Armbian on Aamnah - Frontend Web Developer

Install VNC server on Armbian

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 15:47:51 +0200

x11vnc is a VNC server for real X displays (i.e. a display corresponding to a physical monitor, keyboard, and mouse).

I needed this to remotely make changes to an Orange Pi which was connected to a physical monitor. The monitor serves as my dashboard and has a bunch of widgets showing like a binary clock, todo items and so on..

 1# install
 2sudo apt install x11vnc
 3
 4# Set a password
 5x11vnc -storepasswd
 6
 7# run
 8x11vnc
 9
10# this will run x11vnc on port 5900
11# you can now view and control the server from a vnc client
12# e.g. Remmina is pre-installed on Ubuntu
13# 192.168.0.X:5900

1# keep running
2x11vnc -forever

If you set x11vnc to start at boot, it’ll start working before you have even logged in.

Install Armbian on Orange Pi+ 2

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 21:36:48 +0200

STATUS: DRAFT

Install Armbian on a microSD card

Download Xfce desktop (Jammy) or cli version (Bookworm) from the archive

Balena Etcher kept giving me errors.

Download the .img.xz file.

Download usbimager

On macOS, i got an error saying "USBImager.app" is damaged and can't be opened.. Could not run it even after clearing the quarantine tag /usr/bin/xattr -crv /Applications/USBImager.app. In the end the solution was to run it from the Terminal with sudo

Add Monitor Profile

Sun, 26 Aug 2018 00:00:01 +0500

On Armbian, i’m getting no monitors listed, just one entry saying default. Nothing in terms of display or video with lshw. Nothing in Applications > Settings > Display.

For refernce, i have an Asus VX24AH 2K-WQHD 23.8"" monitor. Drivers for this monitor are only available for Windows

1sudo lshw -C display
2sudo lshw -C video

You can add a monitor with the xrandr command. RandR (Rotate and Resize)

1$ xrandr --help | grep monitor

  --listmonitors
  --listactivemonitors
  --setmonitor <name> {auto|<w>/<mmw>x<h>/<mmh>+<x>+<y>} {none|<output>,<output>,...}
  --delmonitor <name>

xrandr --listmonitors 
Monitors: 4
 0: +*DVI-I-2 5040/473x1050/296+0+0  DVI-I-2
 1: DVI-I-2~1 1680/490x1050/270+0+0 
 2: DVI-I-2~2 1680/490x1050/270+1680+0 
 3: DVI-I-2~3 1680/490x1050/270+3360+0

On an Orange Pi Plus 2 with Armbian connected to Asus VX24AH

Setting up Vim and Tmux

Thu, 16 Aug 2018 00:00:01 +0500

 1#!/bin/bash
 2
 3install_tmux () {
 4	# install Tmux
 5	sudo apt update 
 6	sudo apt install -y tmux
 7
 8	# create a custom Tmux conf file (~/.tmux.conf)
 9	touch $HOME/.tmux.conf
10	# macOS: ~/.tmux-osx.conf
11	
12# add config for 256 colors
13	echo -e "
14# 256 Colors
15set -g default-terminal \"screen-256color\"
16" >> $HOME/.tmux.conf
17	
18	# make an alias to `tmux -2` to force 256 color terminal
19	echo -e "alias tmux='tmux -2'" > $HOME/.bashrc
20}
21
22configure_vim() {
23# cerate custom Vim config file
24touch $HOME/.vimrc
25
26# create custom dirs
27mkdir -p $HOME/.vim/colors
28
29# fetch and save Sublime Monokai colorscheme
30curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ErichDonGubler/vim-sublime-monokai/master/colors/sublimemonokai.vim > $HOME/.vim/colors/sublimemonokai.vim
31
32# fetch and save Tommorow Night colorscheme
33curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chriskempson/tomorrow-theme/master/vim/colors/Tomorrow-Night.vim > $HOME/.vim/colors/tomorrownight.vim
34
35# Set basic config in order for Sublime Monokai theme to work
36echo 't_Co=256 \nsyntax on \ncolorscheme sublimemonokai' >> $HOME/.vimrc
37}
38
39install_tmux
40configure_vim
41
42# TODO
43# fetch conf files from here: https://github.com/aamnah/dotfiles
44
45# REFERENCES
46# https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki/FAQ

Colorscheme not showing up as expected

This has to do with 256 colors. Older terminals only supported 8 or 16 colors. Even now, some Terminals (and terminal emulators) may have to be told explicitly to use 256 colors even if they support it. (xterm does). If you use an emulator like tmux, you’ll have to tell tmux as well to use 256 colors.

Setup Orange Pi Plus 2 (Armbian) as a network attached storage (NAS)

Sun, 12 Aug 2018 00:00:01 +0500

The Plan

install and configure Samba
set a static IP for your OrangePi

 1SAMBA_USERNAME=''
 2DATE="$(date +%d%h%Y-%H%M%S)"
 3
 4# Install Samba
 5sudo apt install -y samba 
 6
 7# Config
 8# make a backup of original conf file
 9sudo /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb_bak_${DATE}.conf
10
11# edit conf file and add share folders
12echo -e "
13# SHARED FOLDERS
14# Added by Aamnah on $(date)
15
16[Movies]
17    comment = Movies
18    path = /media/NAS/MOVIES/
19    browseable = yes
20    read only = no
21    guest ok = yes
22    
23[TVShows]
24    comment = TV Show
25    path = "/media/NAS/TV Shows/"
26    browseable = yes
27    read only = no
28    guest ok = yes
29" >> /etc/samba/smb.conf
30
31
32# restart Samba
33sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart
34Create a user to use with Samba
35# create user
36sudo useradd bumblebee -m -G users
37# set password for the user you just created
38sudo passwd bumblebee
39Set a password for your user in Samba
40sudo smbpasswd -a <username>

Screen recording on Armbian

Sun, 12 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0500

tl;dr

build Simple Screen Recorder from source

The options for sreen recording tools are:

~~Kazam~~ Config doesn’t get saved, recording issues, last updated 2014
~~OBS Studio~~ Make error, something about target 'all' failing
~~Simple Screen Recorder~~ Package not found, compile from source??
~~RecordMyDesktop~~ Recording is pink
~~Istanbul~~ Unable to locate package, dead project, last update 2013

OBS Studio

OBS Studio is not officially available for Armbian. Adding the repo still ends up in an error saying the package could not be found. You have to build it from source.
Building OBS from source also ended in vain.

 1Installing with make install...
 2
 3========================= Installation results ===========================
 4[  1%] Built target glad
 5[  2%] Building C object deps/media-playback/CMakeFiles/media-playback.dir/media-playback/decode.c.o
 6cc: error: unrecognized command line option ‘-mmmx’
 7cc: error: unrecognized command line option ‘-msse’
 8cc: error: unrecognized command line option ‘-msse2’
 9deps/media-playback/CMakeFiles/media-playback.dir/build.make:62: recipe for target 'deps/media-playback/CMakeFiles/media-playback.dir/media-playback/decode.c.o' failed
10make[2]: *** [deps/media-playback/CMakeFiles/media-playback.dir/media-playback/decode.c.o] Error 1
11CMakeFiles/Makefile2:212: recipe for target 'deps/media-playback/CMakeFiles/media-playback.dir/all' failed
12make[1]: *** [deps/media-playback/CMakeFiles/media-playback.dir/all] Error 2
13Makefile:149: recipe for target 'all' failed
14make: *** [all] Error 2
15
16****  Installation failed. Aborting package creation.
17
18Cleaning up...OK
19
20Bye.

Kazam

1sudo apt install kazam

for some reason my configuration for Kazam was not being saved when being edited from File > Preferences. So i ended up editing the config file at ~/.config/kazam/kazam.conf

1[DEFAULT]
2autosave_video_file = kazam_
3autosave_picture_file = kazam_
4capture_microphone = True
5autosave_video_dir = /home/aamnah/Screencasts
6autosave_picture_dir = /home/aamnah/Screenshots
7framerate = 20

Editing the conf file directly was also in vain. Kazam resets the settings every time it runs, the conf file gets overwritten.

Install WebTorrent Desktop on Armbian (OrangePi Plus2 / RaspberryPi 3)

Wed, 08 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0500

tl;dr: don’t bother, my ARM hardware isn’t powerful enough for Electronjs which WebTorrent is built with.

The Plan

Install Nodejs, because WebTorrent is built with Nodejs and JavaScript
Clone the WebTorrent repo and install the node modules – STUCK HERE –
Run the app to make sure it works on armhf architecture
Package the app as a Linux app
Build from source

ABORTED

Because the npm install was stuck
Because the prerequisites for Electron (which WebTorrent runs on) are a minimum of 25GB of disk space and 8GB of RAM. Both of which i don’t have with OrangePi or RaspberryPi or any other ARM hardware. Meh.

Armbian / Orange Pi Plus 2 - getting started issues

Mon, 06 Aug 2018 00:00:02 +0500

Sound over HDMI doesn’t work

Click the Volume icon in the top-right menu bar. Set the Default Sink to sndhdmi Analog Stereo

HDMI Volume too low

Click the Volume icon in the top-right menu bar. Open Volume Control... Select the Output Devices tab. Under sndhdmi Analog Stereo drag the volume bar to the far right (mine goes up to 153%, 11.0dB)

Time is wrong, shows UTC instead of local time

Time shows wrong even after updating system time from Armbian config as well as sudo dpkg-reconnfigure tzdata. Shows time in UTC instead of local time (UTC +5)

Date Time troubleshooting on Armbian

Mon, 06 Aug 2018 00:00:01 +0500

Set time zone

1sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

Check if /etc/localtime exists and if it points to the right timezone

1ls /etc

lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root      32 Aug  6 15:53 localtime -> /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Karachi

Install ntp Network Time Protocol for automatically setting/updating time

1sudo apt install ntp

Check time for RTC (your hardware may be equiped with a real time clock)

1sudo hwclock --test -D

aamnah@orangepiplus:~$ sudo hwclock --test -D
sudo hwclock --test -D
hwclock from util-linux 2.27.1
Using the /dev interface to the clock.
Assuming hardware clock is kept in UTC time.
Waiting for clock tick...
...got clock tick
Time read from Hardware Clock: 1970/01/01 02:11:34
Hw clock time : 1970/01/01 02:11:34 = 7894 seconds since 1969
Time since last adjustment is 7894 seconds
Calculated Hardware Clock drift is 0.000000 seconds
Thu 01 Jan 1970 07:11:32 AM +05  .131148 seconds

Since Ornage Pi Plu2 (my hardware) isn’t equipped with an RTC, or any options for a backup battery aren’t exposed for it, it’ll always show date 1.Jan.1970 + uptime

Pairing Bluetooth devices in Armbian, Orange Pi Plus2

Mon, 06 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0500

1bluetoothctl

Run the following commands:

[bluetooth]# agent off
[bluetooth]# agent KeyboardOnly
[bluetooth]# scan on
[bluetooth]# pair 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3
[bluetooth]# trust 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3
[bluetooth]# connect 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3

The key here is KeyboardOnly. Logitech K480 requires a pairing key to be typed on the keyboard, and for some reason it wasn’t showing in the GUI. KeyboardOnly let’s you do the complete pairing and connection process using keyboard input.

Here are the commands with their outputs:

[bluetooth]# agent off
Agent unregistered
[bluetooth]# agent KeyboardOnly
Agent registered
[bluetooth]# scan on
Discovery started
[CHG] Controller 00:15:83:0C:BF:EB Discovering: yes
[NEW] Device 3 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3 Keyboard K480
[bluetooth]# pair 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3
Attempting to pair with 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3
[CHG] Device 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3 Connected: yes
[agent] PIN code: 870577
[CHG] Device 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3 Modalias: usb:v046DpB33Dd2803
[CHG] Device 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3 UUIDs: 00001000-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb
[CHG] Device 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3 UUIDs: 00001124-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb
[CHG] Device 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3 UUIDs: 00001200-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb
[CHG] Device 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3 Paired: yes
Pairing successful

[bluetooth]# connect 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3
Attempting to connect to 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3
[CHG] Device 34:XX:XX:XX:D8:F3 Connected: yes
Connection successful
[Keyboard K480]#

You can now see info about your connected device like so:

Armbian on Aamnah - Frontend Web Developer

Install VNC server on Armbian

Install Armbian on Orange Pi+ 2

Install Armbian on a microSD card

Add Monitor Profile

Setting up Vim and Tmux

Colorscheme not showing up as expected

Setup Orange Pi Plus 2 (Armbian) as a network attached storage (NAS)

The Plan

Screen recording on Armbian

tl;dr

OBS Studio

Kazam

Install WebTorrent Desktop on Armbian (OrangePi Plus2 / RaspberryPi 3)

The Plan

ABORTED

Links

Armbian / Orange Pi Plus 2 - getting started issues

Sound over HDMI doesn’t work

HDMI Volume too low

Time is wrong, shows UTC instead of local time

Date Time troubleshooting on Armbian

Pairing Bluetooth devices in Armbian, Orange Pi Plus2