[Version 2 Release] RaspberryPints - Digital Taplist Solution

hardyhop said:

Getting closer to having my raspberrypints functional!

I am having trouble getting the background to change on my taplist. When I upload a picture for the background it is visible when I view my taplist from my iphone and ipad, but from a PC or Mac it just has the standard background.

Anything I am doing wrong?

Click to expand...

ChrisL_ said:

OK, now I am confident my motion detection script enabling HDMI signal enable/disable is working correctly. For the info of anyone not up to date on the thread there have been a few attempts to get the motion sensor to put the monitor in and out of sleep mode when no motion is detected from the sensor. I came up with the script below that has been working for me.

Anyone interested in giving it a try can simply backup the existing pir_run.py script in /home/pi and then paste in the code below.

@ day_trippr. I know you have not had much luck but I am curious is changing the order of the commands would work any better? My theory is changing to another Virtual Terminal before killing the HDMI signal may hopefully save the colour settings for your X session?

Hope this helps others trying to get their monitor in and out of sleep mode via the PIR.

Code:

#!/usr/bin/env python
import pwd,os
import time
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO

pir_pin = 7
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
GPIO.setup(pir_pin, GPIO.IN)
global start_time
start_time=time.time()
sleep_threshold = 60
monitor_status = 1
cmd_sleep = 'chvt 6 && tvservice -o'
cmd_awake = 'tvservice -p && chvt 7'
time.sleep(10)

while 1:
    time.sleep(10)
    elapsed_time = time.time() - start_time
    print elapsed_time
    print monitor_status

    # turn off monitor after the sleep threshold
    # monitor_status value avoids turning of HDMI signal if it is already off
    if elapsed_time > sleep_threshold and monitor_status == 1:
        print "Turning Off HDMI"
        monitor_status = 0
        os.system(cmd_sleep)

    # turn monitor back on upon detection
    if GPIO.input(pir_pin) and monitor_status == 0:
        os.system(cmd_awake)
        print "Turning on HDMI"
        monitor_status = 1
        time.sleep(10)
        start_time=time.time()

    if GPIO.input(pir_pin):
        start_time=time.time()
        print "Resetting elapsed time to keep monitor on while movement detected"
        time.sleep(10)

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day_trippr said:

As I've said, I have two systems with attached monitors running R'Pints, and neither of them behave well with the tvservice toggle. The 19" DVI LCD perched atop my keezer will go into low power mode with -o, but -p only turns on the backlight (regardless of using the chvt commands or not).

otoh, the 40" HDMI screen on my dev system is the one that has the colors go neon when turning back on. Again, doesn't matter when I use the chvt commands or not.

In both cases I can literally unplug the power to the displays then plug it back in and their symptoms persist. Which is weird...

...because if I hook my office RPi up to one of my 27" computer monitors via DVI, the tvservice commands work perfectly. I can even hook up that monitor in place of the 40" and while the latter was all neon the former looks fine.

It's pretty confusing, but I'm guessing the tvservice is changing the video settings in a way that's subtle enough to work with the computer monitor but not the big tv or the old 19" DVI display.

Not losing sleep over it. It is what it is...

Cheers!

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DrunkleJon said:

You all know this better than me but HDMI can be weird. I have always suffered from some strangeness when connecting computers up using HDMI. For example, with my home theater pc connected using HDMI to my bigger screen tv for some reason if I turn the tv off, then back on again while it is on the PC HDMI input will go into some sort of dynamic dimming mode. Basically when there is a dark background it will dim to like 50% brightness, when the majority of the screen is bright it goes back to 100%. Only cure is to change input and change back. It does not happen to any of the other HDMI inputs.

I also know that if you are going HDMI to HDMI connector there is the handshake that goes on and if you dont have one of those HDMI/DVI inputs on the back of the television it can get wonky. maybe the issues stem from there or are you all using the hdmi (pi side) -> (monitor side) dvi cables for display?

I hate to sound like a moocher, but I am looking forward to this being resolved so I can purchase the motion sensor and getting it all set up. I really need to get working on mine again.

Click to expand...

wbarber69 said:

It sounds more like the script doesn't work too well with TVs. And then there day_tripper with his TVs that use dvi? What is this the late 90's model 5" thick 'flat' screens. [...].

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ChrisL_ said:

DrunkleJon, if you can SSH into your Pi you could test to see if these commands will work on your specific monitor.

sudo tvservice -o (to turn off the HDMI signal)
sudo tvservice -p && chvt 6 && chvt 7 (turn signal back on and change the virtual terminal to force a refresh).

If this works for you then you are golden, get your PIR and use my script. If this does not work with your hardware then I am not sure if there is or will be a solution.

Click to expand...