Wireless Hard Drive with fast access to content

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Overview

WL8 supports the Samba server software for media streaming by using the SMB/CIFS networking protocol.

Goal

The goal of this demo is to let your Android device connect to the WL8 platform, which is configured to AP mode with the Samba server, and stream video & audio directly.

Features in this demo

• WiFi MIMO connectivity
• Access Point with Multiple Stations

Prerequisites

Hardware

• 1x AM335x platform with WL8
• 1x RS-232 console cable to access CLI interface on the platform from PC
• 1x Android Phone with BS player app
• 1x USB Flash Drive or External USB hard drive (with FAT32 file system or any other file system that Linux can recognize)

Software

• AM335x image with Samba service for flashing into SD card (Please refer to WL8 release download page)
• PC Terminal software (Putty, TeraTerm, etc.)
• Some video/audio to put inside the USB Flash Drive

Note: The Processor SDK 2.0 prebuilt images does not come with Samba binaries, so they need to be built

Instruction

Pre-Work

Before proceeding to the next part, make sure you know:

• How to check if the WL8 required Linux modules are inserted.
• How to how to configure hostapd.conf to set your desired SSID, security, channel, etc.
• How to use ifconfig command to bring the wireless up & down
• How to use wpa_supplicant to configure preset network and security

Step 1: Configuration Files

Hostapd Configuration

Begin by configuring /etc/hostapd.conf for AP mode, using wlan1 as the interface. Below is the setting changes for this demo with everything else remaining the same: <syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> interface=wlan1 ssid=Samba_Demo </syntaxhighlight>

udhcpd Configuration

Next, configure the DHCP server through /etc/udhcpd.conf. udhcpd will need to be set for the interface chosen in hostapd.conf (ex: wlan1). Below is an example udhcpd.conf:

1. Sample udhcpd configuration file (/etc/udhcpd.conf)
2. The start and end of the IP lease block
   <syntaxhighlight lang="bash">start 10.4.30.40 #default: 192.168.0.20
   end 10.4.30.48 #default: 192.168.0.254
   </syntaxhighlight>
3. The interface that udhcpd will use
   <syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> interface wlan1 #default: eth0
   </syntaxhighlight>
4. Examples
   <syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> opt dns 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 # public google dns servers
   option subnet 255.255.255.0
   opt router 10.4.30.34
   option lease 864000 # 10 days of
   </syntaxhighlight>

Step 2: Set WL18xx to operate as AP

1. Use iw to add wlan1 interface.
   <syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> iw $(ls /sys/class/ieee80211/) interface add wlan1 type managed </syntaxhighlight>
2. Configure IP of Default Gateway and run hostapd.
   <syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> ifconfig wlan1 10.4.30.34 netmask 255.255.255.0 up hostapd /etc/hostapd.conf &</syntaxhighlight>
3. Add DHCP server.
   <syntaxhighlight lang="bash">udhcpd /etc/udhcpd.conf</syntaxhighlight>

Step 3: Mount external storage & start Samba service

1. After connect your external hard driver or USB stick to the USB port, mount the storage.
   <syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> mount/dev/sda1/media/hdd </syntaxhighlight>
2. Start the Samba server
   • Add Samba user
     <syntaxhighlight lang="bash">smbpasswd –a root</syntaxhighlight>
   • Enter and re-enter password - i.e. test
   • Enable the user
     <syntaxhighlight lang="bash">smbpasswd –e root</syntaxhighlight>

Step 4: Streaming with your Android device

Once your Android device is connected to the AP you just created, perform the followings on your BS Player app.

1. Go to LAN mode
2. Add server (search automatically or insert static ip of server you set earlier - 10.4.30.34)
3. Enter user: root and password (chosen samba password – i.e. test)
4. You can now access the demo audio files from the public/ directory

Scripts

In order to bring up the demo quickly, we're here to provide a simple script that packs all the commands into a single file. Simply execute the following command:

. /wireless_hdd_demo.sh

<SSID> is the name of the SSID that you'd like the platform to connect to.
Note: If you don't have the script in the /home/root location, you may download it from here into SD card and extract to /home/root.

Sources/Downloads

• WL8 release download page
• wireless_hdd_demo.tar.gz