Preparing NVME drive for installation

I’ve gotten a UGreen NVMe PCIe adapter + Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe storage drive for the Mac Pro.

The UGreen NVMe PCIe adapter came with screws, two thermal pads of different thickness and a long heatsink. I’ve noted stacking the two thermal pads weren’t optimal. I’ve noted the Samsung NMVe drive flexed when the two thermal pads were installed. More importantly, there’s still a gap between the thermal pads and heatsink.

Above: NVMe drive had flexed when two thermal pads were installed.

So scratch the two thermal pad approach.

I then turned to the single (thicker) thermal pad and noticed it didn’t flex the NVMe drive now, but it wasn’t touching the heatsink fully.

Above: Single (thicker) thermal pad on the Samsung NVMe. Below: Airgap between the thermal pad and the heatsink.

As the NVMe drive runs pretty hot, I’ve applied thermal grease liberally on the surfaces between the heatsink and the thermal pads.

The Beginning and the End of Coinbase

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/22/05/23/1938249/coinbase-tests-app-for-employees-to-grade-each-other-during-meetings

“Coinbase is testing a practice where it asks employees to frequently rate each other. Some employees at the company have been using a real-time evaluation app invented by Bridgewater Associates, the well-known hedge fund founded by Ray Dalio, which helped enforce a culture of “radical transparency” that encourages blunt honesty, The Information reported Monday, citing two people with direct knowledge.”

“From the report:The app, Dot Collector, is sold by Principles, a company Dalio founded. Coinbase’s version lets employees evaluate co-workers, including their managers, on how well they exemplify the crypto firm’s 10 cultural tenets — which include clear communication, efficient execution and positive energy — during meetings and other interactions, these people said. After an interaction, an employee can give their colleague a thumbs-up, thumbs-down, or neutral rating.“

Redmi 1W recovery steps

Assuming the phone can only boot till MIUI logo then it restarts, this means the phone is already hard bricked. You have no choice but to reload the fastboot firmware. I’ve read through many tutorials and found them not useful. Through trial and error, I managed to figure out the specific steps to recover a bricked Redmi 1W.

You need to know this information: Redmi 1W uses the MediaTek 6589T chip.

You will need to download 1. SP Flash Tool version 5.1724 or earlier 2. MIUI Recovery Rom from Xiaomi 3. MediaTek Windows Drivers.

Step 1: Install the MediaTek Windows Drivers

Step 2: Unrar the MIUI Recovery Rom file, we need one file called the scatter textfile. The scatter text file lists all the addresses of peripherals of the phone.

Step3: Extract and execute SP Flash Tool version 5.1724 or earlier as the newer versions will not accept the scatter file. You need to indicate the location of the MIUI rom and the scatter file in the SP Flash Tool application. Select “Format all + Download”. Press the Download button on the top and proceed to the next step.

Step4: Remove battery from the bricked phone for 5 seconds, then replace it. Connect the USB cable to the phone’s USB port and to the laptop. Press down on the Volume – button and hold. The SP Flash Tool will start to recognise the phone and proceed with format and download of the fastboot recovery.

Step5. After sometime, the phone will automatically reboot and the MIUI rom will reappear.

Note the serial number of the Redmi 1W is now replaced with 0123456789A.

Preparing a BBB (4.19) for 4.14 kernel

I’ve selected Debian as Angstrom is no longer available.

Then update: sudo apt update ; sudo apt install --only-upgrade libgnutls30

Resize (expand) partition: sudo /opt/scripts/tools/grow_partition.sh then reboot

Then: sudo /opt/scripts/tools/update_kernel.sh --ti-channel --lts-4_14

Install desktop environment: sudo apt-get install lxde

Check pinout avail: ls /sys/devices/platform/ocp

Diagnostic commands: sudo /opt/scripts/tools/version.sh

Wired PS2 Controller to Wireless mod using ESP32

My notes for converting a Wired PS2 Controller to Wireless using ESP32 + PS2X lib

https://www.raphnet.net/electronique/psx_adaptor/Playstation.txt
https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-idf/en/v4.2.3/esp32/api-reference/peripherals/spi_master.html#overview-of-esp32-s-spi-peripherals
https://www.whizzbizz.com/en/ps2.controller
https://github.com/MyArduinoLib/Arduino-PS2X-ESP32/blob/master/examples/PS2X_Example_ESP32/PS2X_Example_ESP32.ino

        SPI2        SPI3

Pin name GPIO #
CS0* 15 5
SCLK 14 18
MISO 12 19
MOSI 13 23
QUADWP 2 22
QUADHD 4 21

PS2 Controller Pinout (Facing)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Data CMD Vibr Gnd VCC Attn CLK NC Ack

VCC: 3.3V – 5V
Vibr: 7.6V – 9V

PS2X pinout

  • define PS2_DAT 19
  • define PS2_CMD 23
  • define PS2_SEL 5
  • define PS2_CLK 18

PS2 Controller <–> Adapter header <–> Black project box

Black project box –> ESP32
–> Battery (4 x 18650 @ 14.8)
–> 5V LDO 3.3V regulator LD1117V33
–> 1 x 0.1 uF ceramic cap
–> 9V regulator L7809A / L7809CV
–> 1 x 0.1 uF ceramic cap
–> Antenna?
–> Switch
–> LED (Green?)
–> LED (Red when V is less than 7.2V)

18650 & Lipo

3.7V * 1 = 3.7V
3.7V * 2 = 7.4V
3.7V * 3 = 11.1V
3.7V * 4 = 14.8V