Now that the weekend is almost here, it’s a great time to catch up on the interesting stories you may have missed during the work week. These are some of the most interesting links we’ve shared around the NTC office this week.
C.H.I.P.s come pre-flashed with an operating system because we felt it should be usable out of the box. Installing an operating system can be an arduous process, especially when you’re raring to get started. We’ve definitely felt it ourselves…heck, even our own C.H.I.P. flashing process was arduous…until now!
Howie and Tina took to the challenge of a simple C.H.I.P. flasher and came back with our new C.H.I.P. web flasher for Google Chrome, now available in its Alpha Release. So what’s that mean?
You can now replace the operating system on your C.H.I.P. from your computer directly from the Chrome web browser. Just head to flash.getchip.com, and follow the on-screen instructions. All you’ll need is a C.H.I.P., a micro USB cable, a jumper wire or a paper clip, a computer with the Chrome web browser, and around 7 minutes. Keep in mind, this will replace the ENTIRETY of your C.H.I.P.’s storage. If there’s anything you want to keep, back it up before flashing.
The Flasher has 3 options: the C.H.I.P. boot repair tool, Debian on C.H.I.P. with GUI by Crunch (our most up-to-date factory flashed image), and Debian on C.H.I.P. without GUI by Crunch.
We’re super stoked to release this. It’s a vast improvement over our previous flashing process and the most exciting thing is it only gets better from here! Can’t wait to show you what else we have in store!
Let us know what you think in the forum. What works. What doesn’t work. It all helps us move forward.
Stay Tuned and Get Flashing!
mmmtc
Everyone at NTC especially Howie and Tina (and Barry Allen)
Maxime (left) and Boris (right) helping Dr. K. scheme his future Linux presentation
This week in San Diego, Richard and Dr. K. joined up with Maxime, Antoine, and Boris from Free Electrons for the Linux Foundation’s Embedded Linux Conference.
The conference offers Linux developers who work on embedded systems — basically any device that isn’t a laptop, desktop, or large server– the chance to learn about new technologies, present their latest research, and to finally meet each other in person.
PockulusC.H.I.P. started as a joke. But then we actually got it working. That’s right, the most affordable standalone virtual reality headset in the world started as a joke and it works!
We were out in a field taking pictures of C.H.I.P.py Ruxpin –as you do when you have a C.H.I.P.-powered talking bear– and I wanted to get C.H.I.P.py to comment on the weather.
Lacking my laptop and with no clue of C.H.I.P.py’s IP address, what was I to do? Easy. Use three wires to directly connect C.H.I.P.py and PocketC.H.I.P.. With a few commands on PocketC.H.I.P., it’s easy to setup a connection and gain shell access to the bear (or any other device with exposed TX, RX, and ground). Here’s how I did it.