[NTLUG:Discuss] Raspberry Pi Video Marquee Project

[terry]

I forgot to mention:
When new images  are deleted or added to /home/pi/Pictures, geeqie stalls,
hence the necessity for the start/stop script.  (Existing images can be
edited with no effect, but additions or removal of files causes the
slideshow to stop.)


On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 1:12 PM, terry <trryhend at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm working what I'm calling the "Raspberry Pi Video Marquee Project" for
> my VFW post here in Azle, VFWpost2137.  It's working ok, but I'm sure there
> are some things I could have done better, some improvements I can make etc.
> so I'll share my notes with you guys in hopes that some of you will take
> time to give me a few pointers, constructive criticism etc. Thanks in
> advance:
> =============================================
> notes/Raspberry-Pi-Marquee-Project.txt
> End goal:  Video Marquee accessible via network nfs / samba - able to hook
> up to
> any standard TV or ordinary computer type monitor, (flat-screen) -
> appropriate
> cabling required. A flat screen on a shelf or mounted on the wall.
> The plan is to make changes and/or updates to the batch of images weekly;
> Probably 30 or 40 in number, 10 or so will be pretty much static.
> Basically it
> is just geeqie set to run a continious slideshow set to random and repeat,
> full
> screen.
>
> We *could* use one of the pre-installed SD cards but I
> installed     2013-09-10-wheezy-raspbian  (dd if=image-file of=/dev/sdd)
> (Tip: 'sudo sync' to make sure all files are written to SD card.)
>
> Place SD card in Raspberry Pi, power up and go through setup procedures and
> reboot. (It's best to be connected to internet during the setup process
> but not
> essential.) (To return to the initial configuration screen: sudo
> rapi-config)
>
> First order of business, updates
> sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
>
> When that is done we will install all the software we need at once
> sudo apt-get install geeqie rpcbind nfs-kernel-server x11vnc
> (I also installed gwenview but have yet to find the need for it.)
>
> geeqie is the image program to run slideshows, (set to random, loop)
>
> (raspbian uses openbox)
> Create autorun for it (with a properly formatted .desktop file):
> [Desktop Entry]
> Encoding=UTF-8
> Version=0.9.4
> Type=Application
> Name=slide-show
> Comment=
> Exec=geeqie -f -s /home/pi/Pictures
> StartupNotify=false
> Terminal=false
> Hidden=false
>
> Turn off monitor sleep function, (with another autostart .desktop file):
> [Desktop Entry]
> Encoding=UTF-8
> Version=0.9.4
> Type=Application
> Name=No Screensaver
> Comment=
> Exec=xset s noexpose
> StartupNotify=false
> Terminal=false
> Hidden=false
>
> To run x11vnc (VNC Server):
> [Desktop Entry]
> Encoding=UTF-8
> Version=0.9.4
> Type=Application
> Name=VNC Server
> Comment=
> Exec=x11vnc -forever
> StartupNotify=false
> Terminal=false
> Hidden=false
>
> (autostart scripts go in ~/.config/autostart/ and need executible bit set)
> (slideshow.desktop)
>   chmod +x ~/.config/autostart/*  (those are the only two so...)
> Create a stop/start script, (~/bin is already in $PATH by default):
> #!/bin/bash
> # Script to start/stop slideshow
> pkill geeqie
> DISPLAY=:0.0 geeqie -f -s /home/pi/Pictures/ 2>&1 &
>
> Set a cron job to update time each night, (probably not necessary but...):
> 30 2 * * * service ntp stop && ntpdate pool.ntp.org && service ntp start
>
> Note: I ran into a problem that might not always happen.
> nfs-kernel-server was looking for portmap and had to put commands in
> /etc/rc.local to start rpcbind and restart nfs-kernel-server (could not get
> rpcbind to start normally)  I'm thinking it may have been because I
> installed
> nfs-kernel-server before installing rpcbind which resulted in
> nfs-kernel-server
> to be configured to try and call up portmap instead of rpcbind - as a
> work-around I had to put commands in /etc/rc.local to start rpcbind and
> restart
> nfs-kernel-server - this may not happen on the next one and may not be an
> issue
> for you.   Just found:
> http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=12131&p=412731
> (Note: Need to run exportfs -ra after modifying /etc/exports )
>
> To stop/start slideshow, on the server:
> #!/bin/bash
> # Script to start/stop slideshow
> pkill geeqie
> DISPLAY=:0.0 geeqie -f -s /home/pi/Pictures/ 2>&1 &
>
> On the client:
> #!/bin/sh
> ssh pi at 192.168.1.217 /home/pi/bin/slideshow 2>&1 >/dev/null &
>
> (We can put a launcher [for "slideshow"] on the client's desktop for
> convenience)
> Setup ssh key for passwordless login.
> ssh-keygen -t rsa (copy code from client's ~/.ssh/is_rsa-pub to server's
> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys)
>
> (I have yet to setup or use samba, when or if I do, I'll update these
> notes)
> (I used nfs, it's quick/easier) (also considering ftp)
> nfs:
> On the server (in /etc/exports)
> /home/user-name-here/marquee 192.168.x.0/24(rw)
> or (rw,sync)
> or(rw,sync,insecure,all_squash)
> On the client (in /etc/fstab)
> 192.168.x.xx:/home/pi/Pictures /home/user-name-here/marquee nfs
> nolock,users,rw
>
>
> (Raspbery Pi is set to static IP.  Hostname is marquee User ID is pi)
>
> (If using a MS Windows client, use putty and samba instead of ssh and
> nfs)
>
> I'm thinking I should just sync a drectory of images on the client with
> Pictures
> on marquee
>   rsync -avh --delete marquee-bak/* pi at marquee:Pictures/
> (Maybe in a script "update-marquee" or "refresh-marquee".)
> But the --delete option does not seem to delete anything on the server, so
> that part doesn't seem to work.
>
> Hardware and pripheral verification:
> http://elinux.org/RPi_VerifiedPeripherals
>
>
> This is a work in progress - advice and constructive criticism is welcome -
> thanks in advance.
> --
> In God we trust.
> <><
>