installing ibike for ubuntu linux

[flyingburrito]

i know this isn't the exact place but given the choices, it's what i'm going with. i'm trying to install the ibike software on ubuntu Gusty. the windows "compatibility layer", WINE, works great with WKO+. it ALMOST works with the ibike stuff. the catch, i think, is that ibike has its own .msi file so WINE can't lie about the operating system. is this actually to do with this msi file? and, does anyone know how to get around this with out running windows in VMware or virtualbox... ?

ibike works great on the household windozer...but jeez, caint wee geat a litule linux supert?

[chrispy]

iBike already supports perhaps the best UNIX out there: Mac OS X.

Get with the program.

[gregh3285]

I'm not going to let this thread devolve into an OS religious argument (Ubuntu), but last weekend I was able to get iBike for Windows running under in a Windows 2000 VirtualBox vm. To support USB, you need to download the version from Sun (and not the freely available version). If anybody's interested in more detail, send me a private message through the forum (I check in every couple days) and I'll try to help out!

[djconnel]

The IBike Gen 3 product page says Windows XP or Vista is required. I'm also running Ubuntu Linux, and would prefer the relative slender Windows 2000 to one of these exponentially bloated beasts.... does the latest software in fact run with Windows 2000? Following the advice here, I was planning on installing within VirtualBox.

[Velocomp]

We've heard reports that iBike 3 runs on Windows 2000 but we make no guarantees.

[gregh3285]

Heads up. I just got my Gen III iPro. It feels like the iPro handles serial communications just a little bit differently than the iBike Gen I did. This seems to have broken my VirtualBox setup. Perhaps it could have been fixed. But, the path of least resistance was to use a VMware VM. So as to not clog up the Forum, I've posted my process here: http://sites.google.com/site/gregsrando ... nder-linux.

[Velocomp]

We have some new serial commands that deal with the much richer data that flows out of the Gen III, but the drivers themselves are unchanged.

[yuekai]

I wrote a Matlab code to plot ride data from a iBike data file in csv format. I will post a compiled version of the code soon so Linux users without access to Matlab can also use it.

Code: Select all

function ibike(ibikefile)
%ibike  process iBike data file
% ibike(ibikefile) plots speed, power, and elevation data from an iBike
% data file in csv format.

%% load data from ibike file

data = csvread(ibikefile,5,0);

speed = data(:,1);
power = data(:,3);
distance = data(:,4);
elevation = data(:,7);

% calculate recording time interval
dt = round(mean((distance(2:11)-distance(1:10))./((speed(1:10)+speed(2:11))/2)*3600));

%% plot speed, power, and elevation profile

figure
subplot(3,1,1)
plot((1:length(speed))*(dt/60),speed)
xlabel('time (min)'); ylabel('speed (mph)')

subplot(3,1,2)
plot((1:length(power))*(dt/60),power)
xlabel('time (min)'); ylabel('power (W)')

subplot(3,1,3)
plot(distance,elevation)
xlabel('distance (mi)'); ylabel('elevation (ft)')

%% display average speed and power

disp(['Average speed (mph) => ',num2str(mean(speed))])

disp(['Average power (W) => ',num2str(mean(power))])
end

[jdduncan]

So it looks like the only option for running ibike software on Ubuntu involves some sort of virtual machine. Do I have other options for data download? I have the ibike software on my mac and cyclingpeaks on my pc, but I travel with a netbook running ubuntu and it would be nice to at least get the data off of my ibike and saved when I'm gone for more than a couple of days. GoldenCheetah looks like it is capable of "analyzing" iBike data, but as far as I can tell I can't actually download it. And download is really my primary objective here. I'm not terribly well versed in linux. Is there a way to write a simple script to pull the data from the ibike to save on my hard drive? I assume I need to download and install the proper Silicon Labs drivers for the iBike cradle? Ideas? Thanks!

-David Duncan

[gregh3285]

@jdduncan, when I first got my iBike, I did a virtual serial port dump of the data coming across the USB link. In looking at that, yeah, you could probably reverse engineer the protocol. It would be a good challenge, but it would be a pretty big effort. In the grand scheme of things the path of least resistance (for me) was to run Windows in a VM. I'd rather spend the time riding my bike than reverse-engineering a serial protocol. My guess is that the Linux kernel probably comes with drivers that connect the Silicon Labs part to a serial port -- that's actually the easy part.

[steveoc]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread ... but its worth raising from the dead after a 12 month break.

Im getting my first iBike Pro next week, and I have no intention of using a Windows box just to get my data. Is there any progress to report on decoding the USB stream under linux to get access to the iBike ? That will be my first approach anyway. Worst case scenario is that I might have to get a 2nd hand Mac laptop to get access to my data. I could probably justify that, since there are some other things I could use an OSX laptop for. Prefer not to have to do that though.

I am assuming that once the data is imported into the iBike software, there are options to then export that data to CSV format to use as you wish ? Im thinking of going down the same path that Greg mentions in his prior posts - just writing a custom web application to store / view and analyse my ride data, using my own weird and wonderful methods in this case.

So ... any news ?

[gregh3285]

Reviving a 12-month-old thread isn't a horrible idea. So, steveoc, don't worry about it. From my perspective, I run a Win2k VM on my Ubuntu 10.04 box. I've switched from VirtualBox to VMware since my last posting. VMware seems more stable with the USB drivers. I can pretty strongly recommend Golden Cheetah under Linux. It's a good companion to iBike for Windows. Get the rides analyzed and onto a flash drive then import them into Golden Cheetah.

[steveoc]

Thanks Greg

Ive setup iBike under VirtualBox now, and it amazing how well that works (1st time use of VirtualBox). My actual iBike arrives later this week, so at least the software is all setup and ready to go. Stand by to have me pick your brains again if I cant sort out the USB interface ... should be OK from what Ive seen so far.

Golden Cheetah - good stuff, I had no idea there was already an opensource app that does so much. I have a few ideas I would like to implement in that package over time, but I need to brush up on my very rusty Qt4 skills

[steveoc]

All sorted ...

My iPro arrived today, and it all works out of the box with Linux (VirtualBox Closed Source edition + TinyXP). Awesome ! Considering the price they are selling these for in Australia now, I am a very happy camper with my purchase. The only really tricky part was getting USB emulation working under VirtualBox ... that required the 'add your username to the vboxuser group, log out and log back in' hack.

Did a firmware upgrade as well - no probs.

Its 4am now .. just waiting for the sun to come up so I can do my cal ride.