I currently own a Blackstar ID Core 10w Amp. It has a lot of built in guitar effects such as Reverb, Delay and Modulation, all of which have various depths and levels. By connecting a USB cable from the amp to my computer, I'm able to use Blackstar's Insider software, which allows me to save these effects settings and switch to any of them with just a double click. However, the need for a double click makes it impossible for you to play your guitar and change effects during a song (which is what a pedal does).
However, I wanted to know if it's possible to use C++ to do something more ambitious than the manufacturer allows: I wanted to create a software that would play a backing track (voice+drums but no guitar) of a song and allow the user to set where during that song he wants his effects changed, and to what. This way, one would be able to play a song from start to end, not needing to worry about having to change effects.
This would also be a school project, so it can't really be a "mouse manager" or anything of this sort. It would need to be something more robust.
FYI, as far as I'm concerned, Blackstar does not give us any API we could work with. So I'd like to know if this project is even possible and, if so, where I should start.
Thank you!
This existing project is likely to help provide clues for you to reverse engineer what Insider does and rewrite that in C++.
https://github.com/jonathanunderwood/outsider
I feel your pain regarding Blackstar's awful Insider software.
To answer your question, is this project even possible, of course it is, the Insider software obviously is able to control the amp via USB. You just have to figure out what its protocol is.
You can use a USB sniffer like this one to see what commands Insider sends to the amp when you perform actions. With enough experimentation you should be able to reverse-engineer the protocol.
It's probably easier than you think. As evidence I offer the Insider software itself, which is not very sophisticated. The settings are probably modeled more or less as a struct.
Related
I'm looking for some advice and insight on how people approach creating Object-level GUI automation. Technically the type of functionality I am trying to achieve is easily described by Squish software. I want to be able to simulate Key-Press and Mouse Click events without relying on Platform-specific pixel displays, and screen sizes. I've tried to use tools like Sikuli, but unfortunately my application varies too from platform to platform to make reliably re-repeatable tests.
Basically what I am looking for is some advice as to where to look at how 3rd Part (EXTERNAL) programs hook into properties of QT Widgets and other objects. I know a long time ago there was something call QtObjectInspector, but this software required you making Source-Level changes to your Qt code to be compatible on top of being unavailable.
If companies like Squish can do it, how are they doing it? Where do you start? I doubt they are looking at very low level memory interactions, sniffing for "Traffic" that looks like QT on each different system, but I may be wrong.
I'm sorry for such a vague question, but I've been researching for over a day and all I can find now is articles about how amazing Squish is.
Thanks!
EDIT:
I looked into QtTestLib, however this doesn't have the "From the outside" kind of access that I am looking for.
I've received a dk 3200 kit recently. I know it's old but I would like to start using it to have more of a challenge than just arduino. It came with the board, an st flashlink FL-101B and some cables. I do not have the install disc, but I found the software for psd soft express online. It doesn't work with current windows 7 64bit. If I could use my arduino to program it, that would be great! Or maybe just do it through USB or the parallel ports? I've read that st provides a stm32 library used to help make code. If that works for my mcu, I'll use that.
Thanks
ST is a company that loves to re-organize their website and break links, but a data sheet for a part of what seems to be the same family as on your board is available from a toolchain vendor at:
http://www.keil.com/dd/docs/datashts/st/upsd321x_ds.pdf
On page 118 this seems to indicate that programs can be loaded using JTAG In System Configuration commands, which may be somewhat standardized though quick searching isn't producing a lot of leads. A reference is also made to ST's AN1153 which would be worth trying to locate a copy of, however it's not entirely clear if that will say anything about the programming, or if it only covers the additional two optional signals which have been added for hardware acceleration of the interface.
In theory, if you can find sufficient information about this device (looking at related devices may provide clues) then you should be able to craft a programming from an Arduino or anything else that can be adapted to twiddle bits at the appropriate voltage/threshold levels.
In practice, you may be better off trying to find an old Windows XP box, or even trying to run that software on a virtual/emulated environment and trap the I/O access either to proxy or to figure out what it is doing and reverse engineer your own programmer.
But unless you have a large installed base of boards using these chips, or particular need some unusual feature of them (I thought I saw something about a built-in CPLD?) it's really not going to be worth the effort.
For some time now I've been tossing around what I think is am awesome idea: I want to write essentially a C++ phone server to handle all of my incoming calls on a land-line. I'll have a white-list (yay never having to worry about telemarketers ever again!), a black-list, and will be able to access my phone using my gaming headset, allowing me to make/answer calls while I'm gaming or whatever. In the future I'd also like to hook it up to a gui and make it have pop-ups and other cool features.
The problem is, I have no idea where to start. I'm familiar enough with C++, but have no idea how to go about doing anything with a phone-line. I can plug a phone-line into my computer, but I have no idea how to get my program to be able to use that connection. There's WinSock2 for being able to use my ethernet connection, is there something similar I'd be able to use to use the phone line? As it's using the same ethernet jack, I wonder if it's even possible to use WinSock2 to use the phone-line?
I saw this post, which wasn't particularly helpful: stackoverflow link , which points out Dual-tone multi-frequency signaling. I stumbled across this site: link, but isn't really going to help me get started.
So I was wondering, is there some sort of library out there that would allow me to tap into a phone-line that's connected to my computer? Is there a standard somewhere out there concerning phone-lines and what the different combinations of tone's mean? Can anyone here help get me started? I realize it's somewhat of a big undertaking, so any push in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
[Update:]
I found this question, which is a step in the right direction, but I'm not sure yet if it helps me (I need to go to bed, and will take a look at it in the morning). I did see mention of a Microsoft Telephony API though, I'll try doing more research on that tomorrow.
If working with MS products is not an absolute necessity, you might also consider taking a shot at Asterisk. This is an open-source PBX (in software) that allows development on Linux, Windows (emulated) and Mac. At the company where I work, we use it for implementing small-scale exchanges, about a 100 lines or so. It also interfaces well with VoIP and allows a whole host of protocols. I have developed scripts and programs in C++ that work on voice packets in real-time, and so far, my experience has been good. As for your stated use-case of blocking telemarketers etc., this would be a very good fit. Check out further details here.
After doing more research, having one link lead to another link, and coming up with new search terms, I stumbled across this site that looks like it could kick me off using the Windows Telephony API in C++: link. This link includes open source c++ samples showing how to do the basics of what this question asks, I'll just have to test to see if they actually still work.
This is only the beginning of my research, so I'll keep you posted on any other findings. If anyone else is knowledgeable in this area, please still feel free to drop me information on what I want to accomplish.
I've been trying to wrap my head around embedded. Since I will be self-taught in this specific niche, I realize it will be harder to get a job in the field, so I'm hoping to add a completed project to my resume to prove to potential employers that I've done it and can do it again for them.
Can someone suggest a project that I can undertake as a single person and actually be able to finish, but at the same time not too simple that it doesn't prove anything? Something reasonable that I can aim for.
If you can substantiate your example with a project you worked on yourself, and mention how many people were involved, and how long it took to finish it, that would also help me gauge the difficulty of projects I see in general and rule out the ones that are probably too big for my capacity. It's very difficult to gauge the amount of work a project needs from my position.
You should take a look at the arduino. To quote their site:
Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.
There is a really handy playground listing a bunch of personal projects on the arduino, any one of which might fulfil your need to do some embedded development. You can also trawl around the internet (e.g. instructables) to find many other interesting arduino applications -- I particularly like the one building a fancy control system for an espresso machine, and, of course, there is the mandatory fart detecting chair that tweets its findings.
Being an arduino experimenter myself, I can attest to the simplicity and power of this device -- and the great fun you will have playing with it. If you want to get started quickly, I can recommend buying the starter kit from the very helpful people at oomlout.
Are you looking specifically at embedded software development, or are you interested in circuit board design as well?
If it's just software, then I would suggest getting hold of an ARM development board (Possibly the Philips LPC range - sparkfun have some nice ones) that you can program via a bootloader over usb and start hacking. Get one with a display and an ethernet port and you can build up to making some sort of network attached sensor (temperature, water level, object counter, etc). Start out little (turn on a LED from a button) and work your way up.
If you're also into the electronics side of things, I'd suggest something like an MP3 (or WAV) player and maybe stick to the AVR or PIC 8bit microcontrollers (AVR is used on the Arduino) as these are a little easier to deal with than ARM. Here you could start with a usb powered device that streams wav files from a PC serial port out to a pair of headphones, and build up to a battery powered board, feeding data to an MP3 decoder IC from an SD card.
Some things you may want to learn & demonstrate:
Understands the bounds of working with limited resources, including memory management (dynamic and/or static); resource management (locks, semaphores, mutex); multiple tasks (interrupts); and appropriate data structures
Ability to interface with other devices/ICs over various interconnects (analog & digital IO, serial bus (RS232, I2C, SPI))
Ability to sanely structure a program and segment the various modules without producing 'spaghetti' code
Ability to use source and integrate 3rd party libraries where appropriate (think FAT filesystem, or TCP/IP stack)
Misc Tips:
read and understand the datasheets (yes all of them)
code and test on the desktop where possible, but understand that there are differences and bugs will still creep through (this is where it helps to be using a tool-chain that is common with the desktop - GCC is good, but the tools are generally CLI)
use assert a lot - you can flash the line number of a failed assert using a single LED - this is invaluable
Most of all have fun - it still makes me smile when you first get a new component working (display, motor, sensor). Embedded makes the world go round :)
So I've been learning C++ and SDL to make some basic 2d games. I want to create a game sort of like World of Warcraft but a 2D version. I want it to be on-line and use a database or something to start data like amount of Gold, HP, etc. I was wondering though, if I do this in SDL, would it still work on-line or would the user have to download SDL themselves to play?
I just want a game like this but be able to play it with some friends, just for learning purposes you know. I was also looking at DirectX because everyone has that on windows pretty much. Anyways much help is appreciated, thanks!
No offense, but an RPG is definately the last thing a new programmer should attempt to create. They are the most time, resource, and skill intensive style of game one could possibly try to create. I speak from experience here and can say that RPGs are huge time sinks, even for experienced game studios. At best, you might get a basic map working before you run out of time and patience.
If you want a game you can play with your friends, why not multiplayer tic-tac-toe or even artillery or something similiar. You'll have more success and may actually have something to show your friends when you are done.
You'll probably need to include SDL's runtime library for the game to run on other computers. This will apply no matter what library you use.
For the game itself some libraries are installed in Windows, but in order to achieve other functionality (online gameplay, gampad, etc)you must tell the user to install the other libraries.
If you use SDL, you would be using it for a local graphical client that the user would either download or install. For that, you don't need to have the user download the SDL library separateoly – you can simply put the SDL runtime DLL in the same directory as your executable and package both into the client installer. Of course, you must abide by the GNU LGPL requirements if you do this; the SDL website has details.
As far as the online piece, I'm not sure what you have in mind. I'm guessing either you'll have clients talking directly to each other in some sort of peer-to-peer fashion, or you'll have an back-end server run by you that handles the common game mechanics. I don't think you'll find SDL of much help in either case. But if you go with the back-end server, you can use whatever libraries you like for that server without impact on the user, since the user will only ever deal with the client.
For flat 2D, probably the easiest approach is to use a web interface not SDL. Web browsers are common on Macs and Linux, too, and you might even be able to support smartphones.
Still, you would have to learn how to split work between the clients and the central server. This is not always trivial. Obviously, stuff like # of gold coins would be on the server. Keyboard input is accepted first on the client. But the direction in which your toon is looking? Should the server know that?