tty2rpi Add-On (shows core based pictures and videos on a HDMI or DSI display)

[RealLarry]

Hey I ran the update script this morning and as expected it overwrote the images in the tty2rpi-pics directory. I had placed some custom graphics there (000-notavail.png and tty2rpi.png) because the new directory I created for these files (tty2rpi-mypics) does not get looked at by the program even though I have the line TTY2RPIPICS="${HOME}/tty2rpi-mypics" entered in the tty2rpi-user.ini file. Any ideas what might be going wrong there?

Just tested, but it's working here. tty2rpi.png is hardcoded for now but 000-notavail.png, 000-clock.png and all its numbers are displayed when placed and defined in TTY2RPIPICS="${HOME}/tty2rpi-mypics"

There may be be new bug I encountered with 000-notavail.png : It is getting displayed only one time, on the next "not found" the last successful picture is displayed. I'm working on it.

I see. So if I want a custom image for tty2rpi.png I will have to just keep overwriting the one in the tty2rpi-pics directory after each update?

Yes. For now. This will change. Sometime soon
BTW: Display of 000-notavail.png fixed

[MiSTer Consoles]

Just tested, but it's working here. tty2rpi.png is hardcoded for now but 000-notavail.png, 000-clock.png and all its numbers are displayed when placed and defined in TTY2RPIPICS="${HOME}/tty2rpi-mypics"

There may be be new bug I encountered with 000-notavail.png : It is getting displayed only one time, on the next "not found" the last successful picture is displayed. I'm working on it.

I see. So if I want a custom image for tty2rpi.png I will have to just keep overwriting the one in the tty2rpi-pics directory after each update?

Yes. For now. This will change. Sometime soon
BTW: Display of 000-notavail.png fixed

Very cool. Thank you!

[RealLarry]

Another small update

Changelog:

• Splash screen on boot - see /etc/systemd/system/splashscreen.service for details. Tested with HDMI and DPI displays
  To get the splash screen running fine w/o any interruption of messages, edit /boot/cmdline.txt (resp. /boot/firmware/config.txt) and add the following to the line

  Code: Select all

  logo.nologo consoleblank=0 loglevel=1 vt.global_cursor_default=0

  so that it looks like

  Code: Select all

  console=serial0,115200 console=tty3 root=PARTUUID=f82aec4c-02 rootfstype=ext4 fsck.repair=yes rootwait quiet cfg80211.ieee80211_regdom=DE logo.nologo consoleblank=0 loglevel=1 vt.global_cursor_default=0
  

• tty2rpi logo now customizable
  If you are getting a (wrongly) rotated splash screen, edit (as root) the file /etc/systemd/system/splashscreen.service and change

  Code: Select all

  ExecStart=/usr/bin/fim --autozoom --quiet --output-device fb --execute-commands rotate90 /home/tty2rpi/tty2rpi-pics/tty2rpi-startup.png

  to

  Code: Select all

  ExecStart=/usr/bin/fim --autozoom --quiet --output-device fb /home/tty2rpi/tty2rpi-pics/tty2rpi-startup.png

  or to a rotation factor of your need.

[MiSTer Consoles]

I updated both my RPi 3B+ and my Pi Zero 2 W this morning. I get mixed results with the splash screen on both devices. Sometime it is displayed in between bootup messages, although very briefly. Other times it does not show up at all. And in some cases the tty2rpi-startup.png file ends up getting corrupted and has 0 bytes. Is this something different than the Plymouth functionality you mentioned previously?

As far as the customizable tty2rpi logo is concerned, should the system be looking for a new tty2rpi.png file in the folder we specify in tty2rpi-user.ini? If so, I'm not seeing that happen on either Pi device.

By the way, is the string below supposed to be commented out in config.txt? I didn't have it that way because I'm currently connected to a HDMI monitor and thought that was only needed for framebuffer devices. However, I noticed it shows that it should be commented out on the RPi setup page. When I disable it the RPi never gets to the point where it displays tty2rpi.png. I just get a constant cursor after all the boot messages are displayed.

dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d

[RealLarry]

I updated both my RPi 3B+ and my Pi Zero 2 W this morning. I get mixed results with the splash screen on both devices. Sometime it is displayed in between bootup messages, although very briefly. Other times it does not show up at all. And in some cases the tty2rpi-startup.png file ends up getting corrupted and has 0 bytes. Is this something different than the Plymouth functionality you mentioned previously?

That is because I forgot to mention what to edit and where. Have a look at the post above, which I have extended accordingly.
Any yes, this isn't Plymouth. I had trouble to get it running stable on the RPi. Sometimes it has worked, sometimes not, but predominantly it showed only three dots. Plymouth is running great on PCs and is capable of "animation" (showing a set of pictures one after another). Maybe I retry that in future.
This implementation is very similar to Plymouth but is showing a single picture only.

As far as the customizable tty2rpi logo is concerned, should the system be looking for a new tty2rpi.png file in the folder we specify in tty2rpi-user.ini? If so, I'm not seeing that happen on either Pi device.

Yes and no. The splash screen and the initial "tty2rpi" after booting are still static and not interchangeable - because!
But all other calls of the tty2rpi picture (after showing at least a core's picture) are coming from the path defined by TTY2RPIPICS

By the way, is the string below supposed to be commented out in config.txt? I didn't have it that way because I'm currently connected to a HDMI monitor and thought that was only needed for framebuffer devices. However, I noticed it shows that it should be commented out on the RPi setup page. When I disable it the RPi never gets to the point where it displays tty2rpi.png. I just get a constant cursor after all the boot messages are displayed.

dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d

I can't answer that with certainty. I have it enabled for HDMI and for my DPI displays, but disabled for the framebuffer displays. An article from Gentoo Linux Wiki is saying that it's needed for HDMI and also enables GPU acceleration (for supported displays). So yes, when not using a framebuffer displays, dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d has to be enabled.

[MiSTer Consoles]

I updated both my RPi 3B+ and my Pi Zero 2 W this morning. I get mixed results with the splash screen on both devices. Sometime it is displayed in between bootup messages, although very briefly. Other times it does not show up at all. And in some cases the tty2rpi-startup.png file ends up getting corrupted and has 0 bytes. Is this something different than the Plymouth functionality you mentioned previously?

That is because I forgot to mention what to edit and where. Have a look at the post above, which I have extended accordingly.
Any yes, this isn't Plymouth. I had trouble to get it running stable on the RPi. Sometimes it has worked, sometimes not, but predominantly it showed only three dots. Plymouth is running great on PCs and is capable of "animation" (showing a set of pictures one after another). Maybe I retry that in future.
This implementation is very similar to Plymouth but is showing a single picture only.

I made the configurations you suggested in the cmdline.txt file and I'm still not getting the splash screen to show up. I do see a brief darkening of the display as the Pi is booting up. Is it possible the 3B+ and Zero 2 W boot fast enough that there is no time for the graphic to appear?

As far as the customizable tty2rpi logo is concerned, should the system be looking for a new tty2rpi.png file in the folder we specify in tty2rpi-user.ini? If so, I'm not seeing that happen on either Pi device.

Yes and no. The splash screen and the initial "tty2rpi" after booting are still static and not interchangeable - because!
But all other calls of the tty2rpi picture (after showing at least a core's picture) are coming from the path defined by TTY2RPIPICS

Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying.

By the way, is the string below supposed to be commented out in config.txt? I didn't have it that way because I'm currently connected to a HDMI monitor and thought that was only needed for framebuffer devices. However, I noticed it shows that it should be commented out on the RPi setup page. When I disable it the RPi never gets to the point where it displays tty2rpi.png. I just get a constant cursor after all the boot messages are displayed.

dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d

I can't answer that with certainty. I have it enabled for HDMI and for my DPI displays, but disabled for the framebuffer displays. An article from Gentoo Linux Wiki is saying that it's needed for HDMI and also enables GPU acceleration (for supported displays). So yes, when not using a framebuffer displays, dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d has to be enabled.

Sounds like I need to leave that string enabled then which makes sense since I wasn't getting the tty2rpi.png. The funny thing is that when I did have it commented out the splash screen showed up regularly and persisted for many seconds. Perhaps it's because the acceleration of the GPU was disabled?

Hey I picked up this little HDMI display off of Amazon to try out with tty2rpi. It is an IPS screen and I wanted to see how much better the image looks than the TFT displays I'm using right now with tty2tft. When the Pi boots the screen flashes blue until tty2rpi.png is displayed. Then the image is rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Any ideas on how to address those issues?

[RealLarry]

I made the configurations you suggested in the cmdline.txt file and I'm still not getting the splash screen to show up. I do see a brief darkening of the display as the Pi is booting up. Is it possible the 3B+ and Zero 2 W boot fast enough that there is no time for the graphic to appear?

They both are fast enough. I'm using a 3A+ with a Marquee sized display/HDMI and a Zero 2W with a DPI HyperPixel 4" 800x480 display. Both are fast (meaning "fast enough") for a reliable display (even for video) are are displaying the splash screen for some seconds before entering XORG (Linux' GUI (the graphical display manager), here w/o GUI elements).

Sounds like I need to leave that string enabled then which makes sense since I wasn't getting the tty2rpi.png. The funny thing is that when I did have it commented out the splash screen showed up regularly and persisted for many seconds. Perhaps it's because the acceleration of the GPU was disabled?

Strange bevahiour which I can't reproduce. Leave it enabled for HDMI, DPI and DSI displays (= no "#" in front of)

Hey I picked up this little HDMI display off of Amazon to try out with tty2rpi. It is an IPS screen and I wanted to see how much better the image looks than the TFT displays I'm using right now with tty2tft. When the Pi boots the screen flashes blue until tty2rpi.png is displayed. Then the image is rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Any ideas on how to address those issues?

Looks like that this a 480x800 display (not 800x480) but why should it?
One solution is to have a look at ~/.xinitrc-extra.example - copy that file to ~/.xinitrc-extra and remove the comment of "xrandr". You can "rotate the display" in any direction you want, should be self-explanatory. I have to use this with the HyperPixel, which is a "Portrait display" and has to be rotated in all cases.

[MiSTer Consoles]

I made the configurations you suggested in the cmdline.txt file and I'm still not getting the splash screen to show up. I do see a brief darkening of the display as the Pi is booting up. Is it possible the 3B+ and Zero 2 W boot fast enough that there is no time for the graphic to appear?

They both are fast enough. I'm using a 3A+ with a Marquee sized display/HDMI and a Zero 2W with a DPI HyperPixel 4" 800x480 display. Both are fast (meaning "fast enough") for a reliable display (even for video) are are displaying the splash screen for some seconds before entering XORG (Linux' GUI (the graphical display manager), here w/o GUI elements).

I was thinking that they might be too fast when booting up so that the splash screen doesn't have time to display properly.

Sounds like I need to leave that string enabled then which makes sense since I wasn't getting the tty2rpi.png. The funny thing is that when I did have it commented out the splash screen showed up regularly and persisted for many seconds. Perhaps it's because the acceleration of the GPU was disabled?

Strange bevahiour which I can't reproduce. Leave it enabled for HDMI, DPI and DSI displays (= no "#" in front of)

I will do that.

Hey I picked up this little HDMI display off of Amazon to try out with tty2rpi. It is an IPS screen and I wanted to see how much better the image looks than the TFT displays I'm using right now with tty2tft. When the Pi boots the screen flashes blue until tty2rpi.png is displayed. Then the image is rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Any ideas on how to address those issues?

Looks like that this a 480x800 display (not 800x480) but why should it?
One solution is to have a look at ~/.xinitrc-extra.example - copy that file to ~/.xinitrc-extra and remove the comment of "xrandr". You can "rotate the display" in any direction you want, should be self-explanatory. I have to use this with the HyperPixel, which is a "Portrait display" and has to be rotated in all cases.

I added the string below to ~/.xinitrc-extra and the image is now in the correct orientation. Yay! Thanks for the suggestion. Any idea about the screen flashing blue during boot by chance?

xrandr --output HDMI-1 --rotation right

[RealLarry]

Any idea about the screen flashing blue during boot by chance?

Not really. My HDMI Marquee display is turning to black and while the splash screen was working there for some days, today it is showing the splash screen for a glimpse, is turning to black and the display re-detect "HDMI". Dunno whats going on and if it's the RPi or the display which is having a bad day. Splash screen on the DPI display is still working fine.
This "blue screen" is common on HDMI displays; some of my TV sets are working this way.

[MiSTer Consoles]

Any idea about the screen flashing blue during boot by chance?

Not really. My HDMI Marquee display is turning to black and while the splash screen was working there for some days, today it is showing the splash screen for a glimpse, is turning to black and the display re-detect "HDMI". Dunno whats going on and if it's the RPi or the display which is having a bad day. Splash screen on the DPI display is still working fine.

It's interesting that you are having some issues with the splash screen today. The function has not been consistent with either of my Pis. Sometimes it shows up for some seconds. Other times it just flashes briefly. And most of the time it does not show up at all.

This "blue screen" is common on HDMI displays; some of my TV sets are working this way.

Yeah I have also had TVs that show blue if there is no video source present. I guess this manufacturer must have decided that would be a good way to visually indicate that it's not getting a signal yet. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't flash repeatedly during startup. It could give someone a seizure. LOL! I'm going to send this display back to Amazon along with the other that uses the framebuffer. I realized that I had this DSI display on hand that I was going to use on my 3D printer to replace the existing touch screen. I hooked it up last night to the Pi 3B+ and the image is absolutely stunning. It's an IPS screen so it has excellent viewing angles from all sides. It is also very bright and crisp with no light bleed like some other displays have. I want to use a display like this one with the Pi Zero though, so I'm going to try a similar HDMI screen like this or possibly this which is slightly larger. I am going to have to enlarge my enclosure to fit either one, so it might be nice to have the bigger screen in there.

[RealLarry]

It's interesting that you are having some issues with the splash screen today. The function has not been consistent with either of my Pis. Sometimes it shows up for some seconds. Other times it just flashes briefly. And most of the time it does not show up at all.

I'll have an eye on this. Strange...is working great for some days on both displays, then one behaves strangely. Looks like the OS is trying to display something or it is resetting the video bus.

I realized that I had this DSI display on hand that I was going to use on my 3D printer to replace the existing touch screen. I hooked it up last night to the Pi 3B+ and the image is absolutely stunning. It's an IPS screen so it has excellent viewing angles from all sides. It is also very bright and crisp with no light bleed like some other displays have. I want to use a display like this one with the Pi Zero though, so I'm going to try a similar HDMI screen like this or possibly this which is slightly larger. I am going to have to enlarge my enclosure to fit either one, so it might be nice to have the bigger screen in there.

Yeah, even it is pricier than a simple framebuffer display, its worth every penny. One can keep it cheap (with a framebuffer display) but loses some comfort and features. For an empty money bag better than nothing, but imho if one is using a great setup with a stunning case this is pearls in front of the sows. You can drive a Porsche chassis with a 115 PS motor, but nobody would do that. Never

[MiSTer Consoles]

It's interesting that you are having some issues with the splash screen today. The function has not been consistent with either of my Pis. Sometimes it shows up for some seconds. Other times it just flashes briefly. And most of the time it does not show up at all.

I'll have an eye on this. Strange...is working great for some days on both displays, then one behaves strangely. Looks like the OS is trying to display something or it is resetting the video bus.

Do you boot your Pi every time you boot your MiSTer or does it stay on constantly and only get rebooted periodically? I was wondering if there might be a way to keep the Pi on constantly and just sleep the display when MiSTer powers off to save electricity. This would skip the booting process and have the display ready to go when MiSTer is powered on again. Of course the screen would need to wake again at that time. Apparently the Pi Zero uses just a small amount of electricity in "standby" mode when it is not powering the HDMI display. The one thing I really miss with tty2rpi is the "instant on" I get with the display using my current tty2tft setup.

I realized that I had this DSI display on hand that I was going to use on my 3D printer to replace the existing touch screen. I hooked it up last night to the Pi 3B+ and the image is absolutely stunning. It's an IPS screen so it has excellent viewing angles from all sides. It is also very bright and crisp with no light bleed like some other displays have. I want to use a display like this one with the Pi Zero though, so I'm going to try a similar HDMI screen like this or possibly this which is slightly larger. I am going to have to enlarge my enclosure to fit either one, so it might be nice to have the bigger screen in there.

Yeah, even it is pricier than a simple framebuffer display, its worth every penny. One can keep it cheap (with a framebuffer display) but loses some comfort and features. For an empty money bag better than nothing, but imho if one is using a great setup with a stunning case this is pearls in front of the sows. You can drive a Porsche chassis with a 115 PS motor, but nobody would do that. Never

For all the money I've already spent on my MiSTer setup having a really nice display to show all those images is a worthwhile investment. It is nice to have more affordable options though for folks who still want the "cool" factor of a display for their MiSTer without spending a lot on it. Thankfully tty2tft is a nice compromise there. That is the beautiful thing about MiSTer. Users can customize their setups to suit their tastes and budget.

[RealLarry]

Do you boot your Pi every time you boot your MiSTer or does it stay on constantly and only get rebooted periodically? I was wondering if there might be a way to keep the Pi on constantly and just sleep the display when MiSTer powers off to save electricity. This would skip the booting process and have the display ready to go when MiSTer is powered on again. Of course the screen would need to wake again at that time. Apparently the Pi Zero uses just a small amount of electricity in "standby" mode when it is not powering the HDMI display. The one thing I really miss with tty2rpi is the "instant on" I get with the display using my current tty2tft setup.

I'm starting the display(s) together with the RPi(s) every time I'm starting the MiSTer. Well, this isn't really true as I can turn on a RPi/Display independently and control them from my PC w/o MiSTer.
The tty2tft is so fast 'cause it only has to load a bare metal "OS" with 1 MB in size. The RPi has to load dozens if not hundreds of MB to work.
A real standby is not possible afaik. Maybe something like "hibernate" or similar would be possible. Nice idea, I'll do some research.

For all the money I've already spent on my MiSTer setup having a really nice display to show all those images is a worthwhile investment. It is nice to have more affordable options though for folks who still want the "cool" factor of a display for their MiSTer without spending a lot on it. Thankfully tty2tft is a nice compromise there. That is the beautiful thing about MiSTer. Users can customize their setups to suit their tastes and budget.

Signed. The tty2tft is nice, fast and doing a fine job. Playing some video and showing pictures. That's all and I think this is the end of the pole. We are going to the Next Generation.

[MiSTer Consoles]

Do you boot your Pi every time you boot your MiSTer or does it stay on constantly and only get rebooted periodically? I was wondering if there might be a way to keep the Pi on constantly and just sleep the display when MiSTer powers off to save electricity. This would skip the booting process and have the display ready to go when MiSTer is powered on again. Of course the screen would need to wake again at that time. Apparently the Pi Zero uses just a small amount of electricity in "standby" mode when it is not powering the HDMI display. The one thing I really miss with tty2rpi is the "instant on" I get with the display using my current tty2tft setup.

I'm starting the display(s) together with the RPi(s) every time I'm starting the MiSTer. Well, this isn't really true as I can turn on a RPi/Display independently and control them from my PC w/o MiSTer.
The tty2tft is so fast 'cause it only has to load a bare metal "OS" with 1 MB in size. The RPi has to load dozens if not hundreds of MB to work.
A real standby is not possible afaik. Maybe something like "hibernate" or similar would be possible. Nice idea, I'll do some research.

Very much appreciated. It does seem that the RPi has a lot of stuff to do when it boots. If a "hibernate" function isn't possible I wonder if there is some way to modify RPi OS to only do certain tasks necessary for tty2rpi at bootup in order to at least make the process faster? I did a quick Google search and stumbled on this article that discusses ways to improve boot times for the Pi Zero. Wasn't sure if any of the suggestions could be useful for this project.

For all the money I've already spent on my MiSTer setup having a really nice display to show all those images is a worthwhile investment. It is nice to have more affordable options though for folks who still want the "cool" factor of a display for their MiSTer without spending a lot on it. Thankfully tty2tft is a nice compromise there. That is the beautiful thing about MiSTer. Users can customize their setups to suit their tastes and budget.

Signed. The tty2tft is nice, fast and doing a fine job. Playing some video and showing pictures. That's all and I think this is the end of the pole. We are going to the Next Generation.

It definitely seems like tty2rpi is the "next level" when it comes to performance, being able to use any size image, being able to use .png file formats, etc. Really the only disadvantages that I can see compared to tty2tft are a) slower boot times and b) having to rely on an internet connection to communicate with MiSTer. For that second point having a good WiFi connection is imperative. Plus I've started using GroovyMiSTer with a PC connected directly to the DE-10 for best performance which means that the RPi won't be able to talk to MiSTer when I'm running that program. Is there any possibility of connecting the RPi to the DE-10 through USB for that communication?

[RealLarry]

Very much appreciated. It does seem that the RPi has a lot of stuff to do when it boots. If a "hibernate" function isn't possible I wonder if there is some way to modify RPi OS to only do certain tasks necessary for tty2rpi at bootup in order to at least make the process faster? I did a quick Google search and stumbled on this article that discusses ways to improve boot times for the Pi Zero. Wasn't sure if any of the suggestions could be useful for this project.

Thanks for the link, this is interesting and worth a deeper look.
Meanwhile I've found that something like power management or hibernation is not possible with the RPi (see here and here. The only thing we could do is to disable the video output (DPMS) on HDMI, DPI and DSI to save power consumption. But that leaves the problem open how to power on/off the RPi when build into a case...

It definitely seems like tty2rpi is the "next level" when it comes to performance, being able to use any size image, being able to use .png file formats, etc. Really the only disadvantages that I can see compared to tty2tft are a) slower boot times and b) having to rely on an internet connection to communicate with MiSTer. For that second point having a good WiFi connection is imperative. Plus I've started using GroovyMiSTer with a PC connected directly to the DE-10 for best performance which means that the RPi won't be able to talk to MiSTer when I'm running that program. Is there any possibility of connecting the RPi to the DE-10 through USB for that communication?

Yes, absolutely, there is always room for improvements in any way. And it's getting better and better. This is an open and ongoing process, not a commercial premium ready2run product, so it takes time to mature. I'm sure that I'm on a good way.
For the "issue" of a must-have-network connection: We could use a serial<->USB connection instead/alternatively but I'm sure that will not give a significant performance boost when booting because such thing are happen in background.
Regarding to boot time of tty2rpi: It is not that slow...My MiSTer also needs some time to boot up and to connect to WiFi - In the meantime my Zero 2W has started to be ready

[MiSTer Consoles]

Very much appreciated. It does seem that the RPi has a lot of stuff to do when it boots. If a "hibernate" function isn't possible I wonder if there is some way to modify RPi OS to only do certain tasks necessary for tty2rpi at bootup in order to at least make the process faster? I did a quick Google search and stumbled on this article that discusses ways to improve boot times for the Pi Zero. Wasn't sure if any of the suggestions could be useful for this project.

Thanks for the link, this is interesting and worth a deeper look.
Meanwhile I've found that something like power management or hibernation is not possible with the RPi (see here and here. The only thing we could do is to disable the video output (DPMS) on HDMI, DPI and DSI to save power consumption. But that leaves the problem open how to power on/off the RPi when build into a case...

No problem! I'm trying to educate myself as much as possible on the RPi. There are lots of cool things they can be used for like RetroNAS and obviously this project. I'd also like to use one to manage my filament inventory for my 3D printers with a program called Spoolman.

I think if I could have the display turn off when MiSTer powers down and then come on when MiSTer boots up I would just leave the RPi powered on 24/7. That would be better than having both devices run all the time.

It definitely seems like tty2rpi is the "next level" when it comes to performance, being able to use any size image, being able to use .png file formats, etc. Really the only disadvantages that I can see compared to tty2tft are a) slower boot times and b) having to rely on an internet connection to communicate with MiSTer. For that second point having a good WiFi connection is imperative. Plus I've started using GroovyMiSTer with a PC connected directly to the DE-10 for best performance which means that the RPi won't be able to talk to MiSTer when I'm running that program. Is there any possibility of connecting the RPi to the DE-10 through USB for that communication?

Yes, absolutely, there is always room for improvements in any way. And it's getting better and better. This is an open and ongoing process, not a commercial premium ready2run product, so it takes time to mature. I'm sure that I'm on a good way.
For the "issue" of a must-have-network connection: We could use a serial<->USB connection instead/alternatively but I'm sure that will not give a significant performance boost when booting because such thing are happen in background.

I wouldn't expect a serial<->USB connection to help with the boot performance. It would just give an alternative to using WiFi for communication to avoid poor signal issues and to give users who don't have their setups connected to the internet another option for using tty2rpi. Do you think a hardwired connection might actually be faster to communicate with MiSTer than WiFi for image updates when a core/game is changed?

Regarding to boot time of tty2rpi: It is not that slow...My MiSTer also needs some time to boot up and to connect to WiFi - In the meantime my Zero 2W has started to be ready

You're correct. The boot time of the RPi is not terrible. And being able to at least suppress the boot messages makes for a cleaner start up. I guess I'm a little spoiled with the instant display of the menu graphic on tty2tft. It's not a deal breaker though. If the startup time can be improved or Plymouth can be implemented that will just be a bonus.

[RealLarry]

I wouldn't expect a serial<->USB connection to help with the boot performance. It would just give an alternative to using WiFi for communication to avoid poor signal issues and to give users who don't have their setups connected to the internet another option for using tty2rpi. Do you think a hardwired connection might actually be faster to communicate with MiSTer than WiFi for image updates when a core/game is changed?

A simple adapter is enough at the cost of one MiSTer's USB ports

usb-rs232.jpg

but would gain only some milliseconds when communicating with MiSTer as I'm only sending some bytes like

"CMDCOR§Atari2600/Pitfall II - Lost Caverns (USA)"

[RealLarry]

I get mixed results with the splash screen on both devices. Sometime it is displayed in between bootup messages, although very briefly. Other times it does not show up at all.

Could you please edit /boot/cmdline.txt (resp. /boot/firmware/config.txt), change loglevel=1 to loglevel=0 and retry?
I did this with my 3A+ (which has this quirks since yesterday) and that seems to have fixed it...

[MiSTer Consoles]

I wouldn't expect a serial<->USB connection to help with the boot performance. It would just give an alternative to using WiFi for communication to avoid poor signal issues and to give users who don't have their setups connected to the internet another option for using tty2rpi. Do you think a hardwired connection might actually be faster to communicate with MiSTer than WiFi for image updates when a core/game is changed?

A simple adapter is enough at the cost of one MiSTer's USB ports
usb-rs232.jpg

but would gain only some milliseconds when communicating with MiSTer as I'm only sending some bytes like

"CMDCOR§Atari2600/Pitfall II - Lost Caverns (USA)"

That should be easy enough to hook up inside my box. I assume the pin connectors of the cable connect to pins on the GPIO of the Pi?

I get mixed results with the splash screen on both devices. Sometime it is displayed in between bootup messages, although very briefly. Other times it does not show up at all.

Could you please edit /boot/cmdline.txt (resp. /boot/firmware/config.txt), change loglevel=1 to loglevel=0 and retry?
I did this with my 3A+ (which has this quirks since yesterday) and that seems to have fixed it...

I am away from my MiSTer/Pi for a few days, but I will definitely give that a try when I have a chance. Thank you for the advice!

[MiSTer Consoles]

I get mixed results with the splash screen on both devices. Sometime it is displayed in between bootup messages, although very briefly. Other times it does not show up at all.

Could you please edit /boot/cmdline.txt (resp. /boot/firmware/config.txt), change loglevel=1 to loglevel=0 and retry?
I did this with my 3A+ (which has this quirks since yesterday) and that seems to have fixed it...

I made the change today in cmdline.txt and I'm still not seeing the splash screen on my Pi 3B+ or Zero 2 W. This isn't too important for me now though. I've decided to use this HDMI display which requires a separate power source. I'm going to leave the Pi running constantly and will have the display power on with my MiSTer. That way the Pi will be ready to display images as soon as the DE-10 has completed its boot sequence. I think this will be the cleanest solution for my particular setup and I don't believe the Pi will ultimately use that much power by being left on.

[RealLarry]

I get mixed results with the splash screen on both devices. Sometime it is displayed in between bootup messages, although very briefly. Other times it does not show up at all.

Could you please edit /boot/cmdline.txt (resp. /boot/firmware/config.txt), change loglevel=1 to loglevel=0 and retry?
I did this with my 3A+ (which has this quirks since yesterday) and that seems to have fixed it...

I made the change today in cmdline.txt and I'm still not seeing the splash screen on my Pi 3B+ or Zero 2 W.

Too bad to hear that. Looks like that this display (HDMI if I remember correctly) is taking a long time to look for a connected device and to switch 'em accordingly.

This isn't too important for me now though. I've decided to use this HDMI display which requires a separate power source. I'm going to leave the Pi running constantly and will have the display power on with my MiSTer. That way the Pi will be ready to display images as soon as the DE-10 has completed its boot sequence. I think this will be the cleanest solution for my particular setup and I don't believe the Pi will ultimately use that much power by being left on.

My Zero 2W draws 0.26A when idle and 0.4A for a Second when it is displaying a new picture (when rotating between screensavers). Just as a hint.

[MiSTer Consoles]

Too bad to hear that. Looks like that this display (HDMI if I remember correctly) is taking a long time to look for a connected device and to switch 'em accordingly.

Yeah that could be the case.

My Zero 2W draws 0.26A when idle and 0.4A for a Second when it is displaying a new picture (when rotating between screensavers). Just as a hint.

Good to know! That isn’t much electricity at all.

[SnecxXx]

Hello

I have an issue installing the Raspberry Pi part. I have a Raspberry Pi 4b. Downloaded the Legacy 32bit desktop version.
Created a user tty2rpi and enabled ssh.
Rebooted after installing and i got into the desktop.
From ssh i did an apt-get update and downloaded and executed the tty2rpi script.

I changed cmdline.txt and config.txt as suggested. I checked for /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-monitor.conf and /tmp/user/tty2rpi and /usr/local/bin/.
Put some pics into /home/tty2rpi/tty2rpi-pics and added PATHPIC="${HOME}/marquee-pictures" and PATHVID="${HOME}/marquee-videos" into the user ini .

WiFi is running and i have an IP. All seems fine. Now i reboot the Pi.
At startup i see the logo of tty2rpi but then i get into the normal Raspberry desktop.

It seems the daemon is not running and not overlaying the desktop. I have a small real HDMI display without drivers needed.
"ps ax" shows no scripts running.
At the moment i have no clue what i did wrong.
Can anybody help?

[RealLarry]

I have an issue installing the Raspberry Pi part. I have a Raspberry Pi 4b. Downloaded the Legacy 32bit desktop version.

And that is the culprit. tty2rpi is designed to run onto a dedicated RPi (or SD card) , not within an installed desktop (but would be doable). I'll try to reproduce that with my RPi400 some time.
In your case the start of the desktop environment has a higher priority than tty2rpi.

[RealLarry]

I have an issue installing the Raspberry Pi part. I have a Raspberry Pi 4b. Downloaded the Legacy 32bit desktop version.

Tested on my RPi400 and it is the culprit. But we aren't using Windows so no hope is lost.
A quick hack would be: SSH to your RPi and set

• Code: Select all

  VIDEOPLAYER="mpv"

  in ~/ty2rpi-user.ini , then execute

Code: Select all

mkdir ~/.config/autostart
pico ~/.config/autostart/autostart.desktop

insert the following lines

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=tty2rpi
Comment=The tty2rpi Daemon
Exec=/home/tty2rpi/.config/openbox/autostart
Terminal=false
Categories=Network;

and reboot to enjoy your "Desktop tty2rpi"! Not a perfect (your desktop is sometimes visible) but a consistently acceptable solution.
To return to your desktop hit the key "q" while enjoying pictures, but be aware that the tty2rpi Daemon (which is responsible to play media files) is still running in background. If you/MiSTer is changing a core, tty2rpi will re-run it's job.

And if you don't want to have tty2rpi autostarted, move the file ~/.config/autostart/autostart.desktop to ~/.local/share/applications, you'll then find the appropriate starter in your Start/Internet

[SnecxXx]

Thank you, it works now. I previously installed the lite version but during start i got an error about missing xserver. So i thought i need the desktop version. Silly me. With your help i found my error.
With the lite install the update failed and xserver wasn't installed. I missed that.
Today i read your posts and installed the lite again and i noticed an error during download.
It was a block in my Pi-Hole DNS.
After all was installed tty2rpi works fine. Silly me again.

[RealLarry]

Thank you, it works now. I previously installed the lite version but during start i got an error about missing xserver. So i thought i need the desktop version. Silly me. With your help i found my error.
With the lite install the update failed and xserver wasn't installed. I missed that.
Today i read your posts and installed the lite again and i noticed an error during download.
It was a block in my Pi-Hole DNS.
After all was installed tty2rpi works fine. Silly me again.

Glad to hear that it's working now! These are these little Gremlins that annoy us and put stones in our way. Shit happens and this is also the way to learn and to do it better next time. We all went through this at least once.

[RealLarry]

A new update!

This is the Easter Egg version, dedicated to our official sponsor @MiSTer Consoles, who bombarded me with many ideas and bugfixes for the last few days! Many thanks to him for the input! All of this leads to a much better experience.

To find all eggs, you'll have to take at look at the changelog for yourself.

[MiSTer Consoles]

Many thanks to RealLarry for all his hard work on this project and for indulging my OCD. He is a wizard with getting these little displays to do their magic! My MiSTer setup and gaming experience are so much better off for it.

[RealLarry]

A new small update!

Changes are

• Screensaver creates clock images only if enabled by SCREENSAVER_CLOCK (default "yes")
• Clock images are created in another temp directory and moved after creation
• Clock script starts screensaver mode regardless of whether clock is enabled or disabled
• Don't randomly cycle through images in screensaver, can be enabled with SCREENSAVER_RNDM (default "no"),
  with interval defined in SCREENSAVER_IVAL (default 10s)
• Silence the restart of screensaver service in journal

This speeds up the change of image display in screensaver and prevents black frames when cycling through the pictures.
Images are shown alphabetically (Unix style: 0-9, A..Z, then a..z) or randomly (see SCREENSAVER_RNDM)