[NTLUG:Discuss] Raspberry Pi Video Marquee Project

[terry]

Here is a demo,  this was after I first brought it up to the post and
hooked it up earlier this week.  There are about 35 images on it now,
(mostly pictures taken at recent events at the post and there are a couple
of other text announcements as well).  I'm using gimp to edit or import or
create the images.  If it is a document, it can be exported to pdf and then
converted to jpeg with gimp, so pretty much any document or image is fair
game.

http://youtu.be/TYOPvaY8iG0


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.
> <><
>



-- 
In God we trust.
<><