libreELEC + lcdPROC + CFtontz uart display

dbsix · November 27, 2020 at 8:38 PM

Hello all,

I'm sorry that my very first post is in support thread but i've been struggling to get this display working under libreELEC. Or any display for that matter.My setup work under raspbian btw.

I will provide info as the thread progresses if it does but for now I would like to know which LCDd.conf the addon is loading by default?

Problem: LCD display trows garbled characters until it stops.

Expect: LCD to work in UART mode

I have this location /storage/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/http://service.lcdd/LCDd.conf

and

/storage/.kodi/addons/http://service.lcdd/config/LCDd.conf

neither one are loaded or partially loade at the very least. Kodi trows an "Empty driver information reply"

My guess is /storage/.kodi/addons/http://service.lcdd/config/LCDd.conf since it's the one that is deleted but I saw on some forum that new versions should load from /storage/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/service.lcdd/

I tested LCDd.conf with the binary LCDd and it loads fine but all variables are empty if i run lcdd.start.

it's getting pretty confusing for a setup that took about 5 minutes under raspbian...

this is a fresh install btw nothing else is installed appart from XMBClcd

Code

2020-11-27 14:36:13.579 T:2881561456  NOTICE: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connected to LCDd at 127.0.0.1:13666, Protocol version 0.3 - Geometry 16x2 characters (96x16 pixels, 6x8 pixels per character)
2020-11-27 14:36:13.608 T:2881561456  NOTICE: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Empty driver information reply
2020-11-27 14:36:13.778 T:2881561456  NOTICE: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Loading settings from /storage/.kodi/addons/script.xbmc.lcdproc/resources/LCD.xml.defaults
2020-11-27 14:36:13.802 T:2881561456  NOTICE: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Loading settings from /storage/.kodi/userdata/LCD.xml

As I see this right now it is suppose to load

everyway I tried I get the same logs from kodi except if i kill the lcd process and run it manually then kodi trows another error that I sould check pins configurations or whatnot...

same as previous but with

Code

2020-11-27 14:54:58.555 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - SendCommand: Telnet exception - reread
2020-11-27 14:54:58.555 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - noop failed in IsConnected(), aborting!
2020-11-27 14:54:58.556 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connect: Caught exception, aborting.
2020-11-27 14:54:58.556 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connect failed. Retry in 4 seconds.
2020-11-27 14:55:02.557 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connect: Caught exception, aborting.
2020-11-27 14:55:02.557 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connect failed. Retry in 8 seconds.
2020-11-27 14:55:10.559 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connect: Caught exception, aborting.
2020-11-27 14:55:10.560 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connect failed. Retry in 16 seconds.
2020-11-27 14:55:26.564 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connect: Caught exception, aborting.
2020-11-27 14:55:26.564 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connect failed. Retry in 32 seconds.
2020-11-27 14:55:58.576 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connect: Caught exception, aborting.
2020-11-27 14:55:58.577 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connect failed. Retry in 64 seconds.
2020-11-27 14:57:02.590 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connect: Caught exception, aborting.
2020-11-27 14:57:02.590 T:2881561456   ERROR: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connect failed. Giving up. Please fix any connection problems and restart the addon.

Display More

variables loaded from lcdd.start

Code

LibreELEC4:~/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd/bin # sh lcdd.start
EDITOR='nano'
HOME='/storage'
HOSTNAME='LibreELEC4'
IFS='
'
LD_LIBRARY_PATH='/usr/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/script.module.addon.signals/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/script.module.certifi/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/script.module.chardet/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/script.module.defusedxml/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/script.module.idna/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/script.module.inputstreamhelper/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/script.module.requests/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/script.module.urllib3/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/script.module.youtube.dl/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/service.system.docker/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/virtual.adafruit-libraries/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/virtual.rpi-tools/lib:/storage/.kodi/addons/virtual.system-tools/lib:/usr/lib/pulseaudio'
LINENO=''
LOGNAME='root'
MAIL='/var/mail/root'
OLDPWD='/storage/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd'
OPTIND='1'
PATH='/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/storage/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd/bin:/storage/.kodi/addons/service.system.docker/bin:/storage/.kodi/addons/virtual.rpi-tools/bin:/storage/.kodi/addons/virtual.system-tools/bin'
PPID='1717'
PS1='\[\e[1;32m\]\h\[\e[1;32m\]:\[\e[1;34m\]\w \[\e[0m\]\$ '
PS2='> '
PS4='+ '
PWD='/storage/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd/bin'
SHELL='/bin/sh'
SHLVL='2'
SSH_CLIENT='192.168.121.100 51451 22'
SSH_CONNECTION='192.168.121.100 51451 192.168.121.191 22'
SSH_TTY='/dev/pts/0'
SYSTEMD_COLORS='0'
TERM='xterm'
USER='root'
LCDd 0.5dev, LCDproc Protocol 0.3
Part of the LCDproc suite
...

Display More

I can't say it never worked though On my previous build I had the 4 bit mode working for an hitachi lcd display. I will have to test it back to see but i recall it wasn't as straight forward as raspbian i still had to ssh in the box. I can't remember what I did now anyways i'll keep testing this out if it can help others and at the same time get this to load I would be happy.

This is the output log if I reboot with

Code

LibreELEC4:~ # cat .kodi/addons/service.lcdd/bin/
LCDd        lcdd.start
LibreELEC4:~ # cat .kodi/addons/service.lcdd/bin/lcdd.start | grep LCD
#if [ -z "$LCD_DRIVER" -o "$LCD_DRIVER" == "none" ]; then
#LCDCONF=$ADDON_HOME/LCDd.conf
#if [ ! -f $LCDCONF ]; then
#  if [ -f /storage/.cache/LCDd.conf ]; then
#    mv /storage/.cache/LCDd.conf $LCDCONF
#    cp $ADDON_DIR/config/LCDd.conf $LCDCONF
#LCDd -f -c $LCDCONF -d $LCD_DRIVER
LCDd -c /storage/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd/config/LCDd.conf -d CFontz -f

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Code

2020-11-27 15:31:24.890 T:2776916848  NOTICE: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Connected to LCDd at 127.0.0.1:13666, Protocol version 0.3 - Geometry 16x2 characters (96x16 pixels, 6x8 pixels per character)
2020-11-27 15:31:24.935 T:2776916848  NOTICE: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Empty driver information reply
2020-11-27 15:31:25.121 T:2776916848  NOTICE: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Loading settings from /storage/.kodi/addons/script.xbmc.lcdproc/resources/LCD.xml.defaults
2020-11-27 15:31:25.139 T:2776916848  NOTICE: ### [XBMC LCDproc] - Loading settings from /storage/.kodi/userdata/LCD.xml

this is my second day on this now I think i'll be able to join the lcdproc dev team in two or three days

config.txt

Code

dtoverlay=uart2
enable_uart=1

uname -a

Code

Linux LibreELEC4 4.19.127 #1 SMP Sat Oct 24 15:01:22 EDT 2020 armv7l GNU/Linux

Code

LCDd 0.5dev, LCDproc Protocol 0.3

If anyone has a clue on how to load this i'd be happy.

thank you

ghtester · November 28, 2020 at 12:22 AM

Run this command to see what's the path to current LCDd.conf:

ps | grep LCD

You should see there something like:

LCDd -f -c /storage/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/http://service.lcdd/LCDd.conf -d hd44780

dbsix · November 28, 2020 at 6:04 AM

i have this issue on my other raspberry pi

empty driver response????!!!!

other rpi other fresh install which i had working the other day lol

here:

Code

LibreELEC1:~/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd/bin # ps | grep LCD
902 nobody    0:05 LCDd -f -c /storage/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/service.lcdd/LCDd.conf -d hd44780
923 root      0:00 grep LCD

i have a 4bit display hooked up which i am 100% sure was working with my old install.

i guess it's user error wth

edit: yes hook up error on my second pi now everthing works again but i learned something that i need to test with my cfontz display.

ghtester · November 28, 2020 at 6:30 AM

So you need to edit the [hd44780] section in /storage/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/http://service.lcdd/LCDd.conf to match your specific UART display's HW.

You may also find some info here:

RE: LCDproc problem

dbsix · November 28, 2020 at 11:41 PM

Right now this is what have that works on my raspbian partition.

Code

[server]
DriverPath = /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/lcdproc/
Driver=CFontz
NextScreenKey = Right
PrevScreenKey = Left
ReportToSyslog = yes
ToggleRotateKey = Enter
[menu]
DownKey = Down
EnterKey = Enter
MenuKey = Escape
UpKey = Up
[CFontz]
Device=/dev/ttyAMA1
Size=16x2
Contrast=600
Brightness=750
OffBrightness=0
Speed=19200
NewFirmware=yes
Reboot=no

Display More

This works 100% with only one pin (RX) from the display to GPIO of uart2 TX pin. Same config in libreelec doesn't.

This is the same config except the driver path, I will need to reboot to get that LCD.conf but yeah i resetted everything yesterday and let kodi pick the driver i choose from the menu I saw that the user_data/conf was generated after that. That is the file i now edit to be certain.

I'm trying to find why. I tought it was the empty response i saw in kodi's log but it seems the CFontz variable is pushed anywais even if I don't change the driver in

/storage/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/http://service.lcdd/LCDd.conf

So no problem there but still all I get on the display is garbled data. Until it crashes.

dbsix · November 29, 2020 at 12:47 AM

Quote from ghtester

So you need to edit the [hd44780] section in /storage/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/http://service.lcdd/LCDd.conf to match your specific UART display's HW.
You may also find some info here:
RE: LCDproc problem

oh i see? even if it's a CFontz? plus mine is really old (632) Those are particular since they are driven by another uC.We need to pâss it certain command. I will try though I have nothing to lose if it works i'll report back.

ghtester · November 29, 2020 at 3:31 AM

Yes as you can see in your PS output there's the -d hd44780 parameter which forces this driver to be used (see the comments at beginning of LCDd.conf file regarding to -d parameter).

Change that in LCDproc add-on Configuration settings first to use another (CFontz or whatever you like) instead of default hd44780 driver.

dbsix · November 29, 2020 at 4:40 AM

Quote from ghtester

Yes as you can see in your PS output there's the -d hd44780 parameter which forces this driver to be used (see the comments at beginning of LCDd.conf file regarding to -d parameter).
Change that in LCDproc add-on Configuration settings first to use another (CFontz or whatever you like) instead of default hd44780 driver.

I think I confused the thread with my second raspberry wich is running fine with my hd44780. The output i provided was from another rpi with another display sorry about his.

The only issue is with the crystalfontz display. Whatever what I try all I get is garbled data on the LCD which is running fine under raspbian. same driver almost same config apart from the driver path.

ps output is not accessible at the moment but it's definintly Cfontz last time i grepped..

ghtester · November 29, 2020 at 10:02 AM

OK, I understand. So please don't mix too many things together and focus on LE.

I think LCDproc works on LE as same as on Rpi OS if properly configured, just the config file location / driver folder location is different. I can recommend to do / check these steps in LE:

1) Put the appropriate necessary options to /flash/config.txt and check if the display is properly attached, check if there's no HW / SW conflict on UART

2) Install the LCDproc add-on and configure it in GUI to select the correct driver. Then reboot LE and check if the LCDd is running with proper parameters using ps | grep LCD

3) Edit the appropriate LCDd.conf config file located in accordance with ps | grep LCD output to put necessary preferrences to correct display section

4) Reboot LE again and then install and configure the XBMC LCDproc add-on properly.

I don't have any experience with Cfontz display as I am using hd44780 connected through i2c but I believe it should work fine as well.

You can also run the LCDd in foreground to test quickly with any preferred config file but make sure you don't run more instances at the same time.

dbsix · November 29, 2020 at 6:41 PM

Quote from ghtester

OK, I understand. So please don't mix too many things together and focus on LE.
I think LCDproc works on LE as same as on Rpi OS if properly configured, just the config file location / driver folder location is different. I can recommend to do / check these steps in LE:
1) Put the appropriate necessary options to /flash/config.txt and check if the display is properly attached, check if there's no HW / SW conflict on UART
2) Install the LCDproc add-on and configure it in GUI to select the correct driver. Then reboot LE and check if the LCDd is running with proper parameters using ps | grep LCD
3) Edit the appropriate LCDd.conf config file located in accordance with ps | grep LCD output to put necessary preferrences to correct display section
4) Reboot LE again and then install and configure the XBMC LCDproc add-on properly.
I don't have any experience with Cfontz display as I am using hd44780 connected through i2c but I believe it should work fine as well.
You can also run the LCDd in foreground to test quickly with any preferred config file but make sure you don't run more instances at the same time.

Display More

I will debug with this thanks. Yesterday I copied over the driver from raspian installation sionce it wasn't the same size i figured something must have changed in the LE version. I migh need to compile outside the box and test again.

1.

Code

LibreELEC4:~ # grep uart /flash/config.txt
# enable uart for LCD display
#dtoverlay=uart1
dtoverlay=uart2
enable_uart=1

&

Code

cat /flash/cmdline.txt
boot=LABEL=System disk=LABEL=Storage quiet

LibreELEC4:~ # ls -la /dev/ttyAMA*
crw-rw----    1 root     dialout   204,  64 Apr 11  2019 /dev/ttyAMA0
crw-rw----    1 root     dialout   204,  65 Nov 29 13:26 /dev/ttyAMA1
LibreELEC4:~ # ls -la /dev/serial*
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             5 Apr 11  2019 /dev/serial0 -> ttyS0
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root             7 Apr 11  2019 /dev/serial1 -> ttyAMA1




LibreELEC4:~ # dmesg | grep uart
[    0.000000] Kernel command line: coherent_pool=1M 8250.nr_uarts=1 cma=64M cma=256M video=HDMI-A-1:1360x768M@60 smsc95xx.macaddr=DC:A6:32:8F:39:9F vc_mem.mem_base=0x3ec00000 vc_mem.mem_size=0x40000000  boot=LABEL=System disk=LABEL=Storage quiet root=/dev/ram0 rdinit=/init usbcore.autosuspend=-1
[    0.694037] uart-pl011 fe201000.serial: cts_event_workaround enabled
[    6.950653] uart-pl011 fe201400.serial: no DMA platform data


LibreELEC4:~ # telnet 127.0.0.1 13666
Connected to 127.0.0.1
hello
connect LCDproc 0.5dev protocol 0.3 lcd wid 16 hgt 2 cellwid 6 cellhgt 8


hello
connect LCDproc 0.5dev protocol 0.3 lcd wid 16 hgt 2 cellwid 6 cellhgt 8
client_set name test_cf
success
screen_add lcd
success
listen lcd
ignore lcd
listen lcd
ignore lcd
listen lcd

Display More

2.

Code

LibreELEC4:~ # ps aux | grep -i lcd
1293 root      0:00 /bin/sh /storage/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd/bin/lcdd.start
1306 nobody    0:01 LCDd -f -c /storage/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/service.lcdd/LCDd.conf -d CFontz

Code

cat /storage/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd/bin/lcdd.start
#!/bin/sh


# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
# Copyright (C) 2016-present Team LibreELEC (https://libreelec.tv)


. /etc/profile
oe_setup_addon service.lcdd


if [ -z "$LCD_DRIVER" -o "$LCD_DRIVER" == "none" ]; then
exit 0
fi


LCDCONF=$ADDON_HOME/LCDd.conf


if [ ! -f $LCDCONF ]; then
if [ -f /storage/.cache/LCDd.conf ]; then
mv /storage/.cache/LCDd.conf $LCDCONF
else
cp $ADDON_DIR/config/LCDd.conf $LCDCONF
fi
fi


LCDd -f -c $LCDCONF -d $LCD_DRIVER

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/storage/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/http://service.lcdd/LCDd.conf

Code

## CrystalFontz driver (for CF632 & CF634) ##
[CFontz]


# Select the output device to use [default: /dev/lcd]
#Device=/dev/ttyS0
Device=/dev/ttyAMA1
# Select the LCD size [default: 20x4]
Size=16x2
# Set the initial contrast [default: 560; legal: 0 - 1000]
Contrast=650
# Set the initial brightness [default: 1000; legal: 0 - 1000]
Brightness=750
# Set the initial off-brightness [default: 0; legal: 0 - 1000]
# This value is used when the display is normally
# switched off in case LCDd is inactive
OffBrightness=0
# Set the communication speed [default: 9600; legal: 1200, 2400, 9600, 19200,
# 115200]
Speed=115200
# Set the firmware version (New means >= 2.0) [default: no; legal: yes, no]
NewFirmware=yes
# Reinitialize the LCD's BIOS [default: no; legal: yes, no]
# normally you shouldn't need this
Reboot=no

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i reinstalled from scratch. Still garbled data

This cfontz driver isns't the same as the one in the raspbian distro.

Code

ldd /storage/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd/lib/lcdproc/CFontz.so
ldd: $warning: you do not have execution permission for `/storage/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd/lib/lcdproc/CFontz.so.old'
linux-vdso.so.1 (0xbef98000)
/usr/lib/libarmmem-v7l.so (0xb6ec4000)
libc.so.6 => /usr/lib/libc.so.6 (0xb6d89000)
/usr/lib/ld-linux-armhf.so.3 (0xb6ed9000)

Code

LibreELEC4:~ # ldd /storage/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd/lib/lcdproc/CFontz.so.test
ldd: $warning: you do not have execution permission for `/storage/.kodi/addons/service.lcdd/lib/lcdproc/CFontz.so'
linux-vdso.so.1 (0xbefbe000)
/usr/lib/libarmmem-v7l.so (0xb6f90000)
libdl.so.2 => /usr/lib/libdl.so.2 (0xb6f7d000)
libc.so.6 => /usr/lib/libc.so.6 (0xb6e42000)
/usr/lib/ld-linux-armhf.so.3 (0xb6fba000)

That explains the driver size. What does this libdl.so.2 suppose to do?

ghtester · November 29, 2020 at 9:42 PM

Well, forget the libraries and double check your configuration again instead.

Why don't you try the same (earlier working on RPi OS) display settings in LCDd.conf?

I see you changed the Speed parameter from 19200 Bd to 115200. Some displays have the DIP switch to select the preferred speed so if you did not set that properly, the garbage on your display is the logical result.

dbsix · November 30, 2020 at 2:43 AM

nevermind speed issue ffs thank you man

You saw it i don't know why I wrote 115200 in this conf. the other box is set at 19200 baud. ffs. you can close this

ghtester · November 30, 2020 at 3:32 AM

No problem. I'm glad I could help.

Please click EDIT THREAD button and select option Mark as Resolved.