Topic: Possible to always have time showing?

I'm using my Chumby One primarily as an alarm clock, although of course I've loaded several widgets onto it.  However, it doesn't seem that I can retire my existing alarm clock, as whenever a non-clock widget is playing, you can't see the time.  Is there any kind of setting that lets you keep the time in the corner, perhaps?

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Yes, see this.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

If I create this file, how do I upload it to the Chumby?  (Or reverse it if necessary.)  Also, that page says the hacks are for Ironforge Chumby only, which I understand is the original Chumby rather than the Chumby One.  Does anyone know if the hacks work on the Chumby One as well?

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

This hack with work for the Chumby One as well - pretty much every hack on that page will.

You would use scp to transfer the file (on Windows, for instance, you'd use PuTTY), and you'll have to start the ssh daemon on the device.

The Chumby One also has a unique hack that if you plug in a USB keyboard, a Linux console will show up on the screen, so you could simply create the file directly on the device.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

So I decided I wanted to enable this little feature and add a clock to my display.

I plugged in the keyboard, got the console, created the clockoverlay.xml file, and used the example from the wiki -- typed in exactly the example for a small clock in the lower right corner.

So what the example gives is a small clock in 24-hr format with the long day name in front.

What I got was a medium-sized clock in the upper left with the m/d/y in front of a 12-hr clock with am/pm at the end.

Can someone explain to me why this is?

(I love the ability to pull up the Linux console by plugging in a keyboard; it took me a few minutes to remember my Linux commands -- I'm a Windows guy naturally -- but it brought me back to my undergrad programming classes.)

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Anyone able to help me out with this?   Tried to do it again this morning, followed the directions and example from the wiki, and I still get the same results.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

The only reason I can see this happening this way is that there's a subtle type on either the file you wrote, or the one on the wiki.

Several people have used this and haven't reported this problem.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Try either plugging a keyboard in, or connecting via SSH, and running this:

echo "<overlay format='%A%n%H:%M:%S' x='10' y='10' width='300' height='100' textsize='32'/>" > /psp/clockoverlay.xml; killall chumbyflashplayer.x

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

I'm not sure where the typo would be -- I've done this at least 10 times now, usually re-writing the file from scratch.  Tried changing the x and y values, too, to no effect.

@ChumbyLurker:  Typed in exactly what you asked me to.  Same result:  clock in the upper left but not in the format the code calls for.  I get m/d/y 12-hr format am/pm.  Right now it shows 12/08/09 09:55:11 PM.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

OK, I'll take a look at it - maybe some bug crept in...

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Yep, there's a bug - a pretty weird one, too.  The file gets read, but the actual values of the XML attributes disappear before the overlay shows up, so it uses the defaults.

I've fixed it, which will be in the next CP.  This must have broken between the last "classic" build and the one currently deployed to Chumby One.  We don't actually test the "easter eggs".

Sorry about the confusion and thanks for your patience.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Glad I found this thread.  I was seeing the same thing and it was making me nuts.  FWIW - I'm using Putty Portable with a laptop in bed next to the Chumby.  No the Chumby isn't in the bed! - it's on the night stand.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Thanks, Duane -- at least I'm not crazy.  Glad I could help find a bug.

Any idea when the next CP will be released?

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

I'm still chasing down a few minor bugs, but not far off.  It will go into beta first.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Looks like today's update fixed this.

Thanks!

16 (edited by Gompka 2009-12-10 17:13:54)

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

I think this should be an option on the chumby, i want to do this but I have no programing experience and I can't figure out how to do make this file. Can someone tell me what I would type after i plug my usb keyboard into the chumby to get "3:00am 12/10/09" in the smaller font in the bottom right of the chumby. Thanks

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Great work Duane, works like a charm now.

Gompka:  After the console comes up, type

vi /psp/clockoverlay.xml

That will take you into the VI text editor.  Now hit

a

to start editing the file.  Finally, type

<overlay format='%I:%M %p %D' x='240' y='170' width='80' height='50' textsize='16'>

Then hit Escape to stop editing, and finally type

:wq

to save your work.

Unplug your keyboard and reboot your Chumby.  That should put a clock in the lower right in relatively small font.

You might need to play around with x, y, width, and height (I just kinda guessed values) to get it just how you like it.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

After some experimenting, it looks like this ought to be roughly the settings you're looking for?

echo "<overlay format='%l:%M%P %D' x='5' y='210' width='180' height='25' textsize='24'/>" > /psp/clockoverlay.xml ; killall chumbyflashplayer.x

Certainly the format "%l:%M%P %D" is correct.  The width, height, x, y, and textsize may need to be adjusted.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Thanks guys, that worked. I'll just have to adjust it to my liking. Now if i wanted to get rid of it how would I do that? Just delete the overlay file? If so how would i go about doing that? Thanks again

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

To delete the file, just type:

rm /psp/clock_overlay.xml

Or, if you want to keep it around, you can just rename it:

mv /psp/clock_overlay.xml /psp/save_clock_overlay.xml

then to restore it:

mv /psp/save_clock_overlay.xml /psp/clock_overlay.xml

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Duane wrote:

To delete the file, just type:

rm /psp/clock_overlay.xml

Or, if you want to keep it around, you can just rename it:

mv /psp/clock_overlay.xml /psp/save_clock_overlay.xml

then to restore it:

mv /psp/save_clock_overlay.xml /psp/clock_overlay.xml

got it, that helped, dunno why the wiki wasn't making any sense to me.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Gompka wrote:

I think this should be an option on the chumby, i want to do this but I have no programing experience and I can't figure out how to do make this file. Can someone tell me what I would type after i plug my usb keyboard into the chumby to get "3:00am 12/10/09" in the smaller font in the bottom right of the chumby. Thanks

I will give it a try, but I agree...it should be an option in Chumby's CP...

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Yes, but it IS an option, and clearly documented here.  That's half the fun of Chumby -- figured out how to get it to do something useful -- the other half is the periodic updates with things you haven't thought of.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Well, if it was an option in the control panel, you'd have to allow them to change textsize, x, y, width, height, etc.  Seems like that would get awfully messy to me.

Re: Possible to always have time showing?

Yeah, it's a very difficult thing to draw the line between adding every feature that everyone would ever want, ending up with a bewildering array of settings and options, and keeping the device reasonable for someone to just pick up and use without having to consult a manual.

In some cases, I think we may have gone too far - many people find the current alarm system to be overly complicated, however, it's a direct result of user feature requests - probably the area where we've been the most reactive on features.

I tend to address these sorts of things, when a small group wants something, but can't collectively decide what it should be, as easter eggs.

There are dozens of threads like this one - one group strongly feels the chumby is a clock, and so all of the primary features should be clock-related.  Another group thinks the device is first and foremost a music playing device, so those features should be brought forward.  Others think of it as a widgets-playing device (what we originally designed), and so want more capabilities and options there.

A lot of these requests result in what we call "psychic chumby" - there are lots of posts that want the top button to magically know what the user wants, which is to go to the single thing they're thinking of at that moment, ex. start the music, stop the music, go to the next track, delay the next alarm, advance the widget, show the time.  Everyone wants their favorite feature, or indeed multiple features, to be only one button press away, and that's simply not possible with such a small screen and only one button.

Some of these discussions eventually devolve to the next stage, "morse code chumby", when you see things like "hold for 2 seconds means X, hold for 3 seconds means Y, double click means Z", where one has to have a perfect timing to navigate an arcane and undiscoverable vocabulary of taps and clicks.

We actually have an example of this in practice - the use of the accelerometer to advance widgets.  Many people don't know that you can hold the button and tilt the device to move from one widget to the next or previous.  Of course, there's no reason why anyone would naturally figure that out.

The ultimate "easter egg", of course, is that the device is open enough that with sufficient skills and cleverness, one can make it do anything one wants within the restraints of the hardware.  Ironically, that may be *more* frustrating to those without the skills, since the Holy Grail Chumby is there but just out of reach.  If the device were closed, then one could at least be comforted that there's nothing that could possibly be done.

Anyway, be assured that we are listening and consider these things very carefully - those folks that have been chumby users for a while can attest that stuff folks request very often end up in the product, though sometimes in some different form.