Synapse SNAPconnect E12 User Manual

USER GUIDE

SNAPconnect E12

SNAP Enabled Gateway

©2008-2017 Synapse Wireless, All Rights Reserved. All Synapse products are

patent pending. Synapse , the Synapse logo, SNAP, and Portal are all registered trademarks

of Synapse Wireless, Inc.

Doc# 116-081614-030-B001

6723 Odyssey Drive // Huntsville, AL 35806 // [phone] // Synapse-Wireless.com

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Table of Contents

Overview 1

The Device 2

Getting Started 3

Powering the E12 3

Establishing a Serial Connection 3

Mounting the E12 8

E12 Software Specifics 9

Passwords and root Access 9

E12-Specific Software Packages 9

E12 Physical Interfaces 11

E12 LEDs 11

The SNAPModule-Controlled LED 11

The E12 Button 12

Working With the Gateway's SNAPModule 13

Waking the SNAPModule 13

Resetting the SNAPModule 14

Restoring Functionality to an Unresponsive SNAPModule 14

Upgrading the SNAP Module Firmware 15

Accessing the MicroSD Slot 17

Common Linux Operations 18

Editing Linux Files 18

Making Your Software Run at Startup 18

Running a Script to Completion 18

Starting a Service 19

Setting Your E12’s Clock 20

Resetting a Lost User Password 20

Mounting an External Drive 21

Extending the E12 with USB Accessories 22

USB Power 22

Connecting to an Additional SNAP Device 22

Using usb_modeswitch 23

Factory Restore / Re-Flashing Your E12 24

Restoring from a MicroSD Card 24

Specifications and Installation 25

Specifications 25

E12 Dimensions 26

Troubleshooting Common Problems 27

The Ethernet port does not work or eth0 does not appear in ifconfig 27

SNAPconnect is not working 27

I cannot SSH into my E12 27

Regulatory Information and Certifications 28

Overview

IoT solutions demand reliable and flexible wireless connectivity at scale. SNAPconnect gateways are the interface

between your SNAP mesh networks and the rest of the world. Whether performing data aggregation to quickly

make real-time decisions, merging multiple IoT data streams, or connecting to on-site servers or the cloud,

SNAPconnect gateways provide the connectivity your network needs

915MHz and 2.4GHz Flexibility

IoTapplications exist in many environments. That's why the SNAPconnect E12 Gateway is available in 915MHz and

2.4GHz versions. Both versions are powered by SNAP: the Things Platform, so you can switch between frequencies

without having to redesign your application. It's even possible to have SNAPnetworks of both frequencies in the

same environment, sending information to the same cloud repository.

Powered by Ubuntu - Easy to Customize

The SNAPconnect E12 Gateway is an embedded Ubuntu Linux computer with the flexibility to add custom or 3rd

party software as needed for local databases, IoT platform clients, or other elements. It bridges SNAP edge

networks over Ethernet or optional USB connectivity devices such as cell modems, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi adapters.

Start Quickly with Included Tools

The E12 is ready-made to host SNAP Thing Services – a suite of software tools that unite IoT devices and

applications via REST and MQTT for tasks such as data collection, device updates, and network management.

Custom programs can be created with the help of SNAPconnect software libraries making communications with IoT

devices in edge networks easy, even in challenging environments.

Protect your Deployment

SNAPconnect gateways emphasize security using AES-128 to encrypt edge network traffic, and standard Linux

security tools to secure the backhaul network. SNAP Thing Services utilizes tools like TLS and HTTPS to secure

outbound interfaces.

1

The Device

The images below show an E12 gateway with all features marked:

All E12s include a SNAP-powered module, and will come with an antenna for the module's connection labeled with

the Synapse S on the E12's case.

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Getting Started

Adding an E12 gateway to your SNAP network is easy, but as with adding any computer to any network, if you don’t

follow the right steps, you’ll end up in the wrong place. These directions provide the steps for connecting to your E12

from either a Windows PC or a Linux PC, which we will refer to as your host PC. These instructions assume that you

have some familiarity with your host operating system. See your OS help files if you need assistance installing

software or navigating applications.

To get started with the E12, you'll first need to apply power.

Powering the E12

The E12 is powered through the power terminal

blocks.

Use only UL 60950-1 2nd Edition AM1+AM2

certified LPS power supplies, rated for relative

environmental conditions suitable to your use

location with an output of 7-36VDC, 1500mA Max.

NOTE: Some power supply vendors mark the positive “+” lead with a white stripe.

NOTE: The E12 cannot be powered over the USB SERIAL port.

NOTE: If the E12 is installed into an end product, wiring should be done in accordance with the relevant product

safety standard of the end product.

Establishing a Serial Connection

Next you'll need to establish a USBserial connection.

To establish a serial connection to the E12 and update the software:

1. Ensure that you have terminal emulation software installed on your host PC. Popular software for this purpose

includes Tera Term, PuTTY, minicom, screen, or any of many others.

2. Use a standard USB to micro-USB cable to connect the micro-USB port on your E12 to an open USB port on

your host PC .

3. Apply power to the E12.

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NOTE: During the upcoming step 4, if you find that your host PC cannot connect to the E12 over the USB

connection, you may need to install the FTDIUSBto UART VCP drivers, available from http://www.ftdichip.com

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4. Find the serial port that your host PC has assigned to the E12 (over that USB connection)

To find the serial port on a Windows PC:

a. Check under “Ports” in the Device Manager.

b. Look for USBSerial Port (COMxx) where the xx will indicate the serial port assigned (e.g., COM3, or

COM88).

c. Connect using your preferred terminal application. Example screenshots of connecting via PuTTY and

TeraTerm are provided below:

To find the serial port on a Linux PC:

a. Before plugging in the E12’s USB cable, check for ttyUSB connections in the /dev directory.

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b. Plug in the E12 and look for a new ttyUSBx, where x indicates the USB connection assigned (e.g., ttyUSB0).

If you had any other USB-serial devices plugged in, you may see more than just /dev/ttyUSB0, which is

why you should check for the presence of these devices first.

c. You can use any of a number of serial terminal programs to connect to your serial port. Linux versions of

PuTTy and TeraTerm exist and work the same way shown in the Windows examples above (other than

the name of the port to which you are connecting. additionally, utilities such as cu or screen are available

as well:

Using cu:

To connect: sudo cu –l /dev/ttyUSB0 –s 115200

To disconnect, at the command line type ~. (tilde, period) and then press Enter.

Using screen:

To connect: sudo screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200

To disconnect, press Ctrl-A, and then \ (backslash).

5. Using your terminal emulator, connect to the E12 using the following serial port settings:

l 115200 baud

l 8 bits

l No parity

l 1 stop bit

l No flow control

6. Use your terminal emulation window to log in to the E12 gateway.

Username: snap

Password: synapse

NOTE: You must change your password the first time you log in. This prevents you from installing an E12

gateway with the default password set, which is pretty much the definition of a bad security idea. Ubuntu

enforces some restrictions on what constitutes a valid password, and these instructions are further defined

in the Ubuntu documentation available at https://help.ubuntu.com/.

7. Connect your E12 to the internet.

The easiest way to do this is to make a wired connection to a host (i.e., router) that supports DHCP. (Most do,

by default.) If you wish to configure your device for a static IP address, you may do so via the serial connection

before making your internet connection.

8. Update the Python Development Libraries

Before starting work with the E12, you'll want to make sure you have the latest versions of the software

installed on the unit. The E12 makes use of Python Development Libraries that are sometimes updated to add

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new functionality and correct bugs. You can update the version installed on your unit by running the

command:

sudo apt-get install python-dev

NOTE: Remember that Ubuntu Linux does not, by default, enable root as a user. The sudo command

temporarily escalates your privileges to su (super user), so the E12 will prompt you for your password.

NOTE: If you get a "Requirement already satisfied" message from one of the updates, don't be alarmed. It

just means you already have the latest version.

9. Set the Clock

First, you should specify the timezone in which your device will reside. An easy way to do this is to use tzdata,

which allows you to select the general region, and then select the specific zone for your location. You can run it

with the command:

Sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

Next, and only if the E12’s date is not set (i.e. it is not connected to a network so it does not set the date from an

NTP server, and the hardware clock has never been set), set the date manually.

The following example sets the date to April 20, 2016, at 12:30:59 p.m.

sudo date --set “2016-04-30 12:30:59”

Sat Apr 30 12:30:59 CDT 2016

You can set the hardware clock from the system clock using the hwclock command.

sudo hwclock -wu

10. Update SNAPconnect

The SNAPconnect software enables the connection from your E12 device to the rest of your SNAP-powered

network.

To update SNAPconnect, type the command:

sudo –H pip install --upgrade snapconnect –i https://update.

synapse-wireless.com/pypi/

11. Update PyCrypto

The PyCrypto project is required for using AES128 encryption on your radio network.

To update PyCrypto type the command:

sudo -H pip install --upgrade pycrypto

That's it! Your E12 is now ready to work with your SNAP-powered network. Your Python program, using the

SNAPconnect library or the SNAPtoolbelt utilities, interfaces with the gateway's SNAP module directly, and the rest

of your nodes through that. You can also have full internet access via the wired Ethernet connection.

Now it’s up to you to do awesome things with your SNAP-powered network.

You can find examples of other people’s efforts on the Synapse Wireless repository at GitHub:

https://github.com/synapse-wireless.

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