Sometimes Apple stuff is just “magic.” But when the magic fails, it can send you endlessly searching for a solution online. I am placing this post here so search engines can be find it in case someone else is having this same issue.
Normally, I can take a photo on my iPhone and see it show up moments later on my Mac or iPad. Lately, however, photos taken from my iPhone seem to get stuck uploading to my iCloud Photos library. I had a few photos that didn’t sync after several days (hooked to power overnight and on WiFi). Sometimes, switching to cellular causes these photos to upload immediately.
I read some tips that suggested turning off iCloud Photos and turning it back on (with a phone reboot in between). I did that, end then had 5818 photos waiting to upload. Not great.
After none of the tips I read (from dozens and dozens of forums, blog posts and “fix it” site articles) worked, I decided to try the “erase everything and restore from a backup” approach.
I did that, and after an hour of restoring and getting Apple Pay and Touch ID and such set back up, I find that I now have 14,803 photos waiting to upload.
Does anyone have any clue what causes this, and how to fix it? My phone has been plugged up an on WiFi for half an hour and not a single change in the upload count.
When I do extensive searching on some topic, and can’t come up with any satisfactory results, I will often do a blog post with the results of my research. This helps it at least get indexed by the search engines for others following the same path.
You may disregard this post, unless you came here through such a search.
The Chauvet DJ DMX-RT DMX recorder/playback device is a cool little gadget.
2019-05-10: Added a link to CoCoWiFi article, and uppercased DELUXE.
TLDNR: See the video at the end.
In 2015, Sub-Etha Software rocked the retro world with the announcement of CoCoPilot. (And by “announced” I mean “posted a blog article about how to install DriveWire on a Raspberry Pi. And by “rocked” I mean “posted a block article about how to install DriveWire on a Raspberry Pi.)
SirSound and CoCoWiFi product flyer.
In 2017, Sub-Etha Software raised the bar again by announcing SirSound, the serial port multi-voice sound “card” for the CoCo. (And by “raised the bar” I mean “posted another blog article”.)
In early 2018, Sub-Etha Software released details on CoCoWiFi, and showed you how to build your own for under $10 instead of waiting for Sub-Etha Software to actually manufacture them. (And by “released details” I mean “posted yet another blog article”.)
PreciousPak concept artwork.
In late 2018, Sub-Etha Software shocked the CoCo Community with the proposal to end all proposals: PreciousPak. (And by “shocked” I mean “posted a block article about something I think would be really cool but don’t have the hardware skills necessary to make happen so I hope someone else will do the work for me, please and thank you”.)
And now, in 2019, Sub-Etha Software is proud to announce…
CoCoPilot DELUXE
CoCoPilot DELUXE is the result of dozens of man-minutes of thought on the subject of “what should I do with all the Raspberry Pi stuff I have on my desk?”
Much like how PreciousPak solves all our problems when it came to CoCo cartridge add-ons, CoCoPilot DELUXE strives to solve all our problems when it comes to CoCo bitbanger serial port add-ons. (And by “solves all our problems” I mean “wouldn’t this be fun to play with?”)
With CoCoPilot DELUXE plugged in to your CoCo’s built-in Serial I/O port, you will have:
WiFi Modem – Use any existing CoCo terminal program, and be able to telnet, ftp, etc. to internet servers just as easily as you used to call in to dial-up BBSes in the 1980s.
SirSound – Use the simple BASIC “PLAY” command strings that you already know and love, except add a “#-2,” and change PLAY to PRINT, and then you can play multi-voice background music while your BASIC program does other things.
DriveWire Server – Use NitrOS-9, SDC-DOS or the special DriveWire version of HDB-DOS to access virtual floppies over the serial port. Under NitrOS-9, you also have access to other DriveWire features such as virtual printing, virtual MIDI, and virtual reality. Except maybe not that last one.
Print to PDF – Print from any CoCo program (including graphics programs such as CoCoMax, ColorMax, Max-10 and Max Headroom) and have the dot matrix output be rendered as a PDF file you can then print on a modem printer. It can even print the old green bars and fake tear-off strips with the holes in it, just like the olden days!
CoCoPi Emulation – This portable device can also be expanded with an option USB keyboard, USB mouse, and HDMI monitor to act as a virtual CoCo running various Color Computer emulation programs.
…and more!
In this list, there are a few “new” things we can’t currently do. Printing from CoCoMAX 3, Tandy Home Publisher or any other graphical print software is not currently possible (is it?). A new layer would be written to interpret common printer “driver” codes (Tandy, IBM, Epson, etc.) — including color — and render the incoming data to an image that represents all the dots the printer would have printed. (Heck, we could even emulate the old plotter printer thing.)
SirSound could work the same as the hardware SirSound (API compatibility), but could be expanded to do more voices, and use better sounds. The Pi has simple libraries that can product multi-voice music.
WiFi Modem would be similar to the CoCoWiFi (Zimodem) project, but the “AT” Hayes Smartmodem commands would be different since we’d just use one of the many “serial to network” programs/scripts readily available.
All we need is a bunch of software, an RS-232 interface for the Pi, and some switches to select which mode you want the CoCoPilot DELUXE to be in.
This was shown off last weekend at the Chicago CoCoFEST! Remember that this is a 1986 computer with no sprite hardware, no sound chip, and only 16 colors on screen at a time (out of a palette of 64), and running at 1.8mhz. And Simon breaks all of these rules.
2019-05-03: I’ve had a report of my build not allowing you to type. I have seen this before, and am investigating this. Anyone else having issues? Also, I missed something in my merge which may have affected over-the-air updates (AT&U). I am pushing out a new build. Also, added a screen shot showing 3.5. Also, note about no ESP32 build.
2019-05-04: I started over with Bo’s unmodified source code, then did my changes to zimodem.ino and zcommand.ino. I am still seeing the issue where, via USB serial connection, I can’t type of my TTL-to-RS232 adapter is hooked up. Without it, it works fine. I need to do some testing via the CoCo with it’s bitbanger and RS-232 Pac ports to see what behavior I get. In the meantime, I appreciate your feedback.
Yesterday I updated my fork of Bo Zimmerman’s ZiModem. My custom fork is 100% his code, with only some configurations changed to make it default to standard RS-232 signals instead of inverted like the Commodore uses. (Basically, it’s what his “Guru modem” firmware defaults to, and the over-the-air update changed to point to builds on my service. Guru modem only builds for ESP32, so eventually I just need to figure out how to modify the project so it builds Guru modem for ESP8266, I think.)
NOTE: I only built for the NodeMCU-12E ESP8266 module and the generic ESP8266 (whatever that is) module. I did not have ESP32 libraries installed so there is no build for that currently.
If you want to pull the source code and build it directly through the Arduino IDE, you can find my fork here:
I also wrote up some instructions for updating that firmware from a PC, Mac or Linux machine without having to build it with the Arduino IDE. (I had to use these steps myself, since I couldn’t remember how it worked.)
NOTE: If you have the ESP8266 wired up to a TTL-to-RS232 adapter, you may find that firmware updates will not work. On my device (using the full-signal TTL adapter and a NodeMCU ESP8266), I had to unplug the 3.3V power wire that goes from ESP8266 pin to the TTL-to-RS232 board. That was enough to make firmware updates work. I’m still not sure why having the TTL adapter hooked up affects loading firmware over USB, but apparently it does.
A final option is to use the ZiModem built-in over-the-air update capability, which we haven’t gotten to test yet since this is the first time I’ve updated firmware for the CoCoWiFi fork. That is done through the command:
AT&U
That should grab the latest build on my server. I believe it reads a .txt file from my server to get the version number and builds the filename out of that, then downloads that filename. You can also specify the version manually. Currently, there is a 3.4 build and a 3.5 build available on my site.
AT&U=3.5
Please let me know if this works for you. You should see the startup banner (1200 baud) show 3.5:
ZiModem (CoCoWiFi config) 3.5
Original instructions on this WiFi modem for $10 can be found here:
Although I am not certain I will make it (hopefully at least a day trip on Saturday), the 28th annual “Last” Chicago CoCoFEST! is coming up soon. Find details here:
I am hoping to find time to update my fork of ZiModem firmware for the CoCoWiFi project, and also dig out some more goodies to donate to the Glenside Color Computer Club for their fundraising auction. If nothing else, maybe I can get those items there with some others that will be passing through Des Moines on their way.
NOTE: I do not own an Arcade1Up, but I have a friend who has the Centipede version. I am posting this article to give some extra exposure to research he and others are doing on the trackball problems.
Arcade1Up is a 3/4-sized 80s arcade cabinet for home use. They have several units available, with most playing four classic arcade games (and one special edition with 12 games).
The Centipede unit has a vertical monitor and comes with Centipede, Missile Command, Millipede and Crystal Castle.
After first playing my friend’s unit, we both agreed that Centipede played very poorly. This led him to dig into the problem, and he found this Do-It-Yourself solution on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_tZPFxxhsE
Fixing the trackball rotary encoder on the Arcade1Up Centipede machine.
The trackball is a rotary encoder where, as it spins, a little wheel turns and is either blocking or allowing light to flow through and be detected by a light sensor. The software counts the pulses and determines how far the wheel has spun. (Here’s the Arduino playground on them.)
The stock encoder wheel has 30 spokes, and this D-I-Y solution shows how to make one with 24. My friend decided to try it and designed one on his 3-D printer. After installation, Centipede does indeed play much, much better, and the other games seem to still play as well as they did before (they were mostly fine, so I can’t tell if there was any significant improvement without doing a side-by-side comparison with an unmodified cabinet).
I think we could convince him into making these replacement parts available at a low-cost for folks who don’t want to DIY. Comment to this post if you might be interested.
Until then… There is an active discussion on Reddit about various problems, solutions, and modifications to the Arcade1Up machines. Be sure to drop by there check it out.
I started experimenting with 3-D video around 2003 using a camcorder add-on called the NuView. I have hours of 3-D footage from back then, but beyond converting it to red/blue anaglyph, there was no easy way to share it.
At some point, YouTube added support for 3-D video. It allowed you to easily upload video in several formats and it would play it back in several formats (including red/blue anaglyph, doing the conversion on the YouTube server side).
Unfortunately, this feature is no longer easy to use. They now require you to embed special metadata in the movie file before it is uploaded. They give instructions on their site:
Unfortunately, the ffmpeg command line they show does not work. I errors out on one of the options. I could not find a solution, but was able to find others posting about the same issue.
So, it’s time to post something here on this site so the search engines will find it. I am trying to find a way to embed the “st3d” metadata in a QuickTime .mov file so I can upload it to YouTube as a 3-D video.
Have you checked the RadioShack store locator page lately? I did, last week, and instead of just finding three dealer stores in my state (none within an hour), I was surprised to see on in nearby Ankeny, Iowa. It was in some place called HobbyTown.
Somehow I missed the announcement that the Shack posted to their Facebook page back in July. Indeed, they now have a store-within-a-store at some HobbyTown locations.
I went to visit this location, and thought I’d share a trip report.
HobbyTown… Remote controlled cars, model rockets, and … RadoShack Express!Yes, Virginia. There IS a RadioShack inside.They only have the electronics parts, all displayed on the wall. No answering machines, video cables, or cell phones.Even perfboards! This IS your father’s RadioShack! Except it’s still missing the space between the words :(
There was also another small glass cabinet nearby with a few other parts, and at the front checkout counter they had RadioShack brand batteries and such.
I have been working on some projects for Halloween, and found several items that I could put to use. I picked up a 12V buzzer, some 12V lights, some button switches, and some wire nuts. (Yeah, I know I could buy a whole bag of industrial wire nuts at the hardware store for just a bit more, but I only needed a few and “it was just a few bucks.”)
My bounty from my first trip to a RadioShack Express. They even use the old RS catalog numbers (after the RSH).
Leave a comment if you have a RadioShack near you.
