Firebox LCD Driver for LCDProc

stephenw10

I just re-read my own write up on the led and found where I referenced the backlight.
It's controlled directly by the parallel I/O registers as I said: IO address 0x379 bit 1.
You can try turning it on and off manually using this program I wrote. This program has no error/sanity checking so use it carefully! ::)
Upload it to your box. chmod it to 0755. Kill lcdd so it's not trying to write to same address then:

./writeio 0x379 0x01

This should turn it on.

./writeio 0x379 0x00

Should turn it off again.

It's probably a problem with the upgrade though. You would be better to do a clean install.
Do the buttons work at all?

Steve

fastcon68

I can't get the writeio to execute. I guess I need to execute the sudo command, is that right?
RC

stephenw10

Did you chmod it?

chmod 0755 writeio

Are you logged in as root?

There is no sudo command.

Steve

fastcon68

Whch Driver do I need to use for the LCD on the x6000? LCDPROC or the one stephenw10 has written. I did a upgrade to the latest version last night and realized that the LCD stopped working after the upgrade was done.

I am having to use the 2GB nano version because the 4GB nano release will not fit on my flash drive.

RC

stephenw10

Use the firebox script, lcdd4. Unfortunately because it isn't a proper pfSense package, yet, it doesn't survive an update.

2GB image is fine, I'm using the 1GB image on a 4GB card.

Steve

FJSchrankJr

Hey Steve! It's been awhile hope your well.

Got a question for you, I made the mistake of finding the lcdd3.tar file before I noticed this post with lcdd4.tar, is the file system mounting restored on reboot or should I reinstall after using lcdd3? I noticed after reboot it's writable and not sure if it should be. lcdd3.tar is what I used and on a X700

Thanks a bunch!

stephenw10

Which version of pfSense are you running?

There is a bug in current 2.0 snapshots (unless it's been fixed while I wasn't looking!) that leaves the filesystem mounted read-write. It's not really a problem or anything to worry about.

The lcdd3 script used the mount command directly which is not the correct way to do it in recent versions. This combined with the bug can leave the filesystem mounted read-only with no way to remount it RW. This means that you can't save changes, add packages etc.

If you used lcdd3 and you're running 2.0Beta5 or newer you may have a problem.

Steve

FJSchrankJr

@stephenw10:

Which version of pfSense are you running?

There is a bug in current 2.0 snapshots (unless it's been fixed while I wasn't looking!) that leaves the filesystem mounted read-write. It's not really a problem or anything to worry about.

The lcdd3 script used the mount command directly which is not the correct way to do it in recent versions. This combined with the bug can leave the filesystem mounted read-only with no way to remount it RW. This means that you can't save changes, add packages etc.

If you used lcdd3 and you're running 2.0Beta5 or newer you may have a problem.

Steve

Thank you for the reply Steve! You're always a big help.

I installed lcdd3 on a 2.0-RC1 system and just updated yesterday with a current snapshot. It would not be a problem for this system to be reinstalled because it's not live yet and I have a backup config. I just need to make sure this system is stable so it would definetely be worth the extra work to re-do it and install the lcdd4 instead. What do you think?

This script is terrific, thank you for this and to everyone else who worked on it

stephenw10

Hmm, well that's the exact set of things that I would expect to cause a problem. Perhaps the bug has been fixed?
Anyway if it's not a problem I would reflash and use lcdd4 to be sure.

Steve

Edit: Doesn't seem to have been fixed, not deliberately anyway! http://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/1279

FJSchrankJr

@stephenw10:

Hmm, well that's the exact set of things that I would expect to cause a problem. Perhaps the bug has been fixed?
Anyway if it's not a problem I would reflash and use lcdd4 to be sure.

Steve

Edit: Doesn't seem to have been fixed, not deliberately anyway! http://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/1279

After all of my config experiments yesterday, I got the reflashing process down fast! no problem at all. Thanks for the help Steve and enjoy your weekend.

FJSchrankJr

@stephenw10:

Hmm, well that's the exact set of things that I would expect to cause a problem. Perhaps the bug has been fixed?
Anyway if it's not a problem I would reflash and use lcdd4 to be sure.

Steve

Edit: Doesn't seem to have been fixed, not deliberately anyway! http://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/1279

Slightly off topic a bit but do you know anything about the serial console menu not showing up on a watchguard. last message is "Bootup complete".

stephenw10

It seems to be an issue only with the X-Core, or at least I haven't had that problem with either the X-peak or X-e boxes. It may be a symptom of the file system being mounted incorrectly. It seemed to start showing up around the same time the lcdd3 script broke.

Steve

FJSchrankJr

@stephenw10:

It seems to be an issue only with the X-Core, or at least I haven't had that problem with either the X-peak or X-e boxes. It may be a symptom of the file system being mounted incorrectly. It seemed to start showing up around the same time the lcdd3 script broke.

Steve

That's what I am using the xcore. It seams as though the BIOS for the watchguard also has control of the LCD because I noticed without any CF card in there you can boot it and change the port speed from the LCD/keypad. Maybe something is conflicting, not sure will have to play around with it more but it's wierd that it works for the rest of the boot and stops at Bootup complete.

stephenw10

Hello Firebox users! :)
I am still working on getting the LCD driver into a proper pfSense package. It's proving to be far beyond my usual level of tinkering but it's all good fun.
Anyway as, jjgoessens said when he wrote it, there isn't enough memory in the LCD to hold all the special characters required for vertical graphs, big clock and the heartbeat graphic. His latest driver doesn't support the heatbeat as a result.
Personally I would rather see the heartbeat working as I don't use big clock or vertical graphs.
Is anybody out there actually using these features?

Steve

TaNk

when i try to install the tar package and give ./ command it say's permission denied . logged in via ssh as root

stephenw10

You mean when you try to run this?

./install-embed2.lcdd.sh

Seems odd. It usually untars with the correct permissions.
You can reset the permissions with:

chmod 0755 install-embed2.lcddd.sh

What version of pfSense are you using?

Steve

TaNk

Thanks for reply.

I'm runing 2.0 Rc3 its a full hd install on x700. when i try to do chmod it say's command not found?

stephenw10

Hmm, well that seems very weird.
I don't have a full install to test right now but I can't believe that there's no chmod in it. It's certainly present in the nanoBSD install of RC3.
Are you experiencing any other problems?
The script is intended for embedded installs and may cause a problem with mounting the filesystem RO on a full install. However as you haven't managed to run it yet it can't be that. ???

Steve

TaNk

Hey

just like to confirm that it work's with full HDD install aswell

this is what i did

$ chmod 0755 ./install-embed2.lcdd.sh
$ /usr/local/etc/rc.d/lcdd.sh

VOLA it works :)

Thanks again for your help …

xleox

Hello stephenw10,

thank you for lcdd4.tar, it work quit well on my Firebox X700.

It is possible to disable/enable/blink the "Arm/Disarm"-LED in the BIOS (permanent).

One think could be enhanced: to extend the lcd-driver to set the "Arm/Disarm"-LED to green on init and to red on exit.
I don't have the source code, but I think it should be simple and would be the icing on the cake.

xleox