Skip to main content

ESP-12E calling Google Timezone API

The ESP-12E module of the ESPCLOCK V2.0 project is done. All the clock control logic has been shifted to the ATtiny85 module, so the ESP-12E is only in-charged of periodically getting the NTP time, converting to local time, and sending it via I2C to the ATtiny85.

One of the unresolved problems in the original ESPCLOCK project is calling the Google Timezone API via HTTPS. Because Google's HTTPS cert is different for servers in different geographical locations, this presents a problem for the original code:

const String GOOGLE_API_URL = "https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/timezone/json?location=[loc]&timestamp=[ts]";
const char* GOOGLE_API_CERT = "AD:B8:13:99:64:F5:75:F5:78:5C:FA:43:19:EA:8F:AF:2B:AE:54:FE";
...
HTTPClient http;
http.begin(url.c_str(), GOOGLE_API_CERT);
int rc = http.GET();

The solution I used is the one outlined in this comment.

const String GOOGLE_API_URL = "https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/timezone/json?location=[loc]&timestamp=[ts]";
...
char buf[256];
String url = GOOGLE_API_URL;
url.replace("[loc]", loc);
snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%u", ntpTime);
url.replace("[ts]", buf);

WiFiClientSecure client;
if (!client.connect(GOOGLE_API_HOST.c_str(), 443)) {
    debug("Unable to connect: %s", GOOGLE_API_HOST.c_str());
    return false;
}
client.print(String("GET ") + url + " HTTP/1.1\r\n" +
             "Host: " + GOOGLE_API_HOST + "\r\n" +
             "User-Agent: ESPCLOCK\r\n" +
             "Connection: close\r\n\r\n");
while (client.connected()) {
  String header = client.readStringUntil('\n');
  if (header == "\r") break; // Headers received
}
String payload = client.readStringUntil('\r');

The idea is to use WiFiClientSecure to access the API, but without using client.verify() to verify the fingerprint. So this works with changing cert fingerprints. The downside is of course we are totally bypass the security feature of HTTPS, which I think is a reasonable trade-off for this particular application.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hacking an analog clock to sync with NTP - Part 5

This is how it looks after I have put everything together. The Arduino sketch is available here . The 2 jumper wires soldered to the clock mechanism are connected to pins D0 and D1 on the ESP-12 (in any order). When the device first boots up, it presents an access point which can be connected to via the PC or smartphone. Once connected, the captive portal redirects the web browser to the configuration page:     A custom field has been added to the WiFi configuration page to enter the current clock time in HHMMSS format. Try to set the clock time to as close to the current time as possible using the radial dial at the back of the clock so the clock will have less work to do catching up. In the config page, the HTML5 Geolocation API is also used to obtain your current location (so if your web browser asks if you would like to share your location, answer "yes"). This is then passed to the Google Time Zone API to obtain the time and DST offset of your time z...

Cooling mod for the X96 Air #2

Previously, I added a USB cooling fan to the X96 Air TV box . The problem with this mod is that the fan is always running, and it runs at full speed. Ideally, the fan should kick in only when the CPU temperature is above a certain threshold. It would be even better if there is a way to control the fan speed. Dan McDonald left me a comment pointing to his project on Github . He basically connected the fan to a USB relay that can be controlled by Python script. His project inspired me to make a similar mod that would make use of the spare D1 Mini boards I have lying around. The plan is to hook up the fan to a MOSFET (2N7000) and control it via PWM. Here's the very simple circuit: The code simply reads a single character from the serial port (0 - 9). 0 will turn the fan off, while 1 - 9 will generate a proportional PWM to drive the fan, with 1 being the lowest and 9 being the highest. Here's the Arduino code: #include <Arduino.h> void setup () { Serial . begin ( 9600 ...

Installing and customizing CoreELEC in X96 Air

I previously installed CoreELEC on another TV Box ( Ugoos X3 Pro ), which unfortunately died after only 9 months during the summer (due to the unit overheating, which I learned is a common problem for cheap Android TV boxes). So this time I purchased a X96 Air  (4GB/32Gb) and had to do the whole thing again. So this is a note-to-self in case I ever have to install CoreELEC again on some other device. Installation of CoreELEC is simple enough by following this guide . Basically, it involves downloading and writing the firmware to a microSD card using usbimager . Then insert the microSD card, reset the unit and hold the reset until the logo appears. The unit will then proceed to boot into CoreELEC. First thing is to connect to WiFi, then enable SSH. This allows me to login via ssh and execute: ceemmc -x from the terminal. This writes CoreELEC to the built-in eMMC storage, after which I am able to remove the microSD card and reboot the unit into CoreELEC via the built-in sto...