Topic: slideshow + widget

I use my infocast ONLY to show a slideshow, and was interested in writing a widget as well (so i could send a text message to be shown on the infocast once in a while).

How can I make the infocast show ONLY a slideshow, and once a minute show a widget ?

2 (edited by pete_c 2011-06-26 10:09:31)

Re: slideshow + widget

You could run a widget manually running the saved to the Chumby swf file.  Just configure a USB dongle with debugchumby running a script to your liking.

A couple of weeks ago I tested out some free "french post card" flash files.  Interesting flash files with some nice music.   I guess the premise is to mail these out like birthday cards, et al.

I'm remoting various hardware / software functions via the home automation "motherships (2)" now sans SSH custom scripts but rather with Damage's XPL Python script and touchscreen application which always runs in the backround.  IE: the "mothership" tells the Chumby's when to dim , shut off screen and basically what to display and when to display whatever.  The Chumby"display" mothership is on one box and the "control" & touchscreen application mothership is on another box.  I could run both on one box but decided to keep the function kind of separate.

Typically they are running a screen saver; say though an "event" happens that I want to display on the Chumbys; IE: a news alert, storm warning, delivery; the Chumby displays it.  Initially I attempted and configured the Linux version of a touchscreen application on the Chumby; it involved installing mono & SDL.  I couldn't get my flash stuff to show up though and it was a bit slow with the TTS stuff (and with cartoon sounding TTS); so I switched over to just using it in TSClient RDP  (thanks CodeMonkey83) to another mothership in the house and its working just fine.

Re: slideshow + widget

hi pete_c,

Could you give us some more details on your setup? Sounds very interesting.

4 (edited by pete_c 2011-07-01 13:32:13)

Re: slideshow + widget

Running Debian Lenny as documented here on the forum on a bit modded Infocast 8".  The base of the Infocast 8" is running the new Chumby 8 control panel.  I have configured a boot SD with Debian Lenny and Matchbox.  The Infocast boots into Debian Lenny and TSClient.  Via RDP it connects to a W2003 server running terminal service.  Here its running a customizable Touch screen interface called HSTouch.  HSTouch connects to the Homeseer server for home automation.

My initial efforts were to get the application running on Linux; which it does with Mono, SDL, TTS and Flash installed.  (I had issues with Adobe Flash and the TTS pieces though and like for like the speed is about the same with the RDP session versus running the application in Linux on the Chumby.

Here's a couple of pictures via FB0 of one Chumby.  I'm not really good at colors, drawing stuff so my screens are relatively simple.  I am using the Chumby FB0 screens though now on the main home automation server web pages to give me a kind of live view as to what's on the Chumby screens at any given time.  Mostly the Infocasts are running screen savers and I have specific screens that "pop" up based on events which occur.  Like if the sprinkler system kicks on then they display the sprinkler screen.  If a weather alert occurs then they display the NWS alert.  Door bell; then a live video view of the front door comes up.  The yellow text on the bottom of the main screen is an appearing rolling CNN news alert message which comes from a screen scrape of the main CNN web page.   Enabling the home automation VR you could walk up to an Infocast without touching it and just "tell" it to display a screen or go back to doing the screensaver.

HSTouch-Main

HSTouch-Sprinklers

Re: slideshow + widget

very cool. thanks for the info. might look into doing something similar.