All posts by Michael Albert

Linux, Raspberry PI

Raspberry PI: Connecting a HD44780 Display over I2C Bus

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Hi everybody,

some application, i.e. XBMC can show informations on a display by using LCDproc as driver.

This post describes a way to connect a HD44780 display to a Raspberry PI  by i2c bus.

Let’s start with the physical layer. This is the overview schematic on how to connect the display to a Raspberry PI.

Connecting a hd44780 Display with Raspberry PI
Connecting a hd44780 Display with Raspberry PI

Based on these I developed small board with a 6 Pin header which is Pin compatible to the Raspberry PI. So a simple 6 pole ribbon cable can be used to connect the HD44780 Display to the fruit.
Here is my PCB. First the schematic.

Board schematic
Board schematic

and my board layout. Unfortunately there are a lot HD44780 models available and the location and the direction of the pins are different, so you have to adapt the layout to the specification of your display.
Continue reading Raspberry PI: Connecting a HD44780 Display over I2C Bus →

Windows knowhow

Windows: Configure to use a NTP Timeserver

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Hi,

you can Windows tell to synchronise your PCs time time with an NTP time server of your choice.
For example the german “Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)”, which is the responsible authority of the DCF77 (Time) transmitter, operates three of them:

ptbtime1.ptb.de
ptbtime2.ptb.de
ptbtime3.ptb.de

To set these server as timesource use the following command with Administrator rights:

If the the W32time service does not exists, register them

w32tm /register

start the Time service
Continue reading Windows: Configure to use a NTP Timeserver →

Windows knowhow

Windows: Installing a language pack

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Hi,

if your Windows installation should support multiple langauges you can install some Windows language pack.

Language packs, formerly known as MUI, are installable on Windows 7 Enterprise and ultimate and Windows 8/8.1.

The Download locations for individual language packs are:
Windows 7
Windows 8

Or, if you have a MSDN account, download the Language Pack DVD with the whole compilation.

Install the language pack in batch mode with the following command line, for example the german one:

C:\>dism.exe /online /add-package /packagepath:D:\langpacks\de-de\lp.cab

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.1.7600.16385

Image Version: 6.1.7600.16385

Processing 1 of 1 - Adding package Microsoft-Windows-Client-Refresh-LanguagePack-Package~31bf38....

[==================         32.7%                          ]

reboot the system after installation.

Check for installed languages

C:\Windows\system32>dism /online /Get-intl

Reporting online international settings.

Default system UI language : en-US
System locale : de-DE
Default time zone : W. Europe Standard Time
Active keyboard(s) : 0407:00000407, 0409:00000409
Keyboard layered driver : PC/AT Enhanced Keyboard (101/102-Key)

Installed language(s): de-DE
Type : Fully localized language.
Installed language(s): en-US
Type : Fully localized language.

The operation completed successfully.

Now you change the UI from command line language by  intlcfg.exe, which is included in the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) or form the Regional Settings Control Panel intl.cpl.

 

To installing the language pack by GUI start:

lpksetup.exe

by selecting language lp.cab file.

Language Pack GUI
Language Pack GUI

Michael

Powershell, Windows knowhow, Windows Scripts

Windows: Powershell script to fix and repair WMI

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Hi,

this script repairs and recreates the WMI Repository of a Windows. For example, this occurs sometimes if you clone a Windows machine with an installed SCCM/SMS Client. The typical error in this case is “Failed to open to WMI namespace ‘\\.\root\CCM\SoftwareUpdates\DeploymentAgent’ (8007045b)”

Lasts start. Start a Powershell console as Administrator. Stop all services. Sometimes other services depends on the WMI Service and does not accept a stop request. Therefore you cannot stop the WMI service. TrendMicro Office is such a service. You have to kill them by TaskManager.

# Stop WMI
# Only if SCCM/SMS Client is installed. Stop ccmexec.
Stop-Service -Force ccmexec -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Stop-Service -Force winmgmt

(Re)Register WMI binary components

[String[]]$aWMIBinaries=@("unsecapp.exe","wmiadap.exe","wmiapsrv.exe","wmiprvse.exe","scrcons.exe")
foreach ($sWMIPath in @(($ENV:SystemRoot+"\System32\wbem"),($ENV:SystemRoot+"\SysWOW64\wbem"))){
	if(Test-Path -Path $sWMIPath){
		push-Location $sWMIPath
		foreach($sBin in $aWMIBinaries){
			if(Test-Path -Path $sBin){
				$oCurrentBin=Get-Item -Path  $sBin
				Write-Host " Register $sBin"
				& $oCurrentBin.FullName /RegServer
			}
			else{
				# Warning only for System32
				if($sWMIPath -eq $ENV:SystemRoot+"\System32\wbem"){
					Write-Warning "File $sBin not found!"
				}
			}
		}
		Pop-Location
	}
}

Reregister WMI Managed Objects
Continue reading Windows: Powershell script to fix and repair WMI →

Powershell, Windows Scripts

Powershell: Check for Administrator rights

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Hi,

for a lot of powershell scripts Administrator permissions are necessary. In powershell, you can check if you are elevated by the following script code.
Insert the snippet at the top of your script. It checks the credentials and exits the script if the administrator permissions are missing.
Continue reading Powershell: Check for Administrator rights →