When configuring JNIORs, how you should configure them depends on what Series JNIOR you have. You’ll want to use the JNIOR Web Page for Series 4 JNIORs, and the Java Applet for Series 3 JNIORs.
JNIOR Web Page
Java Applet
The Java Applet is a local Java application that can be launched from the Support Tool for each Series 3 JNIOR, while the JNIOR Web Page is a browser accessible configuration for Series 4 JNIORs. Series 3 JNIORs can’t open the JNIOR Web Page because they don’t support the necessary web files required to run the JNIOR Web Page from it. The Java Applet at one point was accessible from a browser, but due to security risks it was changed to be a separate application. Series 4 JNIORs do have the necessary files to open both the Java Applet and the JNIOR Web Page, but you should not use the Java Applet for Series 4 JNIORs. The applets cannot properly configure a Series 4 as the registry settings for many configuration settings are different than what the Series 3 used.
JANOS v2.0 removed the classic command line registry editor. The regedit utility brings back that command line functionality within an add-on application. regedit starts by displaying the root registry directory, which is where the registry starts for the JNIOR. Unlike how editing the registry currently works with Series 4 units, the regedit utility displays the full registry with a number value for each folder/key in the command line. regedit allows you to either display a folders contents, edit/delete a registry key, or add a new folder/key.
Adding a key
When inside a folder or in the root directory key, you can add a new key. Simply enter the name of the key you wish to create. You’ll then be prompted to add new values to this key. Because the JNIOR registry can’t contain empty keys in it, if you don’t enter a value for the key you are creating the key will instantly after being created. After entering value for the key, it will display what the key with its value. After hitting ‘y’ to accept the key. it will be created and redisplay your current folder’s registry keys.
Adding a folder
Adding a new folder can be done when you add a new key. When adding a new key, you add the folder name beforehand to set the folder the key resides in. For example, if you wanted to create a folder with the name ‘testing’ that contains a key named ‘key’, you would type ‘testing/key’ and then enter a value for that key. A key must be created with a new folder, since folders can’t be empty in the JNIOR registry. Just like a key, if an empty folder is added it is instantly deleted.
Viewing a folders content
When a number entered is associated with a registry folder, regedit will ‘enter’ that folder by displaying the folders/keys inside of it and giving each one a number. You can then repeat the process of entering another registry folder or then edit a registry key, the only difference being that you can go back to the previous folder you were in by typing the number associated with the ‘<previous>’ value.
Editing/Deleting a key
When a number is entered that is associated with a registry key, regedit will display the key and its value and prompt you to either change, edit, or remove the key. To do one of these of options, you’ll just enter the first character for any of these options (‘c’ to change, ‘e’ to edit, ‘r’ to remove). The change option allows you to re-enter a brand new value for the key you are editing. The edit option is similar to the change option, but leaves the previous value the key had for you to edit. Lastly, the remove option simply removes the key from the registry. You’ll be prompted one additional time to confirm removing the key before the remove goes through.
Deleting a whole folder
While inside a registry folder, typing the * key will allow you to delete the entire folder you are in. Be careful using this to make sure you don’t delete necessary folders on the JNIOR.
We offerSeries 4 JNIORs that are made to be a great drop-in replacement for Series 3 JNIORs.
If you have a Series 3 JNIOR and are looking for a replacement, they unfortunately hit the end of life in 2015 and we no longer offer them. Series 4 JNIORs are essentially an improved version of the Series 3 JNIOR that offer improved hardware, more applications, and more built-in functionality. Most Series 3 applications have been modified to run on the Series 4 JNIORs as well, but the dimensions and footprint of the Series 3 JNIOR are the same as the Series 4 though.
Here are just a few of the improvements implemented from the Series 3 to Series 4:
A faster processor allows for quicker responses from applications running on the JNIOR and quicker reboots for the JNIOR.
The Model 410 JNIORs have RS-485 capabilities for their serial connections.
Applications such as Tasker, Analog Presets, MQTT, Grapher, and DMX provide new functionality for the JNIOR to use.
Easy-to-use configuration pages through web browsers provide more ways to make customizing your JNIOR simpler, such as a folder tab to view files on the JNIOR.
Series 4 JNIORs can capture network traffic between the JNIOR and other devices to help investigate and troubleshoot all data being communicated with it.
If you have a Series 3 JNIOR and are looking to replace or upgrade to a Series 4 JNIOR, let us know and we’ll help you transition your setup!
Unlike the Series 4 JNIOR, the Series 3 JNIOR’s do not have a command that can be used to factory reset them. To get a Series 3 JNIOR as close to factory reset is to follow the steps below:
Step 1: Delete the Registry
On every JNIOR is a jnior.ini file. This file is the saved registry values on the JNIOR. To reset the registry we will need to remove this file from the JNIOR. Two ways to remove the file is to either right click the JNIOR in the support tool and go to Tools/FTP to access the files on the JNIOR, or make and command line connection and remove the file using the command line. Thing is, the JNIOR automatically backups the registry every couple of minutes, so even though we delete the jnior.ini file, it will repopulate after a few minutes. To make sure the registry does not regenerate, we have to delete the jnior.ini file, and then quickly after pull power from the JNIOR for 30 seconds. This will prevent the a backup of the JNIOR from being created. Below is how to get to the jnior.ini file by using FTP.
Use FTP from support tool and go to the flash folderDelete jnior.ini file and pull power from jnior for 30 seconds
Below is how to remove the jnior.ini with the command line:
In the picture below we use the Series 3 Java applet configuration page to send command through command line. To open the Java applet, right click the JNIOR in support tool and select Tools/Open Classic Monitor, Configure, Control Application. Then go to the Command Line Tab and that’s where you’ll enter the command rm flash/jnior.ini. This removes the jnior.ini file in the flash folder from the JNIOR.
Go to the Command Line tab once you login using jnior, jniorEnter the command rm flash/jnior.ini and hit enter, then remove power for 30 seconds
Step 2: jrflash -f
After resetting the registry, we’ll then want to reformat the flash memory. To do this, if you haven’t already we’ll need to make a command line connection to the JNIOR. Once a command line connection is made, you’ll enter the command jrflash -f. Let this command run, and once this is done you’ll re-update the JNIOR with the Series 3 All-In-One update project. In the picture below we use the Series 3 Java applet configuration page to send command through command line. To open the Java applet, right click the JNIOR in support tool and select Tools/Open Classic Monitor, Configure, Control Application. Then go to the Command Line Tab and that’s where you’ll enter the command.
Go to the Command Line tab once you login using jnior, jnior Enter the command jrflash -f and hit enter, when command finishes update JNIOR using Series 3 All-in-one update project
Step 3: reboot -a
Once the flash has been reformatted and the JNIOR’s been reupdated with the Series 3 All-in-one update project, you’ll connect to the command line again the same way you did for the last step and enter one more command. Enter reboot -a, as this will reset the heap memory. This clears up fragmented memory, so when memory is being allocated for applications or files to be moved on the JNIOR, enough space is available for them to exist.
After that, your Series 3 JNIOR should be as close to factory reset as possible!
The series 3 JNIORs used the Java Applet as a GUI. Years ago the browsers stopped supporting Java Applets due to security concerns. You are no longer able to open the series 3 Java Applet GUI in most browsers. You can still access it by launching it locally since it is installed as part of the JNIOR Support Tool. The security concerns over java applets are not present when launching the Java Application locally. Here is how to access the Java Applet for a JNIOR.
NOTE: The Java Applet GUI should only be used with series 3 JNIORs. The Java Applet GUI requires that your computer has Java installed. You can check if your computer has java by opening you command line and entering java -version. Here is a link to different JDK options.
First, make sure you have the JNIOR support tool downloaded. Here is a link for it.
Once you have downloaded the Support Tool, you’ll want to open it and find the JNIOR you wish to access the Java Applet for in the Beacon tab. Then by right clicking it, you’ll then go to Tools/Classic Monitor, Configuration, Control Application option and select it.
After selecting this for, the Java Applet for your JNIOR should open.
The following post talks about entering the processor bootloader. Entering the bootloader could have unintended consequences should the wrong commands be entered. Proceed at your own risk.
Note, this is for a series 3 JNIOR that went out of production in 2015. You can upgrade to Series 4 JNIORs easily in most cases.
Most JNIOR3 batteries should be dead and therefore removing power to reboot should restore the default accounts. If the battery is still doing its job you can force your way in using the following:
Connect USB-to-Serial cable to COM/RS-232 port.
Open Terminal program of your choice (Support Tool). Serial settings are 115200 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, and No Parity. No hardware buffer control. We are hoping that the DTR line (pin 4) is wired through the cable and is asserted by default.
Access the JNIOR and prove to yourself that you cannot log in. Try jnior:jnior and admin:admin.
With jumper (or screwdriver) short jumper next to COM port briefly (1/2 second).
Immediately hit repeated (at least 3 or so) ENTER keystrokes. The bootloader banner should appear.
Enter: B 02 <ENTER>
Enter: F 00 0000 0100 <ENTER>
Enter: E <ENTER>
The JNIOR should reboot. Note the above switches to the Block for the Heap Memory (Bank 2); Clears the first 256 bytes of the Heap damaging its structure; And, then Exits restarting the system.
Note in the dialog the indication “Blast HEAP”. This restores the original /etc/passwd file with the default credentials.
Eventually log in using jnior:jnior
If shorting the jumper pins or inserting the jumper briefly does not reboot the JNIOR and accept your ENTER keystrokes, then DTR is not wired or asserted.
This test was done using Putty on an Ubuntu system with an old USB-to_Serial adapter.
Some Series 3 are not up to date enough to appear in beacon, which can make it very confusing to update to a new version in the Support Tool. Here is how to update a JNIOR that isn’t showing in the Support Tool.
The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure that you have the support tool downloaded from INTEG’s website. Here is the link to download the support tool. You’ll also want the newest all-in-one update project for the Series 3, which will include the newest version of the OS inside of it. The Series 3 all-in-one is located here.
Once you have both of those downloaded, you’ll want to open the support tool and go to the update tab.
Once you are at the update tab, you want’ll to click the open project button and select the series 3 all-in-one update project you downloaded earlier and open it in the update tab.
Now that the all-in-one is uploaded to the update tab, we want to publish it to the JNIOR. Click the Publish button and a dialog will appear to select JNIOR’s from Beacon to update. The issue here would be that the JNIOR you need to update won’t appear since its version doesn’t have beacon. What to do instead is to type the IP of the JNIOR in the space provided.
Once you have typed the JNIOR’s IP into the IP space provided, click OK and the JNIOR should begin to update. Afterwards, it should now appear in beacon.
If you receive this error after establishing a serial connection, its because the operating system detected an error in the flash file system on boot. The flash was not mounted to protect the file system from any further damage.
To resolve this issue we need to reformat the flash. You can follow the steps below to reformat the flash and reload the unit. If you need to save any files out of flash we can temporarily mount it. If you don’t then you can skip to step 3.
1. jrflash -z
This will force the operating system to mount the flash temporarily so that you can recover any needed files. The macro and devices files should also be in RAM at the root of the filesystem.
2. FTP
You can use FTP to recover any files from the flash file system. Applications will be loaded using the update packages from the website. Files may or may not be available depending on where the corruption is in the filesystem structure.
3. jrflash -f
This will reformat the flash filesystem. Everything will be lost.
4. Run the latest All-in-one update project from our website.
This will reload all of the files that are loaded when we ship the unit.
5. Run any additional update projects to get the applications running that you depend on.
6. FTP
Use FTP to restore any files that you saved in step 2.
The procedure above will get the unit running again. If you need any additional help or questions, just let us know!
Sometimes an application wont run on a JNIOR Series 3 unit. This issue may be due to “insufficient heap“.
This error message means that there was not enough contiguous space in “heap” or the SRAM memory for the application. The application must find contiguous memory of at least the file size of the application. Once the application finds that space it will stay in that same space until the application is updated. The memory can become fragmented over time since the SRAM is used for application executables, application memory and the root file system.
Most likely this error condition will occur after updating to a new version of an application. If the new application is larger than the old application it cannot occupy the same contiguous block in memory. It must find a new contiguous block. That space may not be available depending on the fragmentation of the memory. Even if there is a contiguous block of memory large enough when the file is updated, it still might give you an “insufficient heap” error. This might happen because until its run as an executable, the file doesn’t know it needs to be stored as contiguous space and fragment its memory anyways, which would then cause the error.
The fragmentation is caused by file blocks that have become scattered throughout memory over time. To clear up the fragmentation we could delete a file at a time until a contiguous block has become available. This would be a very slow approach. You would not know which file gives you the best chance of finding a contiguous block. Since the root of the file system contains mostly log files we can just clear the heap on a reboot. In order to that we execute the reboot -a command.
What about my cinema devices and macros files?
The cinema files are automatically backed up to flash/cinema_backup. This location is not affected by the reboot -a. The cinema files will be restored next time cinema runs.
A series 3 JNIOR has a limited amount of flash memory. The update can fail because the the flash is close to being full. There are many files that are loaded on the JNIOR that are not being used.
Since the Applets can no longer be loaded in a browser there is no reason to keep them in flash so that the web server has access to them. You can safely remove the flash/www contents. You can use the latest Series 3 All-In-One to accomplish this.
Once files have been removed, reboot the JNIOR. Once the JNIOR has booted, try the update project again. If the flash filesystem space was the issue then the update should now work!
There are many reasons to upgrade a series 3 JNIOR to a series 4. While we believe the experience and reliability are much better with the newer hardware and software we understand that in most cases the “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” rule applies.
When you are ready, use the following steps to help the transition go smoothly.
Can I just perform a backup from the series 3 and restore onto the series 4?
You can perform a backup and restore. BUT, this will copy over the cinema.jnior application. This file will not run on the series 4. There is a specific cinema file, cinema.JAR, that will run on the series 4.
If the cinema.jnior file gets copied over there will only be one small issue. A restore will set that file to run on boot. Every time the JNIOR boots it will throw an error regarding the cinema.jnior file being there and being the incorrect format.
The procedure
1. Update the Series 4 Operating System
Make sure the new series 4 JNIOR’s Operating System and Cinema application are up to date. You can find those applications on the All Downloads page.
The Cinema update will ensure that the Cinema application is present that will run on the Series 4. The version of the application that is loaded on the Series 3 will NOT run on the Series 4.
Open the Snapshot zip file and extract the macro file, devices file and flash/jnior.ini file.
4. Upload the macro and devices files to the destination series 4 JNIOR
5. Edit the jnior.ini file
The configuration is stored in the flash/jnior.ini file. Before you upload it we will need to remove two sections from the file. We will remove the [ipConfig] section so that the IP Address remains and the [run] section so that cinema.jnior does not try to start on boot.
6. Upload the updated jnior.ini file
To upload the file you have two options. You can use your favorite FTP client or use the DCP. If you use the DCP you will want to go to the Folders Tab. From there you can simply drag and drop your ini file to the temp/ folder. I recommend the temp/ folder for the upload so the file gets cleaned up after a reboot.
7. Ingesting the new configuration
To ingest the new configuration we will run the reg -i command from a command-line connection. Again you have multiple options for making the command-line connection. You can use an application like Putty, The JNIOR Command Line tool that is part of the JNIOR Support Tool or the Console tab in the DCP. If you use the DCP your command will look like this.
8. Enable MODBUS Server (If you are using a GDC Cinema Server)
The MODBUS server ran by default in the series 3 operating system. It is a separate application on the Series 4 that must be enabled to provide MODBUS connectivity.
You can enable MODBUS via the DCP. http://JNIOR_IP_ADDRESS in your browser.
9. Reboot the JNIOR again.
Your new Series 4 should be running the Cinema application with the configuration and settings from your previous series 3 JNIOR.
@integpg