tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-264007042024-02-20T09:11:18.532+00:00Techie Geek UKMostly rantingInsane Homerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13761920122415485525noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400704.post-69495875342286815532024-02-20T08:55:00.002+00:002024-02-20T09:08:07.187+00:00The inadvertent router pen test story<p><b>The History</b><br /><br />A few weeks ago I started a small project to document the devices in my home network. I had recently purchased a <a href="https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-mt2500/" target="_blank">VPN device</a> so I wanted a clear understanding of where it would fit.</p><p>In 2019 after upgrading my Wi-Fi to Google, I repurposed my older <a href="https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/routers/r8000/" target="_blank">Netgear R8000</a>. As part of that project, I re-imaged and replaced the Netgear OS with open-source <a href="https://dd-wrt.com/">ddWRT</a>, and switched off all the Wi-Fi. So it essentially became a 4 port switch to connect my ethernet devices.</p><p>and it stayed, pretty much forgotten, until recently.</p><p><b>Now</b></p><p>During the documentation phase, I thought I might take the opportunity to update the <a href="https://dd-wrt.com/" target="_blank">ddWRT</a> version since it was going to be a bit out of date.</p><p>That should be simple enough, login, apply new image, reboot... but I couldn't log in. <br /><br />I tried a few combinations of what would have been the password combinations I would've used back then. I looked up the defaults just in case it had reset itself at some point, but that failed.<br /><br />I did a search on my machine to see if I'd documented it, but found nothing.</p><p><b>The Hacking</b></p><p>This was the opportunity to practice the hacking skills I'd been learning via Hack the Box.</p><p><i>1. Nmap</i></p><p>An Nmap scan revealed HTTP (80) and SSH ports were open. No real surprises there but we'll come back to this later.</p><p><i>2. Burpsuite</i></p><p>A browse to the login page revealed the login process, from this I was able to capture the submission of the username and password and determine that the process used basic authentication. I was able to see that the username/password combinations used base64 encoding to obfuscate.</p><p>I ran a few tests via interceptor and was able to set up a response that appeared to submit the username/password combinations correctly and 'code 200' response from the router.</p><p>So now it was time to build out my 2 custom word lists. <br /><br />The first was a list of possible usernames, this was a combination of the defaults one might expect plus all of the ones I might have used, including various combinations of lowercase, capitalizations, and ALL CAPS. So a list of around 20-25 entries.</p><p>The second word list for all the possible passwords I might have set, plus the usual defaults again with the variances of capitalisations.</p><p>I then ran these via interceptor against the router login page, with no luck.<br /><br />I was reasonably confident that I'd set up the parsing of the wordlists correctly, but there was a chance I was getting a bad response.</p><p><i>3. Metaspoilt</i></p><p>Now, Nmap had revealed that SSH was open. I now used <a href="https://charlesreid1.com/wiki/Metasploitable/SSH/Exploits" target="_blank">Metasploit's SSH</a> scanner module with the same word lists as above and let that run. <br /><br />So set the RHOST and the 2 wordlists and fired it off.<br /><br />This was significantly slower as each attempt was deliberately slowed so as not to get the connection blocked. So I let that run, it took the best part of an hour or two, but it too failed!</p><p><i>4. Routersploit</i></p><p>This Python script is <a href="https://github.com/threat9/routersploit" target="_blank">available via GitHub</a> and I downloaded and installed it. The interface for this is very similar to Metasploit. So I set up the required parameters and fired that off.</p><p>This too failed to find any usable vulnerability.</p><p><b>Conclusion</b></p><p>At this point, I can draw two conclusions, and I'm split 50/50 between them.</p><p>1. The device is secure in its current config and I've nothing to worry about.</p><p>2. The device has been compromised at some point in the last ~4 years.</p><p>So do I assume the first and leave it as it is, or be cautious and hard reset the device and update it?<br /><br />There is only one option, assume the worst, hard reset, and update.</p><p>It shouldn't take long, the biggest issue is it's in a confined space so the most amount of time would be getting adequate physical access to hit the reset button.</p><p><b>Lessons learned</b></p><p>It was a very useful exercise to take these new skills learned, use the various tools, and apply them to a real-world scenario.</p><p>Document usernames and passwords when setting up devices!</p>Insane Homerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13761920122415485525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400704.post-56009986130337940452024-02-11T13:05:00.023+00:002024-02-11T14:03:41.442+00:00How to update Burpsuite in Kali & Parrot 5/6<span style="font-family: arial;"><img src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png"/>
<br />
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">
<br />
<b>1. Download the Community .jar file<br /></b>
<br />Open Burpsuite, then open help and <b>check for updates</b><br />
click the link to open in browser then for the download, choose the community edition (or pro if you have that) & select the <b>JAR</b> version<br />
close burpsuite<br /></span></div>
<br />
<div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>2. Go to Downloads folder</b></span></div><div>
<pre><code class="bash">cd ~/Downloads</code></pre></div><div><br /></div>
<b>3. Set file for execution <br /></b>
<pre><code class="bash">chmod +x burpsuite_community_v2023.12.1.4.jar</code></pre><br />
<b>4. Find location of burpsuite.jar</b>
<pre><code class="bash">locate burpsuite.jar</code></pre>
result should in<br />
<pre><code class="bash">/usr/share/burpsuite</code></pre>
<br />
<b>5. Backup old jar file<br /></b>
<pre><code class="bash">cd /usr/share/burpsuite</code></pre>
<pre><code class="bash">sudo cp burpsuite.jar burpsuite.bak</code></pre>
<pre><code class="bash">sudo rm burpsuite.jar</code></pre>
<br />
<b>6. Copy new jar file</b><br />
<pre><code class="bash">cd ~/Downloads</code></pre>
<pre><code class="bash">sudo cp burpsuite_community_v2023.12.1.4.jar /usr/share/burpsuite/burpsuite.jar</code></pre>
<br />
<b><i>You're done</i></b>
<br />- launch your updated Burpsuite<br /><br />
<b>Recovery: <br /></b><br />
If it has gone wrong, delete the .jar and copy (sudo cp) the burpsuite.bak to burpsuite.jar to get the old version back</span>
<pre><code class="bash">sudo rm /user/share/burpsuite/burpsuite.jar</code></pre>
<pre><code class="bash">sudo cp /user/share/burpsuite/burpsuite.bak /user/share/burpsuite/burpsuite.jar</code></pre>Insane Homerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13761920122415485525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400704.post-85470510910399591552024-01-27T07:58:00.003+00:002024-01-27T08:02:01.918+00:00Can a PSU affect CPU performance?<p>In 2020 I built my current Desktop PC for gaming.</p><p><br />An AMD B550 Mobo, 3600X CPU, 16 BG ram with the semi modular <b>Gigabyte B700H</b> PSU (80 plus Bronze).</p><p>Since then I've double the Ram to 32 GB and upgraded the CPU twice, first to 5800X and now the 5800X3D.</p><p>The system has performed just fine over that time.</p><p>I've got an NVidia GTX 2080ti rate at 250W and the PSU has not had any trouble at all.</p><p>After upgrading to the 5800X3D I did notice that the <b>Cinebench R20</b> and <b>R23</b> scores were a little below average but I put this down to silicon lottery and air cooling. It still ran pretty fast.</p><p>I've been looking to replace the 2080ti with a 7900XT and to do that the 700W PSU was on the limit. So with that in mind I saw a deal on a <b>850W Seasonic Focus GX 850 80PLUS Gold fully modular</b> PSU and ordered it.</p><p>The swap out was done in no time and the first thing I then did was fire up Cinebench R20. It scored <b><u>3% faster</u></b> than the last time I ran it a few months ago. Seemed a bit weird and it's possible that BIOS updates may have played a part in this but I don't think so, the last test were done ~ 4 months ago when I upgrade the Noctua fans on the PSU cooler and got a nice reduction in temps but no bump in performance. No Bios updates has been released or applied in that time.</p><p>So I then did a full pass Cinebench R23 test and this reported a 4% bump in performance!</p><p>Has my PSU been holding my CPU back, what do you think?</p>Insane Homerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13761920122415485525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400704.post-10166147327084860402024-01-17T15:50:00.001+00:002024-01-17T15:53:38.391+00:00The free or open source tools I use in my day job<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b><u><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Current</span></u></b></h2>
Proxmox - repurpose old hardware for Lab and testing Virtual Machines<br />
Docker - easy linux image deployment and testing<br />
Portainer - Docker Manager<br />
<br />
Uptime Kumar - on Docker via Portainer - important servers and service uptime monitoring<br />
Dashy - on Docker via Portainer - cool shortcuts<br />
<br />
Kali Linux Distro install on Proxmox for various security testing and pen testing<br />
hashcat<br />
breachparse<div>burpsuite</div><div><br />
<br />
Wazuh VM on Proxmox for SDR and SIEM<br />
OpenVAS (gvm) on Proxmox for pen testing<br />
Netbox VM - Network Documentation<br />
MediaWiki VM - Documentation<br />
phpbb - IT Forum for internal use /discussion<br />
<br />
KIX32 - login script and general automation of repetitive tasks, software removal, reg edits, software install, software updates, windows updates, <br />
<span style="color: #e69138; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;"><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">
Tools I've used but since dumped</span></h3></div>Insane Homerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13761920122415485525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400704.post-55285756773920469922023-09-28T11:49:00.007+01:002023-09-28T14:46:04.828+01:00 Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4 - upgraded with 2x NF-A12x25 PWM (chromax.black)<p>When I first built my new gaming PC during the Covid lockdown back in 2020 I ordered the <b>Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4</b> to cool the Ryzen 5 3600. And it cooled it very well. the 3600 has a 65 watt TDP and the NH-U12S handled it easily.</p>Later on upgraded to the <b>Ryzen 5 5600X</b>, also with a 65W TDP but I did order and add another fan to the back of Noctua <b>NH-U12S SE-AM4</b>. Again this wasn't a problem at all and the system ran very cool and quiet.<div><br /></div><div>In January 2023, I pushed the boat out again and max'd my AM4 system with the AMD <b>Ryzen 7 5800X3D</b>. I kept the cooling as above but we now had to cope with 105W TDP and it showed.<p><b>Cinebench20</b> would push CPU the temps to <span style="color: red;">89 degrees(c)</span>, a bit toasty!</p><p>So I started looking at the <b>Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black </b>as a possible replacement. </p><p><i>Problem 1</i>, it's a pricey solution at ~£110</p><p><i>Problem 2</i>, this tall boy would be cutting it very close to being able to fit in my case (Phanteks Eclipse P400A)</p><p>So I left it for a while...</p><p>...</p><p>Then I started looking at the <b>NF-A12x25 PWM</b> fans to replace the fans and keep the <b>NH-U12S.</b></p><p>Again not the cheapest solution, with each coming is at ~£30 each, but half the cost of the NH-D15 solution.</p><p>So I bit the bullet, ordered and installed them, and re-used the older Noctua from the NH-12S as additional case exhaust fans. A simple swap over re-jig that probably took less than 30 minutes in total, most of which was giving the case & fans a good spring clean.</p><p>They are a bit chunkier and weightier than the old fans but install just as easily.</p><p>Now the bit you're interested in, the performance.</p><p>I re-calibrated the fans and curves with the 'Auto' function available in my Asus BIOS and booted the system.</p><p>All good, already noticeably quieter.</p><p>Then I ran <b>Cinebench20</b> twice, and each time the temperature peaked at a max of <b><span style="color: #ffa400;">82 degrees(c)</span></b>!</p><p><b><span style="color: #38761d;">A 7 degree drop</span></b> in maximum operating temperature, so now I don't have thermal throttling concerns anymore and it's a better than expected win.</p><p>I am very happy!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Insane Homerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13761920122415485525noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5072178 -0.127586223.196983963821154 -35.2838362 79.817451636178845 35.0286638tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400704.post-56797573299789978782021-10-17T15:57:00.016+01:002023-09-28T14:38:51.644+01:00Making my own Force Feedback Pedals (FFB) PedalsTo Start with I have Fanatec CSL Elite Load cell Pedals.<div><br /></div><div>I wanted to add some more realism without spending a huge amount of money.</div><div><br /></div><div>To start with I had my son's old PS4 controller that was going to be thrown out since he got his PS5, so I took that apart and removed the <b>2 rumble motors</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I then wired and soldered some longer wiring for later.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj36qt7X4JiI5PmrUhvm2FmHaAzaaioKW4GJAmiSKLQ7lWKDYHId8BuHJJXaP7Y_bsxNAnacL5rIn7V5sRjk8ujqRsXHACfjXRx8luVqoQaviQvPSoJby6BJS6gHnzK_GEz-Pc/s3223/original_b5d0c834-000e-435f-971c-fe4dc92c8931_PXL_20211016_111206626.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1966" data-original-width="3223" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj36qt7X4JiI5PmrUhvm2FmHaAzaaioKW4GJAmiSKLQ7lWKDYHId8BuHJJXaP7Y_bsxNAnacL5rIn7V5sRjk8ujqRsXHACfjXRx8luVqoQaviQvPSoJby6BJS6gHnzK_GEz-Pc/s320/original_b5d0c834-000e-435f-971c-fe4dc92c8931_PXL_20211016_111206626.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>The weights were a bit lop-sided with 4 large weights on the left motor and a 1/2 weight on the right.<br /><br /></div><div>With some gentle hammering I was able to remove 1 of the heavier ones from the left and added it to the right. It was a bit loose, so I used a hot glue gun to ensure it wouldn't fall off.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqywvhoii7SNY7yI-iQdLU0pYl9Gz0sQoWI37iKf2D75-IoZJ2CA2J1aznVpRcAtAXGYpLV7-Q6Cbfi0WCkdTEw6CTjUbs-Uc0a1ikoSM4_OW1z1E23AL4cDFrdQWLrzv2icj/s3027/original_4a013ad0-73f2-4c80-bb6c-386e23bfb484_PXL_20211016_120440346.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2070" data-original-width="3027" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqywvhoii7SNY7yI-iQdLU0pYl9Gz0sQoWI37iKf2D75-IoZJ2CA2J1aznVpRcAtAXGYpLV7-Q6Cbfi0WCkdTEw6CTjUbs-Uc0a1ikoSM4_OW1z1E23AL4cDFrdQWLrzv2icj/s320/original_4a013ad0-73f2-4c80-bb6c-386e23bfb484_PXL_20211016_120440346.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>That left me with with 1.5 weighted motor which I intend to use on the accelerator pedal and 3 weighted motor for the brake pedal.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Next I had to source how to drive these motors. The simple answer is <a href="https://www.simhubdash.com" target="_blank">SimHub</a> and Arduino.</div><div><b>Simhud</b> is the free software that gets the data from the sim and passes it to the Arduino. I donated to get the licensed version, if you can afford it, you should too, it's well worth it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Arduino required is the UNO V3, in addition it needs a <b><i>Adafruit Motor/Stepper/Servo Shield for Arduino v2 Kit</i></b>. This is the bit that actually controls the motors once they're wired up. One board can drive up to 4 motors. I found and ordered these, along with a USB cable, from the <a href="https://thepihut.com" target="_blank">PiHut.com</a>. That cost cust over £40 with delivery.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are no screw holes on the back of the Fanatec CSL Elite pedals so I was struggling to think how to mount the motors, luckily someone had already though of this and produced and shared the following <a href="https://grabcad.com/library/3d-printable-fanatec-csl-elite-pedals-rumble-pack-1" target="_blank">3D printable Models</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I upload and ordered via <a href="http://www.treatstock.co.uk" target="_blank">Treatstock.co.uk</a>, where I found the prices quite reasonable. My choice cost me ~$20 for a set on 2.</div><div><br /></div><div>Simhub have a very detailed Guide here on setting up the Shield and UNO - <a href="https://github.com/SHWotever/SimHub/wiki/Arduino-Shake-It" target="_blank">here</a></div><div><br /></div><div>A very useful Youtube video from amstudio - <a href="https://youtu.be/8aLqqcEaUVk" target="_blank">here</a> - showing how he put his together and was my inspiration for this.</div><div><br /></div><div>if you can't be arsed doing it all yourself, for ~£100 you can buy a setup from <a href="https://www.sim-3d.co.uk/product/pedal-rumble-motor-kit/6" target="_blank">Sim 3D</a> - reviewed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uh6-0dJWK4" target="_blank">here</a></div><div><br /></div><div>£100 is not a bad price all things considered, by the time I've got satisfactory 3D mounts printed and delivered I'm probably going to be at that mark.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your also going to need to do some soldering, so if you don't have a soldering iron et al you're going to have to fork out for that too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I've soldered the Shield connectors. A magnifying glass would have been useful but I managed to get it done and then check the finished points by taking a picture on my phone and zooming in.</div><div><br /></div><div>All looked good, so now the big test. Added power (12V 3w), wired up the heavy brake motor to M1 and the lighter accelerator to M4, powered it up and plugged in the USB to the PC.</div><div><br /></div><div>The it was a simple matter of firing up Simhub, launching the Arduino configurator. Choosing the Shield and Arduino and then applying the sketch the UNO. That went off without a hitch and was surprising simple to do. Next was to get to Simhub and press those test buttons. It worked!</div><div><br /></div><div>Now I have to wait for the arrival of the 3D mounting kit and putting the UNO is suitable box so I can then mount and install the motors to the pedals.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Insane Homerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13761920122415485525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400704.post-48365963698348889642016-08-08T09:23:00.001+01:002019-09-29T12:03:23.682+01:00Google Chrome & SSD 'waiting for Cache' system lockupsI have for a very long time suffered on my home PC with this extremely frustrating problem in Google Chrome.<br />
<br />
Every so often my frustrations motivated me to try to resolve the problem, I failed each time, gave up, waited a few months and then tried again.<br />
<br />
The common factor seemed to be those of us with SSDs.<br />
<br />
First I had cloned my old OS drive to the new SSD, so there was that to consider. But a clean install of Windows 10 didn't solve it.<br />
<br />
I removed all the plugins, failed.<br />
<br />
I switched to x64 installation of the Chrome. No Luck.<br />
<br />
Checked trim settings. Nope.<br />
<br />
Then last week I applied the Windows 10 anniversary update. This then started with a similar ~30 system lockup soon after boot time.<br />
<br />
A look through the system and application logs showed errors with access to webache log timing out and complaining of a hardware fault as the cause.<br />
<br />
A few Googles trying to find a solution and I stumbled upon the Eureka moment.<br />
<br />
My system, the Motherboard, to be more precise still had my SATA connections set to IDE mode!<br />
<br />
Of course you can't just change to AHCI as Windows will fail to boot. <a href="http://www.tenforums.com/drivers-hardware/15006-attn-ssd-owners-enabling-ahci-mode-after-windows-10-installation.html" target="_blank">Thankfully there is a simple fix for that here.</a><br />
<br />
Since this change, I've not had the problem and Chrome has in 3 days so far not locked up with 'waiting for cache' issue!<br />
<br />Insane Homerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13761920122415485525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400704.post-54000036030614994842008-04-22T22:31:00.008+01:002008-04-22T22:54:56.292+01:00My Wii Remote DemoHere is my <a href="http://www.youtube.com">youtube</a> Video of me playing with my <a href="http://code.google.com/p/linux-whiteboard/downloads/list">Wii Whiteboard</a>.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/i1Mt0eliHgw"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/i1Mt0eliHgw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object><br />That's my homemade Wii Pen.<br /><br />The Laptop is an HP nc8430 Running Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) Release Candidate and <a href="http://code.google.com/p/linux-whiteboard/downloads/list">Wii Whiteboard </a>0.3.3. Most of the Compiz Fusion Eye candy is enabled.<br /><br />Laptop screen resolution is 1680*1050.<br /><br />The initial picture in the background is some of my doodling and some drawings from the 4 year old son.<br />He asks me every day now to draw on the computa!Insane Homerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13761920122415485525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400704.post-86384336589136209352008-04-21T11:32:00.017+01:002008-04-22T12:01:43.084+01:00Wii Remote Whiteboard penI was totally amazed when I saw Johhny Lee's demonstration of the things he's been able to do by hacking the wii remote. I first saw it at <a href="http://www.TED.com">www.TED.com</a>. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QgKCrGvShZs&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QgKCrGvShZs&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />He also has some video's demoing his stuff on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=johnny+lee+wii&search_type=">youtube</a>. His project site can be found <a href="http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/">here</a>.<br /><br />Truly amazing stuff, but most importantly accessible at very low cost to everyone who wants to give it a whirl. So that's what I've decided to do. Luckily there are a ton of people out there who have already tried this and I found a number of useful <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=infrared+pen&search_type=">youtube</a> videos of people showing how they built their devices.<br /><br />The whiteboard pen is simple enough and has the best practical use with the wii Whiteboard.<br /><br />My first test was to get the wii remote connected to my laptop via bluetooth. I managed to do this simply enough by enabling bluetooth on my laptop and booting into my Ubuntu Hardy Heron RC (8.04) installation. I then downloaded and installed the wii whiteboard software from <a href="http://code.google.com/p/linux-whiteboard/downloads/list">here</a>.<br /><br />I got it connected by simply running the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/linux-whiteboard/downloads/list">wii whiteboard software</a>, which detect the wii remote after 1&2 button press on the remote to get them synchronised. Then a crack at the calibration. I had to use the wii sensor bar as my infra-red pen. It took a bit of trial and error but it definitely worked. A proof of concept if you will. So I was ready to spend some time and money on this little project.<br /><br />I started digging around and found I could source all of the required components from a local <a href="http://www.maplin.co.uk/">Maplins</a> in the UK.<br /><br />However after a bit of scrummaging around I managed to find an old remote which I took the infra-red LED out of. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_71IvjB-RAis/SAx47xk3lmI/AAAAAAAAAtY/Fy7pWty7zCU/s1600-h/IMG_5880.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_71IvjB-RAis/SAx47xk3lmI/AAAAAAAAAtY/Fy7pWty7zCU/s320/IMG_5880.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191657438766929506" /></a><br />I found a suitable pen case in a highlighter pen (thanks kids).<br /><br />The only thing I really needed was a suitable <a href="http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=2492&&source=14&doy=21m4">push-to-make switch</a>. I could have easily gotten one out of an old mouse but had unfortunately thrown my old mouse away a few weeks ago. So after a quick trip to Maplins I had my switch. I also purchased single battery cases for a AAA & AA battery. The AAA housing fits perfectly in the highlighter pen housing. Total Cost £1.72.<br /><br />The most expensive bit of this whole project so far has been the Soldering Iron and Solder - grand total £14.<br /><br />So a little over 90 mins later I had myself a fully functional infra-red LED pen that looks something like this...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_71IvjB-RAis/SAx4JRk3llI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/XHqmH3CBkb0/s1600-h/IMG_5884.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_71IvjB-RAis/SAx4JRk3llI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/XHqmH3CBkb0/s320/IMG_5884.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191656571183535698" /></a><br /><br />The most difficult and time consuming bit was the soldering and putting it all together. Making sure the was enough space and wiring to allow all the bits to connect together and then all cram together inside the pen casing. So after cutting 2 holes to accommodate the switch (a large whole to allow the whole device to slip inside the case and a smaller for the button to protrude through).<br /><br />I then used my mini tripod for the digital camera to mount the wii remote in a favourable steady position pointing at the laptop screen. Again no extra cost, I had some spare Velcro cable management strips left over from the my new PC case, which I used to secure the remote onto the handle of the tripod.<br /><br />I've made a video of my and my 4 year old son playing with it, I just need to do a bit of editing before uploading. Watch this space.<br /><br />I now need to source a Ubuntu Linux <a href="http://www.wiili.org/index.php/Compatible_Bluetooth_Devices">compatible USB 2.0 bluetooth</a> dongle for my desktop PC, so I can get this working on the 22" Samsung - Yeah baby!<br /><br />Oh and finally, a BIG thank you to Johhny Lee!Insane Homerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13761920122415485525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26400704.post-63838250805934170032007-12-10T16:27:00.000+00:002007-12-10T16:44:39.994+00:00Sony DAV-DZ230 and Sky+ Remote CodesI just bought the Sony DAV-DZ230 from Curry's to replace my ailing DAVS500.<br /><br />I had the usual panic trying to get the remote codes sorted out so that I can use the sky+ remote control to control the the volume directly on the AV unit and this how it's done.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />STEP 1</span><br /><br />Turn the AV unit on.<br /><br />Press the TV button on the sky remote.<br /><br />Press and hold the Select button and zero at the same time until the red led blinks twice.<br /><br />press 0000 to enter the code (this is a Sony code for the sky+ remote)<br /><br />Press the < (left navigation button on the sky remote), this should turn the AV unit off. The up and down arrows show control the volume too.<br /><br />At this point it's OK but not great since for it to work you have to keep switching between the SKY mode and TV mode. Not good when you are playing back sky+ recorded programs since it stops the playback and put it's back it live mode.<br /><br />So to tell the remote to use this code for volume control while in SKY mode do the following.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">STEP 2</span><br /><br />Press the TV button<br /><br />Press and Hold Select + 1 together until the red Led flashes twice.<br /><br />Press the Sky button and test the volume control, it should now control the DAV-DZ230 volume!<br /><br />Note: I have a rev.6 Sky remote control.Insane Homerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13761920122415485525noreply@blogger.com10