LCDProc starts but won't connect

asacoco

Hi all,

I'm trying (and failing) to get lcdproc working on my pfSense box using an Adafruit USB backpack on a 20x4 LCD screen.
It seems I can get LCDd running in the background and I've even gotten it to show the LCDd welcome screen on the LCD itself. However, I'm not able to get lcdproc to connect to it. Whilst the service is shown to be running in the WebUI, It gives the following error in the log:

Feb  6 19:51:58 firewall LCDd[58868]: Using Configuration File: /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf
Feb  6 19:51:58 firewall LCDd[59153]: Listening for queries on 127.0.0.1:13666
Feb  6 19:51:58 firewall LCDd[59153]: MtxOrb: unable to read device type
Feb  6 19:51:58 firewall  LCDd[59153]: MtxOrb: unable to read device firmware revision
Feb  6 19:51:58 firewall  LCDd[59153]: MtxOrb: unable to read device serial number
Feb  6 19:51:58 firewall  php[59221]: lcdproc: Start client procedure. Error counter: (0)
Feb  6 19:52:09 firewall  php[59221]: lcdproc: Failed to connect to LCDd process Operation timed out (60)
Feb  6 19:52:09 firewall  php[59221]: lcdproc: Start client procedure. Error counter: (1)
Feb  6 19:52:20 firewall  php[59221]: lcdproc: Failed to connect to LCDd process Operation timed out (60)
Feb  6 19:52:20 firewall  php[59221]: lcdproc: Start client procedure. Error counter: (2)
Feb  6 19:52:31 firewall  php[59221]: lcdproc: Failed to connect to LCDd process Operation timed out (60)
Feb  6 19:52:31 firewall  php[59221]: lcdproc: Start client procedure. Error counter: (3)
Feb  6 19:52:42 firewall  php[59221]: lcdproc: Failed to connect to LCDd process Operation timed out (60)
Feb  6 19:52:42 firewall  php[59221]: lcdproc: Too many errors, the client ends

Logging in to the console I can see LCDd is running, however with netstat I don't see any listening port on 13666?

[2.6.0-RELEASE][root@firewall]/root: ps aux | grep -i lcd
nobody  59153   0.0  0.0  11392  2620  -  SNs  19:51      0:02.67 /usr/local/sbin/LCDd -c /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf -u nobody

Trying to run lcdproc manually from the cli shows the following output:

[2.6.0-RELEASE][root@firewall]/root: lcdproc -s localhost -p 13666
sock_connect: connect failed
Error connecting to LCD server localhost on port 13666.
Check to see that the server is running and operating normally.

LCDd - LCDproc Server Daemon, 0.5.9
LCDproc 0.5.9

LCD / USB Model:

RGB backlight positive LCD 20x4 + Adafruit USB Serial LCD Backpack Add-On with Cable

Pfsense version:

Version 	2.6.0-RELEASE (amd64)
built on Mon Jan 31 19:57:53 UTC 2022
FreeBSD 12.3-STABLE

usbconfig output:

[2.6.0-RELEASE][root@firewall]/root: usbconfig
ugen0.1: <0x8086 XHCI root HUB> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=SUPER (5.0Gbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
ugen0.2: <vendor 0x239a Adafruit Industries> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=ON (100mA)

Relevant dmesg output:

ugen0.2: <vendor 0x239a Adafruit Industries> at usbus0
umodem0: <vendor 0x239a Adafruit Industries, class 2/0, rev 1.01/1.00, addr 1> on usbus0

Here's my configuration:

cat /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf
[server]
DriverPath=/usr/local/lib/lcdproc/
Driver=MtxOrb
Bind=127.0.0.1
Port=13666
ReportLevel=3
ReportToSyslog=yes
User=nobody
Foreground=no
ServerScreen=no
GoodBye="Thanks for using"
GoodBye="    pfSense     "
WaitTime=5
ToggleRotateKey=Enter
PrevScreenKey=Left
NextScreenKey=Right
ScrollUpKey=Up
ScrollDownKey=Down
[menu]
MenuKey=Escape
EnterKey=Enter
UpKey=Up
DownKey=Down
[MtxOrb]
Device=/dev/cuaU0
Size=20x4
Type=lkd
hasAdjustableBacklight=no
Reboot=no
Contrast=480
Brightness=1000
OffBrightness=0
Speed=9600

(note, i've played around with the speed and type settings a bit too, with no change)

Note, I'm able to change the background colour, so it would seem the port I've configured is right at least:
color red: printf "%b" '\0376\0320\0377\0001\0001' > /dev/cuaU0 - turns the backlight red(ish)
printf "%b" 'Hello World' > /dev/cuaU0 doesn't seem to do anything though...

Would appreciate any insight anyone has on this.

stephenw10

Just writing to the com port like that may not do anything. Depends when the LCD controller is expecting.
I would expect one of those lcproc clients to work if the server is running though.
You shouldn't need to specify the host or port since those are the defaults so simply lcdproc C T U for exmaple should work.

Steve

asacoco

@stephenw10

Thanks for your reply!

Unfortunately though I can see LCDd running in the process list when I try lcdproc C T U I get the following message:

Thanks for your time.

stephenw10

Are you able to test 2.7? I don't have anything with an LCD that's still running 2.6. Though devices I have now running 2.7 ran LCDproc fine in 2.6.

In 2.7 it starts and runs fine here in yesterdays snap:

Feb 11 13:54:50 	LCDd 	19353 	LCDd version 0.5.9 starting
Feb 11 13:54:50 	LCDd 	19353 	Using Configuration File: /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf
Feb 11 13:54:50 	LCDd 	19353 	Listening for queries on 127.0.0.1:13666
Feb 11 13:54:51 	php 	19771 	lcdproc: Start client procedure. Error counter: (0)
Feb 11 13:54:52 	LCDd 	19353 	Connect from host 127.0.0.1:31343 on socket 6

You might try using one of the parallel port connected display drivers where it doesn't know if the screen is actually present. That would allow the server to start and listen as expected as a test.

Do you actually see the server listening:

[2.7.0-DEVELOPMENT][root@xtm5.stevew.lan]/root: sockstat | grep 13666
root     php        47079 12  tcp4   127.0.0.1:57383       127.0.0.1:13666
nobody   LCDd       47027 4   tcp4   127.0.0.1:13666       *:*
nobody   LCDd       47027 6   tcp4   127.0.0.1:13666       127.0.0.1:57383

asacoco

I'll find a spare box, download 2.7 and report back soon.

It seems LCDd is listening however connecting to it is another matter, as per the below screenshot:

stephenw10

As a test try setting the SDEClcd and parallel port for the server. You should see it start and the php client connect even without a screen or even a parallel port.

asacoco

I can report that using the same screen, I can run this on pfsense 2.7 - Using an identical configuration file on 2.6 results in no connection to the screen. A bit strange since a quick diff -s of /usr/local/pkg/lcdproc_client.php and /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf between both versions are essentially the same.

Here's the output from 2.7:

[2.7.0-DEVELOPMENT][root@pfSense-test.home.arpa]/root: sockstat | grep 13666
root     php        94904 13  tcp4   127.0.0.1:8568        127.0.0.1:13666
nobody   LCDd       94880 5   tcp4   127.0.0.1:13666       *:*
nobody   LCDd       94880 7   tcp4   127.0.0.1:13666       127.0.0.1:8568

[2.7.0-DEVELOPMENT][root@pfSense-test.home.arpa]/root: ps aux | grep -i lcd
nobody  94880   0.0  0.0  13068  2804  -  SNs  02:22    0:00.23 /usr/local/sbin/LCDd -c /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf -u nobody
root    94904   0.0  0.1  69648 37952  -  SN   02:22    0:00.14 /usr/local/bin/php -f /usr/local/pkg/lcdproc_client.php
root     2267   0.0  0.0  12808  2448  0  S+   02:27    0:00.00 grep -i lcd

[2.7.0-DEVELOPMENT][root@pfSense-test.home.arpa]/root: ls -l /dev/cuaU0
crw-rw----  1 uucp  dialer  0x78 Feb 15 02:32 /dev/cuaU0

[2.7.0-DEVELOPMENT][root@pfSense-test.home.arpa]/root: cat /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf
[server]
DriverPath=/usr/local/lib/lcdproc/
Driver=MtxOrb
Bind=127.0.0.1
Port=13666
ReportLevel=3
ReportToSyslog=yes
User=nobody
Foreground=no
ServerScreen=no
GoodBye="Thanks for using"
GoodBye="    pfSense     "
WaitTime=5
Backlight=on
ToggleRotateKey=Enter
PrevScreenKey=Left
NextScreenKey=Right
ScrollUpKey=Up
ScrollDownKey=Down
[menu]
MenuKey=Escape
EnterKey=Enter
UpKey=Up
DownKey=Down
[MtxOrb]
Device=/dev/cuaU0
Size=20x4
Type=lkd
hasAdjustableBacklight=yes
Reboot=no
Contrast=900
Brightness=400
OffBrightness=100
Speed=9600

Here's the best I can manage on 2.6

/root: sockstat | grep 13666
nobody   LCDd       46251 4  tcp4   127.0.0.1:13666       *:*

/root: ps aux | grep -i lcd
nobody  46251   0.0  0.0  11392  2680  -  SNs  18:40        0:01.58 /usr/local/sbin/LCDd -c /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf -u nobody
root    75727   0.0  0.0  11216  2548  0  S+   19:19        0:00.00 grep -i lcd

Addendum:

I tried running LCDd in verbose mode, there were no additional messages when trying to connect using 'lcdproc C T U'


/root: LCDd -f -r 5 -s 0 -c /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf
LCDd version 0.5.9 starting
Built on Jan 12 2022, protocol version 0.3, API version 0.5
Using Configuration File: /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf
Set report level to 5, output to stderr
LCDd 0.5.9, LCDproc Protocol 0.3
Part of the LCDproc suite
Copyright (C) 1998-2017 William Ferrell, Selene Scriven
                        and many other contributors

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.

Server running in foreground
Listening for queries on 127.0.0.1:13666
screenlist_init()
driver_load(name="MtxOrb", filename="/usr/local/lib/lcdproc/MtxOrb.so")
MtxOrb: using Device /dev/cuaU1
MtxOrb: opened display on /dev/cuaU1
MtxOrb: contrast set to 229
MtxOrb: unable to read device type
MtxOrb: unable to read device firmware revision
MtxOrb: unable to read device serial number
Display detected: Matrix Orbital, Unknown model (0x00), Firmware Rev.: 0x00 0x00, Serial No: 0x00 0x00
MtxOrb: init() done
Key "Escape" is now reserved exclusively by client [-1]
Key "Enter" is now reserved shared by client [-1]
Key "Up" is now reserved shared by client [-1]
Key "Down" is now reserved shared by client [-1]
screenlist_process()
screenlist_switch(s=[_server_screen])
screenlist_switch: switched to screen [_server_screen]
screenlist_process()
screenlist_process()
screenlist_process()
...

stephenw10

Hmm, that is odd. I wouldn't have expected any difference there either. Especially odd sicne the server clearly is able to see the driver and hardware it just doesn't accept the client.

Did you try running SDEClcd driver? I expect that to run fine in 2.6 without the screen.

asacoco

@stephenw10

Do you mean "Watchguard firebox with SDEC" ? I've given that a try with the com port set to parallel
That gives me the error "lcdproc: Failed to connect to LCDd process Can't assign requested address (49)"
So unfortunately not much luck.

stephenw10

Hmm, that's odd error. That looks to be from the client. Does the server not start at all when you try that?

asacoco

@stephenw10

This is what's running:

/root: ps aux | grep -i lcd
nobody  40181   0.0  0.0  11356  2660  -  S<s  Wed21        1:30.28 /usr/local/sbin/LCDd -c /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf -u nobody

...However the lcdproc_client.php never connects, even if I run it manually, same story for lcdproc.

Bit of a weird one, hey?

stephenw10

Hmm, that feels more like something is blocking it but I'm not sure what could...

asacoco

@stephenw10
I might be way off base here, but there aren't any rules or such, or permissions, blocking processes connecting on 127.0.0.1 in 2.6?

stephenw10

I wouldn't expect there to be any. No different in 2.7 either.

I could just about imagine a floating block all rule might apply to localhost. But probably not from localhost also. I've never tried to block that!