Firebox LCD Driver for LCDProc

ridnhard19

I'd prefer it say the same as it references the name of the LCD module that is being used in the fireboxes. I think we should also submit the source code to the project so people can just download it as part of the normal distribution of LCDProc. Then again i'm not sure if there is such of a "demand" to warrant a driver that is for something so specific.

jjgoessens

I agree, it's a so specific driver that it may not included in lcdproc.

Anyway, it can be added to pfsense, maybe in download area for those who got a nice red firebox box (i like the color!)

I have made some tests, it works fine, it's nice in addition with lcdexec.

I prefer to have more feedback before giving it. Additionnally, i need to understand my compilation troubles, i certainely did someting wrong in the *.am files, but i do not see what for the moment.

nota : I removed the #include "shared/str.h", because it was giving me a compile error (file not found). It compiles without. Have you some idea?

Jean Jacques

jjgoessens

Hello all,

I solved all my compile problems!
It was a mistake in Makefile.am …

so i tested th driver yesterday and today, it works.

here is attached the file, jst change the name : remove the .txt

make a copy of previous sdeclcd.so file, in case of trouble, you can reinstall it
copy it instead of original sdeclcd.so
restart LCDd

Then the 4 keys send messages "Up","Down","Left","Right"

So the standard LCDd.conf will work.

if you want to use my kbd setup, here it is :

PrevScreenKey=Down
NextScreenKey=Up

[menu]

MenuKey=Left
EnterKey=Right
UpKey=Up
DownKey=Down

Enjoy :D

Jean Jacques

sdeclcd.so.txt

jjgoessens

Hi all Fireboxes users!

Good news, I improved a little bit sdeclcd.so driver, by adding now a backlight timer.

here are instructions:

backup your old sdeclcd.so to sdeclcd.so.bak, just in case of trouble, you can reinstall the previous one
donwload sdeclcd.so.txt, rename it sdeclcd.so
copy the new sdeclcd.so instead of the old
edit the /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf file and add in [sdeclcd] section:
================================
Backlight_Timer=60 if you want 60 seconds
================================
notice: if no entry is written in LCDd.conf, or if value is set to 0, the timer is disabled.
you need to restart your lcdproc driver :
killall LCDd
LCDd
lcdproc
lcdexec (if you use it)
or reboot your Firebox
=> after 60 seconds (or the time you decided), the backlight will turn off. any key will turn it on. ;D

keep me informed of your trials.

Enjoy it :)

Jean Jacques

sdeclcd.so.txt

pootl

the contents of the tarball and linking the libs works fine for me but the *.so.txts you've posted don't work for me and I keep having to revert to the original. Tried downloading with different browsers and scpin' over differently but to no avail.

I'm using the 1.2.3-RC3 , as I said it works from the tar contents. Just wondering if the forum software or something has mangled the files.

jjgoessens

Mmm

I dont like this!

can you describe what appends ?

if you try to start LCDd from console, do you get a message ?

enter in console mode : option 8
type:

killall LCCd
/usr/local/sbin/LCDd

I will try the downlod, because i did not tried it.

I am also running 1.2.3-rc3, so it should be the same.

JJ

jjgoessens

I downloaded the file, size is not ok : 12098 bytes instead of 12022.

Here is the original file :

http://www.goessens.dyndns.org/public/sdeclcd.so

JJ

pootl

Thanks so much , I'll test it today for you.

For the record what was happening was that when you started the daemon it would eventually say there was a timeout listening on the supplied port. It appeared as if the driver was damaged. Which it appears it was! I'll test today :D.

pootl

Can confirm that this .so works with menu buttons and backlight , which is EXACTLY what i needed .

Thanks so much for the excellent work! Now to go slay some more firebox firmwares muhahhahahar :D.

jjgoessens

I am very happy that it works!

effectively, when i compared the file .so.txt with original, i discover that the web site replaced all 0x0a bytes by the sequence 0x0d 0x0a, this explains why it is longer, and why it did not work!

Windows compatibilty killed my program!

I think the backlight timer is a necessary option, because it can save some power…

I am working on another (and last ?) release with horizontal bars corrected and Vertical bars added.

unfortanetly, as there are only 8 user chars, heartbeat graphics will not work with this version, i need to replace by other standard chars.

I have also made some hardware improvement regarding fan control, in order to reduce the noise. I will describe that on my web site later...

JJ

boblmartens

Awesome work being done. I'm wondering if there is any way you could get a guide up on how to install everything you are writing.

Thanks!

jjgoessens

Here is the last release:

H bar correction : uses now the whole height of display, nicer.
V bar addition, now can display cpu load vs time
Big clock support, now you can use it as a clock !

unfortunately, as the number of user chars is very limited, the two latest adds makes the heartbeat unavailable.

this is the version 1.0.3

the original author is ridnhard19, who made the main part of the work.

here are the files : http://goessens.dyndns.org/public

for firebox users, just need to replace sdeclcd.so

I also included the sources, maybe to use them for converting a retired Firebox to a Freenas, or maybe also a linux box (web server, mail server, …)

maybe it is possible to place the files on the pfsense server ?

JJ :)

bigclock.jpg_thumb

cpu.jpg_thumb

razor

Can someone please post a complete copy of there /usr/local/etc/LCDd.conf file as I think I may have badly damaged mine, and I was stupid enough not to make a backup.

jjgoessens

Here it is :

This is specific for sdeclcd 1.0.3 with keyboard & backlight timer.

# LCDd.conf -- configuration file for the LCDproc server daemon LCDd
[server]
Driver=sdeclcd

Bind=127.0.0.1
Port=13666
#ReportLevel=3
#ReportToSyslog=yes
WaitTime=10
User=nobody
ServerScreen=no
# The server will stay in the foreground if set to true.
#Foreground=no

DriverPath=/usr/local/lib/lcdproc/
#      12345678901234567890
Hello="  pfSense  booting  "
Hello="    please wait     "

# GoodBye message: each entry represents a display line; default: builtin
#        12345678901234567890
GoodBye="  Pfsense 1.2.3 rc3 "
GoodBye="  is shutting down  "

TitleSpeed=0

HeartBeat=off

PrevScreenKey=Down
NextScreenKey=Up

##ToggleRotateKey=Enter
##PrevScreenKey=Left
##NextScreenKey=Right
#ScrollUpKey=Up
#ScrollDownKey=Down

[menu]

MenuKey=Left
EnterKey=Right
UpKey=Up
DownKey=Down

# The following works excellent with 4 keys or more.
##MenuKey=Escape
##EnterKey=Enter
##UpKey=Up
##DownKey=Down

# If you have 6 keys you may define these as well
#LeftKey=Left
#RightKey=Right

# If you have only 3 keys, you could use something like this:
#MenuKey=Escape
#EnterKey=Enter
#DownKey=Down

## Firebox specific driver ##
[sdeclcd]
BackLight=yes
Backlight_Timer=60

# EOF

Jean Jacques

gpapaiko

Hi,

:)Thanks to the pseron who worte this - it works greate :)

Followed the instruction to most part and got it working with the buttons ans options.
I have just on question.
the option that are set via the LCD display and button on the Firebox, - are they saved to the disk ( i use a 2.5" la hdd and not a flash card) any where, if not how can i set the option i wnat so next time pfsens starts they will be there.

Also what other options are available for the LCDd.conf file that I can use.

Thanks in advance
George.

Unubtanium

Tnx to all here helping getting this to work for all of us.

But there is a small thing that has been nagging me sins i got pfsense on my two Fireboxes.
I might be posting this in the wrong thread but this is the closest i get to my question.
So here is my question:

Is there ANY way to get the armed light to turn green when the system is fully active??

I know this just is the icing on the cake but i would love if anyone have any idea on how to solve this.

;D

jjgoessens

whem i wrote the keyboard driver, i made some investigations around fireboxes:

the main circuit is a it8712f, which contains all peripherals.
to discover wher is the keyboard, i wrote a little spy program which was scanning all ports in the range 0x000 .. 0x3FF to monitor activity, and i discovered that keyboard was using LPT port !
to go further, i found in IT8712F datasheet all GPIO wich certainly control the led, oar maybe it is another bit in the LPT ports.

some tests needs to be done to determine how to access it uses ports 0x2e and 0x2f… for the moment, i have no more time and my firebox is running, so it is difficult to investigate anymore...

give me a free firebox to investigate ;)

there is a possibility to change the led status in the BIOS, you need to plug a pci video card, and a keyboard (i wrote the wiring to PS/2 in another topic) You will need a 90° PCI connector to plug the video card or a PCI spacer.

There is an option in the bios to control this led.

Notice that you can also configure your bios to dialog trough the com port, so after that you can enter the bios with a simple terminal.

JJ

gpapaiko

Hi,

This looks great got it to work.

I want to make some changes to the display - like remove the host name - so it only displays the function like CPU, MEM etc…
also want to add a new option toi display the host name on a seperate screen.

Does any one have all the source code required (all modules lcd, lcdpoc wtc...)- or do i just need to modify the sdeclcd.c .h files.
Cause hen you run lcdproc -h you set the set of option - - whre i need to add a new one.

:)
Thanks in advance
George

jjgoessens

LCDd is the display server, sdeclcd is the display driver for firebox display & kbd.

messages are generated by lcdproc which creates the screens.

if you want to customize displays, you may modify lcdproc and compile it on a freebsd machine.

you will find souces package and compiling instructions on lcdproc source forge page (ver 0.5.3) http://sourceforge.net/projects/lcdproc/, the web site is not fully updated.

i did compile it under freebsd to get the latest version, compiling is easy, if you do not make typing errors…

LCDd can accept simultaneous connections, so you can also use others programs to create dispalys, and you can use lcdexec to create menus.

lcdproc is flexible in the way you can select different screens which will be displayed one by one, and with lcdexec you can create menus with (limited) actions.
but screens are pre-programmed.

another alternative is lcd4linux, which allows to customize your screen, but you can have only one screen.
another nice feature is the availability to display 2 graphs in one line, there is a complex routine to allow that with only 8 graphic chars, this is remarquable.

http://ssl.bulix.org/projects/lcd4linux/

unfortunetely, it does not compile natively under freebsd, i did it, but it was extremely long to setup, and for installing it it on pfsense, you will have to add manually a lot of libraries.

JJ

gpapaiko

Hi

Thanks JJ - :)
One other question.
Do have the pin layout for the firbox x series by any chance?

Thanks
George

Firebox LCD Driver for LCDProc

if you want to use my kbd setup, here it is :

MenuKey=Left EnterKey=Right UpKey=Up DownKey=Down

MenuKey=Left
EnterKey=Right
UpKey=Up
DownKey=Down