PowerShell

PowerShell is a modern scripting language available cross-platform for Windows, Linux, MacOS and many other operating systems.

Installing PowerShell

On Windows, you do not necessarily need to install PowerShell: Windows PowerShell is part of the operating system: press Win+R to open the Run dialog.

Enter powershell and press ENTER. A blue console window opens and is labeled Windows PowerShell. This is your built-in Windows PowerShell. It runs PowerShell version 5.1.

PowerShell 7: Cross Platform

On other operating systems (and also on Windows if you want to use the latest PowerShell version), visit PowerShell Releases.

Scroll down until you see the item Assets. Click to expand.

This opens a list of ready-to-download installation binaries, available for many operating systems and in many formats (tar.gz, zip, msi, pkg).

Make sure you select the appropriate operating system. For Windows, this would be the suffix win-x64.

When you download an archive format such as tar.gz or zip, you can use PowerShell as a portable app. Here is how:

1. Download the appropriate archive file
2. Unblock the downloaded file before you unpack it: in Windows, right-click the downloaded archive file, choose Properties, then check Unblock.
3. Open the folder with the unpacked files, and launch pwsh.exe

The cross-platform PowerShell displays as a black console.

PowerShell is actively developed: its versions increment rapidly. Version 7.4.0 as depicted above is probably long outdated and replaced by a higher version number when you read this.

Install DoneLandTools

It’s extremely simple to add new Done.Land PowerShell commands to your PowerShell: the module DoneLandTools is available for installation from the Microsoft PowerShellGallery.

PowerShell comes with a basic set of general-purpose commands. You extend them for your specific needs and use cases by adding additional modules that provide more specific commands.

To download and use the DoneLandTools, run this line:

Install-Module -Name DoneLandTools -Scope CurrentUser -Force

The switch -Force omits confirmation dialogs. If you’d rather see them, omit -Force. Modules are downloaded from the Microsoft PowerShell Gallery. Since this is a public place, and Microsoft is not taking responsibility for any materials you download from there, you need to confirm your choice.

Module Installation Fails

Should the above command be unable to download the module, check these items:

• Internet: obviously you need to have internet access. Try visiting the PowerShell Gallery directly.
• Permissions: within company networks, access to the gallery may be restricted.
• Conflicts: when an existing module added commands with the same name as commands in DoneLandTools, a name conflict would occur, and the new module cannot be installed. Either remove the conflicting module that is already present, or add the switch parameter -AllowClobber to install the DoneLandTools module anyway.
• Outdated: Windows PowerShell may use outdated libraries. Try updating them using this command: Install-Module -Name PowerShellGet -Scope CurrentUser -Force

DoneLand Commands

To see the new PowerShell commands the DoneLandTools module provides, run this:

Get-Command -Module DoneLandTools

CommandType Name                      Version Source
----------- ----                      ------- ------
Function    Find-NetworkDevice        1.3.0   DoneLandTools
Function    Get-AntennaLength         1.3.0   DoneLandTools
Function    Get-ComPortInfo           1.3.0   DoneLandTools
Function    Get-IpRange               1.3.0   DoneLandTools
Function    Get-LedResistor           1.3.0   DoneLandTools
Function    Get-LedStripFramerateInfo 1.3.0   DoneLandTools
Function    Get-MyIpAddress           1.3.0   DoneLandTools
Function    Invoke-ForeachParallel    1.3.0   DoneLandTools
Function    Show-Fat32Converter       1.3.0   DoneLandTools
Function    Test-Ping                 1.3.0   DoneLandTools
Function    Test-PingRange            1.3.0   DoneLandTools
Function    Test-Port                 1.3.0   DoneLandTools
Function    Test-PortRange            1.3.0   DoneLandTools

The PowerShell module DoneLandTools is a work in progress. When you download and use it, it may contain more then the functions showed here. To check for updates and always use the latest version, you may want to occasionally run Update-Module -Name DoneLandTools.

Exploring New Commands

All commands come with help. To i.e. find out what Get-LedStripFramerateInfo can do for you, run the command like this:

 Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -?

NAME
    Get-LedStripFramerateInfo

SYNOPSIS
    Calculates the maximum frame rate possible for a LED strip or the maximum LED that can be used for a desired frame
    rate


SYNTAX
    Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -Framerate <Int32> [-LedPerMeter <Int32>] [-ResetTimeMicroSec <Int32>]
    [-IncludeWhiteLed] [-DataRateKhz <Int32>] [<CommonParameters>]

    Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -LedPerMeter <Int32> [-ResetTimeMicroSec <Int32>] [-IncludeWhiteLed] [-DataRateKhz
    <Int32>] -StripLengthCm <Double> [<CommonParameters>]

    Get-LedStripFramerateInfo [-ResetTimeMicroSec <Int32>] [-IncludeWhiteLed] [-DataRateKhz <Int32>] -TotalLedCount
    <Int32> [<CommonParameters>]


DESCRIPTION
    In WS2182B and similar strings of LED, the one-wire data line has a maximum data transmission rate.
    This command can calculate two things:
    - given the number of LED (or the length and type of LED string), it calculates the maximum possible frame rate
    - given the framerate, it calculates the maximum possible number of LED that you can string together


RELATED LINKS
    URLs to related sites
    The first link is opened by Get-Help -Online Get-LedStripInfo

REMARKS
    To see the examples, type: "get-help Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -examples".
    For more information, type: "get-help Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -detailed".
    For technical information, type: "get-help Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -full".
    For online help, type: "get-help Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -online"

This is the complete but sometimes overwhelming help information.

At the bottom of the help text in the section Remarks, you find additional ways of retrieving specific help information that may be more suitable for you. Run help Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -Online to open this page in your browser.

Practical Examples

Much more fun are examples that show distinct use cases on how to actually run the command. Run this to get the examples for a command:

Get-Help Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -Examples

Now you get a list of fun examples that you can try:

NAME
    Get-LedStripFramerateInfo

SYNOPSIS
    Calculates the maximum frame rate possible for a LED strip or the maximum LED that can be used for a desired frame
    rate

    -------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------

    PS C:\>Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -TotalLedCount 100

    Calculates the maximum framerate achievable for 100 RGB LEDs in a string:

    LedCount Type Framerate DataTime (us)
    -------- ---- --------- -------------
         100 RGB        305       0.00328


    -------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------

    PS C:\>Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -TotalLedCount 100 -IncludeWhiteLed

    Calculates the maximum framerate achievable for 100 RGBW LEDs in a string (including separate white, 32 instead of 24 bit):

    LedCount Type Framerate DataTime (us)
    -------- ---- --------- -------------
         100 RGBW       234       0.00428


    -------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------

    PS C:\>60,90,120,144 | Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -StripLengthCm 150

    Calculates the maximum framerates for a strip of 150cm length and different LED/m:

    LedCount Type Framerate DataTime (us)
    -------- ---- --------- -------------
      90     RGB  336       0.00298
     135     RGB  231       0.00433
     180     RGB  176       0.00568
     216     RGB  148       0.00676


    -------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------

    PS C:\>Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -Framerate 60

    Determines the maximum number of LED that can be used to achieve a 60Hz frame rate:

    LedCount Type StripType StripLengthCm
    -------- ---- --------- -------------
         546 RGB  n/a       n/a


    -------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------

    PS C:\>Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -Framerate 30 -LedPerMeter 144

    Determines the maximum length for a LED strip using 144 LED/m to achieve a 30Hz frame rate:

    LedCount Type StripType StripLengthCm
    -------- ---- --------- -------------
        1102 RGB  144LED/m          765.3


    -------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------

    PS C:\>200,100,60,30,15 | Get-LedStripFramerateInfo -LedPerMeter 144

    Calculates the maximum length of a 144LED/m LED strip for various frame rates:

    LedCount Type StripType StripLengthCm
    -------- ---- --------- -------------
         157 RGB  144LED/m            109
         324 RGB  144LED/m            225
         546 RGB  144LED/m          379.2
        1102 RGB  144LED/m          765.3
        2213 RGB  144LED/m         1536.8

Discovering Network Devices

WiFi-enabled wireless development boards get an IP address assigned. Typically, DHCP is used: the assigned IP address can change over time.

That makes it hard to connect to the device. While there are often specific work-arounds such as enabling mDNS, or implementing dash boards that are hosted on servers like HomeAssistant, if you want to find out the IP address of your develoipment board, you can always use a brute force approach: scan your network.

Microcontroller boards typically respond to ICMP ping requests. Firmware that exposes a web interface (such as ESPEasy and others) can also be identified by testing port 80.

Range-Pinging Devices

DoneLandTools makes it simple to scan your network (scanning by default with 64 threads simultaneously to speed it up). Issue this command:

Find-NetworkDevice

The command figures out your active network range of possible IP Addresses, then asks you to turn off your device. This way, the tool can perform a baseline scan, picking up all the other devices that respond to ping:

[1] Make sure the device is currently NOT TURNED ON. TURN IT OFF if necessary.
Press ENTER when you are ready.

Once you turned off your device, press ENTER. Now the baseline scan is performed which typically takes less than 20sec in a typical network range of 256 IP addresses, but can also take considerably longer if you use a larger subnet mask (mask 255.255.255.0 is recommended for home networks).

Next, the tool asks you to turn on your device. Once you have done this, press ENTER again. Now the scan is repeated.

[2] NOW TURN ON the device.                                                                                       Press ENTER when you are ready. 

Once the second scan has completed, the tool returns the IP addresses that were not present in the initial scan:

192.168.68.120

If the results are incorrect, then your devices may need a longer timeout to respond. You may then want to run the tool with an increased timeout like so: Find-NetworkDevice -Timeout 10000. The scans now take a bit longer, but the results are more reliable. When you also add -Verbose, the tool outputs how much time it took to scan your network.

[1] Make sure the device is currently NOT TURNED ON. TURN IT OFF if necessary.
Press ENTER when you are ready.

VERBOSE: Initial baseline scan took 12.5 seconds.
[2] NOW TURN ON the device.
Press ENTER when you are ready.

VERBOSE: Total scan time was 26.2 seconds. 1 devices found.
192.168.68.124

Finding Web Interfaces

An even more reliable and convenient way is to ask the tool to look for web interfaces the device may implement. This of course works only if the firmware of your microcontroller indeed exposes a web interface.

Find-NetworkDevice -OpenInBrowser -Verbose

The sequence is the same: you are first asked to turn off the device to perform a baseline scan, then asked to turn the device on to perform the second scan.

The tool then reports all IP addresses that respond to *port 80, and also opens the found web interfaces in your browser.

[1] Make sure the device is currently NOT TURNED ON. TURN IT OFF if necessary.
Press ENTER when you are ready.
VERBOSE: Initial baseline scan took 17.5 seconds.
[2] NOW TURN ON the device.
Press ENTER when you are ready.

VERBOSE: Total scan time was 34.6 seconds. 1 devices found.
192.168.68.124

Here is the discovered web interface provided by an ESPEasy node found in this example:

Finding All Web Interfaces

In the previous examples, the tool always performed two network scans: one before the device was turned on, and one after it became online. This way, the tool can filter out all IP addresses from other devices that may also be present in your network.

If you cannot turn your device off (maybe you have no physical access), or if you want to see all web interfaces from every device available in your network, you can also run the command with just one scan:

Find-NetworkDevice -FindAllWebInterfaces -Verbose

The tool now immediately performs a network scan. It then outputs all IP addresses that responded to port 80:

VERBOSE: Total scan time was 17.3 seconds. 7 devices found.
192.168.68.112
192.168.68.118
192.168.68.124
192.168.68.128
192.168.68.111
192.168.68.249
192.168.68.250

Since you cannot judge by the IP address what kind of device is using it, the tool also opens all IP addresses in your browser.

Do not be surprised to see a lot of third-party devices showing up: many devices expose secret web interfaces that you find this way.

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