LCDProc 0.5.4-dev

DaHak · Dec 20, 2011, 6:18 PM

Hi, there are a couple of drivers around for that display, but it is not included in the LCDProc distribution. We could add it as an "external driver" like the nexcom driver.

Can you compile it on FreeBSD (x86)? In this case I could just add the file you send me (ax89063.so) and add the option to use it in the code…

Ciao,
Michele

Unfortunately, I can not compile because I'ḿ to stupid to do this :-) and I have no experience in OpenBSD too :-/

thanks

mdima · Dec 20, 2011, 6:23 PM

@Cino:

great work mdima! Now I need to get bigger display. Using a 20x2 right now but its built into the case I'm using.

Thanks a lot! Hope to get more users and feedback in order to pass this work from "-dev" to the production package!

mdima · Dec 20, 2011, 6:35 PM

@DaHak:

Unfortunately, I can not compile because I'ḿ to stupid to do this :-) and I have no experience in OpenBSD too :-/
thanks

come on, then I was stupid too till the last month, because I never did it before… :D also, I don't have that vm anymore... and, just to demonstrate how few experience I have, it is FreeBSD, not OpenBSD! (hope I did not hurt anyone with that).

anyway, I hope someone that reads this message after the loud laugh, maybe can get a compiled version... if not I will recreate the vm and try do to it...

fireman039 · Dec 20, 2011, 9:18 PM

@mdima:

@fireman039:

With the led's we can report the statut of Wan and Lan, 1 led can de assigned to load of the system (ON if load = xx) and one for CPU= xx
This led can be used to act as an "alarm" report status.
Regards

yes, I agree!
but the number of NICs can really vary, belive me… I would use:

a led for nics status (if one nic is unplugged gets red, if it's plugged gets green)

a led for carp status (off=no carp, green=at least one ip in master, red=at least one ip in backup)

a led for cpu (green < 50%, orange >50 && <70, red >70%)

a led for what?

-a led for DynDns status is possible ?

marcelloc · Dec 20, 2011, 9:26 PM

-a led for DynDns status is possible ?

A led for all services running ok isn't better?

mdima · Dec 20, 2011, 9:36 PM

@marcelloc:

-a led for DynDns status is possible ?

A led for all services running ok isn't better?

could be… as more "general" we stay, as better it is...

the funny thing is that I don't have any led on my panels, so it will be a mess to develop/debug... :D

mdima · Dec 20, 2011, 10:29 PM

Ah, one thing.

Yesterday I solved a problem that was dragging since a lot of time. Now when you change the program's settings or reinstall the package it is not necessary anymore to make sure the lcdproc service is stopped.
In this case the service is stopped and eventually restarted.

I invite all the people using lcdproc-dev to reinstall the package (I didn't create a new version, I will do it when there will be something more to update).

Thanks,
Michele

fireman039 · Dec 21, 2011, 5:32 AM

@mdima:

@marcelloc:

-a led for DynDns status is possible ?

A led for all services running ok isn't better?

could be… as more "general" we stay, as better it is...

the funny thing is that I don't have any led on my panels, so it will be a mess to develop/debug... :D

Ok, you are right, the status of gateway could be be better ?
and I understand it's not easy develo with display with no led.

Another request 8)
It's possible to add an option to turn OFF the backlight ? (autotimer) and should be ON if one key of LCD is pressed ?

Regards

mdima · Dec 21, 2011, 5:46 AM

@fireman039:

Ok, you are right, the status of gateway could be be better ?
and I understand it's not easy develo with display with no led.

yes… today is my last day before my "winter break", I will work on it on my return in January. Another funny thing is that the update to 2.0.1 was released today, also this will wait for my return! :D

@fireman039:

Another request 8)
It's possible to add an option to turn OFF the backlight ? (autotimer) and should be ON if one key of LCD is pressed ?

AFAIK it's not possible… it is possible to turn off the backlight, but not to set a "stand-by" mode...

fireman039 · Dec 21, 2011, 6:00 AM

The Winter break is only in two days Grrrrr:' >:(

I do the update 2.01 few minutes ago….

For backlight, it's not possible to send "a command" when we press a key ? to turn backlight on :'(

mdima · Dec 21, 2011, 6:00 AM

@fireman039:

The Winter break is only in two days Grrrrr:' >:(
I do the update 2.01 few minutes ago….
For backlight, it's not possible to send "a command" when we press a key ? :'(

AFAIK unfortunately not… I was double-checking the documentation:
http://lcdproc.sourceforge.net/docs/lcdproc-0-5-5-user.html#server-section

jpsb · Dec 28, 2011, 10:49 PM

Cool update!

Works fine with my U204FB-A1 - from http://www.lcdmodkit.com

Driver -USB2LCD
Controller - HD44780

Thanks for a great update

JPSB

–------------------------------------
PFSense 2.0.1
alix2d13
4Gb CF-card
MiniPCI vpn1411 encryption accelerator
U204FB-A1 20x4 Display
19'' DualRack System 1U

PFsense 2.0.1
Asus Hummibird AtomD525
4Gb Ram
250Gb HD
U204FB-A1 20x4 Display
19" Rack 1.5U

mdima · Dec 29, 2011, 7:26 PM

@jpsb:

Cool update!
Works fine with my U204FB-A1 - from http://www.lcdmodkit.com
Driver -USB2LCD
Controller - HD44780
Thanks for a great update

Hi JPSB, you are welcome, thank you for reporting us!

Only one thing I don't understand: are you using the driver "HD44780" in the package setup page or you have installed the driver "usb2lcd" by yourself?

Thanks,
Michele

jpsb · Dec 29, 2011, 11:02 PM

Hi

I just use the HD44780 in the driver list, and by connecting the display, the system log shows "LCD2USB device found"
The display is a little slow, and works best by refresh frequency on 5 or 10 sec.

JPSB

joe_cowboy · Dec 30, 2011, 12:02 AM

Not trying to go off toppic but if anybody wants to try this tweak for the LCDproc setup.

Added: com port speed select, brightness and contrast. Also made it to where you can type default in the field or leave it blank for contrast and brightness to set to default values
Fixed: com1 to /dev/cuau0 and com2 to /dev/cuau1

Also, not all drivers support brightness contrast so will be skipped if not supported. Same with com speed.

put the files lcdproc.inc.txt and lcdproc.xml.txt into the pkg directory:
/usr/local/pkg/

Remove the .txt extension before putting into directory.

Let me know if you want it tweaked…

lcdproc.inc.txt
lcdproc.xml.txt

treffnix · Dec 30, 2011, 3:31 PM

Nice work.

but i have some trouble with the [pyramid] driver.

on pfsense 1.23 it works fine. so i was sure that the display was ok.

i got the follow erros in the system log:

Dec 30 12:37:27 LCDd: LCDd version 0.5.4 starting
Dec 30 12:37:27 LCDd: Using Configuration File: /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf
Dec 30 12:37:27 LCDd: Listening for queries on 127.0.0.1:13666
Dec 30 12:37:27 LCDd: pyramid: reading TTY failed: Inappropriate ioctl for device
Dec 30 12:37:27 LCDd: Driver [pyramid] init failed, return code -1
Dec 30 12:37:27 LCDd: Could not load driver pyramid
Dec 30 12:37:27 LCDd: There is no output driver
Dec 30 12:37:27 LCDd: Critical error while initializing, abort.

someone knows a idea?

Spy Alelo · Jan 4, 2012, 2:00 AM

Any way of manually adding drivers for additional hardware? There is a driver for the Firebox X-Core, sdeclcd.so, that I would like to add and be able to have in the drop down list. I remember doing this a long time ago back with PFS 1.2.2, but I can't find a way to do it again.

mdima · Jan 4, 2012, 7:24 PM

Hello everybody,
MDima is back in town and will go on with LCDProc-dev.

Just to inform, my firewall was running for 15 days straight with the new package and when I opened the server's room the LCD panel was still working! So I guess it's stable. I am displaying one screen (the Bandwidth screen) updated every 1 second, so in 15 days it was working a lot.

I try to figure out the problems or suggestions you had in this period…

Ciao,
Michele

mdima · Jan 4, 2012, 7:58 PM

@jpsb:

I just use the HD44780 in the driver list, and by connecting the display, the system log shows "LCD2USB device found"
The display is a little slow, and works best by refresh frequency on 5 or 10 sec.

Hi JPSB,
mmhhh… seems strange... how many screens you have active? Did you have the same problem also with the previous version?

Thanks,
Michele

mdima · Jan 4, 2012, 8:18 PM

@joe_cowboy:

Not trying to go off toppic but if anybody wants to try this tweak for the LCDproc setup.
Added: com port speed select, brightness and contrast. Also made it to where you can type default in the field or leave it blank for contrast and brightness to set to default values
Fixed: com1 to /dev/cuau0 and com2 to /dev/cuau1
Also, not all drivers support brightness contrast so will be skipped if not supported. Same with com speed.
put the files lcdproc.inc.txt and lcdproc.xml.txt into the pkg directory:
/usr/local/pkg/
Remove the .txt extension before putting into directory.
Let me know if you want it tweaked…

Hi joe_cowboy,
it's not off-topic! Thanks for your suggestions… I tell you what I think:

Fixed: com1 to /dev/cuau0 and com2 to /dev/cuau1: This is just the label... the setting is correct already, anyway I change it!
Com port speed selection: I don't think it is necessary. Actually, 9600 bouds are really a lot for the information that the LCD panel needs to receive (40*4 bytes for screen!), if there are some problems on a specific driver we can change it, but to me it looks more as to give the possibility to mess up the things with no advantage;
Brightness and contrast selection: consider that the scale of the values depends on the specific driver! Some driver use a 0-1000 range, others 0-200, others 800, 850 and so on. The user should read the documentation of his specific driver and digit an appropriate value, or the results may be unknown. I would not allow that, same reason as 2);

Ciao,
Michele