Kweb Suite (Minimal Kiosk Browser, omxplayerGUI)

[gkreidl]

I've published version 1.7.4 today which fixes a small bug (patching of old presets).
For updating you can use the update function on the menu page. If you have installed kweb from kusti8's repository, you can use apt-get update & upgrade to get the new version.

[JavaDevGuy]

@gkreidl, your comment has explained a problem I have. Running Kweb in kiosk mode without a WM to host a Smart Mirror I have set the screen to be rotated, 1920x1080 instead of 1080x1920. As a mirror it is a much better display Unfortunately it then required that I choose a screen size that only uses a portion of the screen.

Is it possible to add the custom screen size option as a request? Or if the code is available I can take a look with your advice. I know various languages to different levels I may or may not be able to help with this feature depending on Kwebs code base.

I have my kiosk mode kweb working. I used option "6" (1366x768) on a screen size of 1360x768 and its' close enough.

I have several questions (if you have the time):
1) Why do I need to use a window manager?
2) If I don't, what features do I lose by not using one.
3) By not using a WM do I gain in memory or performance?
4) Any way to set a custom screen size rather than 0-9?

Thank you very much. I am enjoying using kweb.
Joe

I use a few window manager commands (maximize, full screen and new windpw), which won't work without a window manager (therefor the N, M and R options).
Using it without a window manager has not been thoroughly tested.
No, the resolutions are hard coded. It would require a minimal code change and recompile to add a custom resolution (replacing one of the others).
All this is not needed if you use a window manager because it will use the maximal screen size automatically.

[gkreidl]

@gkreidl, your comment has explained a problem I have. Running Kweb in kiosk mode without a WM to host a Smart Mirror I have set the screen to be rotated, 1920x1080 instead of 1080x1920. As a mirror it is a much better display Unfortunately it then required that I choose a screen size that only uses a portion of the screen.

Is it possible to add the custom screen size option as a request? Or if the code is available I can take a look with your advice. I know various languages to different levels I may or may not be able to help with this feature depending on Kwebs code base.

It can be easily done (and has been done before). I'll send you a PM with details tomorrow.

[vc1492a]

@gkreidl, your comment has explained a problem I have. Running Kweb in kiosk mode without a WM to host a Smart Mirror I have set the screen to be rotated, 1920x1080 instead of 1080x1920. As a mirror it is a much better display Unfortunately it then required that I choose a screen size that only uses a portion of the screen.

Is it possible to add the custom screen size option as a request? Or if the code is available I can take a look with your advice. I know various languages to different levels I may or may not be able to help with this feature depending on Kwebs code base.

It can be easily done (and has been done before). I'll send you a PM with details tomorrow.

@gkreidl, I am running into this issue as well. Kweb works flawlessly, it's just that the screen resolution is "reversed" when rotating the pi's display. I'm running kweb 1.6.8 on Raspbian Wheezy. Would you mind sending me a PM with some instructions as well? Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.

[gkreidl]

..

@gkreidl, I am running into this issue as well. Kweb works flawlessly, it's just that the screen resolution is "reversed" when rotating the pi's display. I'm running kweb 1.6.8 on Raspbian Wheezy. Would you mind sending me a PM with some instructions as well? Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.

I've sent you a PM.

[Pi_in_my_belly]

WOW. Fantastic bit of kit.

I set up a low budget distributed display solution around work. This consisted of a number of Pis connecting to different locally hosted sites. I was using MIDORI however it didn't support the VLC plugin so I found this post and thought i would give it a go.

It works great,,...........however.

Although the GUI boots in full screen when i use the autostart command to enter KIOSK mode i have about a 2cm border all around the screen. I didn't have this with midori. Any ideas clever people? Is it the window-manger?

Thankyou

[gkreidl]

WOW. Fantastic bit of kit.

I set up a low budget distributed display solution around work. This consisted of a number of Pis connecting to different locally hosted sites. I was using MIDORI however it didn't support the VLC plugin so I found this post and thought i would give it a go.

It works great,,...........however.

Although the GUI boots in full screen when i use the autostart command to enter KIOSK mode i have about a 2cm border all around the screen. I didn't have this with midori. Any ideas clever people? Is it the window-manger?

Thankyou

It's not normal and shouldn't happen. By default kweb sends a full screen command to the window manager in kiosk mode.
I need to know more about the circumstances (boot method, options, window manager).

[Pi_in_my_belly]

Thankyou very much.

It was me being an idiot.

The Pi seemed fine the other day but now I have had to adjust the display settings in the /boot/config.

Thankyou for the quick response.

[packetservo]

hi,
I am trying to embed a live HLS URL from Aljazeera website. The html file that is displayed is as below:

Code: Select all

<body>
<iframe src="file:///usr/local/share/packetservo/homepage.html?cmd=omxplayergui.py%20ytdl%20'http://aljazeera-eng-hd-live.hls.adaptive.le
vel3.net/aljazeera/english2/index2073.m3u8'" width=0 height=0 name="video"></iframe>
</body>

there is a script that launches kweb3 on startup as here:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/sh
matchbox-window-manager &
kweb3 -EHKAR+-zbhrqfpoklgtjneduwxyavcsmi#?!., file:///usr/local/share/packetservo/homepage.html

but the video doesn't start.
However if I ssh from a different computer and launch the command

Code: Select all

omxplayergui ytdl 'http://aljazeera-eng-hd-live.hls.adaptive.level3.net/aljazeera/english2/index2073.m3u8'

, it will display the live stream on my TV.
any idea, why the video is not being played in kweb3 kiosk mode?

[gkreidl]

hi,
I am trying to embed a live HLS URL from Aljazeera website. The html file that is displayed is as below:

Code: Select all

<body>
<iframe src="file:///usr/local/share/packetservo/homepage.html?cmd=omxplayergui.py%20ytdl%20'http://aljazeera-eng-hd-live.hls.adaptive.le
vel3.net/aljazeera/english2/index2073.m3u8'" width=0 height=0 name="video"></iframe>
</body>

there is a script that launches kweb3 on startup as here:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/sh
matchbox-window-manager &
kweb3 -EHKAR+-zbhrqfpoklgtjneduwxyavcsmi#?!., file:///usr/local/share/packetservo/homepage.html

but the video doesn't start.
However if I ssh from a different computer and launch the command

Code: Select all

omxplayergui ytdl 'http://aljazeera-eng-hd-live.hls.adaptive.level3.net/aljazeera/english2/index2073.m3u8'

, it will display the live stream on my TV.
any idea, why the video is not being played in kweb3 kiosk mode?

The link must be fully quoted. It's better to use kweb's editor to create such links.
The stream link you provided doesn't really work; it always stops after a minute or two. I also tried with livestreamer which throws errors because of bad m3u8 file. It's better to use the youtube jazeera live channel.

Code: Select all

=omxplayergui ytdl 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4XcgHYkRoI'

in the editor is converted to the following iframe code:

Code: Select all

<iframe src="file:///homepage.html?cmd=omxplayergui%20ytdl%20%27https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQ4XcgHYkRoI%27" width="2" height="2" name=""></iframe>

And this does work.
The interface of omxplayergui becomes a bit "laggy" with some HLS streams; the communication via stdin and dbus is rather slow. I'm trying to find a workaround (if possible).

[packetservo]

thanks! I will try this approach sooner.

What if I directly give urlencoded string pointing to a m3u8 file on the internet in the "src", will it work? This is to replace the need of specifying the "cmd" (I can try this out myself, but really looking ahead what to expect when I try this)

[gkreidl]

thanks! I will try this approach sooner.

What if I directly give urlencoded string pointing to a m3u8 file on the internet in the "src", will it work? This is to replace the need of specifying the "cmd" (I can try this out myself, but really looking ahead what to expect when I try this)

For "normal" (m3u, pls) playlists it does work.
But I'm not really sure which kinds of live streams are supported by omxplayer. Some do work, some don't. Some only work if I use livestreamer. I'm currently working on adding livestreamer support to omxplayerGUI.

[pumpkinpi]

Almost a year ago, I tried using Kweb on Jessie with my in house kiosk application. See post string here:
viewtopic.php?p=846075#p846075

Well, I ended up trying to get my buttons to work on Jessie and reverted to Wheezy and have been using it since. Now, I am back trying to get Jessie working again since I am building a new terminal.

As before, Javascipt is enabled and I have Kweb running in Kiosk mode, but my macro call buttons on WebIOPi web pages just won't work. I have tried Kweb GTK3 as well without success. All other browsers on all other computers, tablets and cell phones work just fine. For some reason Kweb on Jessie does not.

Looking for any more tips to try to get my buttons working.

Thanks,
PPi

[gkreidl]

Almost a year ago, I tried using Kweb on Jessie with my in house kiosk application. See post string here:
viewtopic.php?p=846075#p846075

Well, I ended up trying to get my buttons to work on Jessie and reverted to Wheezy and have been using it since. Now, I am back trying to get Jessie working again since I am building a new terminal.

As before, Javascipt is enabled and I have Kweb running in Kiosk mode, but my macro call buttons on WebIOPi web pages just won't work. I have tried Kweb GTK3 as well without success. All other browsers on all other computers, tablets and cell phones work just fine. For some reason Kweb on Jessie does not.

Looking for any more tips to try to get my buttons working.

Thanks,
PPi

Did you try any other webkit browser (epiphany, Midory) - just for testing?

[pumpkinpi]

Hmm... good idea. I did not.

Ok, so Ephiphany, Midori, Netsurf get the same results as kweb. I just don't get why it works fine in kweb on an RPi2 with Wheezy and not on an RPi3 with Jessie with all the same settings. I really would like to use kweb due to the speed and kiosk mode.

Any other ideas?

PPi

[gkreidl]

Hmm... good idea. I did not.

Ok, so Ephiphany, Midori, Netsurf get the same results as kweb. I just don't get why it works fine in kweb on an RPi2 with Wheezy and not on an RPi3 with Jessie with all the same settings. I really would like to use kweb due to the speed and kiosk mode.

Any other ideas?

PPi

So it's a webkit problem. I need to know more about the web page which causes the trouble. Can you send me a PM with more details?

[pumpkinpi]

PM sent with more details. Thanks!

[dennmtr]

Code: Select all

Preparing to unpack kweb_1.7.4-1_armhf.deb ...
Unpacking kweb (1.7.4-1) ...
Setting up kweb (1.7.4-1) ...
bash: preparekweb: command not found
dpkg: error processing package kweb (--install):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 127
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.0.2-5) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.22-1) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.58) ...
Processing triggers for menu (2.1.47) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 kweb

[gkreidl]

Code: Select all

Preparing to unpack kweb_1.7.4-1_armhf.deb ...
Unpacking kweb (1.7.4-1) ...
Setting up kweb (1.7.4-1) ...
bash: preparekweb: command not found
dpkg: error processing package kweb (--install):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 127
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.0.2-5) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.22-1) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.58) ...
Processing triggers for menu (2.1.47) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 kweb

How did you try to install it?

[bobjohncat]

Hi,

I'm trying to use the official Raspberry Pi Touchscreen which supports 800x 480 res but Kweb doesn't have that as an option for Windowed resolution. Can you advise me how I can achieve this?

My programming knowledge isn't amazing but would love to be able to alter this myself rather than have a hard coded version of it released if that makes sense

Many thanks in advance!

[gkreidl]

Hi,

I'm trying to use the official Raspberry Pi Touchscreen which supports 800x 480 res but Kweb doesn't have that as an option for Windowed resolution. Can you advise me how I can achieve this?

My programming knowledge isn't amazing but would love to be able to alter this myself rather than have a hard coded version of it released if that makes sense

Many thanks in advance!

This screen size has been added a while ago: option 2
It is only needed if you don't use a window manager-

[bobjohncat]

Many thanks for the quick response

im seeing option 2 as 800 x 600, must admit I haven't updated kweb for about 6 months so will try that.

Im running the following command on start up

matchbox-window-manager &
kweb -KPBJHCUA+-zbhrqfpoklgtjneduwxy http://www.google.co.uk

[bobjohncat]

My apologies on posting that question, updated from 1.6.9 to 1.7.4 and can see it now.

ive altered the res to 800 x 480 and running the code I last posted and its still seems to be running at 1080p.

Its running in Kiosk mode, would that be the cause of it?

[gkreidl]

My apologies on posting that question, updated from 1.6.9 to 1.7.4 and can see it now.

ive altered the res to 800 x 480 and running the code I last posted and its still seems to be running at 1080p.

Its running in Kiosk mode, would that be the cause of it?

Check the N and M options.

[markknijnenburg]

I'm using Kweb 1.7.4 as a kiosk browser with a touch screen interface on an RPi3 - everything is great except that basic touch gestures (slide, swipe) don't work, so impossible to navigate pages. Chromium works well, but becomes unresponsive after a few days so not a stable solution for long term use. Kweb really does work well, it's light and quick so would like to find a way to stick with it - are there any plans to add more advanced touch functionality?