NEWS FLASH Incredible PBX for CuBox-i

[wardmundy]

Thanks to the pioneering work of zhando, Incredible PBX 11 for Cubox, based on Ubuntu 14 is just around the corner.

Click on the image below to get yours ordered while there still are some in stock.

 

[wardmundy]

 

[wardmundy]

 

[wardmundy]

Anybody care to top my Asterisk System Uptime...

Gotta love it when NTP goes out to lunch.

 

[wardmundy]

Image based on Ubuntu 14 is now available on SourceForge. Nerd Vittles tutorial here.

 

[jeff.h]

How do you like that compared to the Foxconns? Been thinking about one of those or a BBB.

 

[wardmundy]

jeff.h: Even though the CuBox-i is QuadCore, it's still an ARM chip which is no match for Intel's Atom. 4 ARM processors gets you about half the performance of a single-core roughly equivalent to a dual-core 1.8GHz Atom. It's zippy quick compared to a Raspberry Pi, but...

Comparing the bogomips of the two boxes says it all: cat /proc/cpuinfo

Cubox x 4:

processor    : 0-3
model name    : ARMv7 Processor rev 10 (v7l)
BogoMIPS    : 790.52

Foxconn x 2:

processor    : 0-1
vendor_id    : GenuineIntel
cpu family    : 6
model        : 28
model name    : Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU D425  @ 1.80GHz
stepping    : 10
cpu MHz        : 1800.172
cache size    : 512 KB
bogomips    : 4967.61

Having said that, the CuBox-i has plenty of horsepower for Asterisk in most home and small business settings. It's incredibly small, very responsive, dirt cheap, makes zero noise, has no fan yet stays cool.

If we can get WiFi working, it'd be perfect to throw in a suitcase as a link back to the mothership. Unfortunately, NeoRouter does not work. Different ARM implementation than the Raspberry Pi apparently.

UPDATE: The developer of the CuBox has pointed out (in a nice way) that our calculations may be inaccurate, i.e. we are full of . See Rabeeh's comments in this thread on their forum. Having read his comments, we agree. Our apologies. We've amended our math.

Here is a script to more accurately test bogomips on the CuBox:

#!/bin/bash
#
# avgBogoMips.sh
#
# (c) 2011 Sam Caldwell.  Public Domain.
#
# This script returns the average bogomips on a given host
# assuming the same has one or more processors/cores.
#
echo $(echo "print ((($( cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep BogoMIPS | awk '{print $3}' | tr -s '\n' '+')0)/$(echo 4))+($( cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep BogoMIPS | awk '{print $3}' | tr -s '\n' '+')0))/2" | python)

 

[jeff.h]

Ahhhh ok gotcha. Thanks.

 

[wardmundy]

To see how far we've come in 45 years, compare the CuBox to the first embedded computer, the one that put a man on the moon.

One of my good friends from high school actually wrote some of the machine code for this beast.

 

[wardmundy]

Thanks to zhando, you now have a choice of Wired or Wireless networking with CuBox-i4PRO.

Log out and back in as root to obtain update with /root/enable-wifi script. Then run script with your SSID and password. Done.

 

[wardmundy]

More good news. GoogleTTS is back among the living. That brings the "not working" list on the CuBox to zero.

We'll have a new image pushed up to SourceForge later this morning that includes the WiFi and GoogleTTS updates.

Now is probably a good time to place your order for one if you're a home or SOHO user. Nothing comes close for $130.

 

[mbellot]

Now is probably a good time to place your order for one if you're a home or SOHO user. Nothing comes close for $130.

Ward, this is very cool, but "Nothing comes close for $130" is a loaded statement.

My last three PBX boxes have all been off-lease Dell SFF or USFF Optiplex units that cost under $70 to my door.

They consume more power, but they also run significantly faster.

 

[wardmundy]

No question there is used equipment to be had. The context for my comment was NEW hardware. Your annual electric bill for those systems would buy a CuBox-i... annually.

 

[wardmundy]

New Incredible PBX 11.11.2 for CuBox-i image with GoogleTTS and WiFi support is now available for download from SourceForge.

NOTE: There remains a minor wrinkle with reboots during the initial install procedure. If your monitor shows “restarting” and it doesn’t, just remove the power cord and plug it back in. This issue resolves itself once you’ve run /root/resize-partition to expand the image to fill your chosen microSD card.

Also have noticed that GoogleTTS on some newly installed images seems to remain silent until an amportal restart is issued. Still trying to track that down. Fixed by Lefteris Zafiris. (update #7)

Google speech recognition works if you follow all the steps in the activation tutorial here.

See the Nerd Vittles tutorial for more info.

 

[wardmundy]

Thanks to a house call from Lefteris Zafiris, the remaining kink in GoogleTTS has been resolved with Update #7. Somehow MPG123 couldn't be found in its current location so we've added a symlink to where GoogleTTS thinks it oughta be. GO figure!

Now we have a perfect (dirt cheap!) VoIP platform. heh.

 

[wardmundy]

Better hurry. This 2x2x2 square cube deal expires on Tuesday, August 26... Click on image below to order.

Nerd Vittles tutorial here.

 

[wardmundy]

If you're an XBMC fan, you may want a second CuBOX.

The XBMC implementation from GeexBox is quite spectacular. Download image available here.

 

[wardmundy]

Future-Proof* Asterisk 11 upgrade script has been pushed out as update #8...

To run it, type the following and go have lunch:

/root/upgrade-asterisk-cubox

* Time will tell.

 

[wardmundy]

Enabling Bluetooth on CuBox-i

For those that want Bluetooth capability for something like Nerd Vittles' Proximity Detection with Asterisk...

The Cubox-i4PRO includes a built-in Bluetooth adapter. There's good news and bad news.
Bad News: Using the latest kernel, there is no (working) driver for the internal adapter that we can find.
Good News: Any $1 Bluetooth 2.0 EDR-compatible USB device from eBay is plug-and-play with Ubuntu.

To get things working once you have your USB Bluetooth adapter in hand:

apt-get update
apt-get -y install bluetooth bluez python-gobject python-dbus bluez-hcidump bluez-utils libbluetooth-dev
# press Enter whenever you see: invoke-rc.d: policy-rc.d denied execution of start
update-rc.d bluetooth defaults  #enable bluetooth on boot
/etc/init.d/bluetooth restart  #enable bluetooth now
# plug in your USB Bluetooth adapter and count to 10
hcitool dev | tail -1 | cut -f 3  #shows your Bluetooth adapter MAC address
hcitool scan #shows nearby Bluetooth devices

Then read the Nerd Vittles article to set up proximity detection to forward calls when your smartphone with Bluetooth is not nearby.

 

[wardmundy]

Now it's time to make our annual attempt at getting chan_mobile to work. Here's a great tutorial for Ubuntu.