View Full Version : LCD/VFD support via LCDproc in XBMC for Linux?
midgetspy
2008-03-12, 19:49
Hey all,
I just started poking around XBMC linux last night to see how it's progressing and I'm wondering if there is LCDProc support for cases with front LCD/VFD panels? I'm planning on playing with the iMON LIRC module tonight but I'm wondering what it's going to take for me to get the VFD panel on the front of my case displaying anything meaningful.
Thanks,
Nic
Gamester17
2008-03-12, 23:20
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30605
Summary; Yes XBMC supports LCD/VFD-displayes via LCDProc
Super simple. Once you get LCDProc working (which took a while in my case) it worked right away. I found that the code seemed to want a 16 character display, so I edited it for my 20x2.
You'll probably want to edit your LCD.xml file (which needs to be renamed to lcd.xml) so you get something a little more meaningful on a 2-line display.
I can post mine if it will be helpful.
-Dan
midgetspy
2008-03-13, 00:20
Ah I should have checked the dev forum I guess, I just searched here.
That's great news! I have an Antec Fusion Black 420, so I'll play with it tonight and see what I can get to work. It's got the iMON LCD on it which isn't very well supported from what I understand so maybe once I get it running I'll look into extending the functionality to support more of its icons:
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/images/a/ac/Imon_lcd.png
My biggest priority right now is turning off the stupid backlight! LOL
Honestly I'd like to know what LCD IS supported well and not so much by XBMC either. Seems like a real crapshoot but XBMC is already supporting the most standard driver I'm aware of.
Gamester17
2008-03-13, 14:10
Again, XBMC uses LCDProc, so if LCDProc support your LCD/VFD/OLED display then XBMC supports it, see:
http://lcdproc.org
http://lcdproc.org/faq.php3
http://lcdproc.org/hardware.php3
http://sourceforge.net/projects/lcdproc/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/lcdproc/
...and like Hippo mentioned, if the default LCD settings in the XBMC GUI do not do it for you then you might want to configure the LCD.xml (after renamed to lcd.xml) for your specific display.
Again, XBMC uses LCDProc, so if LCDProc support your LCD/VFD/OLED display then XBMC supports it, see:
http://lcdproc.org
http://lcdproc.org/faq.php3
http://lcdproc.org/hardware.php3
http://sourceforge.net/projects/lcdproc/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/lcdproc/
...and like Hippo mentioned, if the default LCD settings in the XBMC GUI do not do it for you then you might want to configure the LCD.xml (after renamed to lcd.xml) for your specific display.
Am aware that LCDproc is supported, I stated that XBMC was supporting the most standard driver out there and that would be it. The frustration stems from owning a VFD display that is easily found but apparently not so well supported except on Windows. It's supported only by a special build of LCDproc, I think, or some weird forked version that's not maintained. I had it working once and might try again but it was not a terribly pretty process and Ubuntu kept bugging me about loading a larter version of LCDproc - which would kill it's funcionality. XBMC is doing the right thing, it's my hardware that frustrates me. If I decided today to swap it out I'm not sure how easily a replacement would be found. It doesn't help that I've got no serial port onboard. Several HTPC cases use the Samsung VFD I've got too:oo:
Hi !
I run lcdproc on my box and get some basic information like CPU or memory. But when I start XBMC the only thing I have is a blinking heart ?
I modified my lcd.xml to get display on 2 rows but nothing change.
Any idea ?
Thanks
Razor_109
2008-05-29, 01:43
i have the same problem, when i run Lcdproc in XBMC i get the 'heart' too.. blinking indeed..
But outside xbmc i have no CPU or Mem, i get:
## LCDproc Server ##
Cli:0 Scr: 0
When i run LCDProc in XBMC it changes to
## LCDproc Server ##
Cli:1 Scr: 1
and then the blinking heart, and sometimes for a second back to the LCDproc server screen.. any suggestions?
things to check / try :
- like Gamester17 said, rename your LCD.xml to lcd.xml
- is LCDd running with the correct config file you want to use ? ie. "/usr/local/sbin/LCDd -s true -f -c /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf"
If someone needs help getting the Antec Fusion (I have the black one) working, send me a PM.
ehm... @Razor_109... did you copy lcd.xml to ~/.xbmc/userdata/ ?
i had the blinking heart too, before putting lcd.xml there, now it's working perfectly :)
Razor_109
2008-06-06, 12:59
yep got it working..
think something was wrong with my whole XBMC install then.. i deleted the packet i install trough APT-GET.
Then just build everything my self, and afterrenaming LCD --> lcd it worked like a charm
So I think I have to buid It to ! :)
No... It doesn't change anything... Still the blinking heart...
I'am too stupid... I renamed the wrong file...
Everything good now...
Thanks !
I was looking for some direction in getting my external display functioning in XBMC. For starters, here is some basic information about my setup.
Ubuntu 8.04
XBMC Atlantis Beta1
HiperMedia HMC-2K53A-A0 Case - (Uses Futaba dm-140gink Demo LCD)
I followed the directions from the following link to get the display working within Ubuntu
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Futaba
I can successfully launch LCDd from a terminal and the display will come on and show:
## LCDproc Server ##
Cli:0 Scr: 0
However, when I launch XBMC, the display turns dark and nothing shows.
Is there a particular log file that I need to look at to determine why XBMC seems to be killing the lcdproc process? Or do you think something else is happening here?
Thanks for any help.
sjonnie33
2008-10-04, 11:22
Have you got the file LCD.xml in /home/your user name/.xbmc/userdata?
If not you can copy this from /usr/share/xbmc/userdata
I was able to correct this problem by building from SVN.
Maybe this is the bug fix that helped my situation:
http://xbmc.org/trac/ticket/4923
I do now have a followup question. Is there a way to slow down the scroll speed of text that is larger than the width of the LCD screen? It's a little dizzying watching large movie titles scroll across over and over again at such a high rate.
I do now have a followup question. Is there a way to slow down the scroll speed of text that is larger than the width of the LCD screen? It's a little dizzying watching large movie titles scroll across over and over again at such a high rate.
No, speed isn't adjustable. Please post a feature request so we don't forget about it while in feature freeze.
DrErling
2008-10-17, 04:00
As mentioned in the title, I have a crystalfontz 634 (20x4) lcd that I want to use (if possible).
Could someone guide me a bit?
EDIT:
Found out that XBMC expects me to use lcdproc, so I installed 0.5.2-0buntu2 (available in ubuntu 8.04 Synaptic Package Manager). Not sure what is the next step though...
sjonnie33
2008-10-18, 17:32
First you must setup LCDproc.
Open a terminal en type:
sudo nano /etc/LCDd.conf
search for the line:
Driver=curses
And make it look like
Driver=CFontz
Quit and save with crtl+X
Now you must see some lines on your display (after reboot)
Setup xbmc
Copy the file LCD.xml to your userdata dir.
Open a terminal and type:
cp /usr/share/xbmc/userdata/LCD.xml /home/username/.xbmc/userdata/
(for username you must set your ubuntu username)
Start xbmc and go to Settings/system/LCD and set lcdtype to lcdproc.
DrErling
2008-10-19, 01:03
I tried the steps you mentioned, but I did not see any lines during boot and no text after opening XBMC and setting lcdproc as LCD display.
I checked that the LCD.xml got copied to /home/htpc/.xbmc/userdata
I went into BIOS checking that the serial port was enabled (it was).
Then I typed "sudo dmesg | grep tty" and got the following output:
htpc@htpc-xbmc:~$ sudo dmesg | grep tty
[sudo] password for htpc:
[ 14.853756] console [tty0] enabled
[ 16.678964] serial8250: ttyS0 at I/O 0x3f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A
[ 16.679464] 00:05: ttyS0 at I/O 0x3f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A
[ 34.742884] audit(1224366635.064:2): type=1503 operation="inode_permission" requested_mask="a::" denied_mask="a::" name="/dev/tty" pid=5044 profile="/usr/sbin/cupsd" namespace="default"
This is the same as I can see in BIOS (0x3F8/IRQ4).
Yet, no info on the screen...
DrErling
2008-10-19, 02:14
Asside from setting "Driver=CFontz", this is what I tried:
## CrystalFontz driver (for CF632 & CF634) ##
[CFontz]
# Select the output device to use [default: /dev/lcd]
Device=/dev/ttyS0
# Select the LCD size [default: 20x4]
Size=20x4
# Set the initial contrast [default: 560; legal: 0 - 1000]
Contrast=350
# Set the initial brightness [default: 1000; legal: 0 - 1000]
Brightness=800
# Set the initial off-brightness [default: 0; legal: 0 - 1000]
# This value is used when the display is normally
# switched off in case LCDd is inactive
OffBrightness=0
# Set the communication speed [default: 9600; legal: 1200, 2400, 9600, 19200 or 115200]
Speed=19200
# Set the firmware version (New means >= 2.0) [default: no; legal: yes, no]
NewFirmware=yes
# Reinitialize the LCD's BIOS [default: no; legal: yes, no]
# normally you shouldn't need this
Reboot=no
I edited the communication speed both to 9600 and 19200 and rebooted between each setting. I edited the NewFirmware to "yes" because my CrystalFontz634 says V2.0. (the 19200 setting I remember using in windows xp, therefore trying it here as well)
When I last used this screen with windows XP I saved "foobar player" as boot-up text (because that was what the pc did.. it played foobar2000). This boot-up text was present when I connected it to my ubuntu-machine as well. This text is now gone so "there is some contact" between pc and screen.
DrE
No, speed isn't adjustable. Please post a feature request so we don't forget about it while in feature freeze.
Before I request a feature for future releases, would the lcd display speed be a function of XBMC, or would it be a driver feature? I'm just wondering if I am barking up the wrong tree here.
thanks for any thoughts...
Scrolling is done by the client, in our case XBMC.
Hi!
I suppose im at the wrong place now, but i really dont find anything usefull when im trying search for info on how to make my VFD display work.
I noticed this LCDproc supports my computer... a shuttle SG33G5M.
Thing is im using Vista32.
Anyone who has an idea how i can my VFD display work in XBMC running on Vista?
Thanks in advance
gzusrawx
2008-11-20, 05:28
I have noticed an issue lately, If I leave XBMC on, after a while the lcdproc doesn't show any client connected anymore. I don't have a log right this moment but has anyone else experienced this? I can re-enable the client by disabling and re-enabling the lcdproc setting in xbmc.
gzusrawx
2008-11-20, 05:49
I forgot to mention I'm running Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10 and XBMC Atlantis 8.10 Final
shagworthy_uk
2008-11-30, 18:33
Sorry if this is the wrong place but here goes....
I have my lcd display working correctly with XBMC. My problem is: If i leave LCDproc enabled in XBMC and leave it idle for a long period of time (say 6 hours while i sleep) at some point LCDd spikes to 100% cpu usage. So i just dont use the LCD part of XBMC as it warms my living room up to much :-)
Anyone seen this?
I have a crappy imon VFD built in to my case which for the first few hours is fine.
Again sorry if this is the wrong place.
paularms
2008-11-30, 18:37
Sorry if this is the wrong place but here goes....
I have my lcd display working correctly with XBMC. My problem is: If i leave LCDproc enabled in XBMC and leave it idle for a long period of time (say 6 hours while i sleep) at some point LCDd spikes to 100% cpu usage. So i just dont use the LCD part of XBMC as it warms my living room up to much :-)
Anyone seen this?
I have a crappy imon VFD built in to my case which for the first few hours is fine.
Again sorry if this is the wrong place.
I have a similar problem where XBMC just shows null characters (full blocks) if it's been left on for a long period and idle.
yellowman
2008-11-30, 18:47
I have a similar problem where XBMC just shows null characters (full blocks) if it's been left on for a long period and idle.
I have that "problem" as well.
shagworthy_uk
2008-11-30, 21:33
I have that "problem" as well.
I also get that but did not think anything of it. I thought it was some sort of graphic equalizer i have never noticed before :-D
Quote:
Originally Posted by indy5 View Post
I do now have a followup question. Is there a way to slow down the scroll speed of text that is larger than the width of the LCD screen? It's a little dizzying watching large movie titles scroll across over and over again at such a high rate.
No, speed isn't adjustable. Please post a feature request so we don't forget about it while in feature freeze.
what is the latest on this? im also finding the scrolling too fast and very disturbing.
harryzimm
2009-09-02, 02:10
I reckon you can fix this by adding
<advancedsettings>
<lcd>
<scrolldelay>3</scrolldelay>
</lcd>
</advancedsettings>
to advancedsettings.xml in ~/.xbmc/userdata folder. 1 is default, maybe try 2 first.
cheers
yes thanks, just found it myself - http://www.xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?p=247982
i set the delay to 10 :) nice and calm.
I have noticed an issue lately, If I leave XBMC on, after a while the lcdproc doesn't show any client connected anymore. I don't have a log right this moment but has anyone else experienced this? I can re-enable the client by disabling and re-enabling the lcdproc setting in xbmc.
same here. running gentoo 2.6.30, xbmc 9.04. after a certain idle time period some garbage characters appear on the display. they are cleared up when you move around in the menu. tonight after hours of idle time lcdd connection was dropped, log shows:
20:47:21 T:3068462944 M:2209501184 ERROR: XLCDproc::SetLine - Unable to write to socket, LCDd not running?
has anyone filed ticket about this?
edit: http://xbmc.org/trac/ticket/5993
I think the garbage originates from TimeWide21 / TimeWide22 settings within LCD.xml.
I setup my LCD at the weekend and noticed the same as you guys, so I had a look in LCD.xml and noticed these two lines were set to display when idle / screensaver on.
I'm pretty sure I remember changing it to display text or system.time etc.. and it was ok then..
Edit - after reading the trac ticket it seems that you guys have a slightly different issue... mine is that the big clock displays as garbage :/
No, speed isn't adjustable. Please post a feature request so we don't forget about it while in feature freeze.
I think the garbage originates from TimeWide21 / TimeWide22 settings within LCD.xml.
I setup my LCD at the weekend and noticed the same as you guys, so I had a look in LCD.xml and noticed these two lines were set to display when idle / screensaver on.
I'm pretty sure I remember changing it to display text or system.time etc.. and it was ok then..
Edit - after reading the trac ticket it seems that you guys have a slightly different issue... mine is that the big clock displays as garbage :/
no, youre hitting the nail on the head. yesterday i turned off screensaver, xbmc has been idling all night and the LCD is good!
Sorry if this is the wrong place but here goes....
I have my lcd display working correctly with XBMC. My problem is: If i leave LCDproc enabled in XBMC and leave it idle for a long period of time (say 6 hours while i sleep) at some point LCDd spikes to 100% cpu usage. So i just dont use the LCD part of XBMC as it warms my living room up to much :-)
Anyone seen this?
I have a crappy imon VFD built in to my case which for the first few hours is fine.
Again sorry if this is the wrong place.
I've got the same problem.