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Prototyping a Captive Portal

09/20/2020 at 16:14 • 0 comments

After taking this clock with us to visit family in another timezone I discovered two problems in the way the code works:

WiFi credentials are hardcoded and clock can't be set if it can't connect to the AP
Timezone is hardcoded so even if clock can set itself it was off by an hour

I'm looking into the possibiilty of adding a captive portal that will work like this:

If clock can't connect to AP after n seconds it will spawn it's own AP and present a settings page
Settings page allows:
- manual setting of the time
- changing of the WiFi credentials
- option extras: manually switch the colors, update the sleep/doze/wake/off time settings

I prototyped a test of the captive portal based on this example:

/*
   Copyright (c) 2015, Majenko Technologies
   All rights reserved.
   Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
   are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
 * * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
     list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
 * * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this
     list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or
     other materials provided with the distribution.
 * * Neither the name of Majenko Technologies nor the names of its
     contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
     this software without specific prior written permission.
   THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
   ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
   DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
   ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
   (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
   LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
   ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
   (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
   SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
*/

/* Create a WiFi access point and provide a web server on it. */

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <WiFiClient.h>
#include <ESP8266WebServer.h>
#include <ESP_EEPROM.h>

// EEPROM structure
  //MAX values are both +1 in size to make room for zero terminator
#define SSID_MAX  33
#define PW_MAX    64
struct MyEEPROMStruct {
  char    ssid[SSID_MAX];
  char    password[PW_MAX];
  
  /* User timer settings: { hours, minutes } */
  byte sleep_time[2];
  byte doze_time[2];
  byte wake_time[2];
  byte day_time[2];
  /* Timezone offset in minutes from UTC */
  signed int tzoffset;
} eepromVar1, eepromVar2;

#ifndef APSSID
#define APSSID "ESPap"
#define APPSK  "thereisnospoon"
#endif

/* Set these to your desired credentials. */
const char *ssid = APSSID;
const char *password = APPSK;

ESP8266WebServer server(80);

String getPage() {
  String page = "<!DOCTYPE html>";
  page += "<html>"
  "<head>"
  "<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0\">"
  "</head>"
  "<body style=\"width:480px; margin: 0 auto;\">"
  ""
  "<h1>Improved Okay-to-Wake Clock</h1>"
  "<h2>Update now:</h2>"
  "<form action=\"/settime\" method=\"POST\">"
  "  <label for=\"time\">Set current time:</label>"
  "  <input type=\"time\" id=\"time\" name=\"time\">"
  "  <input type=\"submit\"><br />"
  "</form><br /><br />"
  ""
  "<h2>Settings:</h2>"
  "<form action=\"/\">"
  "  <label for=\"ssid\">SSID: </label>"
  "  <input type=\"text\" id=\"fname\" name=\"ssid\" value=\"";
  page += eepromVar1.ssid;
  page += "\"><br /><br />"
  "  <label for=\"pass\">Password: </label>"
  "  <input type=\"password\" id=\"pass\" name=\"pass\" value=\"";
  page += eepromVar1.password;
  page += "\"><br /><br />"
  "  <input type=\"submit\">"
  "</form><br /><br />"
  "<h2>Toggle Onboard LED</h2>"
  "<form action=\"/LED\" method=\"POST\"><input type=\"submit\" value=\"Toggle LED\"></form>"
  ""
  "</html>"
  "</body>";
  return page;
}

/* Just a little test message.  Go to http://192.168.4.1 in a web browser
   connected to this access point to see it.
*/
void handleRoot() {
  if ( server.hasArg("ssid") ) {
    handlePrefs();
  } 
  server.send(200, "text/html", getPage());
}

void handlePrefs() {
  digitalWrite(D0,!digitalRead(D0));      // Change the state of the LED
  eepromVar1.ssid[0] = '\0';
  strncat(eepromVar1.ssid, server.arg("ssid").c_str(), SSID_MAX-1);
  eepromVar1.password[0] = '\0';
  strncat(eepromVar1.password, server.arg("pass").c_str(), SSID_MAX-1);
  EEPROM.put(0, eepromVar1);
  boolean ok = EEPROM.commit();
  Serial.println((ok) ? "Commit OK" : "Commit failed");
  Serial.println();
  eepromInfo();
  server.sendHeader("Location","/");        // Add a header to respond with a new location for the browser to go to the home page again
  server.send(303);                         // Send it back to the browser with an HTTP status 303 (See Other) to redirect
}

void handleLED() {                          // If a POST request is made to URI /LED
  digitalWrite(D0,!digitalRead(D0));      // Change the state of the LED
  server.sendHeader("Location","/");        // Add a header to respond with a new location for the browser to go to the home page again
  server.send(303);                         // Send it back to the browser with an HTTP status 303 (See Other) to redirect
}

void eepromInfo() {
   if(EEPROM.percentUsed()>=0) {
    EEPROM.get(0, eepromVar1);
    Serial.println("EEPROM has data from a previous run.");
    Serial.print(EEPROM.percentUsed());
    Serial.println("% of ESP flash space currently used");
  } else {
    Serial.println("EEPROM size changed - EEPROM data zeroed - commit() to make permanent");    
  }
}

void setup() {
  delay(1000);
  pinMode(D0, OUTPUT);
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.println();
  Serial.println("Servicing EEPROM emulation...");

  /* Set default values */
  eepromVar1.ssid[0] = '\0';
  strncat(eepromVar1.ssid, "ESPap", SSID_MAX-1);
  eepromVar1.password[0] = '\0';
  strncat(eepromVar1.password, "thereisnospoon", PW_MAX-1);
  eepromVar1.sleep_time[0] = 18;
  eepromVar1.sleep_time[1] = 45;
  eepromVar1.doze_time[0] = 5;
  eepromVar1.doze_time[1] = 30;
  eepromVar1.wake_time[0] = 6;
  eepromVar1.wake_time[1] = 30;
  eepromVar1.day_time[0] = 7;
  eepromVar1.day_time[1] = 30;
  eepromVar1.tzoffset = -300;
  EEPROM.begin(sizeof(MyEEPROMStruct));
  eepromInfo();
  
  Serial.println();
  Serial.print("Configuring access point...");
  /* You can remove the password parameter if you want the AP to be open. */
  WiFi.softAP(eepromVar1.ssid, eepromVar1.password);

  IPAddress myIP = WiFi.softAPIP();
  Serial.print("AP IP address: ");
  Serial.println(myIP);
  server.on("/", handleRoot);
  server.on("/LED", HTTP_POST, handleLED);  // Call the 'handleLED' function when a POST request is made to URI "/LED"
  server.begin();
  Serial.println("HTTP server started");
}

void loop() {
  server.handleClient();
}

Tracking down shoddy power
09/20/2020 at 01:35 • 0 comments

Ever since first doing this hack I've had a real problem with keeping the thing powered. USB power seems to die if you look at the thing wrong.

At first I thought I was browning-out the incoming power but adding a capacitor didn't fix it. I resoldered the power connections, and even clipped off the pin connectors to make direct solder joints. No dice. If you shake it around the power blinks on and off.
I think I finally tracked it down to a shoddy power cable that came with the clock. It's USB on one side and barrel jack on the other. I don't have the same size barrel connector on hand so I just unscrewed the port inside the clock and soldered a new USB cable in its place. So far so good.

Improved Okay-to-Wake Clock

Prototyping a Captive Portal

Tracking down shoddy power