GBPVR LCD Plugin for LCDSmartie

[justinmiller]

Sounds like a great idea. I noticed the delay on mp3 playback almost right away. I have a generic Samsung VFD (2x16) that came in an Ahanix MCE601 case. Here's what I would love to see on each screen:

Live TV
-------
Channel Number -- Show Name
Clock Time

Video
-----
Channel Number -- Show Name
Time Elapsed Clock Time

Music
------
Song Title/Artist/Album (alternating)
Track Number, Time Elapsed Clock Time

I don't feel like we need labels to say what mode we're in ("Video", "Music", etc). The only fixed indicator I can think of would be when things are paused?

Thanks a lot for keeping going with this!

[csy]

I have the iMON 2x16 VFD, and like the idea of no 3rd party dependencies.

I am very happy with the current features, and agree it would be nice to add play/pause/record and mute indications.

It would also be nice to display menu items so I don't have to turn-on the TV to select the radio button, say using display format:
Menu: xxxx
(where xxxx = Radio, etc)

[cameluk]

I'd prefer to stay the LCDSmartie method, I use LCDSmartie to show other info as well as GBPVR like Temps and CPU load

[fooman1]

OK, so here's an update: I've got it working displaying a volume bar when the (system) volume changes or a mute message when it is muted. I've also got it providing a small indication of when key or mouse (and therefore remote) presses occur. It also responds to standby and resume events so that it can display the appropriate standby message.

I will be looking at adding CPU and HDD usage screens because I find that I look at them quite a lot. Not sure if that will be something that is included initially or added later on, however.

For now, it does look like I will be keeping the LCDSmartie option. This also allows the use of this plugin to display information on an LCD screen connected to a PC on which GBPVR is not running (provided GBPVR is running on another machine). I will allow this option to be turned on or off so as not to waste resources unnecessarily. LCDSmartie will be needed at least initially for LCD screens that do not yet have support added.

As far as customisability goes, I will not be detracting from what it has at present. In fact, it looks like I will be adding quite a bit more. Also, I will be creating a configuration screen so that users no longer have to edit the configuration files directly.

A pending recordings and current recordings screen is something I will be adding. However, since the plug-in only works when GB-PVR is loaded, it cannot be used to display this information when GB-PVR is off. I am thinking of various ways of getting around this, such as a separate program that is loaded when GB-PVR exits and terminated when GB-PVR launches and the plug-in loads. Also, I quite like the idea of displaying the next scheduled recording when the HTPC is off, so it looks like I will be adding that ability.

As far as show name for live TV goes, the functionality is already in the plug-in but the information is not exposed yet by GB-PVR. Sub said that he would be providing this information but maybe he has not yet got around to it.

I have also thought about adding menu item display to the LCD screen so that GB-PVR can be used when the PC is off. I spoke to sub about this a few months ago and I believe he put it on his agenda. If/when he gets around to providing information about the menus, I will be able to add this in.

Anyway, that's the plan for where this plug-in will be going. On my estimate, it will still be at least a few weeks before I can provide an initial version to test (maybe longer if I get snowed under with work; maybe less if I somehow manage to finish my current work rapidly).

[wharrad]

I can't seem to unzip the files, it says that they are corrupt?!?

Can anyone give me a hand with this? Maybe email a working copy please? Cheers people!

Chris


addie: stuff (@) wharrad.com

[cameluk]

The site has problems with zip files and Internet Explorer, try using Firefox to download them.

[wharrad]

Oh right! Cheers, I'll give that a go now!

[aurora]

Hi,

Having some trouble getting this up and running. Could someone post the format of the $dll calls in LCDSmartie screen setup? I have been looking for this information and can not seam to find a description/def anywhere. Problably just looking in the wrong spot, so a pointer would be great.

Thanks!

[fooman1]

$dll(LCDSmartie_GBPVRPlugin,1,x,y) <- gives Line 1
$dll(LCDSmartie_GBPVRPlugin,2,x,y) <- gives Line 2

Take a look at readme.txt in the zip file for step-by-step instructions. The other two text files in the zip file have information about configuring the plug-in.

[aurora]

Hi Fooman,

Thanks for the confirmation! There is post earlier in this thread which has a different format (uses local host IP address in filed 4). Was using the old smartie pluggin until my system crashed and had to rebuild partition this weekend. Was trying to use your plugin like the old plugin where the 1,2,3,4 gives you different output. Had a 3 in the second field - this results in a "Media Centre Not Avaliable" error in your plugin. This error made me think that the port was not connecting correctly, Just as a note a 4 in filed 2 gives a different error message all together. Just my stupidity that made me think I could use the plugin this way, but thought you might want to know what it does.

Do I understand correctly that this plugin only has a first and a second line and that it cycles through different info depending on what GBPVR is doing? Also, just to confirm, the config file in the GBPVR root directory maps a format to a state. This format is then used whenever GBPVR is in that state? Is there anyway to always display a specific line, such as next recording?

Just trying to understand as my system is still not quite functional yet. Good to know what I should expect. A bit burned out at this point with things that were working and now are not (like old smartie plugin).

Thanks again!