Ruby OpenIPC Downloads & Setup
This page will explain how to setup your OpenIPC hardware to run Ruby. Recommended OpenIPC hardware: cameras that use the Sigmastar SSC338Q SOC, like the Runcam unit, Emax unit, OpenIPC AIO air unit and any future cameras created by manufacturers with the same SOC.
Advantages of using OpenIPC hardware as air unit on vehicles:
- Better video quality than most Raspberry Pi cameras. OpenIPC hardware is using Sony IMX sensors which have great video quality and great low light handling; Same as Raspberry Pi HQ cameras and Veye cameras;
- Lower video feed glass-to-glass latency; As low as 40 ms (on current hardware);
- More compact. You don't need a SBC on your vehicle anymore as the OpenIPC hardware itself is a SBC;
To read more about what OpenIPC is, visit OpenIPC website
OpenIPC hardware requires a different setup procedure. The main steps are similar (download software and flash software on the device) but due to the way the OpenIPC hardware works, the download and setup procedure has specific steps on OpenIPC hardware.
If you already have an OpenIPC hardware camera that already has OpenIPC firmware on it (not Ruby firmware), for example Mario AIO air unit, Ultrasight AIO air unit, Runcam OpenIPC AIO air unit, a SSC338Q camera flashed with regular OpenIPC firmware, then the procedure to migrate it to Ruby it's even simpler. Follow the steps below, otherways skip the section below and jump to full instalation procedure.
Migrate existing OpenIPC camera to Ruby firmware:
1. Connect your camera to your home router using an ETH cable;2. Power up your camera;
(If you are using a Mario AIO unit, since Mario AIO does not have full internet access, you need to use OpenIPC configurator (below) and flash the firmware from there. For any other OpenIPC camera, continue with the next steps)
3. Use Putty or any other terminal software on your PC to SSH into the camera (get the IP of the camera from your home router). Default username and password are: root/12345;
4. Run these two commands, one at a time:
- sed -i 's/BUILD_OPTION=.*/BUILD_OPTION=rubyfpv/' /etc/os-release
- sysupgrade -r -k -n --force_ver
It will download from internet the Ruby firmware and install it on camera. After the process finishes, the camera will reboot automatically. It will now run Ruby firmware on it. Nothing else to do. Skip all the steps below. The update procedure is complete.
If for some reason you can't do it this way, you can use OpenIPC Configurator (available here): Download and install it, then go to Setup tab and use Instalation option to install Ruby firmware on the camera.
Full install prerequisites:
Make sure you have these items ready, before you proceed:- An OpenIPC AIO unit or an OpenIPC Sigmastar SSC338Q or Goke camera;
- A PC/Mac; Install a TFPT server on it, like this one; Also install Putty or any other serial terminal software on your PC/Mac;
- A USB-Serial adapter;
- A network cable, to connect your camera to your home router;
Setup Steps:
1
Visit the OpenIPC website where we will download the Ruby software for your hardware: Ruby for OpenIPC AIO / SigmastarSSC338Q;
For other supported OpenIPC cameras (Goke), check this page to get the required Ruby software; All the other steps are the same;
On that webpage (see the picture below):
- Click to generate a random MAC address for the camera;
- For TFPT server address, type the IP address of your PC/Mac;
- For type and size of camera flash memory: choose NOR 8 Mb for Goke and NOR 16 Mb for Sigmastar SSC338Q;
- For firmware version choose RubyFPV;
- Leave all other options unchanged and click on Generate Installation Guide;
OpenIPC generate firmware options
2
On the page that shows up after you click the button, there are detailed OpenIPC firmware instructions; click on [Download OpenIPC Firmware] on the second card in that page (see picture below);
OpenIPC download firmware and install commands
Now you have just downloaded the RubyFPV firmware specific for your OpenIPC hardware;
3
Copy the downloaded firmware on a folder on your PC/Mac and install a TFPT server software. Setup the TFPT server to use the folder you choose as the source for the server files.
4
Connect your camera to your home router using a network cable;
5
Connect your USB-serial adapter to the PC/Mac and to the serial port of the OpenIPC hardware.
Here is the serial port pinout for OpenIPC Sigmastar SSC338Q and Goke cameras:
OpenIPC Sigmastar SSC338Q serial port pinout
OpenIPC Goke camera serial port pinout
Note: Remember! As with any UART serial connection, you need to connect the Tx pin on the camera to the Rx pin on the USB-serial adapter and the Rx pin on the camera to the Tx pin on the USB-serial adapter (Tx->Rx, Rx->Tx); And a ground connection too.
6
Start Putty or any other serial terminal on your PC and connect to the USB COM port using 115200 bitrate 8N1 settings;
7
Power up your OpenIPC hardware and when texts starts to show on your PC serial terminal, press [Enter] or [Ctrl]+[C];
As soon as you get a prompt, follow the instructions on the OpenIPC install page you just visited before (where you downloaded the Ruby firmware for OpenIPC);
Note:Enter those flashing commands one by one. Do not copy paste all of them at once!
That's all. After the flashing is complete your OpenIPC hardware will be running Ruby software.
Your OpenIPC hardware should now boot with Ruby and it will automatically start on 5825Mhz frequency. You can use your controller now to search for and connect to the OpenIPC camera/AIO unit and it will be ready to use, with full benefits of Ruby system.
To read more about installation of OpenIPC firmware, as well as seeing alternative flashing methods, check this page: OpenIPC Wiki Installation;
See the OpenIPC FAQ here: OpenIPC FAQ;
Read more info about different OpenIPC topics here: OpenIPC Wiki;