberry Pi Introduction @ PiAndRadio 2021 (11.09.2021)

RPi_PiAndRadio2021.pdf

[WSL2/Win10] Limit Resource Consumption of WSLv2

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 has a big problem called “Vmmem” - it is the process WSL uses to allocate RAM for usage within its user context. That itself is all fine, however, there are many known issues that show that even after closing your e.g. Debian session, this memory is not returned to the system. This is also valid for usage of Docker for Windows within the WSLv2 context (meaning using Docker in the “new-style” install, not with the old HyperV machine).

[WSL2/Win10] Install WSLv2

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

1.) Open an administrative Powershell and activate the WSL feature

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

2.) Activate the Virtual Machine Platform, afterwards reboot your computer

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

3.) Download and install the WSLv2 Linux Kernel package from https://wslstorestorage.blob.core.windows.net/wslblob/wsl_update_x64.msi - another Reboot is needed afterwards

4.) Set WSLv2 as default WSL - open an administrative Powershell and enter

wsl --set-default-version 2

5.) Install one or multiple operating systems in WSLv2 - you can find them here. You can also install these “offline”, meaning without the need to use Windows Store. For the offline install, download the needed package from this link, then install it by doubleclicking on the Icon - or via Powershell with

Presentations with Markdown: revealjs

Mon, 22 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Being an active contributor to the PiAndMore and other conferences, I happen to make quite a few presentations a year. In the past I was using the good old Microsoft Powerpoint - which has its strengths, but also its drawbacks. Positioning text and graphics were never my taste (I use LaTeX, btw) - so I set out to find a new way to create presentations - and found revealjs back in 2018.

Use Sonarqube with sonar-cxx

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Installation

Download SonarQube from https://www.sonarqube.org/downloads/
- If you are using Java 8, you need to download SonarQube 6.7.x LTS (look for Historical Downloads on the website)
- If you are using Java 11 - SonarQube 7.9.x LTS (look for Long term support area on the website)
Unpack the SonarQube ZIP file
Download the latest sonar-c-plugin.jar and sonar-cxx-plugin.jar from https://github.com/SonarOpenCommunity/sonar-cxx/releases
Insert both jar files into the SONARQUBE_HOME/extensions/plugins extensions directory (within the unpacked ZIP file)
Start SonarQube and Login
- On Windows 10, e.g. via SONARQUBE_HOME/bin/windows-x86-64/StartSonar.bat
- Go to http://127.0.0.1:9000 as soon as “SonarQube is up” is announced
- Default login is user admin, password admin
Navigate to Administration -> Marketplace and make sure the plugins “C (Community)” and “C++ (Community)” are installed

[Win10] Offline installation of FoD like OpenSSH Server without VLSC ISO

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 17:00:00 +0000

Windows 10 comes with a lot of additional options to install, which are not part of the “local” installation media.That means things like e.g. the OpenSSH Server component. These options are called “Features on Demand” (FoD) and do need either an active internet connection to download and install, or a specialized FoD ISO which you only can download from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC). If you need to install these options for your Windows 10 Professional or similar offline - without having a valid subscription, you cannot get the needed offline files that way.

[PiAndMore] Raspberry Pi Introduction Presentation

Sat, 23 Jan 2021 08:45:00 +0000

Here is my presentation to the Raspberry Pi Introduction @ PiAndMore 12 1/4 (23.01.2021)

RPi_PiAndMore1214.pdf

Videorecording of the talk can be found here

Ubuntu 20.04 Update bricked KVM Virt

Sun, 27 Dec 2020 11:46:05 +0000

I updated an older Ubuntu 18.04 LTS system to the latest LTS and had (among other things) Docker and KVM installed. KVM is actually quite nice if you “just need” a small VM (pfsense ;)). I actually prefer Proxmox and ESXi, but hey, the right tool for the right job.

After the upgrade to 20.04, kvm did not work anymore and I got a lot of lvm2 errors during apt update / apt upgrade sessions, so a short google later I found this. I was a bit nervous, but the fix did neither hurt my kvm nor my Docker instances

[Win10] Random ports blocked while using Docker / WSL / HyperV

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 09:48:57 +0000

I have been using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Docker on my Laptop since a long time. And during last Docker Con, WSL 2 was released to which I switched instantly - which I did not regret.

(Note: Upgrading to WSL 2 and the native Docker for WSL 2 version will cost you your containers and Docker images, there is even a Thanos meme coming around - so I have to give this fair warning ;))

NFS Benchmarking RPi 3B, RPi 3B+ & BPi

Wed, 21 Mar 2018 12:07:44 +0000

3-14, PiDay. Sadly the day Stephen Hawking passed away - and the day the new Raspberry Pi 3B Plus was unveiled.
Some days later, I got a small package:

With that small thing at hand, I was looking through the list of changes:

Broadcom BCM2837B0, Cortex-A53 (ARMv8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.4GHz
2.4GHz and 5GHz IEEE 802.11.b/g/n/ac wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.2, BLE
Gigabit Ethernet over USB 2.0 (maximum throughput 300 Mbps)
Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) support (requires separate PoE HAT)

Ok, CPU bumped from 1.2 to 1.4 GHz, new WiFi with 802.11ac (and 5 GHz support), BLE 4.2, PoE “support” - and Gigabit over USB 2.0.
Well, not too bad.
One of the biggest downsides of the RPi - since its release - was the design choice to add Ethernet over USB 2.0 - while sharing the one and only USB 2.0 lane of the BCM with all the other USB sockets of the RPi. While this choice leads to lower production costs, it also limits the speed of Ethernet / USB especially in case where people tried to implement NAS or File sharing applications with an added USB Drive over Ethernet. To see how much the new design improved that old problem, I decided to Benchmark an “old” RPi 3B with the latest RPi 3B+ in the discipline of NFS.

[VMWare] Deploy vCenter Server Appliance to ESXi 6.5

Mon, 25 Dec 2017 13:00:22 +0000

To deploy the vCenter Server Appliance (vcsa) to an ESXi 6.5 Server, you need to grab the latest vCenter Server for Linux from http://vmware.com/go/evaluate-vsphere-en - at the moment, thats the Version 6.5.0U1d from 19.12.2017 - which equals to the file VMware-VCSA-all-6.5.0-7312210.iso. After downloading that DVD Image, just burn it to a DVD or unpack it. You can then go on with Deploying it via GUI - or via CLI.

For deploying it via GUI, just start vcsa-ui-installer\win32\installer.exe - if you’re on a Windows PC - or execute the installer / Installer.app files in the lin64 or mac folders.

Rogue One: My first field pentesting

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 19:34:57 +0000

Earlier that year, very - earlier - I had one technician of an international company calling me for some advice. She/He had a problem with the local networking staff and their “modus operandi” regarding network security. The company had a big assembly line and very powerful, automated machinery - which made the leaky security all the more troublesome. My job was to exploit one of those security holes and show - as clearly and easily as possible - said problems - so that they were getting finally fixed.

[Dell] Using the Update CDs to get Dell Servers to latest firmware

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 11:00:58 +0000

Dell has an very comfortable way of getting new firmware to nearly all of its server components: The bootable media / ISO or Update CDs. You can find them on this website and very useful. On a basic level, you pick your server, download the ISO, compare the MD5 checksum and burn the ISO onto a DVD. After that, you should get the Servicetag of your server and check for BIOS and iDRAC updates - these should be installed manually first. After that, boot from the DVD and let it install all the needed firmware. Basically, the DVD will cycle through all firmware of components ever installed in the series of your particular server and installs updates if needed. After another reboot, you’re done :).

Running resin balena on Raspberry Pi 3

Sun, 15 Oct 2017 14:07:43 +0000

Just two days ago, resin.io announced balena their new, moby based container engine. Basically, it is a Docker-dropin-replacement for IoT Devices: It is compatible with Docker and Docker Hub, gains a lot of stabilty with atomic pulls, more conservative flash memory use - as well as smaller updates due to true container delta pulls. Also, it comes bundled as single file, is smaller in size and as easy to use as Docker. So - a very good bundle.

[resinOS] Dockerize your own Flask GUI with resinOS

Tue, 16 May 2017 14:55:50 +0000

I have been working with Docker and resin.io as well as resinOS for quite some time now and I am actively using those services actively for different projects: The possibility to just throw away a container and build it anew in record breaking time is just awesome and also the fact that I can now just ship images to some device, deploy it there - and it will just work. As some of you know, I am working as volunteer in different NPOs, i.e. the RepairCafé Trier in which I repair Computers and Mobile phones for free, the PiAndMore / CMD e.V. on which I teach interessted guys and gals about Raspberry Pi and Linux (and even did two presentations on resin.io and resinOS, both linked on this blog - and as video :)) - and also one other NPO which is trying to give information about Japanese Culture. For those events I already created an Tickting System called JCTixx, which uses QR Codes to sell and check tickets for those named festivals. However, I created the Scanner Hardware in 2010, just starting my second year in an Apprenticeship as IT Systemselectronics guy, without anything as a Raspberry Pi available. However, being a bit creative, I just took some old Linux routers, threw the good old OpenWRT on those and soldered directly to the its testpoints / CPU to get the GPIO pins I needed ;). That worked very well - however, nowadays, TLS 1.2 and such eat away those small MIPS cores - and I could - with a lot of work - just get them working with said crypto in 2015. However, being 7 years old now, I need new Scanners - and more flexible way of delivery software as well. So resinOS it is! 🙂

Blog Defacement

Tue, 28 Feb 2017 15:43:32 +0000

While I am now hosting this blog for nearly 9 years - without any incident - problems tend to happen sooner or later. A lot of hassle and problems has been reduced due to the WordPress Auto Update system - so to update WordPress itself, as well as its plugins - and it works great. However, WordPress introduced - and enabled by default - a REST API - which has a great deal of security problems. And without me always checking each installed version - well, I did not know that… The REST API problems should be fixed by now, but - that came a bit too late for my blog. Nonetheless, I would recommend going to Jetpack -> Settings and disabling JSON API - especially if you’re not using it… I learned it the hard way ^^’..

Raspberry Pi and its Hardware Random Number Generator (RNG)

Wed, 15 Feb 2017 15:00:45 +0000

Due to a Stackoverflow Post I got to know the fact the BCM2708 / BCM2835 contains a Hardware Random Number Generator (RNG). Two blogposts described how to setup this little module, however, they were outdated, as the needed kernel module is directly baked into the latest 4.x kernel, which ends with the fact that /dev/hwrng already exists :).

The only thing left to do is the installation of the rng-tools, which is easy as pie:

Cisco 45xx Supervisor 6LE Defect

Fri, 27 Jan 2017 09:00:05 +0000

As I tend to work with some Cisco 4506 and similiar switches - equipped with WSX45SUP6LE / WS-X45-SUP6L-E Supervisor Engines, I had the unfortunate delight to seem those rebooting at random.

Cisco did put out an entry in their bug tool (“Sup6LE reloads silently (Reset State: 00000201) / watchdog CISR0: 0x80”) with the Bug Tracker ID CSCtf85481 - however, of the multiple accounts I had, I only found it on one of those. Other accounts did refuse my access to this file. As we confronted our Cisco Tech Support prior to finding the bug ourself, there was “no known error” which represented itself in rebooting the switch at random - so they said.

Nexus 4 / Nexus 7 CrossUpgrade from Cyanogenmod to Lineage OS

Thu, 26 Jan 2017 09:36:34 +0000

EDIT: Experimental Builds were deleted now, as initial stated by LineageOS Team in this post. CrossUpgrade is not possible anymore, best bet would be to wipe the device and start from scratch. So just skip the second step with EXP Image and WIPE EVERYTHING in TWRP and install the latest nightly. Please also stay alert on bugs which are included in LineageOS. This link will give you access to the unresolved section of the Nexus 4 / Mako device, while this link will give you access to the same for the Nexus 7 2013 Wifi / flo :). Also, you can find the latest changes for mako here and for flo here.

Odroid U3 Kernel Upgrade + Docker

Tue, 24 Jan 2017 19:00:27 +0000

I wrote this back in January 2017. Since then I had not much time to work on the Odroid - however, user hexdump did just came up with a new repo, supporting the Odroid U3 with Kernel 5.4.x - you can find the overview over his awesome work here and the repo with complete releases (i.e. Ubuntu Bionic or Debian Buster i.e. odroid_u3-armv7l-debian.img.gz) here

I am using an trusty old Odroid U3 which I acquired years ago. With its SAMSUNG Exynos 4412 Cortex-A9 Quad Core 1,7 Ghz, 1MB L2 cache and 2 GB of RAM, this little puppy was an real beast - compared to the Raspberry Pi 1 at that time. However, Hardkernel did drop the support - again, which left the Users back with very old Kernel versions. However, thanks to some users and the fact that all needed support for the Exynos is now included in the current kernel - well, we can build our own. This write up is the distilled result of days of work and a lot of research - and the work of other people which I found on the net (which I will try to give proper credits at the right locations :)).

[Docker] Upgrade Sonarqube from 5.6 to 6.2

Fri, 20 Jan 2017 21:57:36 +0000

I just updated Sonarqube from 5.6 (LTS) to 6.2. Before that, I upgraded all my plugins in Sonarqube itself and made an backup of my installation and database. Then, I replaced image: sonarqube:lts-alpine in my docker-compose.yaml with image: sonarqube:6.2-alpine. I did an docker-compose up and it started, however, I had some errors so it just kept on restarting. Following this advice I then proceded to delete $SONAR_HOME/data/es/. I then restarted Sonarqube, which worked. I then pointed my Webbrowser to the URL of my Sonarqube Instance and added an /setup and allowed the Database Upgrade. After that, I had a working new Sonarqube instance :).

Raspberry Pi Remote Desktop

Fri, 16 Dec 2016 20:23:56 +0000

To use the RPi via Remote Desktop, different protocols and programs exist, i.e. VNC. Due to simplicity of use, however, I mostly chose XRDP, which works with the Microsoft Remote Desktop Tools. However, you must not install it via sudo apt-get install xrdp - as this will install it with realvnc and break xrdp (Package error which has not been fixed yet in the recent “Pixel” Release of Raspbian…).

Instead, use:

[Talk] Docker Grundlagen

Fri, 14 Oct 2016 20:00:34 +0000

My Docker 101 presentation @ Containerschifffahrt SB - Docker-Meetup 2016 (14.10.2016, https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/Containerschifffahrt-SB-Docker-Meetup/events/234248360/)

Docker_Meetup2016.pdf (0,42 MB, PDF).

Sourcecode / Example can be found on https://github.com/nmaas87/docker-demo

[PiAndMore] resin.io Presentation

Sun, 12 Jun 2016 15:11:46 +0000

Here is my presentation to resin.io @ PiAndMore 9 (Trier, 11.06.2016)

resinio_PiAndMore9.pdf (1,03 MB, PDF)

Videorecording of the talk can be found here

[PiAndMore] platformIO Presentation

Sat, 11 Jun 2016 15:00:52 +0000

Here is my presentation to platformIO @ PiAndMore 9 (Trier, 11.06.2016)

platformIO_PiAndMore9.pdf (830 KB, PDF)

Videorecording of the talk can be found here

[RPi] The cheapest Raspberry Pi Cluster Ever Made v2

Fri, 15 Jan 2016 19:00:41 +0000

Ok, an little update on the PiZero Cluster Front:
Now, that OTG is compiled directly into the “next” kernel of RPi, we can use the OTG USB Virtual Ethernet directly - which makes it a lot easier. So I updated this :).

Preparing Minibian Jessie Image
I used some old Appliance Image I created from an Minibian Wheezy Image (https://minibianpi.wordpress.com/) earlier this year - for the 1.) section on the RPi Modell B pre 2.0 and RPi Modell A+. For the 2.) section, I used an special Appliance Image I made from an Minibian Jessie Image. However, I will document needed changes here, to get it running from any source. I recommend the Minibian Jessie Image as starting point, with this changes:

apt-get update
apt-get install -y raspi-config keyboard-configuration
raspi-config
# Default Configuration and Expand Filesystem using raspi-config
# Enter Finish and press Yes on Reboot the Device
apt-get install -y rpi-update sudo
apt-get -y dist-upgrade
reboot
rpi-update
reboot
# Create Default User pi
adduser pi
# Enter Password as wanted, i.e. raspberry
# Add user to default groups
usermod -a -G pi,adm,dialout,cdrom,audio,video,plugdev,games,users pi
# Add sbin Paths to pi
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/sbin:/usr/sbin:usr/local/sbin"' >> /home/pi/.bashrc
# Add user to sudo
visudo
# Add under
# # User privilege specification
# root ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
pi ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
# Save and Exit
reboot
# Disable root login
sudo passwd -l root

or - and default RPi Jessie Image.

Netflow on Ubuntu

Mon, 26 Oct 2015 12:18:37 +0000

Netflow consists of three parts:

The collector, which collects the connection data on a host
the capture, which receives data from collectors and writes them to disk in binary format
the dump tool, which presents the data

We use fprobe as collector and nfcapd as capture tool:

sudo apt-get install fprobe nfdump

fprobe wants to be configured during the installation. It asks for the interface which should be listend upon and where the flow collector does listen. In our example, eth0 should be listend upon and the flow collector is situated on the same computer. Please use 127.0.0.1:9995 for that.

[ESXi5.5U2] Install ESXi on VMWare Host with less than 4 GB of RAM

Thu, 26 Mar 2015 15:01:31 +0000

I found this solution in the Spiceworks VMWare Forum by User ZEFiR and after testing it succesfully with ESXi 5.5 Update 2, I wanted to preserve it for future use. The Original Post can be found
https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/411970-installing-esxi-5-5-with-4gb-ram-memory_size-error?page=1#entry-3816226. Thanks a lot to ZEFiR for sharing this very useful piece of knowledge :)!

Boot from VMware ESXi 5.5
wait “Welcome to theVMware ESXi 5.5.0 Installation” screen
Press Alt+F1 for enter console and login as “root” (no password needed)
go to:

SSH Socks Proxy

Mon, 23 Mar 2015 15:01:08 +0000

Very easy and handy is to use an SSH Server as Socks Proxy:

ssh -D 8080 username@my_ssh_server

Or use Putty:
Enter the IP Address of your SSH Server, Port and go to Connection -> SSH -> Tunnels.
In Source Port enter the Port where the Proxy should be available. I.e. 8080
Then choose “Dynamic”.
Leave Destination Port Empty and the IP Configuration on “Auto”.

After connecting to your SSH Server, you can configure i.e. Firefox to use your Socks 5 Server on IP 127.0.0.1 and Port 8080.

[RaspPi] Faintly glowing steady green LED on Raspberry Pi

Sat, 07 Mar 2015 13:05:31 +0000

[RaspPi] Faintly glowing steady green LED on Raspberry Pi

I got some serious issues with one of my Raspberry Pi, Modell B Rev. 2.0.
With an recent image, the Raspberry Pi refused to boot, but did only light up the red ACT LED as well as an really faintly glowing steady green PWR LED.
After my shop of trust sadly declined to help me with that issue, I tried to come up with every possible fix possible.

[RaspPi] Snappy Ubuntu Core on Raspberry Pi 2

Wed, 04 Mar 2015 12:55:09 +0000

Well, I finally got my Raspberry Pi 2 and just could not hold back and wanted to test Snappy Ubuntu Core and give a little introduction and how that thing works.

Ok, but short into: What is Snappy Ubuntu Core?
Well it is meant to be a secure operating system for embedded applications.
It is based on an transactional system-management and can even rollback upgrades of the system core.
There are three kinds of Snappy Ubuntu Core Components:
Snappy Ubuntu Core itself (Core), Frameworks and Apps.
Frameworks can access the Core in certain ways and thus need to be reviewed by the Ubuntu Team.
Apps are completly isolated from each other and have limited access to the system, therefore they don’t need special security profiles or reviews, which makes publishing easier.
Ok, and everything is controlled via the command “snappy”.

[Office] Quotes

Mon, 19 Jan 2015 21:03:22 +0000

You can actually turn of typographical quotes in i.e. PowerPoint using File, Options, Check on Document, Autocorrection Options, Autoformat while typing. Just uncheck “Typographical Quotes”, to get the only " " quotes.

[Security Spotlight] The worst idea in a brave new world: The all-new Boxcryptor 2.0

Thu, 05 Sep 2013 08:18:17 +0000

Some things make life easier. Think about your data. And the way you used to share it. USB Sticks, DVD, CD-Rom, Harddisks - are a thing of the past. Many people use services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Box and similar on a daily routine. Some of those did not think about data security - and just dropped everything into the cloud: From bank data to keys and passwords and such… Others did think about those problems and tried to secure their important files via means as encryption like TrueCrypt. But that did come at a cost: Loss of usability: You just cannot open a file on your Android Smartphone on the fly. And occasionally, somehow the TrueCrypt drive would be uploaded as copy a second time to the Dropbox. Really nasty.