Projects Log » Windows

Control your Windows computer using your Sony Playstation 3

Kevin DEHLINGER — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:08:46 +0000

Ok, let me introduce my new project: It's called PS3ReCon (which stands for Playstation 3 Remote Control), it allows you to use your Sony Playstation 3 Bluetooth Remote to control your computer.
It's fully writen in c# and supports external plugins (.dll files)
Oh, and also, it's free !

http://ps3recon.pulsed.net/

Laser + Webcam = 3D… maybe!

Kevin DEHLINGER — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:45:24 +0000

So here the new project i'm planning to work on: a 3D scanner!

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, lets start with them:

What I think is pretty simple (maybe too simple): the distance between the y axis and the edge of the object where the laser is beaming on, can be calculated using the delta value and some sines and cosines!

I'm not much of a math guy, but this sounds really easy!

x=delta/sin 60

Waaaaait… this may actually work!!!!

Oh and i've made some huge progress with my realtime webcam tracking program!

here's an example tracking my external harddrive blue led:

Vbscript CGI (No… not ASP)

Kevin DEHLINGER — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:37:55 +0000

Yesterday, I don't know how, but while doing nothing I suddenly got the best idea ever: Using vbscript scripts with apache… and guess what… after some coding/debugging hours, it actually works like a charm!

so how did I manage to get this working?
Each computer with at least "windows 2000" should have cscript.exe somewhere: it's the vbscript/jscript console interpreter

so I started to write my first script:

test.vbs
#!c:\WINDOWS\system32\cscript.exe wscript.echo "Content-type: text/html" & vbcrlf wscript.echo "Hello World"

but it didn't work (500 Internal Server Error) so I checked apache error log and found:
C:\\wamp\\cgi-bin\\test.vbs(1, 1) Erreur de compilation Microsoft VBScript: Instruction attendue\r

Error in the first line at the first character… oh wait that's the shebang
How to ignore the first line in my vbs code?

No idea? well that's the second best idea ever: you simply need to call another vbs script from the shebang that somehow ignores the first line and include the remaining part and call it for example "vbscript_cgi.vbs":

vbscript_cgi.vbs
Set arguments = WScript.Arguments If arguments.Count >=1 Then Set FSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") If FSO.FileExists(arguments(0)) Then Set cgi = FSO.OpenTextFile(arguments(0)) cgi.ReadLine ExecuteGlobal cgi.ReadAll cgi.Close End If Set FSO = Nothing End If Set arguments = Nothing

test.vbs
#!c:\WINDOWS\system32\cscript.exe "C:\wamp\cgi-bin\vbscript_cgi.vbs" wscript.echo "Content-type: text/html" & vbcrlf wscript.echo "Hello World"

Nah bad luck, still error 500… apache log says malformed header from script. Bad header=Microsoft (R) Windows Script H: test.vbs … wtf?!?

Oooh right… cscript always displays a banner when you launch a script:
C:\wamp\cgi-bin>cscript test.vbs Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.6 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1996-2001. Tous droits rÃ©servÃ©s.

Lets add the "/nologo" switch in the shebang to avoid that:
test.vbs
#!c:\WINDOWS\system32\cscript.exe /nologo "C:\wamp\cgi-bin\vbscript_cgi.vbs" wscript.echo "Content-type: text/html" & vbcrlf wscript.echo "Hello World"

yayyyy it wooooooorks :D

after that I added some features such as the "print" alias, GET/POST variables support, and now that's a quick example what it can do:

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''
'' vbscript_cgi.vbs ''
'' Kevin DEHLINGER ''
'' 2007 / dev.pulsed.net ''
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Set arguments = WScript.Arguments
If arguments.Count >=1 Then
Set FSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
If FSO.FileExists(arguments(0)) Then
Set cgi = FSO.OpenTextFile(arguments(0))
cgi.ReadLine
ExecuteGlobal cgi.ReadAll
cgi.Close
End If
Set FSO = Nothing
End If
Set arguments = Nothing

sub print(v)
wscript.echo v
end sub

sub println(v)
wscript.echo v & vbcrlf
end sub

Function GetCgiVars

Set Shell = CreateObject( "WScript.Shell" )
reqmethod=Ucase( Shell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%REQUEST_METHOD%"))

Select Case reqmethod

Case "GET","HEAD"
cgiinput=Shell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%QUERY_STRING%")& ""

Case "POST"

content_length=Shell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%CONTENT_LENGTH%")

If not IsNumeric(content_length) then
print "Content-Type: text/plain" & vbcrlf
print "No Content-Length was sent with the POST request" & vbcrlf
Exit Function
End If

cgiinput= WScript.StdIn.ReadAll

Case Else
print "Content-Type: text/plain" & vbcrlf
print "Unsupported REQUEST_METHOD (" & reqmethod & ")" & vbcrlf
Exit Function

End Select

cgiinput=Replace(cgiinput,"+"," ")
cgiinput=Replace(cgiinput,"&",";")
cgiinput=Replace(cgiinput,"=","=;")

InputArray=Split(cgiinput,";")
Set CgiVars = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")

status=0
Hash_Key=""

For Each value in InputArray
If(Mid(value,Len(value),1)="=") Then
Hash_Key=Mid(value,1,Len(value)-1)
Else
CgiVars.Add Unescape_Url(Hash_Key),Unescape_Url(value)
End If
Next

Set GetCgiVars=CgiVars
End Function

Function Unescape_Url (url)
Set RegExp1 = New RegExp
RegExp1.IgnoreCase = True
RegExp1.Global = True
RegExp1.Pattern = "%([0-9A-F]{2})"

Set Matches = RegExp1.Execute(url)
For Each Match in Matches
url = Replace(url,"%" & Match,Hex2Char(Match))
Next
Unescape_Url=url
End Function

Function Hex2Char (hexx)
Hex2Char = Chr(1*CLng("&H" & hexx))
End Function

Download this code: vbscript_cgi.vbs

#!c:\WINDOWS\system32\cscript.exe /nologo "C:\wamp\cgi-bin\vbscript_cgi.vbs"

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
'' testscript.vbs ''
'' Kevin DEHLINGER ''
'' 2007 / dev.pulsed.net ''
'' query some data with ''
'' wmi/wsh (some of thecode ''
'' comes from scriptomatic) ''
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

print "Content-type: text/html" & vbcrlf

print "" & vbcrlf & _
"" & _
"" & _

"  

	" http-equiv=""content-type"">"  & _

	"  " & _

	"" & _

	""

	

	

	Set mycgivars=GetCgiVars

	

	if mycgivars.exists("computer") then

	computer=mycgivars.item("computer")

	else

	computer = "."

	end if

	

	print "Computer: 

	" name=""computer"" value=""" & computer & """>

	" type=""submit"">"

	

	

	On Error Resume Next

	Const wbemFlagReturnImmediately = &h10

	Const wbemFlagForwardOnly = &h20

	

	println "Computer: " & computer & "

"

	

	

	Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & computer & "\root\CIMV2")

	Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk", "WQL", _

	wbemFlagReturnImmediately + wbemFlagForwardOnly)

	

	For Each objItem In colItems

	println "Drive: " & objItem.Caption & "
"

	println "Description: " & objItem.Description & "
"

	println "VolumeName: " & objItem.VolumeName & "
"

	println   "
"

	Next

	

	

	

	print ""

	

	Function WMIDateStringToDate(dtmDate)

	print dtm:

	WMIDateStringToDate = CDate(Mid(dtmDate, 5, 2) & "/" & _

	Mid(dtmDate, 7, 2) & "/" & Left(dtmDate, 4) _

	& " " & Mid (dtmDate, 9, 2) & ":" & Mid(dtmDate, 11, 2) & ":" & Mid(dtmDate,13, 2))

	End Function


	Download this code: testscript.vbs



Patching Smokeping for Windows so you don't have to.
Kevin DEHLINGER — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 16:49:48 +0000
I'm releasing this today, but it's still in beta (Everything that used to work with my old 2.0.8 patch works with that version, but not all new features have been tested yet)
What you'll need:
-Perl (latest version if you can)

-A web server (wamp is good, but others should work fine as well)


What the script will do and what it won't:
it will: download smokeping, rrdtool, and fping, help you configure smokeping (owner, mail, etc), patch what's needed to be patched, install a new feature that is not included in smokeping's official package (zoom in/out with pageup|pagedown)

it won't: install/configure your webserver, install perl, add targets in your configuration file


what's working and what's untested yet:
working: everything that used to work with the 2.0.8 version, Ajax based ineractive graph zooming (+ my exclusive zoom with pageup/pagedown feature), Multi Target Graphs, using drives different than "c:"

not tested yet: Master/Slave setup for multi source smokeping deployments.
How to configure wamp, or apache:

edit httpd.conf (C:\wamp\Apache2\conf\httpd.conf with wamp)

change: ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "C:/wamp/Apache2/cgi-bin/" into ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "c:/wamp/cgi/"    *

change:  into      *

(* you don't _have_ to do that, and of course you can change every paths, you just have to provide every paths to the install script)

create a folder in your www root folder (c:\wamp\www if you're runing wamp) and name it "simg"
The install script will ask you the www root folder and the image folder
WWW root folder [Default: C:\wamp\www] (must already exist)
image folder from C:\wamp\www [Default: simg]
that's it! if something is not self explanatory enough, or if you have questions feel free to leave a comment
for testing, and autostart take a look at steps 7,8, and 10 here http://dev.pulsed.net/wp/?p=3
Download the Smokeping Installer for Windows, unzip it and launch "install n patch.pl"



How to get the MAC address of a remote computer with its IP address with perl
Kevin DEHLINGER — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 16:59:48 +0000
Windows >= 2000 only (or maybe NT4.0 SP6)
This is the cool solution, or you could parse the result of `ping -n 1 $ip > nul & arp -a` searching for $ip in the list (very slow and unpretty solution btw)
We will use two Windows dll ( iphlpapi.dll and wsock32.dll ) to import two functions ( SendARP and inet_addr );

to do that, we will need Win32::API perl module.

if you have some error like "Can't locate Win32/API.pm in @INC…" when you try to run the script, you need to install it:

type: ppm install Win32-API in a dos prompt.

What is ARP?
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a required TCP/IP standard defined in RFC 826, "Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)." ARP resolves IP addresses used by TCP/IP-based software to media access control addresses used by LAN hardware. ARP provides the following protocol services to hosts located on the same physical network:
Media access control addresses are obtained by using a network broadcast request in the form of the question "What is the media access control address for a device that is configured with the enclosed IP address?"
When an ARP request is answered, both the sender of the ARP reply and the original ARP requester record each other's IP address and media access control address as an entry in a local table called the ARP cache for future reference.

Source: microsoft.com
In other words, ARP is a protocol used to translate IP addresses to MAC (physical) addresses.


As you can see, this looks pretty simple, one question (frame 1), and one answer (frame 2)
In order to improve performances, and to lower network charge, the data are cached locally.

You can access (read/write) the ARP cache data with the arp command:

for example: arp -a displays every ARP entries.

You may need to ping the computer before.

Well, the code now (192.168.0.254 is just an example):
[The requested file http://dev.pulsed.net/wp/code/arp.pl could not be found]
The best part of this little script is (what i thought impossible in perl) the dll function import!



How to add an "Open Command Window Here" shortcut in the context menu under Windows 2003
Kevin DEHLINGER — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 11:25:18 +0000
Microsoft has has released a little powertoy called "Open Command Window Here" unfortunatly you can't install under Windows 2003…

oh and by the way, this works under windows XP too (2000 not tested)

This could be pretty useful since we have a lot of win2k3 servers at work…


Open regedit (Windows Key + R > regedit > enter) 
goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell
Create a new registry key and give it a name (i called mine "cmd.exe here")
Set the default value the way you want it to appear in the context menu (">> cmd here < < for example)


Create a new registry key in the previous one named "command" (you can't change this name)
Set the default value to "cmd.exe /k pushd %L"

You're done!


If you're lazy, you can download the following .reg and simply apply it. (REGEDIT4, because Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 reg files are not ascii only)

	REGEDIT4

	

	[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell\cmd.exe here]

	@=">> cmd here <<"

	

	[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell\cmd.exe here\command]

	@="cmd.exe /k pushd %L"

	

	Download this code: cmdhere.reg




How to install smokeping under windows
Kevin DEHLINGER — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 11:04:51 +0000




this guide is deprecated and no longer supported, except for part 7,8, and 10


http://dev.pulsed.net/wp/?p=31

 is the new way to go for Smokeping under Windows
1) smokewhat?
Smokeping(link) is a nice latency measurement tool, unfortunately it WAS only available for linux/unix…but after the jump, you'll find how to make it work under Microsoft Windows!
SmokePing is a deluxe latency measurement tool. It can measure, store and display latency, latency distribution and packet loss. SmokePing uses RRDtool to maintain a longterm data-store and to draw pretty graphs, giving up to the minute information on the state of each network connection.

2) What you need
- Perl (choose Perl 5.8.xxx MSI package for Windows)

Yeah Perl is cool and you can have a lot of fun using it
-  RRDs module for Perl

This version works for sure, but feel free to download the latest 
- fping for windows (thanks to Michael Parson)
-  Smokeping

This version works for sure, but feel free to download the latest 
- a text editor

There's a lot of text editors out there…  personally, I like pspad
- a web server

Feel free to download, install, configure apache with cgi yourself, or use WAMP (the one I use), or whatever bundled apache/cgi/php/mysql version you want
3) What you do not need
- Money

all listed softwares are (at least) freeware
- A (linux/unix)-running computer

yeah dude, windows rulez da w0rld
4) "Installation" 
- Install Activestate Perl

- Install RRDtool for windows (unzip, and launch install.cmd)

- Unzip smokeping to C:\smokeping-2.0.8

- Unzip fping for windows (make sure cygwin1.dll is in the same folder) to C:\smokeping-2.0.8\fping

- Install WAMP to C:\wamp
5) Modifications
a) rename

- C:\smokeping-2.0.8\bin\smokeping.dist into smokeping.pl

- C:\smokeping-2.0.8\bin\tSmoke.dist into tSmoke.pl
b) edit

- C:\smokeping- 2.0.8\bin\smokeping.pl

add (after line 5): use lib qw(C:\smokeping-2.0.8\lib); 

change (line 9): Smokeping::main("etc/config.dist"); into Smokeping::main("C:/smokeping-2.0.8/etc/config.dist");
- C:\smokeping-2.0.8\bin\tSmoke.pl

change (line 63): my $cfgfile = "etc/config.dist"; into my $cfgfile = "C:\smokeping-2.0.8\etc\config.dist";
- C:\smokeping- 2.0.8\lib\Smokeping.pm

change (line 14): use Sys::Syslog qw(:DEFAULT setlogsock); into #use Sys::Syslog qw(:DEFAULT setlogsock);

change (line 21): $ENV{LC_NUMERIC}='C'; into #$ENV{LC_NUMERIC}='C'; 

change (line 22): POSIX::setlocale(&POSIX::LC_NUMERIC,""); into #POSIX::setlocale(&POSIX::LC_NUMERIC,"");

change (line 2984): daemonize_me $cfg->{General}{piddir}."/smokeping.pid"; into #daemonize_me $cfg->{General}{piddir}."/smokeping.pid";
- C:\wamp\Apache2\conf\httpd.conf

change (line 515): ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "C:/wamp/Apache2/cgi-bin/" into ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "c:/wamp/cgi/"

change (line 521):   into 
c) move and rename

- Create folder c:\wamp\cgi

- C:\smokeping-2.0.8\htdocs\smokeping.cgi.dist to c:\wamp\cgi\smokeping.pl
d) edit

- c:\wamp\cgi\smokeping.pl

change (line 1): #!/usr/sepp/bin/speedy -w into #!C:/Perl/bin/perl.exe -w

change (line 5): use lib qw(/home/oetiker/data/projects/AADJ-smokeping/dist/lib); into use lib qw(C:\smokeping-2.0.8\lib); 

change (line 10): Smokeping::cgi("/home/oetiker/data/projects/AADJ-smokeping/dist/etc/config"); into Smokeping::cgi("C:/smokeping-2.0.8/etc/config.dist");


6) Configuration
- Create folders:

C:\wamp\www\simg

C:\smokeping- 2.0.8\var
- edit configuration file ( C:\smokeping- 2.0.8\etc\config.dist ) no line number here use search function instead :p
owner =

contact =

mailhost =

#sendmail = /usr/lib/sendmail < == Comment this line

imgcache = C:/wamp/www/simg

imgurl = ../simg

datadir = \smokeping-2.0.8/var # designate implicitly c:\smokeping-2.0.8\var

piddir = C:/smokeping-2.0.8/var

cgiurl = http://127.0.0.1/cgi-bin/smokeping.pl

smokemail = C:/smokeping-2.0.8/etc/smokemail.dist

tmail = C:/smokeping-2.0.8/etc/tmail.dist
# syslogfacility = local0 < = Comment this line!!!!
*** Alerts ***

to =

from =
template = C:/smokeping-2.0.8/etc/basepage.html.dist
+ FPing

binary = C:/smokeping-2.0.8/fping/fping.exe
title =

remark =
# google is for demonstrational purpose only; please refer to smokeping help to set your own targets
+ Google
menu = Google

title =Google Connectivity

alerts = bigloss,someloss,startloss

host = google.fr
7) Test it!
- open a cmd.exe window, and type C:\smokeping-2.0.8\bin\smokeping.pl



Ok, no weird error messages (if not, please check 5-a, 5-b and 6 again)
- let it run for 10-15 min and try to open  http://127.0.0.1/cgi-bin/smokeping.pl



Ok, no error messages again (if not: for cgi error check 5-b, 5-c, 5-d and 6 again and 5-d and 6 for RRD errors)

(note the 2 buggy images bottom left, we will fix this later)

Now close the cmd.exe windows (a little bit rebel)
8) Autostart under NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
- open Control Panel > Scheduled tasks and then click add scheduled task

since I'm french, my Windows version is french too



add scheduled task


Next


C:\smokeping-2.0.8\bin\smokeping.pl


When my computer starts


system

After that, click "Open advanced properties for this task when i click finish"


Check that "run as" is "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM"


Uncheck everything in parameters, and click OK


right click on the task, and Start, check if it doesn't stop immediatly.

9) The two buggy png pics




Download them, and overwrite those in C:\wamp\www\simg

10) And you're done

I'm not a native English speaker, so if you find some orthographical or grammatical mistakes, please report it!