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Notice: This page contains information for the legacy Phidget21 Library. Phidget21 is out of support. Bugfixes may be considered on a case by case basis. Phidget21 does not support VINT Phidgets, or new USB Phidgets released after 2020. We maintain a selection of legacy devices for sale that are supported in Phidget21. We recommend that new projects be developed against the Phidget22 Library.
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button in the menu bar to go to the Phidget22 version of this page.
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Web Interface Reference
This section provides a complete reference to all tabs and sub-tabs within the SBC web interface. Note that the web interface itself also includes help as text on the right side of most tab screens.
Top Bar
On loading the interface, you will see a tool bar along the top of the page. It holds some information across all the configuration pages. The information is as follows:
- Host Name
- The host name given to the PhidgetSBC on the network.
- Uptime
- Total time elapsed since the last reboot.
- Load
- The average CPU utilization in the last minute, 5 minute, and 10 minute durations.
- Version
- The current board and web interface version.
Tab: Status
The main tab Status has options for System, Network, Processes, USB, and Phidgets.
This is the first page you should see after loading the configuration Interface. It contains general information about the SBC.
- Board Name
- Name of the device. It should always read “PhidgetSBC2”.
- Board Revision
- Board revision number. This tracks the hardware design.
- Webif Version
- The version of the web interface currently being used. This will change with updates to the web interface/configuration system.
- Kernel Version
- The type and version of the loaded Linux kernel.
- Distribution
- The running Linux distribution name/version. This should read "Debian GNU/Linux 6.0"
- Phidget Library
- The version of the installed Phidget21 library.
- These libraries are included with the firmware, and may need to be updated to use newly released Phidgets.
- Current Date/Time
- Current date and time, within the SBC
- MAC Address
- The Ethernet MAC address.
- A PhidgetSBC is uniquely identified by its MAC address shown here.
- This address is also printed on the label of the underside of the PhidgetSBC.
- Other Phidgets, including the integrated InterfaceKit, use a serial number to identify themselves.
- All mounted filesystems are listed, along with their size and usage.
- Memory usage is shown. Wired/active memory is shown in red and cached/inactive memory is shown in blue.
See: Tab: Network
This lists all running processes, along with their Process ID (PID), User, State, CPU usage and memory usage. Advanced users can use this to tell if any application is using too much memory, or has crashed.
This lists all USB devices. The “S3C24XX OHCI” Host Controller, the “General Purpose USB Hub” and the built in Interface Kit 8/8/8 should always be listed, along with any connected devices. Also listed are any mounted USB drives.
- A list of all the USB devices present in the system. This includes the main USB, the built in 6 port hub, and all Phidget and non-Phidget devices.
- This area lists of all the USB based drives connected to the PhidgetSBC, and their mount points.
- USB drives are automatically mounted at /media/usb(0-9) when attached.
- Unmount (Button)
- Use this button before removing the device to safely disconnect it.
See: Tab: Phidgets
Tab: Network
The main tab Network has the sub-tabs Status, Settings, and Wireless.
General network status can be viewed on this page. Modifying these values are done on other pages.
- Adapter
- Abbreviated name and number of the network interface.
- Type
- Wired or wireless connection.
- Mode
- Network protocol used.
- IP Address
- The IP address of the network interface.
- Subnet Mask
- The subnet mask of the network interface.
- Gateway
- The IP address of your gateway.
- MAC Address
- The MAC address of the interface.
- Wireless State
- Connection status information for the Wireless link.
- This could be 'CONNECTED', 'INACTIVE', 'FAILED', etc.
- Wireless SSID
- The plaintext name of the wireless connection access point.
- Wireless Security
- Security protocol used for a wireless link.
- DNS Server(s)
- List of nameservers being used.
This is where TCP/IP settings for the wired ethernet and configured. This is also where SSH is enabled.
- TCP/IP settings
- DHCP will set the system IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Gateway automatically.
- In the absence of a DHCP server, Static should be used and filled in manually.
- Note that the same TCP/IP settings will be used at all access points.
- DNS settings
- DNS can be set up automatically if DHCP is enabled.
- Under manual settings, up to two DNS servers can be specified.
- Note that DNS settings are system-wide and will apply to all interfaces.
- SSH Server
- This is where the SSH server can be enabled or disabled.
- Enabling SSH for the first time can take several minutes as the keys are generated.
Wireless networking is supported via a USB wifi adapter. When an adapter is plugged in, this wireless configuration page will be available.
Wireless networks are joined based on a list of saved networks. You can join, manually enable and disable, as well as delete these saved networks. To add a wireless network to this list, either choose from the list of detected networks, or enter the details manually. Supported security includes WEP, WPA(2) Personal and WPA(2) Enterprise.
Saved networks will be joined first based on security and secondly based on best signal strength.
- SSID
- The SSID of the access point that you wish to add. This is the plaintext name of the access point.
- Security
- The security system used by this access point.
- Remember this network
- If enabled, this network will be added to the list of saved networks permanently, and will be available to be automatically joined in the future.
- Otherwise, this network will remain in the list of saved networks until the board is reset, or another network is added.
- Join This Network
- Joining a specific network will temporarily disable all other saved networks, so that the specific network will be joined, if available.
- The other networks will remain disabled until the board is reset, or another network is added.
- Delete This Network
- Delete a saved network. There is no confirmation and this cannot be undone.
- Enable / Disable
- Selected networks that are enabled will be joined automatically.
- Disabled networks will never be joined.
- TCP/IP settings
- DHCP will set the system IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Gateway automatically.
- In the absence of a DHCP server, Static should be used and filled in manually.
- Note that the same TCP/IP settings will be used at all access points.
- DNS settings
- Switch the DNS settings between Automatic and Manual.
- DNS can be set up automatically if DHCP is enabled. Otherwise, up to two DNS servers can be specified.
- Note that DNS settings are system-wide and will apply to all interfaces.
Tab: Phidgets
- Library Version
- The version of the installed Phidget21 library. These libraries are included and are updated along with the firmware.
- A list of all detected Phidgets connected to the PhidgetSBC.
- This includes the integrated PhidgetInterfaceKit and displays both the serial number and version.
The Phidget webservice is a simple server that allows Phidgets connected to the PhidgetSBC board to be opened over the network. This is enabled by default and starts with the SBC.
This page lets you view and modify the Phidget webserice settings, as well as stop and start the server. Please see the Advanced User’s Guide for more information on programming with the dictionary.
- Enabled/Disabled
- Enables or disables the Phidget WebService.
- Server ID
- Server ID is used when opening a connection to the PhidgetSBC using the mDNS based openRemote calls.
- This is by default the same as the PhidgetSBC hostname (phidgetsbc), but can be set to anything (up to 63 characters).
- Port
- Port is the port that the webservice runs on - default is 5001.
- Password
- The password is used for securing the webservice.
- By default, this option is disabled with a blank password.
- Note that while the authentication protocol and password is encrypted during authentication, all following data is sent in the clear.
- Start/Stop (Button)
- Use this button to start/stop the webservice.
Tab: Projects
This is where user projects are set up. Custom applications can be written in either C (compiled to an ARM architecture) or Java, and then set up to run on the PhidgetSBC at system startup. We offer an in-depth tutorial on creating applications in this manner using Java.
This sub-tab lists installed applications as well as the controls for creating a new application space.
This is also where you can download the SBC-specific version of the Phidget Java libraries: phidget21.jar
This is a list of all created applications and their current status. Enabled applications will try to run on system boot, and the stopped/running status indicates if the program is currently executing.
Delete applications using the red ‘X’ near their name. You can click on the application name to launch the Specific Project page.
- Create new app (Button)
- This button creates a new application space using the input field for its name. Application names should not contain spaces.
- Free space remaining on userspace partition
- The amount of free space remaining on the user partition in bytes.
On a specific application space page, there are controls to start and stop the program, as well as view the stdout and stderr from the most recent (or current) run.
- Start/Stop (Button)
- This button is for starting or stopping the execution of the program specified under application settings.
- Starting a program will generate stdout and stderr logs.
- View stdout
- You can view the standard console output of your program through this link.
- View stderr
- In the event of an error that halts program execution, its corresponding error message is printed here.
This allows viewing, editing and removal of application files, as well as the ability to upload new files. File upload size is limited to 5MiB per file.
This section configures the application to start at boot. When this enabled, it will start at the end of the system boot process (after things like bringing up the network, starting the Phidget WebService, etc.). The startup order field specifies a start order among the custom applications, with lower numbers being started first.
Executable name is the name of the file to execute. If this filename ends in ‘.class’ or ‘.jar’, the program will be run as a Java program, otherwise it is run as an ARM Binary. We have an detailed walkthrough of this section.
Tab: Webcam
- Enabled/Disabled
- Enable or disable the webcam streaming video.
- Video streaming can consume a lot of bandwidth depending on the settings used.
- Resolution
- The resolution of the capture in pixels.
- Only resolutions supported by the webcam are listed.
- Framerate
- The transmission frame rate of the capture.
- Available frame rates will depend on the selected resolution.
- Port
- The port that the video stream is sent to.
- Password
- Protect the webcam stream with a password.
- This will add a simple username and password prompt whenever you view the webcam stream - including on this page.
- The username is 'webcam'.
- Set to nothing to disable passwords.
Tab: System
This is where general system setting are set up.
- Host name
- The system hostname.
- This is used for the system’s mDNS (i.e. local link address) hostname, as well as the Phidget WebService default Server ID.
- All PhidgetSBCs have a default hostname of
phidgetsbc. When used as a link local address, the extension.localis added
- Timezone
- Set up your time zone according to the nearest city of your region from the predefined list.
- Zoneinfo String
- Standard zoneinfo names are defined for different areas of the world. You can supply any zone from the official list as an alternative to selecting a predefined zone from the list.
This is where the kernel and system logs can be viewed. This also includes the ability to filter the text. We also have a special section on checking the system logs.
- Text to Filter
- Insert a string that covers what you would like to see or exclude.
- You can use the regular expression constants like: 00:[[:digit:]]{2}:[[:digit:]]{2} or .debug|.err
- Filter Mode
- You will see only messages containing the text in the Include mode while you will not see them in the Exclude mode.
- Remove Filter
- Clears the filter being used
- Filter Messages
- Change the filter being used. Including a blank Text to Filter effectively removes the filter.
This is where the system password can be changed. The system password is the (which is the admin password for the web interface) is also the root user password on the SBC when using SSH.
Changes here made will take effect immediately after being saved, without asking for confirmation. The new password must consist of alphanumeric characters and be at least 1 character long.
- New Password
- The first field for a new password.
- Confirm Password
- The second field for a new password. This must match the first field.
- Set Password
- This button will commit the changes to your password.
This grants access to the full filesystem. Files can be uploaded, edited and deleted, and directories can be created. Some important system directories and files are protected from deletion, but it is still easy to break the system by editing/deleting files.
File upload is limited to a filesize of 5MiB.
File/Directory permission, owner/group and creation time information is available by hovering over the file/directory icon.
This is where the system can be backed up to disk and restored. This also allows access to the recovery/upgrade system.
Note that this only backs up configuration files directly related to the web interface - such as network configuration, hostname, time settings, and user project setting (but not including project files). For other methods of backup, including installed software, we have a detailed walkthrough.
When restoring from a backup file, the system will check that it is a valid backup before asking the user to continue.
- Name this configuration
- You can give the backup file an arbitrary name. The name is only shown during restore.
- Backup
- This button creates the backup.
- A download link to the backup will be provided and you will be prompted to save the file to an off-SBC location. The download link is not valid indefinitely, use it then.
- Saved backup file
- Choose a backup file for this machine type.
- The restore system will check the file and ask for confirmation before running the restore.
- Restore
- This button applies the backup.
- The backup file will then be verified.
- Clicking restore again will commit the changes and take effect immediately.
- Reset
- This will reset all of the web interface configuration files to their default states. This will not reset the system as a whole.
- Go (Button)
- This will boot the SBC into the Recovery/Upgrade system.
- Refer to our section on the recovery system for more information.
This is where package updates are performed. From time to time, updates will be made available. These will address any bugs and security issues, add new features, and update the phidget21 library and webservice. There are also some other package management options available.
Note that this page can take quite a long time to load when 'Include full Debian Package Repository' is enabled.
This lists all available package updates, if any.
- Upgrade All Packages
- This installs all available package updates.
- Selective updating can only be done via SSH.
- Refresh Available Packages
- This runs apt-get update to refresh the package list and check for new updates.
- Installable Packages
- This lists some package sets that be installed to add common features to the SBC.
- Before trying to install these package sets, enable "Include full Debian Package Repository", and "Refresh available packages" - otherwise the needed packages won’t be available and the install will fail.
- Java Support (Button)
- This installs 'libphidget21-java' and 'default-jre-headless' to support Java based projects.
- C/C++ Development Tools/Headers
- This installs 'build-essential' which allows for on-board development in C/C++.
We also have a detailed walkthrough of installing and using C, Java, and Python on the SBC.
- Include full Debian Package Repository
- This enables the full Debian repository in the apt sources list.
- By default, only the Phidgets repository is included.
- When enabled, all system packages will show up in the updates list, rather then just Phidgets packages, allowing for full system updates.
- This also allows the user to install any packages they like, from the SSH interface.
The board can be rebooted remotely from this page. The reboot should take 45-60 seconds depending on network conditions. It tries to shut down all running programs before restarting as opposed to the reset button.
The license information and credits for the configuration interface is displayed here. A link is provided to the original sources and the Phidgets web site.
