VFD front panel display (Antec Fusion)

[nite_man]

Ugh, rhis is all so very confusing, getting these to work on linux is one thing, getting them to work on lmce is something completely different!

Anyone having any thoughts about this?

It's exactly the same thing to install LIRC and VFD under Linux and under LMCE. Note if you add "Infrared remote controls you will use" on the media director page and this remote is LIRC based then LIRC will install automatically and the file /etc/lircd/lircd.conf will be created with content from remote's property 'Configuration'. So, in that case you should just add proper remote.

In case of iMON you have to:
- create a new device template in category Peripherals --> Remote Control --> LIRC;
- add a new property - #59 Configuration for that template and copy there iMON LIRC.conf;
- add iMON remote to your MD;
- reload router.

If you don't see /dev/lirc0 this means:
- your IR receiver is disconnected (for example, it doesn't fit good in the USB port);
- you have some error in the lircd.conf (check /var/log/message or /var/log/syslog);
- kernel module for your IR receiver is not loaded (check sudo lsmod|grep <name_of_your_ir_module>. If you don't find it then try to load - sudo modprobe -v <name_of_your_ir_module>).

To verify that your remote works correctly you can use utility irw which displays everything you send from the remote.

In any case, please, see system logs and dmesg output of your core. It gives you the reason why your remote doesn't work. If everything works fine you can configure remote for MythTV or VDR.

[colinjones]

Michael

The Antec VFD we are talking about here does not have a remote functionality at all. Apparently it just uses the iMON VFD functionality only. Your instructions seem to require the full iMON LIRC remote functionality to work. Can you give any pointers on how to make this work for the Antec VFD without remote functionality?

EDIT: BTW, I have followed instructions from several sources now on the forums including this thread, all quite different. So I have no idea what state my VFD is in! However, I do note that the display has now changed from what it was fixed on for the last 4 weeks... It still doesn't display anything meaningful, but they do seem to be some recognisable unicode characters (mainly "n" with circumflexes and the like, type accents above them!)

[skerit]

Yours does not have the IR function? Huh, that's strange ... Is it the Antec Fusion V2?

[colinjones]

Correct - it isn't supposed to have IR function, it isn't in the specifications. All it says is that there is room to mount your own IR in the front panel if you want. However, according to another person on the forums (can't remember who) has already confirmed this by taking it to pieces - there is no room for one, and in fact apparently the firmware does not include the IR code anyway.

[skerit]

Well, that is the Antec Fusion V1 then, the V2 does have an IR receiver (I swear

Getting it to work is something completely different, of course

[colinjones]

OK, now I'm completely confused! I didn't realise the distinction was the V1/V2 thing.... I do have the V2 so I guess I must have the IR. Not that I really need to use it as I have a Fiire remote. But it sounds like I need to use a different process to install from what you are saying.

I wish I could go back to the beginning and undo all the changes I have made (no idea what they were now!) and find a definitive HowTo for my version. But even then, it seems like the display really isn't going to do anything interesting unless I write a whole load of event intercepts with code to drive it. A task for which I am supremely unqualified!

[nite_man]

colinjones, if your VFD doesn't have any relations with IR it should be enough just install lcdproc. If it doesn't support iMON VFD get the sources from here - http://venky.ws/projects/imon/#standalone. But install lcdproc first because it'll add startup scripts into /etc/init.d. After you'll do it check dmesg command output. Additionally, you can specify in the LCDproc.conf option to send log messages into syslog. Be sure that startup script LCDd gets correct config file!

[colinjones]

Skerit/anyone with Antec Fusion V2...

Having another look at this... followed http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/LCDproc and I seem to have all the modules installed OK, my problem seems to be that the lcd0 device doesn't get created. dmesg indicates that the lirc_imon driver is loading but it doesn't say anything about finding the device, as it should. When I try lsusb the device doesn't appear on any of the usb buses...

Can someone try lsusb for me and tell me if you see it ok? I definitely plugged it in, and periodically it gets garbage characters on it (blank at the moment) so not sure if it is faulty or if there is something else I should do to try and kick start it....

[ddamron]

If anyone wants to donate a VFD for testing, I'm very familiar with GSD/Ruby coding and I don't think it would take too much effort.
It needs either a serial or USB interface... and documentation...
Regards,
Dan

[skerit]

I'm sorry I can't be of assistance right now, I don't have LMCE installed, just regular ubuntu with a heavily modified VDR for my DVB-S card

[colinjones]

Dan - if nobody beats me to it, I am willing to donate mine. I have to ensure its actually working first - per my last post it doesn't seem to appear on my USB bus. But if so (maybe a loose connector?), when I pull my core to pieces next week to do some work, I'll see if I can disconnect the whole unit and send it to you. I believe it has a 4 pin-header connector...

[Itsik]

Ugh, rhis is all so very confusing, getting these to work on linux is one thing, getting them to work on lmce is something completely different!

Anyone having any thoughts about this?

It's exactly the same thing to install LIRC and VFD under Linux and under LMCE. Note if you add "Infrared remote controls you will use" on the media director page and this remote is LIRC based then LIRC will install automatically and the file /etc/lircd/lircd.conf will be created with content from remote's property 'Configuration'. So, in that case you should just add proper remote.

In case of iMON you have to:
- create a new device template in category Peripherals --> Remote Control --> LIRC;
- add a new property - #59 Configuration for that template and copy there iMON LIRC.conf;
- add iMON remote to your MD;
- reload router.

If you don't see /dev/lirc0 this means:
- your IR receiver is disconnected (for example, it doesn't fit good in the USB port);
- you have some error in the lircd.conf (check /var/log/message or /var/log/syslog);
- kernel module for your IR receiver is not loaded (check sudo lsmod|grep <name_of_your_ir_module>. If you don't find it then try to load - sudo modprobe -v <name_of_your_ir_module>).

To verify that your remote works correctly you can use utility irw which displays everything you send from the remote.

In any case, please, see system logs and dmesg output of your core. It gives you the reason why your remote doesn't work. If everything works fine you can configure remote for MythTV or VDR.

Sorry for hijacking this but I tried following the guide on your blog nite_man but lirc did not install and obviously nothing happened.
Am I missing something ?

Thnx
Itsik

[tkmedia]

I can tell you for sure that the v2 has ir. i have not set up the vfd but i have set it up to power on the MD.


Tim

[colinjones]

OK, the internal cable wasn't connected properly! Now that's fixed I can see the device in lsusb and I can see /dev/lcd0...

I followed the steps in the mythtv article above, but I'm still having problems. I was able to redirect echo to the device. But when I try to:

/usr/local/sbin/LCDd -c /home/linuxmce/lcd/LCDd.conf

I get....

Could not open driver module /home/linuxmce/lcdimon.so: /home/linuxmce/lcdimon.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Driver [imon] binding failed
Could not load driver imon
There is no output driver
Critical error while initializing, abort.

[rocketlynx]

Colin, do you have the VFD display working on your Fusion V2?  If so, which install did you use?

Thanks