DreamQuest Pro+ N150 - a review

Once in  while the main PC I use need to be upgraded or fixed.

Normally I'm going on eBay looking for old server to rebuild the main PC, this time I decided to try to buy a new computer, where "new" means recently built.

Browsing around I found this little guy and somehow I was intrigued.

AirThings - gather data remotely

 During one of my excursions on flea markets, I did find a AirThings Wave Plus.

For 10$ I decided to buy it and try it out (the normal cost is around 230$).

fHelper - capacitive humidity sensor

Time ago I did use a traditional humidity soil sensor (from the Grove family) for the fHelper project and it ended up very badly.


After some search I decided to try a capacitive sensor.
There are many on the market, so I just did pick up one of the cheapest
and easy to have one, from Amazon.


This is a brief review of this sensor.

littleBits - a comment

Recently I discovered the littleBits website.
I'm always looking to easy ways to  prototyping ideas. The "traditional way" has always a quite long preparation time, designing the circuit, building a prototype, verify if is working, etc.
So I took a look at this new system to do electronics.

Here what I think about this system. It is important to understand that I'm evaluating it from MY perspective and needs, not from a generic perspective.

Overall I found the idea nicer, but not 100% positive.

I received my first electronic kit  similar in “concept” when I was 10 years old, in the deep past of 1970s.
Of course it was very basic. No microcontrollers or computers at the time, but I did built a transistor radio and other things.

The idea to “simplify” the assembly of electronic circuits is not new.

The leap I noticed with littleBits was that they creates “virtual” blocks, that are much more than the single component.

A nice well designed training tool, until a certain point.

Let see more in details what I think.

• Simple
  Sure it is simple to “assemble” circuit with this system.
  But it’s virtue is IMHO also it’s worse defect.  I found very probable that people who start to learn about electronics using this system, ends up with no clue about what he/she is doing.  Even a “simple” extension (to connect more modules) of this system has some electronic in it (analog buffer with an operational) and people who is supposed to learn “electronic” will never figure out that.Basically in order to simplify the assembly process, they created “meta-components” without any real technical description and a reason why they did it.In order to simplify the manual assembly, the cost is to don’t learn about the “real” components.For example, for each “module” there is a schematic but not a single word of explanation.How somebody is supposed to “learn” about electronic in this way ?
• Limited
  The simplicity has also another cost : the complexity.Duh … yeah, if it is simple is not complex. But also it means that do even small applications with the “basic” components, is difficult and require a lot of space and modules.Another limit is the fact that each module has only 1 signal line. Love the idea, it simplify the connections, but for example:
• Force to deal with analog voltages for everything
• Imply to have a real “clean” power supply, the minimum “noise” on the power and your functionality is gone
• Is more critical. It’s enough the “tolerance” of many components to introduce small variations among identical modules.
  It could mean to build something and if somebody try to replicate it, to have slightly  different results
• Cannot be really fast.
  There is a lot of work behind the curtains in order to carry all the signals on a single line and this has a huge impact on the time.  Real time systems cannot be really developed with this system

• Price
  Well, quite pricey !!
  To have enough modules to do some real work probably you have to invest AT LEAST 200-500$ and the material (blocks) are not usable in different projects (unless tear down what built).
  To have a full kit, i.e. everything available in enough quantity, is around 4000$ !!!
  For that amount you can set up much more than the “basics” with traditional electronic.
  I could build a more than decent personal lab with that amount, including quite a wide component selection and a lot of tools, from benches, furniture, power supplies (real ones, not USB limited  ), oscilloscopes, logic analyzer and so on. The basic entry point for this system is around 99$ …and really there is not much useful stuff that can be done.

So my impression is that is very nice introductory tool as long as :

• You have a lot of money to “invest”
• You are NOT interested to really learn electronic but just “build” something, possible guided by someone that tells you what modules to put together
• You are not interested in replicate what you are doing (scale up an application)
• You are not interested to deploy your buildings in the real world (mechanical issues – protection – etc.)
• You have no constrains about space where to put the electronic
• You don’t have to deal with “real time” or precision requirements

What is the “target” of this system then ?
IMHO for somebody who wants to build something more complicated than turn a lamp ON or OFF, but doesn't wants really to learn electronic and is willing to use whatever the “system” make available.

For electronic learning purposes I think that on the long run the risk to learn the wrong stuff is quite real.
Learning electronic imply to understand how each single component works, its limits and capabilities. Each littleBits module has more than one electronic component inside and understand how is really working imply to know a lot of electronic. So is a catch 22.
The littleBits modules hide totally each electronic component function.

Another potential user of this system is somebody who wants to see the feasibility of an idea and build a fast prototype.
An alternative way to the use of the breadboard.

IF the constraints I listed above are meet, it can be done. However the price is probably ten times more than the traditional way.

And the limits of the system are really too much  for professional use.

Just my 2 cents

Chromecast - quick review

I recently bought a Chromecast device to test.

I already have an Android based "pen-USB" streamer connected to my TV and I was curious to see how a different system was working.

Here some impressions.

Opening

The package itself is quite fascinating.

The device is quite small, actually little bit smaller than the USB Android pen device I'm currently use.

In the box, well packed, there is the device, a power supply, a micro USB cable and an HDMI extension cord, just in case is not possible to connect the device directly to the TV.

Installing

Installing the Chromecast device is quite straightforward.
Just plug it in into a HDMI port on the TV and connect the power.
Some TV have an USB hub integrated, so in this case will there no need for the external power supply.

After a few seconds a screen will appear on the TV.

At this point the best way is to use an Android system (or iOS) and follow the instructions.
A Chromecast application is installed on the smartphone/tablet and from there is enough to follow the directions.

The required time to install Chromecast is around 5-10 minutes top.

Use

One thing must be understood immediately.
Chromecast is working with specific stream services !

In other words Chromecast can stream ONLY services that have an "app" for Chromecast.

Chromecast is NOT :

• a generic Android system connected to the TV
• a relay of the screen of your phone or tablet
• a stand alone computer

Currently is possible to stream from YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and few other services but a lot of people is working to bring more apps to Chromecast, to allow more streaming.

The quality of the streaming  is very very good actually, much more better than my USB pen-based Android streamer and also the WiFi management seems better and more reliable than the USB Android pen-based streamer.

The connection to the streaming servers is totally transparent, i.e. no need to set up accounts or passwords. So if somebody with a smartphone has a subscription to some service (like Netflix)  the Chromecast will use that to be connected.

Problems

Well, actually there are few problems, but I'm quite sure they  are depending about my particular configuration of the network.

On my network I have almost everything  with a fixed IP. I do have a DHCP server but the majority of the appliances have a fixed IP (for many reasons).

Chromecast currently is NOT supporting the fixed IP configuration.
So sometimes my DHCP server assigns an address that for some reasons is not working well, leaving the  Chromecast not working. 

On "standard" domestic/consumer oriented networks, where everything is under DHCP, there are actually no problems that I'm aware off.

Another issue is the impossibility to easily stream from a local server.
It is possible to have some streaming done from the phone but there is not an easy way to do so yet.
I'm sure it will be fixed for the future.

Conclusion

Well, for the price I would say that is a "must to have" little device.

Is NOT meant to substitute a self-contained Android terminal connected to the TV, but is incredibly useful to see on TV the most popular streaming using a smartphone or tablet as "intelligent remote".
While watching a streaming the smartphone or tablet remains free to do other things or look for other programs.

And is fun too. Friends with a smartphone/tablet (Android or iOS) can connect to the Chromecast ( after installing the application on the smartphone/tablet) and show their stream selection to everybody.

Update

Just a quick note.
Chromecast can be used also with Apple products.
i.e. is not necessary to have Android smartphone or tablet in order to use Chromecast.
It is also possible to stream from any PC/Mac running Chrome (via  a plug-in for Chromecast) but honestly if you are already in front a computer, is not really important to stream on a TV (my opinion of course).

The Logitech saga ...

OK. Let me state as first thing, that Logitech is NOT paying me for this   :)
I love this company ! So far everything I have from Logitech is working flawlessly, from my keyboard, mouse, TV universal remote (series Harmony ... REALLY Neat !) and of course my SqueezeBox.
(well .. Mr. Logitech ... I would not be offended if you want to contribute somehow :) )

Time ago I posted some information about the SqueezeBox internet radio and it's Logitech Media Server code.
Just remember that I don't use Windows, so everything in these articles assumes we are talking about Linux. Specifically the Logitech Media Server was installed previously over an Ubuntu 10.04 distro, now is running over a CentOS 5.x one.

This time I want to discuss a little bit more about the server and other projects around it.
First of all, the SqueezeBox is still working quite great !
I updated the server and the firmware a couple of time and few days ago I decided to move the server on another machine.
Why ?  well, just to optimize the resources and free up a little bit the machine previously hosting the server.

Logitech Media Server

So I downloaded the latest version of the code and installed it from the scratch on a different machine (always on my network).
Initially it was not recognized by the SqueezeBox so I checked some things.
Here some hints and things to check :

• Be sure that the linux machine where the Logitech Media Server  is installed has the port 9000 and 3843 open
• Be sure that the directory where the music is stored, has the right permissions.
  The permission should be assigned to the user squeezeboxserver (created automatically during the server installation)
• Check that the server is actually running
  I had some permission set wrong so the server crashed because it could not access the music folder for the scan
• Give some time !!  There are some timeout involved in the system, so there is some time (15 minutes or more) before the SqueezeBox sees the server

Also remember that any time you change the Logitech Media Server code, a new firmware is loaded in the SqueezeBox !

My current version of the Logitech Media Server is the 7.7.2

SoftSqueeze

While waiting for the SqueezeBox to see the server, I found another very interesting project : SoftSqueeze.

SoftSqueeze is an open source project aimed to reproduce a SqueezeBox on a PC.

Very neat !

It requires to have Java installed.

Use on Ubuntu 10.04

I installed it very simply downloading the RPM from the website and converted it (with alien) in DEB.

Then simply I installed it.

On my machine (Ubuntu 10.04) the DEB installed the main access to the program it in the /opt/softsqueeze directory.

So in order to run it, is possible to open a terminal and then digit : /opt/softsqueeze/softsqueeze

If is working, it's easy to add an icon in a panel. In this case pointing in the /opt/softsqueeze/softsqueeze/lib is possible to find some icons.

After the installation SoftSqueeze recognized the server using the server name I assigned it.

However it was not working.

In order to have it working I had to force the IP address of the server, instead the name of the server found automatically. It is possible that is due to the fact the version of the player (SoftSqueeze) installed is optimized for the server version 7.5.x and I installed the latest one, 7.7.x.

Anyway after forcing the local IP of the server, the player started to work immediately.

So now the new server recognize the SqueezeBox and SoftSqueeze without problems.

Use on Kubuntu 12.04

I have a laptop with installed Kubuntu 12.04 (it uses KDE).

I just copied the DEB package created with alien and installed via the standard package installer.

Same identical procedure and problems find on Ubuntu.

After forcing the IP address of the server instead the found name, started to work perfectly !

Very very neat !

Like the Ubuntu 10.04, I created a link to the application and is working without problems.

So a new way to hear my collection in streaming !

Hope this can help somebody :)

GXV3140 - Update (02/2012)

The GXV3140 is the latest IP phone from GrandStream.
Here some updated notes since the original post and impressions about this new phone.

Positive things

As I mentioned in the original post, the screen activation based on some motion, is really a nice thing.
When in front of the phone is possible to see information about the status of the line or the time (yeah, I love watches :) ) and if nobody is there ... black screen.

Skype is working well. The quality of audio and video is really good also with Skype.

Also the normal calls with SIP are really high quality.

Negative things


Most of the time the phone is working well, however it is less stable and reliable than the older GXV3000 series.
The GXV3140 crashed at least 4 or 5 times since I activated it.
So far I observed that the crash happens when Skype is activated (i.e. logged in).
Some times it was enough trying to place a call to trigger a crash.  In one occasion I had the phone crash without doing any operation, probably after 2 days of continuous log-in to Skype.
Usually the crash manifest itself with a "frozen" system, i.e. the display shows something but the phone is totally non-responsive.
The only thing to do is to unplug the power, wait few seconds and then reconnect the power.

It would be interesting monitor the IP traffic to the phone to see if the crash is due from attempts to attack the phone.
Skype is notoriously dangerous, I don't think the phone is "smart" enough to protect itself.

Another annoying characteristic is the menu' to place a call.
To place a call, assuming to have the number in the phonebook, is necessary to press a lot of buttons, much more than the GXV3000.
First the phonebook button, then select the user, then press the F1 (assigned to the call function), then select if the call is only audio or audio/video and then finally the call is placed.
Really time wasting.

Still remains the impossibility to change some  parameters in the phone. Probably a factory reset is necessary but so far I didn't spend time on that.
Maybe one of these days.

The automatic gain of the camera is quite annoying.
It's enough to move little bit far from the phone during a call to have the image transmitted to become totally dark. I did try also other settings but the final effect is not better.

Skype doesn't support conferences. That would be quite useful.

Logitech Squeezebox review

Here some notes about the Logitech Squeezebox IP radio.   
Until few months ago, my only experience with the IP Radio was with an Aluratek, until it broke down.
Since I did not have ANY KIND of support from Aluratek, even if the radio was under warranty, I decided of course to don't go again with that brand.
If maybe somebody has not understood ...  Aluratek is a no no brand for IP radio !  

Then a friend of mine  made me a nice gift with the  Logitech Squeezebox IP Radio.
Here some notes and impressions.

Pro and cons

Here a quick lists of pro and cons based on my experience so far.

Pro :

• Well, the brand.  It is a nice product and the company support rocks !
• Easy to operate, easy to configure
• No needs to read manuals/documentations
• Wired and wireless connection available
• Very nice sound
• Hackable !!!
• It uses Linux !
• Streaming server open source and available for Windows/Linux/Mac
• With a battery it can be disconnected from the main power and become portable (battery and IR remote as expansions)

Cons :

• The cost
• No IR remote by default

General

The radio is really nice and "heavy" enough, easy to manipulate.
The user interface is based on a rotary encoder  pushable and few main buttons.  Easy to operate, though boring if you have to write something (like searching for a song or radio digiting the name).

Few problems with the wireless setting and DHCP but I think are my network problems, not a radio fault.
Setting a fixed IP and wired connected solved for now all the problems.  I'll experiment eventually in future with the WiFi. In order to have the radio working properly I had to disable the WiFi router DHCP server, keeping only the main one (on the main router).
Once set up the WiFi the radio was able to catch an address from the DHCP server.

By default the radio try to connects with a Logitech server, mysqeezebox.com.
Going there with a browser allows you to set up many features of the radio and found a lot of radio stations.

Then it is possible to install a server (available for Windows, Linux and Mac) in order to stream your own music from your network.
From there all the radio are accessible as well, so basically there is no need (like Aluratek) to access a specific company-related server.

And amazingly ... the radio is Linux based and the server is open source !!!
And now some more details about some characteristics/experiences.

Setting up

As I said, the radio is easy to configure and set up.
I had few problems with the WiFi setting, very probably due for my network.
I didn't want to spend too much time on that, so for the moment I solved assigning a fixed IP to the radio and connecting it in wired mode.
Both DHCP and direct IP are supported, for wired and wireless connections.
No problems.

Server

I installed the Logitech Sqeezebox server for Debian (Ubuntu) and it worked as soon as the installation was ended.
However I had to solve a small problem (again due to my system and not to the server).

Music Library

During the server setting,  it is necessary to assign a path for the Music Library to use for the stream.
In my case the music collection is hosted on a 1 TB Hard drive.
For some reasons, the hard drive is not automatically mounted at the boot time, so the first time I turned off the PC and then back on, the server was not able tofind the scanned music.
Mounting the hard driver and restarting the server solved the problem.

I probably solved the problem installing an utility called pysdm (sudo apt-get install pysdm).
This utility assigns a fixed name for a driver and mount it at every boot.
Now the drive is mounted at the boot time so the server (that starts automatically) always find the music files.

Alarms

Basically the radio shows a list of the possible "networks", among them the server.
When selected, the radio try to connect to it in order to retrieve Favorites and settings.  Alarms included.

This actually created an unexpected behavior.
If the computer running the server is turned off, turning on the radio causes the PC to start !
Because of that, the PC starts automatically when an alarm is firing !
For me is an extra feature, I have the PC turned on automatically in the morning !

Pictures

If in a directory containing a MP3/FLAC CD, exists the cover image of the original CD, the picture will be showed both on the radio and on the server.
I'm not sure about what name it should have.
I experimented with "Folder.jpg" and AlbumArt_Large.jpg, AlbumArt_Small.jpg and AlbumArtSmall.jpg.

In case images are added, it is necessary to force the rescan of the Music directory on the server.

Use

Here some tips and trick about the radio.

Server

In order to use or configure the server, simply open the browser and digit :

http://localhost:9000

Of course if the server is running on a different machine, simply use the machine IP.
From the server is possible to control the radio. In my case is working also :

http://oliver3:9000
http://192.168.2.106:9000

Server selection

In order to use the server, the radio needs to select it.
Using the radio menu and controls, select the server (it will appears with the name used during the server installation)

CY7C68013A USB Logic Analyzer

I received to test a little board based on the Cypress CY7C68013A.
Here some notes about this experience.

The CY7C68013A USB Logic Analyzer is a small board made by a Chinese company (Lcsoft) sold on Ebay from a China reseller as a Logic Analyzer tool.
It's a small board based on a Cypress CY7C68013A micro-controller (an 8051 clone).

First impressions

The board arrived in a small padded envelop, without any cable, documentation and software.
Quite useless due the totally lack of information.
Looking over the net didn't return too much information, there are very few seller of this product.

On some Ebay auctions for this board, there were present some links to the schematics and software, however these links seems not working.

Being only in Chinese is not really helpful to understand what is going on, also if it appears a "button" is available, but it is  disabled (gray one).
Also the download material available on these links, is information-less.
Are basically 3 rar files named 0000.rar, 1111.rar and 2222.rar, not really self explaining.
I had to contact the vendor of the board, and he initially answered back giving me the link to the same URL I discovered not working.
After another round of contacts, the vendor sent me the files via email.

The software

As I mentioned earlier, the software associated to this board, is coming in three "anonymous" RAR files :

• 0000.rar
• 1111.rar
• 2222.rar 

0000.rar

This file contains other rar files, some of them named in Chinese and thus with wrong/illegal names in English.
Fortunately, at least under Linux, almost all in the end was accessible.
Without entering too much in detail here some contents, for what I can say (no documentation is present) :

• -rw-r--r-- 1 1118001 2007-01-02 00:13 56pin.rar
  Source code for the board firmware.
  There are different directories and is not clear if all the code present is part of what is written on the chip or if there are testing code, experiments, ecc.
  There is NO documentation, nor information, nor about the necessary tools to compile the code and how to load it in the chip.
• -rw-r--r-- 1 1701745 2007-01-02 00:13 Logic Software 1.0.21.rar
  Windows version Logic analyzer program in binary, no documentation.
  It is from the USBee Suite .
• -rw-r--r-- 1 229606 2007-01-02 00:13 Schematic.rar
  Schematic and BOM of the board

1111.rar

This file contains a single zip file, that in the end contains a MSIA loader (Microsoft stuff)

• -rw-r--r-- 1 11416917 2009-02-18 02:13 axsw.zip
  

2222.rar

Also this file contains a single zip file that contains some USB drivers for Windows.

• -rw-r--r-- 1 8372169 2010-05-05 11:21 usbeesuitesw.zip 

To better organize the received material, I created a new tree , changing some names to better identify the pieces :

• drwxr-xr-x 7   4096 2010-11-01 16:23 Firmware
  This directory contains the firmware supposedly on board
• drwxr-xr-x 2   4096 2011-03-18 12:29 LogicAnalyzer
  It seems a logic analyzer code. Not sure if is equivalent to the UsbeeSuite or it is part
• drwxr-xr-x 2   4096 2011-03-18 07:05 Msia
  Microsoft libraries
• drwxr-xr-x 2   4096 2007-01-02 03:37 Schematics
  Schematics of the board
• drwxr-xr-x 2   4096 2011-03-18 07:05 UsbeeSuite
  Usbee Suite 1.5.7

The hardware

The schematic present in the received files, it just illustrates the board "as is", without any indication about how to use it for the Logic Analyzer function. 
Doing some tests using the program Logic under Windows (1.0.21), it seems that the 8 inputs used are located in the port B, where PB0 is the Input 1, PB1 the input 2 and so on.
The pins not connected to a probe input, reports an high value (+5V), i.e. seems the inputs are pulled up.
Also from the tests it seems the board can support max 8Mhz as input frequency.
The possible selection of the program Logic (12 Mhz, 16 Mhz and 24 Mhz) are not working.
The program automatically reduce them to lower values if selected. 
From some tests, it appears that all the selections of frequency are working, however the combination of the frequency and the  number of samples can  cause the program to "scale down" the frequency selection.
When the jumper close to the Eeprom is removed, the board is not seen anymore as Logic Analyzer but as Cypress development board.
Probably in the Eeprom are stored the codes and/or firmware for the Logic analyzer.

The cable

The analyzer arrived without any cable, so I looked around to see what was the best approach.
Some sellers of the board (and similar one) sells a cable that can be connected to the board, but I didn't like it for the price, the endless waiting time (from Honk Kong) and the appearance.
So I decided to buy the cable  used by the Logic original hardware and build a simple adapter board to connect it.
I bought the cable from Sparkfun (TOL-09225).

Here a couple of pictures of the adapter board to connect the cable to the logic analyzer.

     

The Logic Analyzer

Exploring the received files, I didn't find a single piece of documentation about how to set up both software and hardware, the logic analyzer functionality.

From some comments and the nature of the code, I think that the package (hardware and software) is a clone (hack ?) of the USBee LX series of USB instruments .
There is also another Logic analyzer code, the Logic, from Saleae , that exist also for Linux .
So in order to see if the board is actually working, here are some required steps :

1. try to install on a Windows machine the included software :
   
   • USBee Logic Analyzer Suite
   • Microsoft Net extensions
   • Saleae Logic analyzer (Version 1.0.21)
2. check the installed software in order to find hardware hook up info
3. connect the hardware to the PC and see if is working and discover how to use the board I/O
4. try to do the same with the Linux version

Install code

Logic 1.0.21 (Windows)

One for the Windows code in the received files, is from the Saleae, Logic, version 1.0.21.
The program requires some .Net libraries, I suspect the ones received with the rest of the code.
However the installation checks and installs them from the Microsoft website directly.
The .Net framework installation takes some time, so it is mandatory to have patience. 
After restarted the computer and completed the installation, it is possible to launch Logic, after connecting the board.
The board is recognized and the program is able to read the signals.
Status : working

Logic 1.1.4 (Ubuntu)

The Ubuntu (32 bit) version tested is the 1.1.4.
There is no need to install the code, however in the Driver directory there is an udev entry and a small script capable to copy the udev rule under /etc/udev.
So far the board is recognized (plug in) but on I have a not identified "access" problem.
lsusb recognize the board as "Lakeview Research"
Bus 001 Device 021: ID 0925:3881 Lakeview Research
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass          255 Vendor Specific Class
  bDeviceSubClass       255 Vendor Specific Subclass
  bDeviceProtocol       255 Vendor Specific Protocol
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x0925 Lakeview Research
  idProduct          0x3881
  bcdDevice            0.00
  iManufacturer           1
  iProduct                2
  iSerial                 0
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           46
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0
    bmAttributes         0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower              100mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           4
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass    255 Vendor Specific Subclass
      bInterfaceProtocol    255 Vendor Specific Protocol
      iInterface              0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x06  EP 6 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
can't get device qualifier: Connection timed out
can't get debug descriptor: Connection timed out
cannot read device status, Connection timed out (110)

However some info I found suggest that the board should give more information.
Status : NOT working



Logic 1.1.9 (Ubuntu)

The Ubuntu (32 bit) version tested is the 1.1.9.
There is no need to install the code, however in the Driver directory there is an udev entry and a small script capable to copy the udev rule under /etc/udev.
So far the board is recognized (plug in) but on I have a not identified "access" problem.
lsusb recognize the board as "Lakeview Research".

Status :  working

Logic 1.1.4  (Windows)

I installed also the new version of Logic, the 1.1.4, under Windows.
The installation was successful, however like the Ubuntu version, is not full recognizing the board, aborting immediately after the board is connected to the USB.
A collateral effect I had so far, is that the board is not working anymore also with the 1.0.21 version of Logic until the new Logic program 1.1.4 is dis-installed and the computer restarted.
Status : NOT working (not yet tested with the update)

Logic 1.0.33  (Windows)

On the Saleae website is also present an older version of Logic, but greater than the one present in the received files from the board vendor.
The version, only for Windows, is called 1.0.33 (present also in this website) and is working.
Status : working

USBee Suite 1.5.7 (Windows)

The other included Logic analyzer application is the USBee Suite, version 1.5.7.
The installation went well, no errors (on my Win XP machine) but the code it crash as soon as it starts, after the splashscreen.
Doesn't matter to have the board connected or not to the computer.
Status : NOT working

Conclusion

The board is working basically only with the version of Logic 1.0.21 and Logic 1.0.33 under Windows and with limitations (max. available frequency).
The lack of information make really complicate to try to study the reason of the failure with newer version of the Logic or Linux version, but I think has to do with a lack of information to the USB udev.
Also in order to use the board is necessary to :

• buy a set of 9 probes
• prepare a piggy back circuit to adapt the probe connettor
  Since the board is "generic" the probe connection are not linear but the ones available on the market are.
• eventually optoisolate/protect the inputs
• put the board in a case

For the price is sure an interesting object, but the lack of information and the reduced capabilities if compared with "official" products can reduce the usefulness of the product.

If having reduced capabilities, like be forced to use Windows instead of Linux and the limit in the frequency input, having to build the case for the board, play with the received material and lack of information (that this article tries to fix), then it can make sense to spend the money.

Otherwise I think the full price of the "originals" like the Saleae Logic are more than well justified.