gnkspi

SPI driver and tools for Win10 IoT Light Controller project

Tools

Rpi2 board running Windows 10 IoT build 10556.
Visual Studio 2015 U1.
Windows Driver Kit 2015 10556.
Node.js Tools for Visual Studio.

Kernel driver

The kernel driver gnkspi replaces the SPI driver that comes with Win IoT. Note that standard SPI API becomes unavailable after you install this driver.

Compiling the driver.

Open the solution gnkspi.sln and select the gnkspi project. Make sure that platform is set to ARM and configuration to Release.
Rebuild Project. Driver files will be put into ARM/Release directory.
You need .sys and .inf files. Copy them into your Rpi2 into directory of your choice.

Installing the driver

Run Power Shell and connect to your Rpi2 as documented in Using PowerShell.

cd to directory where driver files are located and do:

 	devcon update .\gnkspi.inf ACPI\BCM2838
 	Updating drivers for ACPI\BCM2838 from C:\Users\Gera\Documents gnkspi.inf.
 	Drivers installed successfully.`

Verify that driver is installed and started:

    	devcon status ACPI\BCM2838
    	ACPI\BCM2838\0
       Name: CNKSpi Driver
       Driver is running.
    	1 matching device(s) found.

gnkctl - driver test tool

The gnkctl command line utility allows testing of the kernel driver API. It can also be used to briefly validate light show files in json format.

Compiling the gnkctl.

Select project gnkctl and ensure that platform/configuration are set to ARM and Release.
Rebuild the project. The utility binary can be found in the ARM/Release directory.
Copy the gnkctl.exe to your Rpi2 board.
Also copy test files showX.json to Rpi2.

Running tests

Login to your Rpi2 using PowerShell.
cd to directory where you have copied the utility.
to get optopns help:
```
 	.\gnkctl -h
```

to list available gnkspi devices:

 	.\gnkctl list
 	  List GNK devices
 	  0: \\?\ACPI#BCM2838#0#{de0dbb94-7f49-415d-80f6-168b6872e2b3}

to start light show defined by a json file:
```
 	.\gnkctl -d 0 show .\show1.json
```
to stop the show
```
 	.\gnkctl -d 0 stop
```

NodeJS addon GnkSpiAddon.

The addon provides driver API to JavaScript applications running under NodeJS.

Compiling the addon.

Select project gnkaddon and ensure that platform/configuration are set to ARM and Release.
Rebuild the project. The addon binary GnkSpiAddon.node can be found in the Release subdirectory of the main solution directory.
Copy the GnkSpiAddon.node to your Rpi2 board.
Also copy test file test.json to Rpi2.

Install NodeJS(Chakra) onto your Rpi2 board as documented in, say, this sample.
Running tests

Ensure that test.js and GnkSpiAddon.node are located in the same directory.

run test.js under Node:

 		& "C:\Node.js (Chakra)\node.exe" test.js show0
 		& "C:\Node.js (Chakra)\node.exe" test.js show1
 		& "C:\Node.js (Chakra)\node.exe" test.js show2
 		& "C:\Node.js (Chakra)\node.exe" test.js stop

NodeJS GUI

A simple Web GUI allows some level of control from any modern WEB browser running on any device (such as PC/Tablet/Smartphone).

Installing missing scripts

Open the ghkspi solution and select gnkts project.

Install the following node modules:

express
body-parser
morgan
rainbowvis.js

Install the following TS type definitions:

node
express
body-parser
morgan
es6-promise

Building the GUI

The GUI is written in TypeScript so the project must be built before it can be deployed to Rpi2. Open the ghkspi solution and select gnkts project. Rebuild it. It is possible to run it in a browser on your development PC. The app will use light fixture emulator instead of real hardware. The emulator just prints out all received commands to the console.

Deploying the GUI to RPi2

Select directory on your Rpi2 board where GnkSpiAddon.node and create sub-directory gnkts. Copy the following files into gnkts:

*.js
views/*
public/*
node_modules/*

Running the GUI

Open PowerShell session to your Rpi2.
cd to gnkts directory.

run the server app:

  "C:\Node.js (Chakra)\node.exe" server.js

The server should start listening on port 1337. Open a browser and point it to IP address of your Rpi2, port 1337.

in case the browser is unable to connect, try adding firewall rule for node.exe to your Rpi2:

  netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Node.js" dir=in action=allow program="C:\Node.js (Chakra)\Node.exe" enable=yes

Demo script

As the GUI capabilities are currently limited, a PowerShell script was created to demo various static and dynamic shows the light fixture itself is capable of. Of course the script only demonstrates a few shows, the controller capabilities are virtually unlimited.

copy the script test.ps1 to Rpi2 into gnkts directory
run it:
```
  .\test.ps1
```
enjoy the show..

gera-k/gnkspi