Running aXbo research software on linux (for aXbo SPAC - Sleep Phase Alarm Clock)

UPDATE: there is now a version 2.0, see my new post

it's actually pretty easy :

- connect the aXbo to your linux computer using the provided USB cable

- download the JNLP file from their web interface (you need to register first)

- run

javaws aXbo.jnlp

Note: on my 64-bit Gentoo system I had to use "Sun 32bit JRE 1.6.0.07 [emul-linux-x86-java-1.6]" as user VM for this to work.

Then from the menu use the "find aXbo" function. If it fails, check

dmesg

to make sure that the USB connection has been properly initialised - the aXbo has a usb-to-serial converter inside:

(from lsusb)

ID 10c4:ea60 Cygnal Integrated Products, Inc.

(from dmesg)

[31426.366845] usb 2-2: New USB device found, idVendor=10c4, idProduct=ea60
[31426.366856] usb 2-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[31426.366863] usb 2-2: Product: CP2102 USB to UART Bridge Controller
[31426.366868] usb 2-2: Manufacturer: Silicon Labs
[31426.366871] usb 2-2: SerialNumber: 0001

The proper usbserial module (cp2101) was automatically loaded on my Gentoo system and a friend's Ubuntu laptop (both with fairly recent kernels though).

Now I'd like to bypass the GUI to be able to set the clock and download the data from the command line, but that's another story...