Widget: laptop status

[patord]

I've been running pfsense (v1.xx) on laptops for many years now… I am finally upgrading a few to more "modern" standards and use pfsense v2.1.  I have been wanting to get back in to dev for pfsense for a while now, and am using these upgrades as an excuse.  One thing lacking since I started deploying pfsense on laptops back in 2007 has been some dashboard info specific to those of us running on these type of devices.  Here's my current thoughts:

1. Provide basic status of power provider (AC vs battery).  Include some battery status.
2. powerd info, for those that enable it to keep power consumption and operating temps reasonable on laptops.
3. laptop console display/video LCD blanking/screen saver info

Snapshots of a working prototype widget running on a reserved laptop I am using for testing/dev are included as attachments.

The layout is not pretty, but somewhat optimal to reduce the amount of rows needed.  Layout is subject to change.  I may code in a configuration section so users can pick which sections to display.

I am also working on a LAPTOP CONFIGURATION PACKAGE: it will allow users to enable acpi_video.ko, green_saver.ko, blank_saver.ko and auto download appropriate binaries that tie in #3 above.  For those with acpi_video issues on laptops that do not turn off the backlight properly, I am also including options to work around that.  It provides options to initiate a shutdown when running on battery and the power level reaches a certain threshold.  There are other things I am working on that I've wanted before and am dealing with now in rolling out newer laptops.

Lastly, I may be resurrecting my MFSPFS package from way back when.  It provides more flexibility in creating MFS (RAMdisks) then the current options in ADVANCED->MISC RAMdisk section.  See my old thread:
http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,6276.msg36416.html

I welcome comments, suggestions, etc.  Note that I have to work on setting up newer local repositories, catching up on pfsense dev standards, etc before I can wrap up an initial package folks can try so please be patient.

Thanks.

[patord]

I have not had time to work on putting the widget in to the pfsense package format yet.

For those willing to try / test this widget and install it manually, here is an initial set of the files:

http://www.geekyornot.com/pfsense-patord/laptop-status-b1.tar.gz

untar the file within /usr/local/www/widgets

Go to your dashboard, click on the add widget, and "Laptop Status" should be a selectable widget.

[martyn_hill]

Hi patord

Just thought I'd reply to say that I successfully added your laptop widget to v215 pfsense running on my ThinkPad.

…and to say 'Thanks!'

M.

[Randmanzan]

Hi patord,
  Your laptop status Widget works great on my Dell XPS M1330 Laptop.
Thank you for all your hard work!

[arrmo]

Hi,

It's been a while, but just saw this … and trying it out. It's very cool - thanks! But ... do you see the text like the picture below? Perhaps a bit of clean-up needed?

Thoughts?

Thanks again!