[Jeff Hatch]

Dibya,

Does the Conduit boot all the way to the login prompt on the debug console? I assume that you are trying to use the default credentials: root/root?

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

At some point the distribution of npm was contained in the nodejs package, and then the nodejs people moved it out separate for some reason. I think that npm is probably in the nodejs_0.8.28-r0.0_arm926ejste.ipk, but I don’t know for sure. I extracted this IPK with ar and it appears that the npm utility is in this package.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

You can get the IPK for npm off of our package feed at (assuming you are running 3.2.0 mlinux):

http://www.multitech.net/mlinux/feeds/3.2/arm926ejste/

The one for npm is called:

nodejs-npm_0.10.44-r1.3.0_arm926ejste.ipk

On Conduit the opkg utility is available to install the ipk.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Dibya,

You can re-flash the Conduit firmware by downloading the firmware files here:

Downloads

And re-flashing the firmware following the instructions here:

Flashing mLinux Firmware

You should save off any work that you want to keep as this will wipe out anything you have added.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Brian,

I can state that the native Bluetooth, WiFi, and GNSS is currently being actively developed. When it will be released, I am not sure, but there will probably be support for it with mLinux by the end of the year. There is currently no work being done on the WiFi mCard. The native BT, WiFi, and GNSS all will require purchasing a new version of Conduit.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Dibya,

Would you be willing to post your Node-RED flow as code here? I have installed the node-red-contrib-aws and added nodes with credentials in my flow along with lora nodes, and the lora nodes still say connected.

I am running AEP 1.3.2 on my Conduit.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Scott,

That firmware is about two and a half years old. Do you have a copy of the 3.0.13 firmware. If you do I would recommend that you make a configuration backup of the device and try to upgrade to version 3.4.5. With a configuration backup and the older firmware you can always fall back if jumping that far doesn’t work.

The fact is that browsers have changed significantly in the last two years, and that firmware may have been limited in which browsers are supported in the first place.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Scott,

Which version of firmware is running on the MTR?

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Magouero,

You can get the device ID through an HTTP REST request to the API on the device:

http://127.0.0.1/api/system/deviceId

You will get a JSON collection back that looks like:

{
“code” : 200,
“result” : “18587503”,
“status” : “success”
}

The Multitech MTR product has an API that is very similar, and is documented at:

http://www.multitech.net/developer/software/mtr-api-reference/

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Benjamin,

The current mCards that are supported by Multitech use the following module to initialize pins and reset modules:

git://git.multitech.net/mts-io.git

I would suggest creating your own module that initializes your mCard and load that module with an init script that runs early in startup. This will give you the control you need. As for how generic the interfacing is for the different LoRa cards, I do not know the answer to that question.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

To answer #1: The status LED blinks in that manner to signal that the unit is up and running. The two short blinks and pause are the normal operation.

#2: This is the normal state. Usually when the unit is rebooting both the status and LS lights go solid (lit). If they stay stuck this way or stay unlit then there is a problem.

#3: The LS LED is for Cellular. If the LS is not lit, either there is no Cellular radio or Cellular is not enabled.

#4: The only time either the status or LS LEDs will not have the behaviors described in #1 and #3 is if there is something wrong or, in the case of the LS, it will not be lit if there is no Cellular modem or Cellular is not enabled on the device.

Hope that helps,

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Eric,

There is documentation on the type of custom applications that are supported and also on custom application created at:

Creating a Custom Application

You can run your own node.js app on the AEP gateway or a Python app. The only catch is that you have to have an SD card installed on the AEP. Follow the guidelines for creating a custom application at the URL above and you can create custom applications. There are even a few example custom applications at the bottom of the main page on creating custom apps. The examples are node.js, Python, and a binary application using Boost.

The Partial Configuration feature supports the capability to create a custom configuration where you edit a limited number of configuration values (configuration of all values on Conduit is not supported). You do this on DeviceHQ, and then push the configuration to a Conduit using the Remote Management feature. Using this feature will require you to have created an account on DeviceHQ, and enabled Remote Management on your Conduit.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Faustin,

You will have to write an application that reads the data from the mqtt topic ‘lora/+/up’ and buffer the data. You can also control the ppp connection through the ppp init.d script.

You can probably write a simple node app that reads and buffers the data from the localhost mqtt, and sends the data to wherever you want at the designated time. I am not even sure that you will need to control the ppp connection unless you only want it up when you are sending.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Ajay,

At the bottom of http://www.multitech.net/developer/software/aep/creating-a-custom-application/ we have now posted some example apps. The express-hello-world sample app is there.

Sorry it took so long.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Jane,

Are you downloading the tool chain onto the Conduit? If so, that will not work. You should be able to use Ubuntu 14.04 to run the tool chain. Download the tool chain to Linux PC and build your binaries there. Then you can scp them onto the Conduit.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Ajay,

AEP 1.3 should be out before the end of this month. It is in the final stages of testing.

At this time, due to hardware architectural limitations, the Conduit is restricted to running only 0.10.x versions of Node.

Yes, the custom applications will be able to be deployed from DeviceHQ. Once AEP 1.3.x is released there is a sample Node application that we have been using in-house to test with that we call “express-hello-world” that is a simple web server app that you could probably use as a reference.

The only additional hardware requirement for custom applications is the need to have an SD Card inserted in the device.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Ajay,

It is possible to host your own web server on the AEP Conduit. Support for custom applications will gain a big boost in the upcoming AEP 1.3 release with a new framework for building custom applications that is described here:

Creating a Custom Application

You can use this framework if you need to upon the release of AEP 1.3 or you can install your nodejs application per the usual procedure. However if you install nodejs modules in the flash, they will be overwritten when the unit is upgraded. Use of the new framework will re-install the application after the device firmware has been upgraded.

The other thing you will need to address is adding firewall rules to allow the incoming connections to your web server. Also, keep in mind that the AEP Conduit Web UI uses ports 80 and 443, and that the Node-RED development page uses port 1880.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Si,

To reset the mLinux Conduit to defaults you can do the following according to http://www.multitech.net/developer/software/mlinux/using-mlinux/reset-mlinux-to-defaults/

$ rm -rf /var/config/*
$ touch /var/config/force_defaults
$ reboot

This will clear out /var/config and allow you to “start over” with Multitech supported software. However, if you have updated anything in /etc or somewhere else you could reflash the device.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Jane,

I gave you references to information on how to build libraries and your application for mLinux. I pointed out how you could build the libmosquitto package to install on your mLinux as an example and also so that you can build your application against it. I do not know what every package you need is. I mentioned nothing about node.js, though you can build the package for node and install that for use on an mLinux Conduit also if need be.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Catherine,

The ssh utility and rsync are available on the AEP Conduit (at least on the more recent versions). As for sudo, that currently isn’t necessary since the admin user is the same as root on the Conduit. The crontab utility is available so you should be able to run “crontab -e” commands on the Conduit. As for apt-get, the closest thing that Conduit has is opkg which still requires you to upload the package onto the Conduit before it will install it.

The one catch with editing crontab entries is that they will get overwritten on a firmware upgrade. Are you trying to update software packages of some kind on the AEP Conduit?

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Jane,

The mLinux environment is a pretty wide open development environment. In your base distribution you can find what libraries are available by default in /lib and /usr/lib on the mLinux Conduit. Additional libraries and other supporting software can be added by creating the packages for them by running bitbake on the desired recipe.

One place to read up on to get started would be:

Application Development

When doing application development you can either use the C/C++ tool chain mentioned here:

C/C++ Toolchain

or build the entire mLinux distribution, add your own bitbake recipe to your copy of the distribution and build your application using that bitbake recipe.

For example, if you need to add libmosquitto, you can build the mLinux distribution following these instructions:

Building a Custom Linux Image

and then build mosquitto with the following bitbake command:

bitbake mosquitto

Let us know of any other supporting packages you need, and we can help you get what is reasonably possible to integrate built and installed on your mLinux.

Jeff

• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Jeff Hatch.

[Jeff Hatch]

Cyryl,

Are you saying you want to convert your MTCDT-H5-210L to run the AEP software?

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Chris,

Your best bet would be to create a forward rule with a source interface of Ethernet, protocol TCP/UDP, chain FORWARD, and target REJECT. This will cause the AEP to block any traffic going from the Ethernet interface side to anywhere else. This still would allow connectivity to the device on the WEB UI. I’ve tested this a little bit, and it seems to be doing what you want. I tried blocking with a subnet, but that didn’t seem to work, so I just blocked everything from the Ethernet interface and it works.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Installing mlinux Conduit firmware on an AEP Conduit is the same as installing it on an mLinux model. There is no difference in the hardware.

[Jeff Hatch]

Mariusz,

You can file a support portal case at support.multitech.com. You can share your fix here if you want to.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

The wall wort that comes with the Conduit is a 9V supply. I don’t know that it would be safe to use a 12V.

[Jeff Hatch]

We will not be upgrading the node version beyond 0.10.x until it has been confirmed that the newer version (4.x) can compile and run on ARM5 architecture or when the Conduit hardware has been upgraded to use a CPU that supports the newer instruction set.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Zia,

It appears that you are trying to build for ARM5 which is correct. You should probably talk to the Go people and make sure that they support ARM5. After ARM5 the instruction sets grew for the later architectures, especially with regard to the Thumb instructions.

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Vij,

The reason that the AEP Conduit cannot be upgraded to any more recent version of node.js is that the CPU architecture does not support some of the newer instructions in the newer ARM chips that are required for the any version newer than 0.10.x. If you can find evidence that they have change that and can support ARM 5 architecture let me know.

Thank You,

Jeff

[Jeff Hatch]

Asier,

When you say “in the state information” do you mean in the Radio Status Web UI page?

Thank You,

Jeff

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