Hello Massimo,
as you know (?) I'm very interested in using a touch screen together with the Raspi. This feature should be very interesting for choosing / starting scenes, sequences, ... already finished before at the PC.
At the moment I do so by using the web interface via smartphone and __Virtual Console__. That's great already, but it would be nice if one could control that from the Raspi directly...
As you mentioned this feature (touchsceen support) inside your mail (concerning the very new QLC+ Raspi version) I risk to ask you for more details, please, or any link or so...
Another question please.
As I know it's always a good idea not to switch off the Raspi after a session directly (removing the power usb cable), but to do a __halt__ command before (to request the operating system for finishing any file operations...)...
Is there an easy way to do so? May be a command that can be started from inside the QLC+ software?
Actually I force that __halt__ via PuTTY, but it could / should be more "comfortable"...
Thank you in advance
Frank
New QLC+ ... touchscreen support
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Massimo Callegari
Frank, with another QLC+ user we made this to work:
http://www.adafruit.com/product/2097
That was on Raspberry 1 though. Not sure if they already have all the software ready for RPi 2 as well.
The only thing missing is the touchscreen calibration.
As for shutdown, there are apps for Android and iOS to send SSH commands.
Please search this forum.
http://www.adafruit.com/product/2097
That was on Raspberry 1 though. Not sure if they already have all the software ready for RPi 2 as well.
The only thing missing is the touchscreen calibration.
As for shutdown, there are apps for Android and iOS to send SSH commands.
Please search this forum.
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Frank
Thank you, Massimo,
you explicitly mentioned __"Mouse/keyboard hotplug is now working as well as touchscreen support"__. So I thought this is on Raspi... But now I don't know what this should has meant... My hope was, that there is any kind of support of touch screens connected to these Raspis...
Concerning the __halt__ or __shutdown__ command I understand that (nearly) every remote device (pc, android device, ...) would be able to connect the Raspi via SSH. But this is additional work to do so...
In my opinion inside the web interface it should be "easy" to implement an additional button beside those __Reboot__ one with that functionality __Shutdown__. I think it's nearly the same command to the OS (a system call, "halt" instead of "reboot") that could make the handling (much more) easier... Couldn't it?
Frank
you explicitly mentioned __"Mouse/keyboard hotplug is now working as well as touchscreen support"__. So I thought this is on Raspi... But now I don't know what this should has meant... My hope was, that there is any kind of support of touch screens connected to these Raspis...
Concerning the __halt__ or __shutdown__ command I understand that (nearly) every remote device (pc, android device, ...) would be able to connect the Raspi via SSH. But this is additional work to do so...
In my opinion inside the web interface it should be "easy" to implement an additional button beside those __Reboot__ one with that functionality __Shutdown__. I think it's nearly the same command to the OS (a system call, "halt" instead of "reboot") that could make the handling (much more) easier... Couldn't it?
Frank
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Massimo Callegari
I should have completed the sentence as "Mouse/keyboard hotplug is now working when QLC+ is running..."
As far as I remember, that wasn't working before. You needed to reboot the RPi.
As for touchscreens, I guess every one of them is different. The more they integrate in a standard Linux system (e.g. using evdev), the more chance you have they will work with QLC+.
So, before buying one, carefully read the instructions to understand if eventually they will work in the QLC+ image. Or just point me to the instructions and I could tell if they will be OK.
Halt button: I'll keep this in mind for future versions. In the meantime use the workaround via SSH
As far as I remember, that wasn't working before. You needed to reboot the RPi.
As for touchscreens, I guess every one of them is different. The more they integrate in a standard Linux system (e.g. using evdev), the more chance you have they will work with QLC+.
So, before buying one, carefully read the instructions to understand if eventually they will work in the QLC+ image. Or just point me to the instructions and I could tell if they will be OK.
Halt button: I'll keep this in mind for future versions. In the meantime use the workaround via SSH
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Frank
Hi Massimo,
thank you again for dealing with that subject...
First of all there should be defined what features are expected by connecting such a (small) touch screen.
In my opinion it's not wise to display the whole QLC+ surface to work with, but a screen similarly to the web interface, may configurable separately...
There are many (bigger) touch screens (7" and above) that could connected via HDMI and USB (touch). This is not my idea...
On the other hand there are a lot of smaller ones (resolution 320 x 240, eventually 480 x 320). These small ones are equipped with a connector that has to be connected via the GPIO port connector to the Raspi. But for these ones there are kernel drivers necessary.
I tested one before and used finally __Tkinter__ to create a "window" that included some buttons and sliders... to control some output ports of the GPIO.
Very importand would be how to "connect" (interact) to the running QLC+. There is a Need to interact to the created buttons, sliders (of the virtual console), or what do you think?
Or is there a possibility to present that web interface window on the touch screen? How?
Here is a link to a side I used for my first (successful) experiments...
Thank you
Frank
thank you again for dealing with that subject...
First of all there should be defined what features are expected by connecting such a (small) touch screen.
In my opinion it's not wise to display the whole QLC+ surface to work with, but a screen similarly to the web interface, may configurable separately...
There are many (bigger) touch screens (7" and above) that could connected via HDMI and USB (touch). This is not my idea...
On the other hand there are a lot of smaller ones (resolution 320 x 240, eventually 480 x 320). These small ones are equipped with a connector that has to be connected via the GPIO port connector to the Raspi. But for these ones there are kernel drivers necessary.
I tested one before and used finally __Tkinter__ to create a "window" that included some buttons and sliders... to control some output ports of the GPIO.
Very importand would be how to "connect" (interact) to the running QLC+. There is a Need to interact to the created buttons, sliders (of the virtual console), or what do you think?
Or is there a possibility to present that web interface window on the touch screen? How?
Here is a link to a side I used for my first (successful) experiments...
Thank you
Frank
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Massimo Callegari
Frank, the Adafruit display I mentioned before is an actual replacement for a HDMI monitor.
The idea is to have a screen of the same size of the RPi, so you can put it in a compact box and see what the RPi/QLC+ is doing.
So, on that display you will see the QLC+ UI, not the web interface ! The latter is for remote access of a RPi without a monitor connected.
Obviously the little TFT screen is absolutely not for project editing.
The best thing you can do is to design a very compact Virtual Console, using multi page frames and control a QLC+ light show via touchscreen from there.
It's a nice solution, but you need to accept all the related compromises.
The idea is to have a screen of the same size of the RPi, so you can put it in a compact box and see what the RPi/QLC+ is doing.
So, on that display you will see the QLC+ UI, not the web interface ! The latter is for remote access of a RPi without a monitor connected.
Obviously the little TFT screen is absolutely not for project editing.
The best thing you can do is to design a very compact Virtual Console, using multi page frames and control a QLC+ light show via touchscreen from there.
It's a nice solution, but you need to accept all the related compromises.
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Frank
Hi Massimo,
one couldn't better express than you did!!!
As the web interface is a fantastic possibility for remote access of the RPi, I thought of that content to be displayed at the small TFT...
But you're right of course that a "very compact Virtual Console" is very useful as well... And as this is easier to do (if I understood correctly) that is the solution I'm looking for!
But connecting such a TFT directly to the GPIO port pins, a kernel driver is necessary, isn't it? So my annoying question is (again) how to implement such a driver into the img-file you delivered? __Is there any tutorial for doing so by any user of your great working QLC+ for RPi__? (((... or would you prepare this feature...?))).
Using the RPi along with QLC+ as a standalone solution (with the help of a TFT) would be nice, as there were no need for WiFi (router) at all (to use the web interface)!
Preparing a light show (more or less) off-line on a PC is very handy... Transferring such a project onto the RPi is already solved by your development... Controlling this light show via touchscreen would be very useful too.
Could we please continue this topic?
Many thanks in advance
Frank
one couldn't better express than you did!!!
As the web interface is a fantastic possibility for remote access of the RPi, I thought of that content to be displayed at the small TFT...
But you're right of course that a "very compact Virtual Console" is very useful as well... And as this is easier to do (if I understood correctly) that is the solution I'm looking for!
But connecting such a TFT directly to the GPIO port pins, a kernel driver is necessary, isn't it? So my annoying question is (again) how to implement such a driver into the img-file you delivered? __Is there any tutorial for doing so by any user of your great working QLC+ for RPi__? (((... or would you prepare this feature...?))).
Using the RPi along with QLC+ as a standalone solution (with the help of a TFT) would be nice, as there were no need for WiFi (router) at all (to use the web interface)!
Preparing a light show (more or less) off-line on a PC is very handy... Transferring such a project onto the RPi is already solved by your development... Controlling this light show via touchscreen would be very useful too.
Could we please continue this topic?
Many thanks in advance
Frank
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Massimo Callegari
Hi Frank, if we're still talking about the Adafruit display, their instructions are online:
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pit ... sy-install
Otherwise I think every manufacturer would provide their instructions as well.
I have no control/responsibility over 3rd party hardware installed on the Raspberry. I can only provide an image as generic as possible to support their installation
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pit ... sy-install
Otherwise I think every manufacturer would provide their instructions as well.
I have no control/responsibility over 3rd party hardware installed on the Raspberry. I can only provide an image as generic as possible to support their installation
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jsmain
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2015 5:44 pm
- Real Name: Jeff Main
Thanks for the link Massimo!Massimo Callegari wrote:Found this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwg4JfRPClo
Still for RPi 1 though
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Frank
Hi Massimo,
do you think that this small TFT would meet the requirements too:
It exactly fits onto the 40 pins GPIO of the RPi B+... (but doesn't use the whole functionality of these 40 pins of course).
There are step-by-step instructions ()...
... and my question is if there is a hope that your kernel won't be destroyed by installing so much "firmware" code...
Should I try the installation or is it not recommended???
Frank
do you think that this small TFT would meet the requirements too:
It exactly fits onto the 40 pins GPIO of the RPi B+... (but doesn't use the whole functionality of these 40 pins of course).
There are step-by-step instructions ()...
... and my question is if there is a hope that your kernel won't be destroyed by installing so much "firmware" code...
Should I try the installation or is it not recommended???
Frank
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Massimo Callegari
Hello Frank,
I would say that display is supported as well. It works on the same framebuffer driver of the Adafruit one.
I followed a couple of links from the GitHub page you posted, and found the original driver code:
https://github.com/notro/fbtft
and the supported displays:
https://github.com/notro/fbtft/wiki/LCD-Shields
As you can see they are both listed (Adafruit and Watterott)
However, Watterott provides a full Raspberry Pi image, so you would loose QLC+. Adafruit, instead, have been smarter and they provide only the necessary packages for a Raspbian image (the one I used for QLC+)
In conclusion, you'd need to build a modified kernel to obtain the drivers for Watterott display. Something I don't suggest to anyone not having a certain confidence in building a Linux kernel.
Otherwise, you can try the Adafruit packages. If the driver is the same and if they haven't touched the sources, it should work out of the box.
I would say that display is supported as well. It works on the same framebuffer driver of the Adafruit one.
I followed a couple of links from the GitHub page you posted, and found the original driver code:
https://github.com/notro/fbtft
and the supported displays:
https://github.com/notro/fbtft/wiki/LCD-Shields
As you can see they are both listed (Adafruit and Watterott)
However, Watterott provides a full Raspberry Pi image, so you would loose QLC+. Adafruit, instead, have been smarter and they provide only the necessary packages for a Raspbian image (the one I used for QLC+)
In conclusion, you'd need to build a modified kernel to obtain the drivers for Watterott display. Something I don't suggest to anyone not having a certain confidence in building a Linux kernel.
Otherwise, you can try the Adafruit packages. If the driver is the same and if they haven't touched the sources, it should work out of the box.
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Massimo Callegari
This mini LCD story is starting to intriguing me...so I'll probably get one myself and include the drivers in a future image 
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Frank
Hello Massimo,
your "final" statement is the very best I could expect related to this topic...
Thank you in advance!
Frank
your "final" statement is the very best I could expect related to this topic...
Thank you in advance!
Frank
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Massimo Callegari
Sorry Frank, there are issues with SourceForge:
https://sourceforge.net/p/qlcplus/discu ... /6a390f32/
https://sourceforge.net/p/qlcplus/discu ... /6a390f32/
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Austin Parrish Thomas
Massimo,
First off, thank you so much for all you are doing with QLC+, it is truly an amazing piece of software!
In relation to this topic, could there be, or is there already a way to only show the Virtual Console? With these small touch screens it would be great to have this option and considering you keep mentioning that the Pi isn't really meant for project editing anyway, some of the project editing features seem to be in the way on the Pi. I apologies in advance if this has already been brought up elsewhere!
Thanks!
First off, thank you so much for all you are doing with QLC+, it is truly an amazing piece of software!
In relation to this topic, could there be, or is there already a way to only show the Virtual Console? With these small touch screens it would be great to have this option and considering you keep mentioning that the Pi isn't really meant for project editing anyway, some of the project editing features seem to be in the way on the Pi. I apologies in advance if this has already been brought up elsewhere!
Thanks!
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Massimo Callegari
Hi, like on the desktop version, launch QLC+ with the -k option.
Written in the documentation:
http://www.qlcplus.org/docs/commandlineparameters.html
Written in the documentation:
http://www.qlcplus.org/docs/commandlineparameters.html
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Massimo Callegari
Hi again Frank. I just noticed that the Watterott display is only 2.8" 320x240.
I think it's just too small !
I would say 3.5" is the minimum requirement. It's a 480x320 display that fits on the same size of the RPi. Imagine the old iPhone display size.
I just purchased this: http://www.banggood.com/3_5-Inch-320-X- ... 58458.html
Should be the equivalent of the Adafruit one (if not the same!).
Very cheap and free shipping (at least to Italy)
I think it's just too small !
I would say 3.5" is the minimum requirement. It's a 480x320 display that fits on the same size of the RPi. Imagine the old iPhone display size.
I just purchased this: http://www.banggood.com/3_5-Inch-320-X- ... 58458.html
Should be the equivalent of the Adafruit one (if not the same!).
Very cheap and free shipping (at least to Italy)