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    PfSense on a Celestix S-X MSA 4000

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
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    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      The LCD module looks pretty standard, the board it's mounted on looks more custom. It has the LEDs and the jog dial connected to it? The chip seems to be this:
      http://www.simkits.com/downloads/documents/CY7C63743.pdf
      If the USB to the LCD is just passed through then getting that going with lcdproc may not be too tricky.
      The fact that the device is detected as a USB device with Vendor ID 0cb6 is not good as that's Celestix themselves.

      What is the state of support for the Varitronix display in lcdproc?

      Steve

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • N
        nanobot
        last edited by

        @stephenw10:

        What is the state of support for the Varitronix display in lcdproc?

        I think that’s part of the problem in that I don’t see any support for Varitronix display in lcdproc.  :'(

        In LCDproc file what would be the settings for:
        ugen1.2: <vendor 0x0cb6="">at usbus1
        ukbd0: <vendor 0="" 2="" 0x0cb6="" keyboard="" +="" lcd,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.10="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus1

        Device=/dev/ugen1.2

        I hope i've this correct?

        Here is all the USB info i can find ;)

        
        [2.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/dev(2): ls
        acpi       crypto     fd         mem        ttyu0.init ttyv8      ugen3.1
        ad4        ctty       fido       nfslock    ttyu0.lock ttyv9      ugen4.1
        ad4s1      cuau0      geom.ctl   null       ttyu1      ttyva      ukbd0
        ad4s1a     cuau0.init io         pci        ttyu1.init ttyvb      urandom
        ad4s1b     cuau0.lock kbd0       pf         ttyu1.lock ttyvc      usb
        agpgart    cuau1      kbd1       ptmx       ttyv0      ttyvd      usbctl
        ata        cuau1.init kbd2       random     ttyv1      ttyve      xpt0
        atkbd0     cuau1.lock kbdmux0    speaker    ttyv2      ttyvf      zero
        audit      dcons      klog       stderr     ttyv3      ufsid      zfs
        bpf        devctl     kmem       stdin      ttyv4      ugen0.1
        bpf0       devstat    led        stdout     ttyv5      ugen1.1
        console    dgdb       md0        sysmouse   ttyv6      ugen1.2
        consolectl dumpdev    mdctl      ttyu0      ttyv7      ugen2.1
        [2.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/dev(3):
        
        2.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/dev(3): dmesg | grep usb
        usbus0: <intel 82801g="" (ich7)="" usb="" controller="" usb-a="">on uhci0
        usbus1: <intel 82801g="" (ich7)="" usb="" controller="" usb-b="">on uhci1
        usbus2: <intel 82801g="" (ich7)="" usb="" controller="" usb-c="">on uhci2
        usbus3: <intel 82801g="" (ich7)="" usb="" controller="" usb-d="">on uhci3
        usbus4: EHCI version 1.0
        usbus4: <intel 82801gb="" r="" (ich7)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">on ehci0
        usbus0: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
        usbus1: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
        usbus2: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
        usbus3: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
        usbus4: 480Mbps High Speed USB v2.0
        ugen0.1: <intel>at usbus0
        uhub0: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus0
        ugen1.1: <intel>at usbus1
        uhub1: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus1
        ugen2.1: <intel>at usbus2
        uhub2: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus2
        ugen3.1: <intel>at usbus3
        uhub3: <intel 1="" 9="" uhci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus3
        ugen4.1: <intel>at usbus4
        uhub4: <intel 1="" 9="" ehci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus4
        Root mount waiting for: usbus4 usbus3 usbus2 usbus1 usbus0
        Root mount waiting for: usbus4
        Root mount waiting for: usbus4
        ugen1.2: <vendor 0x0cb6="">at usbus1
        ukbd0: <vendor 0="" 2="" 0x0cb6="" keyboard="" +="" lcd,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.10="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus1
        [2.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/dev(4):
        
        [2.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/dev(5): pciconf -lv
        uhci0@pci0:0:29:0:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x27c88086 chip=0x27c88086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
            class      = serial bus
            subclass   = USB
        uhci1@pci0:0:29:1:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x27c98086 chip=0x27c98086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
            class      = serial bus
            subclass   = USB
        uhci2@pci0:0:29:2:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x27ca8086 chip=0x27ca8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
            class      = serial bus
            subclass   = USB
        uhci3@pci0:0:29:3:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x27ca8086 chip=0x27cb8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
            class      = serial bus
            subclass   = USB
        ehci0@pci0:0:29:7:      class=0x0c0320 card=0x27cc8086 chip=0x27cc8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
            class      = serial bus
            subclass   = USB
        [2.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/dev(6):
        
        [2.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/dev(6): usbconfig
        ugen0.1: <uhci root="" hub="" intel="">at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=SAVE
        ugen1.1: <uhci root="" hub="" intel="">at usbus1, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=SAVE
        ugen2.1: <uhci root="" hub="" intel="">at usbus2, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=SAVE
        ugen3.1: <uhci root="" hub="" intel="">at usbus3, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=SAVE
        ugen4.1: <ehci root="" hub="" intel="">at usbus4, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=SAVE
        ugen1.2: <keyboard +="" lcd="" vendor="" 0x0cb6="">at usbus1, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=LOW (1.5Mbps) pwr=ON
        [2.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/dev(7):
        
        [2.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/dev(7): pciconf -l -cv
        uhci0@pci0:0:29:0:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x27c88086 chip=0x27c88086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
            class      = serial bus
            subclass   = USB
        uhci1@pci0:0:29:1:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x27c98086 chip=0x27c98086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
            class      = serial bus
            subclass   = USB
        uhci2@pci0:0:29:2:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x27ca8086 chip=0x27ca8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
            class      = serial bus
            subclass   = USB
        uhci3@pci0:0:29:3:      class=0x0c0300 card=0x27ca8086 chip=0x27cb8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
            class      = serial bus
            subclass   = USB
        ehci0@pci0:0:29:7:      class=0x0c0320 card=0x27cc8086 chip=0x27cc8086 rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
            class      = serial bus
            subclass   = USB
            cap 01[50] = powerspec 2  supports D0 D3  current D0
        [2.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/dev(8):</keyboard></ehci></uhci></uhci></uhci></uhci></vendor></vendor></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel></intel> 
        ```</vendor></vendor>
        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • stephenw10S
          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
          last edited by

          Hmm tricky. The datasheet for the Varitronix MDLS40263, PDF, appears to show that the onbaord controller chip requires some custom 8bit data protocol. May be less custom than I think, most LCDs seem to use something like this. I think it will all depend on how much custom code Celestix have put on the chip on their board. If it's all passed through and done in the driver then there is always a chance. If it's custom code in the chip then we have no idea how to talk to it.

          Edit: The LCDproc HD44780 driver appears to support the NT3881D IC in that display:
          @http://lcdproc.omnipotent.net/hardware.php3:

          hd44780 All displays using HD44780 and compatible controllers (like KS0066, KS0070, KS0076, LC7985, NT3881, SED1278, ST7066)

          It's likely a matter of figuring how the chip on the Celestix board separates the various devices, control knob, LEDs, lcd data lines.

          It seems other manufacturers have used that microcontroller for similar purposes. Google throws up some interesting results.

          Steve

          Edit: This looks promising:
          http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=ucycom&apropos=0&sektion=4&manpath=FreeBSD+8.3-RELEASE&arch=default&format=html
          It would require some mods to make it recognise the USB IDs.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • M
            Mjavaro
            last edited by

            Hello, just bought a couple of celestix appliances on an auction. I just spend a few minutes to start one of them with a VGA monitor connected. I noticed That  the system is booting up by first going into a GRUB bootloader. In this boot menu one can choose an recovery option. Choosing the recovery option the system boots into linux, with on the screen just a USB device driver. The lcd with jog dial shows a menu for the last good configuration or a restore of a Windows server 2003.

            So to me it Seems there should be a linux driver for the LCD/jog module on the hard disk.

            Good luck

            Marc

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              Interesting. The Linux driver's probably not much good to us in freebsd but if they're using lcdproc it will give some good clues.

              Steve

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • M
                Mjavaro
                last edited by

                I think LCDProc i's not needed. it looks if they are only using shell scripts for the whole IO communication with the display.

                These scripts in /etc/init.d are calling a function "lcd_functions" in /etc/hardware/current where current is a variable ScorpioII Scorpio X ( al versions of the celestix appliances. And as a big suprise the function itself is not a compiled programm but a sh script!!!

                Ok this scripts calls a program in the Bin directory (Scorpio_readkey) that is communicating to a /dev/ttyX and has been compiled in GCC: (GNU) 3.2.2 20030109 (Debian prerelease)

                –---------------
                DEV="/dev/usb/scorpioLCD1"
                chvt 2

                lcd_write()
                {
                STR1=echo $* | cut -b1-80
                LASTSTR=$STR1
                STR=printf "%-80s" "$STR1"
                echo -n "$STR" > $DEV
                }

                format_line()
                {
                INSTR=$1
                INHILITE=$2

                if [ -n "$INSTR" ]
                then
                LEN=echo $INSTR | wc -m

                Check if string is longer than 36 characters

                if [ $LEN -gt 36 ]
                then
                START=$(($LEN-16))
                P1=echo $INSTR | cut -b 1-17
                P2=echo $INSTR | cut -b $START-
                STR="$P1…$P2"
                else
                STRx=echo $INSTR | cut -b 1-36
                STR=printf "%-36s" "$STRx"
                fi

                if [ $INHILITE -eq 1 ]
                then
                STR="$STR  <<"
                else
                STR="$STR    "
                fi
                else
                STR=printf "%40s" " "
                fi
                echo -n "$STR"
                }

                draw_menu()
                {
                TOPx=$1
                shift

                HILITE=$1
                shift

                while [ $TOPx -gt 0 ]
                do
                shift
                TOPx=$(($TOPx-1))
                done

                Y=1
                lcd_cls

                if [ $HILITE -eq 1 ]
                then
                STR1=format_line "$1" 1
                STR2=format_line "$2" 0
                else
                STR1=format_line "$1" 0
                STR2=format_line "$2" 1
                fi

                echo -n "${STR1}${STR2}" > $DEV
                }

                lcd_menu()
                {
                DEF=1
                HILITE=1
                TOP=0
                NUM=$#

                MENUSTR=
                while [ -n "$1" ]
                do
                MENUSTR="$MENUSTR "$1""
                shift
                done

                while [ 1 ]
                do
                eval draw_menu $TOP $HILITE $MENUSTR

                KEY=/bin/scorpio_readkey -1
                case $KEY in
                right)
                if [ $DEF -gt 1 ]
                then
                DEF=$(($DEF-1))
                if [ $DEF -le $TOP ]
                then
                TOP=$(($TOP-1))
                fi
                fi
                HILITE=1
                ;;

                push)
                break
                ;;

                left)
                if [ $DEF -lt $NUM ]
                then
                DEF=$(($DEF+1))
                if [ $HILITE -eq 2 ]
                then
                TOP=$(($TOP+1))
                fi
                fi
                HILITE=2
                ;;
                esac
                done
                echo $DEF
                }

                lcd_cls()
                {
                STR=printf "%80s" " "
                echo -n "$STR" > $DEV
                }

                lcd_msg()
                {
                msg=echo "$1" | cut -b1-4
                if [ ${#LASTSTR} -gt 74 ]
                then
                LASTSTR=echo -n $LASTSTR | cut -b1-74
                STR="$LASTSTR[$msg]"
                else
                N=$((80 - ${#LASTSTR} - 6))
                STR=printf "$LASTSTR%${N}s[$msg]" " "
                fi
                echo -n "$STR" > $DEV
                }

                lcd_ok()
                {
                lcd_msg " OK "
                }

                lcd_fail()
                {
                printf "\a"
                lcd_msg "FAIL"
                }

                lcd_wait()
                {
                lcd_msg "WAIT"
                }
                –-------------------------------
                Confirm_restore.orig script

                #!/bin/sh

                ###############################

                Confirm Restore

                ###############################

                if [ -f "/etc/hardware/current/lcd_functions" ]
                then
                  . /etc/hardware/current/lcd_functions
                fi

                if [ -f "/etc/product.spec" ]
                then
                  . /etc/product.spec
                fi

                if grep -q "LGVSAVE" /proc/cmdline ; then
                  /etc/init.d/last_good_version_save
                  reboot
                fi

                if grep -q "LGVRESTORE" /proc/cmdline ; then
                  /etc/init.d/last_good_version_restore
                  reboot
                fi

                LGVAVAIL=ls /rescue/LGV* 2>/dev/null | grep -q LGV && echo YES

                confirmation() {
                  # Shows a Proceed prompt,
                  # Args: 1 (Yes - Default then No),
                  #      2 (No  - Default then Yes),
                  #      Others: 2 Assumed
                  # Returns: TRUE (0) if Default is selected, else FALSE (1)
                  OPTION=$1
                  DEFAULT="Proceed?                        "
                  OTHERLN="                                "
                  if [ "$OPTION" = "1" ] ; then
                    DEFAULT="${DEFAULT}Yes"
                    OTHERLN="${OTHERLN} No"
                  else
                    DEFAULT="${DEFAULT} No"
                    OTHERLN="${OTHERLN}Yes"
                  fi
                  choice=lcd_menu "$DEFAULT" "$OTHERLN"
                  if [ "X$choice" = "X1" ] ; then
                    return 0
                  else
                    return 1
                  fi
                }

                restore_menu_default() {
                  choice=lcd_menu "Cancel Restore" "Restore System"
                  if [ "X$choice" = "X1" ] ; then
                    operation_cancelled "Restore"
                  else
                    /etc/init.d/partimage
                  fi
                }

                operation_cancelled() {
                  lcd_write "$* is Cancelled. Rebooting in 3 seconds."
                  sleep 3
                  reboot
                  exit 1
                }

                restore_menu_full() {
                  # Now we check to see if there are extra images that we can
                  # install
                  if [ -z "$EXTRAIMAGES" ] ; then
                    restore_menu_default
                  else
                    # There are spare items that we can install
                    # Check installable items
                    IMAGES=""
                    for f in $EXTRAIMAGES ; do
                      if echo $f | grep -q -e ".000$" ; then
                        IMAGES="$IMAGES $f"
                      fi
                    done
                    if [ -z "$IMAGES" ] ; then
                      restore_menu_default
                    else
                      /etc/init.d/partimage $IMAGES
                    fi
                  fi
                }

                grep -q "noprompt" /proc/cmdline
                if [ "X$?" != "X0" ]
                then
                  choice=lcd_menu "Cancel Backup/Restore" "Backup System" "Restore System"
                  if [ "X$choice" = "X1" ]
                  then
                    operation_cancelled "Backup/Restore"
                  elif [ "X$choice" = "X2" ] ; then
                    lcd_write "Backing up system"
                    /etc/init.d/last_good_version_save
                    reboot
                    exit 1
                  elif [ "X$choice" = "X3" ] ; then
                    if [ "$LGVAVAIL" = "YES" ] ; then
                      choice=lcd_menu "Cancel Restore" "Restore Last Good Version" "Restore System"
                      if [ "X$choice" = "X1" ] ; then
                        operation_cancelled "Restore"
                      elif [ "X$choice" = "X2" ] ; then
                        lcd_write "Restoring system"
                        /etc/init.d/last_good_version_restore
                        reboot
                        exit 1
                      else
                        restore_menu_full
                      fi
                    else
                      restore_menu_full
                    fi
                  fi
                else
                  /etc/init.d/partimage
                fi
                –-------------------------------------

                Next to this all it seems that they load load two specific drivers:

                Mount proc

                if [ ! -f /proc/cpuinfo ]
                then
                mount -t proc none /proc
                fi

                Load USB Driver

                echo Loading USB Driver
                #modprobe usbcore
                #modprobe usb-uhci
                #modprobe input
                #modprobe hid

                Load LCD Driver

                modprobe scorpioLCD
                modprobe led
                #sleep 3

                Load Keyboard Driver

                #modprobe keybdev

                Load Network Driver

                #modprobe e1000

                Load File System Driver

                #modprobe jbd
                #modprobe ext3

                Seems that there are some posibilities.

                Marc

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  Ah, nice investigative work.  :)
                  Its a shame they're not using lcdproc. That way we would know exactly how the driver has to work.
                  Interesting that they have separated the lcd and led drivers.

                  Interesting that the keydriver appears to be using a serial port. The chip they are using seems to be commonly used as a USB-serial converter so that could make sense. It is recognised as a keyboard by freebsd already though.

                  ukbd0: <vendor 0="" 2="" 0x0cb6="" keyboard="" +="" lcd,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.10="" 1.00,="" addr=""> on usbus1</vendor>
                  

                  I guess a good test would be to just read ukbd0 while operating the knob and see what happens.

                  Steve

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • N
                    nanobot
                    last edited by

                    Excellent work guys,
                    I almost had given up on getting the LCD to work, but there could be light at the end of the tunnel. :)

                    @stephenw10:

                    just read ukbd0 while operating the knob and see what happens.

                    Could you suggest how to go about that and I’ll give it ago?

                    Another good feature of these devices is the speed of the fans are controlled by the CPU temperature, unlike some WatchGuard Firebox boxes. ;)

                    On another note, does anybody know how to remap the network interface ports so they match the front panel?

                    
                    em0: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.3.2="">port 0x8f00-0x8f1f mem 0xfd6e0000-0xfd6fffff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci1
                    em0: Using an MSI interrupt
                    em0: [FILTER]
                    pcib2: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">irq 17 at device 28.1 on pci0
                    pci2: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib2
                    em1: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.3.2="">port 0x7f00-0x7f1f mem 0xfd2e0000-0xfd2fffff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci2
                    em1: Using an MSI interrupt
                    em1: [FILTER]
                    pcib3: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">irq 18 at device 28.2 on pci0
                    pci3: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib3
                    em2: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.3.2="">port 0xdf00-0xdf1f mem 0xfdee0000-0xfdefffff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pci3
                    em2: Using an MSI interrupt
                    em2: [FILTER]
                    pcib4: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">irq 19 at device 28.3 on pci0
                    pci4: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib4
                    em3: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.3.2="">port 0xcf00-0xcf1f mem 0xfdce0000-0xfdcfffff irq 19 at device 0.0 on pci4
                    em3: Using an MSI interrupt
                    em3: [FILTER]
                    pcib5: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">irq 16 at device 28.4 on pci0
                    pci5: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib5
                    em4: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.3.2="">port 0xaf00-0xaf1f mem 0xfdae0000-0xfdafffff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci5
                    em4: Using an MSI interrupt
                    em4: [FILTER]
                    pcib6: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">irq 17 at device 28.5 on pci0
                    pci6: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib6
                    em5: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.3.2="">port 0x9f00-0x9f1f mem 0xfd8e0000-0xfd8fffff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci6
                    em5: Using an MSI interrupt
                    em5: [FILTER]</intel(r)></acpi></acpi></intel(r)></acpi></acpi></intel(r)></acpi></acpi></intel(r)></acpi></acpi></intel(r)></acpi></acpi></intel(r)> 
                    

                    This is what I am after:-

                    ifconfig em5 name em0
                    ifconfig em4 name em1
                    ifconfig em3 name em2
                    ifconfig em2 name em3
                    ifconfig em1 name em4
                    ifconfig em0 name em5

                    Also tried, Create file /etc/rc.conf.local
                    ifconfig_em0_name="LAN"
                    ifconfig_em1_name="WAN"
                    ifconfig_em2_name="DMZ1"
                    ifconfig_em3_name="DMZ2"
                    ifconfig_em4_name="DMZ3"
                    ifconfig_em5_name="DMZ4"

                    This doesn’t appear to work unless I’m doing something wrong!

                    Thanks in advance for your help.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      You can just rename the interfaces in the webgui.
                      You can't use normal FreeBSD conf files in pfSense. All the configuration is stored in a single file, config.xml. At boot scripts use that information to write out the various config files, if you manually modify then they will be overwritten the next make you make a change. You can edit the config.xml file directly to make a series of changes but it's open to errors which could cause you all sorts of problems.  ;)

                      The keyboard is an interesting question, I've never tried. You appear to have three keyboards detected on that box. In /dev you have kbd0-2. My boxes here have no keyboards. Do you actually have a real keyboard attached? It appears you can get some info from each using the kbdcontrol command:

                      kbdcontrol -i < /dev/kbd1
                      

                      Some useful tests here: http://people.freebsd.org/~yokota/ukbd-howto.txt

                      Steve

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • C
                        cii
                        last edited by

                        Have just got my hands on a MSA3000 and I'm also interested in getting the LCD/jog wheel running with pfSense.  Sadly my unit arrived without HDD so I don't have a working Windows system to drive the LCD otherwise I could have hooked up a logic analyser to see what messages the driver receives from the PC.

                        nanobot do you still have access to the executables and kernel modules?  I wonder if we might be able to decompile the scorpioLCD and led kernel modules and get a bit of information as to how the PC talks to the LCD driver…?

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                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

                          It's very unlikely that the Celestix engineers designed a completely new custom protocol and display for their box. It's probably using common protocols and likely off the shelf components. It may have some custom firmware to drive the control wheel and leds.
                          At least some of the hardware appears to be using standard USB-serial converters so the first thing I would try would be to recompile the USB-Serial driver to recognise the USB IDs of the hardware in the box and see if you can talk to it from a terminal or read anything it's sending.

                          Steve

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                          • C
                            cii
                            last edited by

                            I agree it's probably nothing too complicated or proprietary.  It enumerates as a USB HID device, the jog wheel sends out key codes when it's rotated or clicked - that's the easy bit!  This is what Ubuntu makes of the device:

                            
                            Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0cb6:0002 Celestix Networks, Pte., Ltd
                            Device Descriptor:
                              bLength                18
                              bDescriptorType         1
                              bcdUSB               1.10
                              bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
                              bDeviceSubClass         0
                              bDeviceProtocol         0
                              bMaxPacketSize0         8
                              idVendor           0x0cb6 Celestix Networks, Pte., Ltd
                              idProduct          0x0002
                              bcdDevice            1.00
                              iManufacturer           1 CELESTIX NETWORKS
                              iProduct                2 KEYBOARD + LCD
                              iSerial                 0
                              bNumConfigurations      1
                              Configuration Descriptor:
                                bLength                 9
                                bDescriptorType         2
                                wTotalLength           34
                                bNumInterfaces          1
                                bConfigurationValue     1
                                iConfiguration          0
                                bmAttributes         0x80
                                  (Bus Powered)
                                MaxPower               50mA
                                Interface Descriptor:
                                  bLength                 9
                                  bDescriptorType         4
                                  bInterfaceNumber        0
                                  bAlternateSetting       0
                                  bNumEndpoints           1
                                  bInterfaceClass         3 Human Interface Device
                                  bInterfaceSubClass      1 Boot Interface Subclass
                                  bInterfaceProtocol      1 Keyboard
                                  iInterface              0
                                    HID Device Descriptor:
                                      bLength                 9
                                      bDescriptorType        33
                                      bcdHID               1.00
                                      bCountryCode            0 Not supported
                                      bNumDescriptors         1
                                      bDescriptorType        34 Report
                                      wDescriptorLength      62
                                      Report Descriptor: (length is 62)
                                        Item(Global): Usage Page, data= [ 0x01 ] 1
                                                        Generic Desktop Controls
                                        Item(Local ): Usage, data= [ 0x06 ] 6
                                                        Keyboard
                                        Item(Main  ): Collection, data= [ 0x01 ] 1
                                                        Application
                                        Item(Global): Report ID, data= [ 0x01 ] 1
                                        Item(Global): Usage Page, data= [ 0x07 ] 7
                                                        Keyboard
                                        Item(Local ): Usage Minimum, data= [ 0xe0 ] 224
                                                        Control Left
                                        Item(Local ): Usage Maximum, data= [ 0xe7 ] 231
                                                        GUI Right
                                        Item(Global): Logical Minimum, data= [ 0x00 ] 0
                                        Item(Global): Logical Maximum, data= [ 0x01 ] 1
                                        Item(Global): Report Size, data= [ 0x01 ] 1
                                        Item(Global): Report Count, data= [ 0x08 ] 8
                                        Item(Main  ): Input, data= [ 0x02 ] 2
                                                        Data Variable Absolute No_Wrap Linear
                                                        Preferred_State No_Null_Position Non_Volatile Bitfield
                                        Item(Global): Report Size, data= [ 0x08 ] 8
                                        Item(Global): Report Count, data= [ 0x01 ] 1
                                        Item(Global): Logical Minimum, data= [ 0x00 ] 0
                                        Item(Global): Logical Maximum, data= [ 0x68 ] 104
                                        Item(Global): Usage Page, data= [ 0x07 ] 7
                                                        Keyboard
                                        Item(Local ): Usage Minimum, data= [ 0x00 ] 0
                                                        No Event
                                        Item(Local ): Usage Maximum, data= [ 0x68 ] 104
                                                        F13
                                        Item(Main  ): Input, data= [ 0x00 ] 0
                                                        Data Array Absolute No_Wrap Linear
                                                        Preferred_State No_Null_Position Non_Volatile Bitfield
                                        Item(Main  ): End Collection, data=none
                                        Item(Global): Usage Page, data= [ 0x14 ] 20
                                                        Alphanumeric Display
                                        Item(Local ): Usage, data= [ 0x01 ] 1
                                                        Alphanumeric Display
                                        Item(Main  ): Collection, data= [ 0x01 ] 1
                                                        Application
                                        Item(Global): Report ID, data= [ 0x02 ] 2
                                        Item(Local ): Usage, data= [ 0x2c ] 44
                                                        Display Data
                                        Item(Global): Logical Minimum, data= [ 0x80 ] 128
                                        Item(Global): Logical Maximum, data= [ 0x7f ] 127
                                        Item(Global): Report Size, data= [ 0x08 ] 8
                                        Item(Global): Report Count, data= [ 0x58 ] 88
                                        Item(Main  ): Output, data= [ 0x02 ] 2
                                                        Data Variable Absolute No_Wrap Linear
                                                        Preferred_State No_Null_Position Non_Volatile Bitfield
                                        Item(Main  ): End Collection, data=none
                                  Endpoint Descriptor:
                                    bLength                 7
                                    bDescriptorType         5
                                    bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
                                    bmAttributes            3
                                      Transfer Type            Interrupt
                                      Synch Type               None
                                      Usage Type               Data
                                    wMaxPacketSize     0x0008  1x 8 bytes
                                    bInterval              10
                            Device Status:     0x0000
                              (Bus Powered)
                            
                            

                            There seem to be very few LCDs using a Cypress driver, I saw that the IOWarrior did and that's supported within LCDProc, I tried recompiling it to match the USB VID:PID of the Celestix device but it did not work.  I guess that would have been too easy!

                            So I'm at a little bit of a loss at the moment, I haven't done any USB driver development before.  I can't imagine the driver is that complex, but at the same time I don't know how to send character / raw data to a USB HID device.  I've started looking at pyusb but it's very low level stuff…

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                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              What I would do I were trying to design this…..
                              Use a standard keyboard controller IC for the jog wheel and LEDs (num,caps and scroll lock).
                              Use a standard USB-serial converter and connect that to a serial LCD.

                              You have two USB devices there yes? One is detected as a keyboard already. There are programs in existence that use keyboard LEDs as indicators, it must be possible to try setting them manually. That should be an easy enough test.
                              The other USB device seen as ugen1.2 in the first posts here is probably the serial converter. I would try to recompile the cypress driver to recognise the USB vendor and product IDs used by it. If that works then try various LCDproc settings to talk to the LCD across it.

                              Steve

                              Edit: I can't find a FreeBSD equivalent but in Ubuntu you can try using the setleds command.

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                              • C
                                cii
                                last edited by

                                Actually it's just a single USB device (combined keyboard and LCD).  The problem is there doesn't seem to be any standard way to interface with displays over HID, so without a working system to sniff it is next to impossible to reverse engineer the protocol they have used on the cypress microprocessor.

                                Probably the easiest solution, certainly time wise, would be to replace the microprocessor with something LCDproc does support, such as an FTDI FT232 chip.  This would probably mean losing the jog wheel, though there should be a pin spare for the activity LED at least…

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                                • C
                                  cii
                                  last edited by

                                  On another subject I've been tinkering with different CPUs as the P4 3GHz mine came with by standard isn't the most energy efficient chip, and I know that some of the higher spec MSA boxes come with core 2 duo chips (E6420 I believe).  I've tested the following:

                                  Core2duo E6420 SLA4T (2.13GHz, 1066 FSB, 4M) - boots but unstable
                                  Core2duo E6320 SLA4U (1.86MHz, 1066 FSB, 4M) - boots but unstable
                                  Core2duo E4400 SLA98 (2.00GHz, 800 FSB, 2M) - boots, stable, BIOS reports incorrect speed?

                                  The E4400 gets reported at the BIOS as 50x10 = 500MHz!  This is also reported in the OS I'm using to test (Ubuntu) but performance suggests it's actually running at the 2GHz.  Doesn't look like it will be possible to run powerd in this sort of state however.  You can set the FSB in the BIOS but this seems to get divided down by 4 for some reason with the E4400.

                                  Not quite sure why the E6x20 1066 FSB chips aren't stable.  It does take a lot to make them crash, I've been running memtest, mprime torture tests but the 'stress' command seems to reliably kill them given a few cycles.  When they crash the system just halts, no input or output but the display remains frozen, very odd.  The E4400 has been running with both mprime and the odd stress command for several hours now stable and has topped out at a core temp of 66c.  All were tested with known good 2x 1Gb and 2x512Mb PC5300.

                                  The stress command I have been using is

                                  stress --cpu 8 --io 4 --vm 2 --vm-bytes 128M --timeout 10s
                                  

                                  All these oddities suggest to me a BIOS issue, though I cannot find an update for it (perhaps unsurprisingly, it being a custom motherboard).  If time permits I may try to extract the existing BIOS and see if there is anything that can be unlocked settings wise.

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                                  • M
                                    mppkll
                                    last edited by

                                    I found the datasheets for the display they indicates that the module is using a "NT3881 or equivalent" display driver chip.  on the LCDproc hardware page it indicates that that controller is compatible and supported under the hd44780.

                                    http://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data%20Sheets/Varitronix%20PDFs/MDLS40263-01%20Specification.pdf
                                    http://lcdproc.omnipotent.net/hardware.php3
                                    http://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data%20Sheets/Varitronix%20PDFs/MDL(S)40263.pdf
                                    http://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data%20Sheets/Varitronix%20PDFs/Varitronix%20LCD%20Initialization%20Instructions.pdf

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                                    • stephenw10S
                                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                      last edited by

                                      Controlling the LCD itself is probably not a problem, there are drivers already in LCDproc for various hd44780 modes. The problem is controlling whatever it is connected to. It appears as a single USB device that does the leds and control wheel as well as the LCD.

                                      Steve

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                                      • _Adrian__
                                        _Adrian_
                                        last edited by

                                        Following…

                                        If it ain't broken, fix it till it is :P

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                                        • P
                                          pkirkovsky
                                          last edited by

                                          Here's the pinout of the LCD module:

                                          
                                          +--------------------+    PIN   FUNCTION                                            
                                          | 02  04  06  08  10 |   +---+ +--------+                                           
                                          |                    |     01   USB 5v                                              
                                          | 01  03  05  07  09 |     02   USB D-                                              
                                          +--------|  |--------+     03   USB D+                                              
                                                                     04   USB GND                                             
                                             Connector on PCB        05   LED Green (Power)                                   
                                                                     06   LED Red (Fault)                                     
                                                                     07   LED Ambert (Disk)                                   
                                                    ++               08   System Power (short to GND to boot machine)         
                                          +--------------------+     09   3v                                                  
                                          | 01  03  05  07  09 |     10   State detect ("System On" -> "System Ready")        
                                          |                    |                                                              
                                          | 02  04  06  08  10 |     USB is only enabled when "Ready" state is achieved       
                                          +--------------------+     When module is outside of system, short pin 10 to any LED
                                                                     to force "Ready" state and USB communication             
                                            Connector on cable                                                                
                                          
                                          
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                                          • ?
                                            Guest
                                            last edited by

                                            If you want to replace the Cavium Nitrox miniPCI card you could go by using a
                                            Soekris vpn1411 miniPCI card that is supported by pfSense.

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