BIT METER OS 0.7.6 (stable) & 0.8.0 (experimental)

[mikeb]

and with a certain amount of flair, too..!

never got on with flairs....made too much noise when walking....

got far too much funky software to not use windows......

So the first post of this rather busy thread has fattened out nicely.

That's what you get for opening yer mouth.... worth the ride indeed

Well in my usual 'spaced out returned from boat phase'..will sleep it off and be back to my usual annoying self tomorrow

mike

[Geoffrey]

Sorry to interrupt the chit chat , but here's another, I added the database installer to 0.7.6 32 bit version.
bitmeteros_0.7.6-all-32bit-pups.pet
I haven't tried it but it's the same as the other one less the libcap fix

[mikeb]

Ah nice one... well I very much doubt if there will be a problem with that 0.7.6 allrounder pet ...as you say the only change is the libpcap.
So 2 for 2 Will give it a quick test .

Yes the Mike vs Mike threads do ...erm...stray..
We need the equivalent of those victorian contraptions for keeping subjects still for ages while having their photograph taken.

mike

[mikeb]

Hmm did a quick test on 4.12 but it has the start-stop-daemon rather than your simplified start up scripts and no /var/log/bitmeter folder appeared so it would not log... almost like an earlier pet....

mike

[Geoffrey]

Hmm did a quick test on 4.12 but it has the start-stop-daemon rather than your simplified start up scripts and no /var/log/bitmeter folder appeared so it would not log... almost like an earlier pet....

mike

Ah, ok I'll fix that, silly me.

Edit fixed

[mikeb]

thanks

There is something about this app that made me get confused ....cannot put my finger on it but I made some silly mistakes along the way.
Or I am falling to bits which is more likely the cause

mike

[mikeb]

me again

seems 0.7.6 is more picky about having the /var/log/bitmeter folder in place even if not used..
Also pkill does not appear to be in all puppies...just noticed that one.

..coffee needed...

mike

[Geoffrey]

me again

seems 0.7.6 is more picky about having the /var/log/bitmeter folder in place even if not used..
Also pkill does not appear to be in all puppies...just noticed that one.

..coffee needed...

mike

More drama, it should work changing this line

Code: Select all

#pkill -f $PROC
kill `ps aux | grep $PROC | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}'`

[mikeb]

Sorry I have a habit of finding stuff...whether I want to or not....thats a general affliction and not just software.

I went for a sloppy killall $PROC .... pkill and pgrep are useful tools but puppy tends to get a bit minimalistic at times. They have been added to busybox it seems over time...at least here.

mike

[Mike Walsh]

@Geoffrey:-

Morning, Geoff. Been busy for a few days, and haven't been paying too much attention to this thread of mine.

Now then; query. Would you say your .pets are ready for publication? BitMeterOS 0.8.0 with the linked common bitmeter.db file has been playing happily with my 3 Pups for the last week or so. I've got the OP updated as far as the current state of play.

Are they ready for the big time, or can you think of any more mods that may need doing?

And this is what I would like an answer to; do you want a download link on the 'CodeBox' website.....or would you prefer to leave them where they are, and I leave the links'n'stuff as they are? I just want to know how you'd like to play it, and I'll set up the rest...OK?


Mike.

[Geoffrey]

Are they ready for the big time, or can you think of any more mods that may need doing?

I should change the kill command as mikeb mentioned, so that it works in older pups, though I still think it may have other problem with the old pup versions

do you want a download link on the 'CodeBox' website.....or would you prefer to leave them where they are, and I leave the links'n'stuff as they are? I just want to know how you'd like to play it, and I'll set up the rest of it...OK?

I think as they are, we have more control over the content which makes it easier to change, I'll mostly make a custom version for Carolina and Vanguard for the repo in any case, still have to do the 64bit versions.

I'm working on some of my other projects at the moment, so I'll get to them when I can.

[mikeb]

I should change the kill command as mikeb mentioned, so that it works in older pups, though I still think it may have other problem with the old pup versions

apart from that annoying /var/log/bitmeter folder anything else that comes to mind...I can test no problem.

mike

[Mike Walsh]

@Geoffrey:-

No worries. I guessed that's what you'd say; as you say, it does give us more control over what's done with them.....and if any other modifications are required, we can do them, as & when.

I'll leave the OP as is. And don't worry about doing the rest ; there's no hurry. We've proved the basic idea works fine. If older Pups need any additional work, it can be sorted out if it's needed.

I'll leave it with you. Cheers for all the effort you've put in so far; it's much appreciated.


Mike.

[gcmartin]

Hi @Mike Walsh.

Might you consider restructuring you OP a little. Readers are forced to have to read all the way to the bottom to know the Puppy PET locations they need to gather, test and evaluate Bit Meter. If you want any help, PM me.

[Mike Walsh]

Have just applied Geoffrey's BitMeterOS 0.8.0 .pet to a new install of Precise 5.7.1, sym-linked the remote database, edited xbitmeter to suit, and have added the Common Data partition (where the remote database resides) to the auto-start .pet for rcrsn51's Samba-TNG.

I'm pleased to be able to report that everything appears to be working flawlessly.


Regards,

Mike.

[Mike Walsh]

Hi @Mike Walsh.

Might you consider restructuring you OP a little. Readers are forced to have to read all the way to the bottom to know the Puppy PET locations they need to gather, test and evaluate Bit Meter. If you want any help, PM me.

Good idea. All sorted!


Regards,

Mike.

[gcmartin]

Mike. Nice.

The following was a thought suggested earlier and you've shown its use.

Have just applied Geoffrey's BitMeterOS 0.8.0 .pet ... sym-linked the remote database, edited xbitmeter to suit, and have added the Common Data partition (where the remote database resides)

Questions

• Did you have the db, which you saved locally, and shared with your LAN neighbors thru the SAMBA server?
• OR, did you place the db remotely and use the SAMBA client to access it?
• OR, are you accessing it from all PCs via the browser's URL pointing to the LAN PC with the resident db?

Want to insure I am clear on what you provide in this setup.

Thanks, everyone.

[Mike Walsh]

Hi, gcm.

Yep, you're right; that IS a wee bit confusing. .! I'll try to elucidate further.

The set-up I'm using for all my Pups utilises a separate database, which lives in a small partition that I set up just for that purpose; however, these are all on the same hard drive. (See attachment; small partition sda6, labelled 'Common Data'). OK, 5 GB is huge for what it is, but I've got plenty of disk space to play with; the 25 GB I've set for each Pup's partition is over the top, as well...

The original trial, in Tahrpup, took 'bitmeter.db.new' from /var/lib/bitmeter, copied it over to sda6, and then renamed it to 'bitmeter.db', yes? The original 'bitmeter.db' in/var/lib/bitmeter was then deleted, and the version in sda6 that had just been re-named, was then sym-linked back to /var/lib/bitmeter to take its place.

With each subsequent Pup, after installing 'BitmeterOS 0.8.0' I then simply deleted its 'bitmeter.db' from /var/lib/bitmeter , and sym-linked to sda6's 'bitmeter.db' instead.....still with me? This is all standard for the trials we carried out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where Samba comes into it, well..... I've been using rcrsn51's Samba-TNG .pet for quite a while now.

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=60204

As part of its functionality, he's also provided an 'auto-start' .pet, that, in addition to starting Samba itself, will also mount any remote drives that you may wish to use as shares, ok? I'm pretty certain you understand all this stuff about Samba, since you've done a thread on it yourself.

To use the remote database for all BitMeterOS installs, sda6 needs to be auto-mounted at boot.....because otherwise, Geoffrey's xbitmeter script won't function. Having already got the automount functionality provided as part of Samba-TNG, rather than mess around with /etc/fstab, I've simply added a line to the autostart .pet to automount sda6 along with everything else that I use in Samba.....but it's not set-up as a 'share' in 'smb.conf'.

In the best traditions of Puppy, and adapting my own circumstances to fit the task at hand, I've simply made use of something that already existed.....thus keeping everything as simple as possible. And it works very well indeed.

Hope that clarifies things a bit further. I'm still trying to figure out how to use Samba to link the BitMeterOS install on the old Dell 1100 laptop into the separate, 'common' database on the big Compaq.....because we're now talking about two physically separate machines, although still using a common LAN.....and therefore using the same, monthly broadband allowance via the one router.

Got any ideas on that one? Any tips would be appreciated. Geoffrey's already proved, after I suggested it way back in the thread, that delays help with the xbitmeter script, since, as we all know, network connection, even on eth0, is not instantaneous. And Geoffrey simply adapted something that mavrothal had already developed... We all help each other out, don't we? What goes around, comes around again.....

What do you reckon?


Regards,

Mike.

[gcmartin]

Just an idea,but, haven't tried it.

Wondering if this will work

1. 1st
2. I have a PC on, say, 192.168.1.2
3. I install BM and create the BM db on this PC (WITH PROPER PATHing)
4. I open my browser to URL "localhost:2605" to see dataflows
5. Using SAMBA, I share the local BM db folder for LAN users
   Next
6. I have a Compaq PC on the LAN at, say, 192.168.1.3
7. I mount the SAMBA path to the BM db folder, from above
8. I install BM to this PC and change its db path to the db in the mounted folder
9. Now, open my browser to URL "localhost:2605" to see dataflows
   (I should see the exact same information if I URL to "192.168.1.2:2605")
   
   Assumption: Neither PCs is running as a LAN router. All PC's internet access is via you LAN's router.

To the developers, I ask:

• This is presenting the view that there is ONLY 1 BM db for all PCs
• Would this usage, with the PCs mentioned, provide a combined, central, accurate view of our data usage?
• Or, at this time are we, the users, required to manually combine each PC's db separately for combined, accurate dataflows?

Thoughts

[Mike Walsh]

@gcm:-

Yeah. That's something along the lines of what I've been considering myself; it may work, it may not.

I shall give this a go early next week,and see how things pan out. Busy this weekend; family stuff.....I'm sure you know how that goes! I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks for confirming what I'd been thinking of doing.

Cheers for that.


Regards,

Mike.