Peppy player

[peppy.player]

Hold on, let's try to fix your issues first.

Here is the procedure which I follow when creating the disk image for Waveshare 3.5" touchscreen:
1. Install headless image.
2. Download and install driver:
wget https://www.waveshare.com/w/upload/3/34 ... 331.tar.gz
tar xvf LCD-show-180331.tar.gz
rm LCD-show-180331.tar.gz
cd LCD-show
./LCD35B-show
it reboots itself, during rebooting process you will see messages on screen
3. To make touchscreen available without X-Windows create new file:
sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/95-ads7846.rules
with content:
SUBSYSTEM=="input", KERNEL=="event[0-9]*", ATTRS{name}=="ADS7846 Touchscreen", SYMLINK+="input/touchscreen"
4. After reboot should appear device /dev/input/touchscreen
5. Install callibration utility:
sudo apt-get install libts-bin
6. Calibrate:
sudo TSLIB_FBDEVICE=/dev/fb0 TSLIB_TSDEVICE=/dev/input/touchscreen ts_calibrate
7. Comment out the line in /etc/rc.local:
#fbcp &
8. As driver overwrites /et/rc.local you need manually add back the command to start Peppy:
su pi -c 'cd /home/pi/Peppy; openvt -s -- python3 peppy.py'
9. To remove console messages during startup change file cmdline.txt:
sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt
from: fbcon=map:10
to: fbcon=map:2
10. Final reboot.

[mazellan]

Thank you for your step by step directions. I was able to get my 3.5" display working with a pi zero. I also built up a 5" hdmi version with a Pi 3 B+ and due to it's much better boot times, I'm using that one in the car. I'm really looking forward to better podcast integration, if you have the time.

One more question - where do I turn off autoplay on boot?

[peppy.player]

Thank you for good news!

Which podcast type do you use? There are two types of podcasts: downloadable and streaming. The former one
is not so good for Pi as it's based on a flash memory which in turn has limited number of read/write cycles. The
streaming type is actually just a stream and there is stream support in player already. But that works only if the
stream URL is the same for the whole podcast series. I don't use podcasts myself therefore it would be helpful
if you could recommend what would be the best way to implement it.

Unfortunately the only way to turn off auto-play is to change the configuration file current.txt which is not doable
in most cases. So it looks like a new item for 'wish list' BTW I've implemented recursive playback functionality -
when you press on folder and hold for a second it will start playing all files in that folder and all subfolders. It
should be available in the next release.

How do you plan to connect the car player to the Internet for podcasts? Through hotspot in your phone?

Please let me know if you will decide to share the info about your player. It would be the very first car system in the Gallery.
Right now I'm trying to implement FM Radio functionality based on RTL-SDR USB dongle. If it will work well
then it would be a good addition to the car system.

[mazellan]

In my car, which is actually a campervan build in progress, I use my phone as a mobile hotspot. I live in Australia, and travel to remote areas a lot where there is no mobile coverage, so I need to download podcasts when I can. My car player includes a 500GB hard disk so storage is not a problem. I envisage entering a number of podcast rss feed urls into a text file - the player would then list the podcasts, selecting one would then list the latest 10 unplayed episodes with a check box for set to download.

I've kept the original radio as I need the AM band for the government run stations which carry emergency information during bushfires and floods - FM doesn't have the coverage, I'm often in remote areas 100's of km from the nearest town.

I'll take some photos of my player and upload when I can.

[peppy.player]

Could you give one example URL of the podcast RSS feed? As far as I understand that should return XML file with links to available
episodes, descriptions and time. Then player should handle the state of each episode - available, downloading, downloaded, playing
and played. It looks like there are some Python libraries which can help to parse feeds. So, it's doable I just don't promise this for
the next release which is close to finish. Though I can implement use.auto.play parameter as it's pretty easy to do

As for RTL-SDR dongles, with good antenna they can work in pretty wide frequency ranges and cover AM/FM ranges, DVB-T TV,
weather stations, police stations etc. For the Peppy player I'm planning only FM range. If the player has access to the Internet it
could also show album art for the currently broadcasting songs by decoding RDBS/RDS messages. I'm currently trying to
resolve the issue with decoding library:
https://github.com/windytan/redsea/issues/62

[mazellan]

Here's a typical podcast I listen to:
https://feed.theskepticsguide.org/feed

Thanks for all your hard work!

[kle]

Hello,
boot to console.
I calibrate the 3.2" waveshare touchscreen with:

Code: Select all

sudo TSLIB_FBDEVICE=/dev/fb1 TSLIB_TSDEVICE=/dev/input/touchscreen ts_calibrate

perhaps you need tslib-bin, install it with:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install libts-bin

regards, kle

[peppy.player]

This is included to the disk images for Waveshare touchscreens.
I'll add the information about calibration to the installation guide:
https://github.com/project-owner/Peppy.doc/wiki/Expert

[peppy.player]

New version (Goya Edition) of the Peppy Player was released today.

New features:

* Refactored VU Meter screensaver. Now it leverages peppymeter plugin.

* Added Spectrum Analyzer screensaver. It also leverages peppyalsa plugin.



* Modified Weather screensaver. Backgrounds were added to the screensaver. That will reduce the screen brightness and help to better serve the screensaver role.



* Added Recursive Playback mode. In this mode player will automatically play all files in folder and all sub-folders.
https://github.com/project-owner/Peppy. ... e-Playback

* Introduced the flag disabling automatic playback upon startup.

* Improved support for SVG icons. Only one set of icons is required now. The icon colors will be changed accordingly during runtime.

* Fixed issues in Logo screensaver and Audiobooks playback. By setting image height to 100% in the Logo screensaver configuration file the album art will occupy full screen now.

[mazellan]

Thanks for new version, it's looking really good.

One problem I'm having is adding new radio stations - I've deleted genres I don't wan't, and added a new one, only in the English language folder. A copy of the Genre folder is in my Google drive, link here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

What happens is that it will start playing the first station in News, where the Genre icon should be is a microphone icon, however tapping this brings up Genres, tapping SomaFM then starts playing the first entry in stations.m3u and then locks up the interface, rebooting is the only way out. I've checked the files for errors but obviously I'm missing something.

[peppy.player]

I see two issues in your SomaFM folder:
- There are no folder icons (folder.png, folder-on.png), probably you just didn't upload them. Those icons should be in each folder. They represent the genre in the Genre menu.
- Linux is a case sensitive OS. Therefore the station names in stations.m3u file and image file names should have the same case. For example if in stations.m3u you have
#Deep Space One
then image name should be also
Deep Space One.png
You have all low case:
deep space one.png

Please try to fix these issues and let me know if it works after that.

[mazellan]

I just realized I needed folder and folder-on - as for the case issue, it's really easy to miss. I've only been playing with linux for 6 months after 28 years of MS Windows! Thanks for the quick response.

[peppy.player]

OK, I'll make it case insensitive in the next release. Please let me know if you will face any other issue. I'm trying to come up with design for podcasts right now.

[peppy.player]

Last time I received several questions related to the Peppy player.
There is no FAQ chapter on the player's wiki pages yet.
So I'll try to answer them here.

Q: Is there any ISO file for the Peppy Player?

A: There is no ISO file but there is IMG file which is functionally
very similar to ISO files but works with flash cards. You just write
IMG file to your micro SD flash card, insert the card into your
Raspberry Pi and you are ready to go. All player's image files can be
found here:
https://github.com/project-owner/PeppyP ... isk-Images

Q: Is there any player EXE file which I could install and run?

A: Peppy Player is a Python application. It's distributed as a set of
Python scripts. Even though there is a way to make executable file
from Python scripts it's not a usual way of distributing Python
applications.

Q: There are several Disk Images which one I need to choose?

A: It depends.

If you are planning to control player from browser in
any mobile device then you need to install Headless disk image.

If you already have LCD/Touchscreen for which the disk image
is available then you need to install that disk image. If you are just
going to buy LCD/Touchscreen then you need to install the disk image
for the LCD which you are buying.

From my expirience HDMI LCD/Touchscreens have better performance over
SPI LCDs. There is only one disk image for the 5" HDMI Touchscreen
right now. I hope to add more in the future.

Q: Is it possible to add my own links to web radio stations?

A: Yes, the process was described on the following wiki page:
https://github.com/project-owner/Peppy. ... /Languages
in section 'Create web radio playlists'. If you create brand new radio group
you also have to provide two images 'folder.png' and 'folder-on.png'. They
will represent your radio group in the 'Genre' menu. Also make sure that
the station image filenames are the same as the radio station names which
you define in the stations.m3u file.

[andrei2882]

.

[andrei2882]

Hello, I do not speak English and use a translator. I cannot connect via ssh using the goya-waveshare.3.5.zip system, the user pi password tried raspberry or Vermeer, the passwords are not suitable how do I connect to the system via ssh to install the sound card and mount disks

[peppy.player]

As mentioned here:
https://github.com/project-owner/PeppyP ... isk-Images
The password for Goya Edition is Goya. It's highly recommended to change the password after the first login using raspi-config utility.

[andrei2882]

Thank you very much for the help, I would also like to understand how to turn the screen, and then when setting the rotation, it remains in place and the system stops loading until the end

[peppy.player]

Which screen do you have?

[andrei2882]

Здравствуйте, экран Pi 3,5 дюймов драйвер Waveshare 3.5" LCD, на этом дисплее хочу повернуть изображение экрана на 90 градусов, после применения драйвера raspberry загружается но сам плеер не запускается, на экране один текст и изображение остается не повернутым, переворот пробовал сделать в файле config.txt командой display_rotate=1

[jamesh]

Здравствуйте, экран Pi 3,5 дюймов драйвер Waveshare 3.5" LCD, на этом дисплее хочу повернуть изображение экрана на 90 градусов, после применения драйвера raspberry загружается но сам плеер не запускается, на экране один текст и изображение остается не повернутым, переворот пробовал сделать в файле config.txt командой display_rotate=1

Can you provide a translation please.

[ShiftPlusOne]

Здравствуйте, экран Pi 3,5 дюймов драйвер Waveshare 3.5" LCD, на этом дисплее хочу повернуть изображение экрана на 90 градусов, после применения драйвера raspberry загружается но сам плеер не запускается, на экране один текст и изображение остается не повернутым, переворот пробовал сделать в файле config.txt командой display_rotate=1

Can you provide a translation please.

Basically just asking how to rotate the display by 90 degrees on a Waveshare 3.5" LCD

Maybe this thread would be more appropriate:
viewtopic.php?f=84&t=160201

[peppy.player]

...
Maybe this thread would be more appropriate:
viewtopic.php?f=84&t=160201

I replied in that thread.

[peppy.player]

New version (El Greco Edition) of the Peppy Player was just released.

New features:

* Added new resolution (800*480) to the VU Meter screensaver.

* Implemented Radio Favorites. Radio stations from the different genres/groups can be added to the favorites playlist.
https://github.com/project-owner/Peppy. ... -Favorites

* Added timer functionality. It provides autonomous mode when there is no need to switch the player on and off manually.



* Implemented song lyrics screensaver.



* Implemented random screensaver which shows screensavers from the user-defined list in the random order.



* Provided new disk image for Waveshare 2.8" touchscreen.

Peppy player powered by the following software and services:

[peppy.player]

From Jan 3 2019 Yahoo retired YQL service:
https://developer.yahoo.com/yql/
That means that the Weather plugin in the Peppy player will not work anymore.
I'll fix the issue in the next release.