Arduino

Unfortunately the serial port communication driver (RXTX) which comes with the arduino download is not 64 bit compatible. I will describe here how I successfully compiled & installed the driver to get the Arduino IDE running on a 64 bit openSUSE installation. Most of the instructions should be pretty straight forward to be replicated on an other rpm based distribution. For ubuntu/debain based distributions, you can find the instructions provided by Tero Karvinen useful.

Packages Required for Arduino IDE

The following packages are required to run the Arduino IDE:

• java-1_5_0-sun
• cross-avr-gcc
• cross-avr-binutils
• avr-libc

Linux USB Serial Converter Driver

Besides the above software, you will also need a compatible kernel. This means version 2.6.x or at least 2.4.30. For example, it needs USB serial support with the FTDI driver. After connecting an Arduino board to your computer via an AB USB cable, it should load the ftdi modules automatically. Ensure ftdi_sio and usbserial modules are loaded by executing:

lsmod | grep ftdi

It should return output similar to whats shown below:

ftdi_sio               54280  0
usbserial              52688  1 ftdi_sio
usbcore               156456  6 ftdi_sio,usbserial,usbhid,ohci_hcd,ehci_hcd

If not, as root, run:

modprobe ftdi_sio

If there are no errors from the above command, then the module is loaded successfully.

System Requirements

The Arduino IDE is java based and RXTX [2] is a native java library providing serial and parallel communication for the Java Development Toolkit. The RXTX lib uses lock files by default. So Before you use lock files you need to do one of two things:

1. Be the root or uucp user on your machine whenever you use rxtx
2. Or add the specific user that needs to use rxtx to the group uucp. (preferred)

Add your user account to the uucp group by going to yast2 > Security and Users > User Management. Once you have added yourself to the group, you will need to restart your session to make it affective. Once you are in the new session, verify that your account belongs to the uucp group by executing “groups” on the shell. It should give return you a list of groups your account belongs to.

Packages required for building rxtx-java

• autoconf
• automake
• libtool
• gnu make
• gcc
• jdk > 1.3 or java-1_5_0-sun-devel
• checkinstall (optional)

After installing the necessary libraries, you can download and start building the library with the following commands:

wget http://rxtx.qbang.org/pub/rxtx/rxtx-2.1-7r2.zip

unzip rxtx-2.1-7r2.zip

cd rxtx-2.1-7r2

export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib64/jvm/java-1.5.0-sun/

./configure

make

Once the libraries are built, you can install them by following either one of the following two methods:

1. Build an RPM package with the help of checkinstall
   (preferred)
2. Copy the libs to the arduino libs folder.

If you are opting for the checkinstall method, I suggest to name the package rxtx-java. You can then install the package using normal rpm commands. Once you have done that, you need to determine the path to the libraries. Execute the following to obtain the Path to the rxtx libraries:

rpm -ql librxtx-java | grep RXTXcomm.jar
/usr/java/jdk1.5.0_06/jre/lib/ext/RXTXcomm.jar

We will now remember to add the path (‘/usr/java/jdk1.5.0_06/jre/’) to the arduino bootstrap script.

To install the libraries the second way, you can copy the compiled RXTXcomm.jar and librxtxSerial.so files to the arduino lib directory. The libs are built and placed into “x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/.libs/” folder while the jar file should be in the same folder you are in.

Setting up the Arduino IDE

Download and untar the Arduino IDE from Arduino Software page

wget http://www.arduino.cc/files/arduino-0010-linux.tgz && \
tar -xvzf arduino-0010-linux.tgz

In the arduino/tools directory, make symlinks:

cd arduino-0010/hardware/tools

 ln -s /opt/cross/bin/avr-gcc avr-gcc && \
ln -s /opt/cross/bin/avr-g++ avr-g++ && \
ln -s /opt/cross/bin/avr-objcopy avr-objcopy && \
ln -s /opt/cross/bin/avr-objdump avr-objdump && \
ln -s /opt/cross/bin/avr-size avr-size

Copy the compiled RxTx-java libray into the arduino-0010/lib folder. Before doing so rename the existing libraries.

cd ../../lib/

mv librxtxSerial.so librxtxSerial.so.DISABLED

mv RXTXcomm.jar RXTXcomm.jar.DISABLED

Now copy the freshly compiled rxtx libraries into this folder

cp ../../rxtx-2.1-7r2/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/.libs/librxtxSerial.so .

cp ../../rxtx-2.1-7r2/RXTXcomm.jar .

Once you have copied the library and jar file, you are ready to execute the arduino bootstrap script to launch the Arduino IDE.

./arduino
Experimental:  JNI_OnLoad called.
Stable Library
=========================================
Native lib Version = RXTX-2.1-7
Java lib Version   = RXTX-2.1-7

The Arduino IDE

Resources

1. http://www.arduino.cc
2. http://www.rxtx.org
3. http://ftdi-usb-sio.sourceforge.net/
4. http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/3rdPartyDrivers.htm
5. serproxy: http://www.lspace.nildram.co.uk/freeware.html
6. ser2net: http://ser2net.sourceforge.net
7. Java Comm Serial API How-To for Linux: http://wass.homelinux.net/howtos/Comm_How-To.shtml

I have seen the so called “racial monkey taunts” made by the the crowds at Vadodra and Wankhede stadium in India. In my opinion it was meant to be a humorous joke just making a comparison to how Andrew Symonds stands out amongst his own team mates. I mean look at him when he has the white sun screen protection on his lips and his fluffy hair to go with it. He looks more like a clown than a Monkey. And if you call me a racist after this comment I made, then go to hell.

Akhil Tandulwadikar’s comment on Andrew Symonds hair would explain what this “monkey chants” are all about.

Therefore, it has led me to conclude that the only possible rational explanation to these monkey chants lies somewhere else. Something that the media–in Australia and India–has totally missed in its hurry to earn some TRP

And then we have Australia chasing a record 16 test win in a row at the SCG this year. It is definately the worst game of cricket I have seen. The way the Australian team appealed for Dravid’s wicket in the second innings was just embarrassing. You can’t call any Australian player a gentleman after this test match. They play the game just to get a record in their name. Cricket is a gentleman’s game. A fine example was when Yuvraj Singh “walked” after he realised he nicked the ball.

At an interview, the Indian Captain was asked if he thought the match had been played in the right spirit, Kumble said, “Only one team was playing in the spirit of the game.” It was reminiscent of Australian captain Bill Woodfull’s words during the Bodyline series. Shame on you Australia.

And finally to prove how bad the game of cricket has become, which included few poor umpiring decisions and a some embarrassing cricket played by the Australian team. This is how they won the second test match:

Ruled in favour of Aus:
1. Andrew Symonds caught on 30
2. Ponting caught on 15
3. Andrew Symonds stumped on 48
4. Andrew Symonds lbw on 103
5. Andres Symonds stumped on 140 (not even reffered to third umpire).
6. Hussey plumb lbw on the back foot in the second innings.
7. Hussey caught down the leg side by the keeper.
8. This could have gone either way… Kumble’s hatrick ball to Symonds.
9. Dravid caught a padded shot by the keepoer and appealed for wicket (most
embarassing appeal)
10) Gangully caught by Clarke, clearly on the half volley and the umpire asked
Ponting if he caught it. Why woudn’t Ponting say “yes” to that?

Ruled in favor of India
1. Ricky ponting inside edge given lbw on 55.
2. This could have gone either way… Sachin LBW when on 48.

This is not cricket. Oh by the way, I am an Indian born Australian citizen. I am not making any biased comments because I am Indian. In fact I loved how the Australians played their cricket, until what I saw unfolding at the SCG.

Now for those who came looking for the twenty20 ticket I am offering, shoot me an email at tickets@fernandez.net.au and if you are lucky, you can enjoy some more embarrassing cricket played by the Australian team at the MCG. they have been sold.

And here is what some others have to say:

• No room for cheeky monkeys
• Australia’s attitude lacking in appeal
• Dodgy deeds leave sour taste
• Arrogant Ponting must be fired
• It’s just not cricket!
• Another hollow victory for Australian cricket
• Victory without honour: walk the walk, watch the talk
• Why Ponting’s heroes just don’t appeal to me

Man I loves this list of Top Sledges

• Some sledging gems from various sources

Vote for the greatest symbol of Love & Passion

The Taj Mahal is still strongly in the reckoning but needs all the votes it can get to make it to the final list of seven. New7Wonders describes Shah Jahan’s architectural paean to his beloved as the greatest symbol of love and passion.

So What Are You Waiting For? Vote for The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal Video