[sudo-discuss] DOORCAM README (redacted for SR security)
Steve Berl
steveberl at gmail.com
Sat Jun 29 12:48:11 PDT 2013
I spent some time working on the keypad and door buzzer yesterday with Max.
We discovered that the keypad Arduino seems to disconnect every once in a
while for some reason we don't yet understand, so we fixed the RaspPi code
that talks to it so that it can recover the connection after this happens.
This will greatly improve the availability of the keypad.
The RaspPi at the door is very lightly loaded, it is doing close to nothing
most of the time. Mostly it is just blocked waiting for someone to type on
the keypad, or scan an RFID.
I wonder if there is some way to have the camera USB plug into the RaspPi
and then some Linux SW on the Pi that would simply stream that image to the
LAN. Then another computer someplace else that is more physically secure
could do all the recording, etc.
Can VLC do this? Does the Pi have enough horsepower?
That would eliminate the iMac at the door, which seems like an bad idea
(bad idea to have it there, a good idea to put it someplace else).
-steve
On Sat, Jun 29, 2013 at 11:32 AM, johanna faust <female.faust at gmail.com>wrote:
> **
> *
>
> NOTE PLEASE:
>
> ‡ means the actual exact details are in the confidential readme,
> attached, whose password you should know, which i strongly encourage
> SRers read instead of this. plus the layout didn't get screwed up. in
> particular, what looks like redactions below is merely what happens when
> you cut and paste graphics.
>
> ‡'s are where the info was. ok.
>
> *
>
> *
> *
>
> *
> *
>
> *
> *
>
> *
> *
>
> *
> *
>
> *
> *
>
> *
> *
>
> *Concernynge The Camera, &c,*
>
> *or,*
>
> *Some Obseruations *
>
> *Happily Pursuant *
>
> *to a *
>
> *Greater Securitie*
>
> **
>
> *a hopefully platform-independent explanation *
>
> *of her work so far*
>
> *by*
>
> *a female faust*
>
> *
> *
>
> * introduction*
>
> because i only did what i knew i could, of all i conceive may be true
> about this setup, certainly it needeth a readme, by way of explanation.
>
> therefore, upon well founded advice i hereby attempt to document my work
> (something i have never done before in this realm) & thus enable & invite
> help to advance the cause......
>
>
> * what about that machine downstairs?*
>
> warning : if that cam is not recording i will have to go back in & do some
> more cobbling, more frankensteinian *(/fræ*ŋ*k-*ɛ*n-*ʃ*t-ēē-nē-*ə*n/)** *than
> faustian no doubt. because it has to work. a. s. a. p...
>
> and because it doesn't work if
>
> - it doesn't work
> - it isn't persistent, or
> - it doesn't record
>
> and would be better if
>
> - it can be (securely) accessed from elsewhere other than the
> computer to which it is attached
> - it auto uploaded so we didn't have to worry
>
> * *
>
> * the way i did the doorcam:*
>
> the [image: Picture 3.png] is running the smartest OS X (which means that
> the eminently useful OS 9 has already been broken on it, but can be
> reinstalled). (however the *Terminal* on it should have most if not all
> of what you would expect from a 'nix box).
>
> An awesome & awesomely painless tutorial that introduced me to *QuickTime
> Broadcaster*, courtesy of murphymac.com, may be found here<http://murphymac.com/slib/quicktime-broadcaster.htm>;
> consider it a readme on the program. The version of it that i used came
> from here <http://ftp.iinet.net.au/pub/apple/quicktime/qtbroadcaster/>;
> the pro version of QT from here<http://www.oldapps.com/mac/quicktime.php?old_quicktime=20>*
> (it says you don't need QT pro but I think you do); the macam download from
> here <http://sourceforge.net/projects/webcam-osx/?source=dlp>.
>
>
> *more specifically *
>
> the relevant files in the box's Apache Webserver (*
> Library/Webserver/Documents/*) that were used to create what was semi up
> & running are all called "*works" -- *no filetype for the
> program-specific *settings* files; the .*sdp & the .mov *for the exported
> files upon which one must click should one want to stream the image.
>
> if you want to change any of the settings you can only do so when it is
> NOT broadcasting. audio has been disabled by default, to save cpu
> goodness.
>
> i was doing multicast with auto generated IP addresses -- it generates
> two, one for video & one for audio anyway -- & assigns port numbers
> automatically. i don't know how this is supposed to work if the audio is
> enabled, the two address thing.
>
> the exported file "*works.mov*" is easily parsed by QuickTime, on a
> machine running OS X, & on one running Vista.
>
> the exported file "*works.sdp*" is easily parsed by VLC, on a machines
> running OS X, & on a machine running i-didn't-ask-but-possibly-linux.
>
> please see the awesome & awesomely painless murphymac tutorial mentioned
> above, if for no other reason than the awesomeness. well, that & that it
> tells you almost everything you need to know.
>
>
> *because i wanted it to stream painlessly*
>
> i needed the stream to not be overly consumptive of bandwidth: i was
> looking for a way that it could be served by an intermediary computer. i
> am relatively new at this (no! really?) so i am not sure without further
> study if my solution accomplished this.... it would have to work well
> first... but here's what i did (with some detail in case any one wants to
> follow up on one of the other alternatives so they can have what benefit
> may be had from my work).
>
> *youtube*
>
> i tried to upload the .*mov *to youtube but it was not fooled by the
> Quicktime wrapper.
>
>
> *blogger version one*
>
> ditto blogger.
>
>
> *ustream*
>
> i had tried to stream using the camera & *ustream.tv* originally, on the
> account i made just for that purpose, but *'/%@ ustream, probably in an
> effort to make the user either go pro or upgrade or both, makes it
> extremely (*extremely) *difficult. could not log in -- buttons
> unclickable or missing, kept redirecting to a sign up page. i hate it when
> i am told i cannot do something for no ≈®&/?†&$! reason. so i logged in
> with my other, slightly newer power-pc laptop -- whilst sniffing the
> exchanged packets -- studied the results & cobbled together some urls.
>
> so if you want to log into ustream, there's a file with a couple urls in
> it,‡ & there's a folder with some relevant cookies in it‡. i really don't
> think the cookies are that relevant, but if they are, replace the ones
> already there with them.‡
>
> the file is visible.‡ open it & you will find the following two url's‡ --
> enter the long one & then the short one into the address bar of *Safari* ([image:
> Pasted Graphic 5.tiff].in the dock, or click on the Finder, or on the
> Desktop background, & go to /Applications/Safari) (sure, install Firefox,
> but it will be slow!) the long one will return a whole bunch of plaintext,
> or it will download it. ignore that & enter the shorter one anyway. ‡
>
> you are then on the dashboard. *et voila.*
>
> however, i found had the same problem again when i wanted to broadcast or
> *go-live *as the natives call it, & no longer had the patience. if
> someone wants me to i can sniff & cobble for that as well -- shouldn't be
> hard. whatever that means. i may do it anyway -- then we wouldn't have to
> worry about recording -- & wouldn't need an application running on the box
> -- or would at the very least, if we ran both, have a backup.
>
>
> *what i ended up doing*
>
> was taking the .*mov*‡ & encoding it in base64, something that i have
> been known to do & may in fact be quite... *fond...* ....of. let's leave
> it at that for now, hmmm? in any event by doing so, that is, by borrowing
> the structure of the old embed code that youtube, which is google, still
> supports (because untold millions of embeds would break otherwise), &
> plugging in the *data-encoded URI*, i was able to get it past Blogger.
> the html:‡
>
> *<object height="315" width="420"><param name="movie"
> value="data:video/quicktime;base64,blahblahdataencodedblah"></param>*
>
> *<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>*
>
> *<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>*
>
> *<embed src="data:video/quicktime;base64,blahblahdataencodedblah"
> type="video/quicktime" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always"
> allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>*
>
> and the result was live (at least on the boxes i tested, more on that
> below) at my least visited (and least used) blogspot.‡
>
>
> *if the camera becomes unrecognized *
>
> at first -- way at the beginning, after i set up the [image: Pasted
> Graphic.tiff] -- the camera went unrecognized, since it was not firewire;
> it became recognized & remained so after i futzed with it. here's what i
> did:
>
> - renamed the top usb port with *open firmware* so that open firmware
> thought it was firewire ‡
> - (*sudo nvram* probably has a way but
> - i did it by booting into *open firmware *by holding down the
> "o" & "f" keys at startup & then
> - entering "*devalias*" &
> - noting the pci hw address of the top usb port which one
> could tell because the keyboard & mouse were in the other one, & then
> - "*devalias [whatever-i-nicknamed-the-firewire]
> [/the-old-firewire-address]*"‡ to save the address
> somewhere i wouldn't misplace it & everyone else could get to it &
> - "*devalias fw [/whatever-it-was/hub@
> -whatever-wasn't-the-keyboard]*"‡ to name the usb port the
> traditional "*fw*" which all the other routines would
> expect firewire to be called
> - "reset-all" which restarts the machine
> - AND
> - by opening Terminal ([image: Pasted Graphic 9.tiff] in the *dock*
> * *or* /System/Applications/#1Utilities/Terminal*) & piping the
> command at the heart of the application *macam *to the command at
> the heart of *QuickTime Broadcaster, *a terminal command that looks
> like "*/Applications/macam | /Applications/QuickTime\ Broadcaster*)‡
>
> after which it FINALLY recognized the camera, & has ever since.
>
>
> *if a way cannot be found to record the stream*
>
> pipe it over the network to the upstairs computer (watch that tutorial &
> it will be a snap -- there's a setting to broadcast to just one machine) &
> record it from there. DO NOT TRUST the "*save to disk*" feature unless
> you personally verify that the resultant files may be played. they are
> certainly fat enough to be movies, & they look like movies when i opened
> them as text (something i love to do), but i could not get functioning
> videoplayback.
>
> if that fails just attach a big enough hard drive externally, quit *quicktime
> broadcaster & *either use *quicktime** *(a pro version is installed on
> the box) or better yet, *macam*, which leaves a smaller footprint.
>
> waaa. i wanted streaming! but last i checked, there was this problem:
>
>
> *the stream cannot be seen from outside*
>
> as the kind soul who chatted with me‡ & others are well aware, though
> when i actually did leave, one SRer‡ was able to get the stream on his
> machine. he was, however, inside. the SRer i chatted with earlier‡pointed out that only being able to get the stream from inside may be all
> for the best; i will leave that up to what people think. i do not,
> however, consider it a detriment to my privacy. as a matter of fact, this
> is one of the rare cases in which i find that i feel the surveillance *
> enhances* my security, rather than threatening it.
>
> that said, i have thought quite a bit about why it seems the stream was
> not available from outside the local network, & have come to the conclusion
> that the camera needs to be assigned a static domain-style URL, that points
> to the LAN ip address, even though the broadcast addresses that the program
> assigns are static.
>
> there is a place i think in the netherlands that has a free dns updating
> service for just such eventualities, & gives static addresses like DYNDNS
> used to give, with a freeware updater. & i will probably test this theory.
>
>
> *remember*
>
> if you change any of the settings, in order to stream you have to go to
> the menu along the top of the screen while it is broadcasting & hit *export.
> *
>
> *please *leave me a note if you do, attached to this thread if possible
> or privately. i will be ever so happy to do the weird data encoding stuff
> to get the webpage up & running as well. (i think that's cool). & if it
> all the well no hitch, perhaps then it can graduate & be official on the SR
> website!
>
>
> *other notables*
>
> - the camera needs a drape or divider behind it to block out
> backlighting, which interferes with the image.
> - we could use more cameras of course
> - a real extension cord would rock
> - locking is good
> - i was thinking the happy-sudoers-and-oakland-folks-together
> altar that i made to inaugurate the new era of beefier security could go on
> top
> - there needs to be a cabinet or something to put the computer &
> associated equipment in
> - i have one in mind that just needs doors put on
> - that is why i positioned the sign as i did on wednesday, i
> realize that is not a daytime solution
> - if anyone else has cabinet ideas please feel free, only do
> drop me a line please so i don't do unnecessary work
>
>
> - i welcome any ideas, suggestions, comments:
> - of course i would prefer if others built on what i have done,
> but
> - i know what is really important.
> - i did this because it needed to be done,
> - i really don't want another incident, however minor, to occur
> & catch us with our camera down.
> - it isn't over until the fat lady, after drinking her
> celebratory pint of Guinness & going outside for a smoke,
> - finds that the video camera downstairs catches her likeness,
> - clearly, as she leaves,
> - and records it.**
>
>
>
>
> be seeing you.
>
>
> **
>
> *notes*
>
> **
>
> *‡ means the actual exact details are in the confidential readme which i
> strongly encourage SRers read instead of this. *
>
>
> *and here: www DOT keygenguru.com SLASH sn SLASH apple_quicktime_7_4_1
> DOT html
>
> **and then it isn't over; it just began.......
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> sudo-discuss mailing list
> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org
> http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss
>
>
--
-steve
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