[GUIDE] Guide for setting up touchscreen + backlight control

[smartroad]

Hi All,

I have been using Volumio for a while in headless mode. I wanted to have the touch screen as well so for Christmas I was brought the official Raspberry Pi 7" touch screen. I made/modified a stand for it to go in and also had a button to be able to control the backlight level of the display. I used a number of posts/sites to get the screen working how I wanted so I made a guide to help me in the future. I thought I would share if anyone else would find it useful. If you don’t want the button for backlight control stop at the “Install Python GPIO” section and reboot device!

Hardware
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3318343
The button is connected to pins 37 and 39 and the LED in the button is connected between pins 33 and 39 with a 2k2ohmn resistor (draws a max of about 0.4mA with that resistor - the LED has a forward voltage of 2.5V). I chose such a high value as I only wanted the LED ring to glow and not illuminate, an annoyance of mine with many “proper” products with their blinding LEDs!

Install Volumio as normal

Install and activate touchscreen plugin in Volumio Plugins

Enable SSH:
goto http://VOLUMIOIP/dev in your browser
Click ENABLE button for SSH

Load PuTTY (or other SSH client) and log into Volumio
(default username: volumio - default password: volumio)

Update Packages:
sudo apt-get update

Remove mouse pointer
[spoiler] sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/volumio-kiosk.service
find line:
ExecStart=/usr/bin/startx /etc/X11/Xsession /opt/volumiokiosk.sh
change to:
ExecStart=/usr/bin/startx /etc/X11/Xsession /opt/volumiokiosk.sh -- -nocursor [/spoiler]

Stop screen blanking and crashed message
[spoiler] sudo nano /opt/volumiokiosk.sh
change lines:

xset +dpms xset s blank xset 0 0 120
to:

xset -dpms xset s off #xset 0 0 120

When you reboot sometimes the browser doesn’t quit properly and you end up with the request box asking to restore session. To stop that happening also change the line:

    --user-data-dir='/data/volumiokiosk'        --no-sandbox     http://localhost:3000

to

    --user-data-dir='/data/volumiokiosk'        --no-sandbox     --app=http://localhost:3000
[/code][/spoiler]

[b][i]Install and activate Matchbox onscreen keyboard[/i][/b]

[spoiler]First install the software:
[code]
sudo apt-get install matchbox-window-manager matchbox-keyboard
[/code]

Edit volumiokiosk.sh to activate keyboard
[code]
sudo nano /opt/volumiokiosk.sh
[/code]

Add the following after the "xset" commands:
[code]matchbox-keyboard -d &
matchbox-window-manager -use_titlebar no &[/code]

Then comment out the line:
[code]
openbox-session &
[/code]
to
[code]
#openbox-session &
[/code]

Exit and save [CTRL]+X and then press Y to save.

Next update the keyboard.xml for something more touch friendly for our needs (thanks to Xoliul for this! - it gives a simple QWERTY layout with numbers but nothing more and should be enough for most needs on this. Of course you can edit it and make your own!)

Backup and edit the keyboard.xml with:
[code]cd /usr/share/matchbox-keyboard/
sudo mv keyboard.xml keyboard.xml_old
sudo nano keyboard.xml[/code]

In nano copy the following:
[code]<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<keyboard>

<layout id="default keyboard">
  <row>
    <key>
     <default display="Q" action="q"/>               
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="W"  action="w"/>               
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="E"  action="e"/>               
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="R"  action="r"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="T"  action="t"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="Y"  action="y"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="U"  action="u"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="I"  action="i"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="O"  action="o"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="P"  action="p"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="1"/>               
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="2"/>               
    </key>
    <key fill="true">
    <default display="⌫" action="backspace"/>
     <!-- <default display="Bksp" action="backspace"/> -->
    </key>
  </row>
  <row>
    <key>
     <default display="A"   action="a"/>               
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="S"   action="s"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="D"   action="d"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="F"   action="f"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="G"   action="g"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="H"   action="h"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="J"   action="j"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="K"   action="k"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="L"   action="l"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="3" />
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="4" />
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="5" />
    </key>
    <key fill="true">
     <default display="⏎" action="return"/>
    </key>
  </row>
  <row>
    <key>
     <default display="Z"   action="z"/>
    </key>

    <key>
     <default display="X"   action="x"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="C"   action="c"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="V"   action="v"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="B"   action="b"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="N"   action="n"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="M"   action="m"/>
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="6" />
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="7" />
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="8" />
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="9" />
    </key>
    <key>
     <default display="0" />
    </key>
    <key fill="true">
     <default display="␣" action="space" />               
    </key>
 </row>
</layout>
</keyboard>[/code]

Again close and save the file then reboot to see your work![/spoiler]

[b][i]Move track and volume controls up (stops them clipping on the bottom of the screen)[/i][/b]
[b][size=150]CAUTION [/size][/b]- You are editing Volumio's Files which will prevent updating. To update you will need to restore the file using the Factory Reset in the System settings
[spoiler][code]
	cd /volumio/http/www/styles

	sudo nano app-013f2d5c5e.css

press [CTRL]+W to search and type in "volumeManager{margin-top"
this should show the line:
	[code]

@media (max-width:767px){#trackManagerWrapper{left:-30px;right:-30px}}#trackManager,.volumeManager{margin-top:110px}
[/code]
change margin-top:110px to margin-top:55px

You can also search for:

		webkit-scrollbar{width:10px;height:10px}:

and change the width to a larger number to make the scroll bar more finger friendly (40px should be fine)[/spoiler]

Install Python GPIO
[spoiler]Download:

		wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/raspberry-gpio-python/files/raspbian-wheezy/python-rpi.gpio_0.6.2~wheezy-1_armhf.deb

		(check version here: [url]https://sourceforge.net/projects/raspberry-gpio-python/files/raspbian-wheezy/[/url] and replace "python-rpi.gpio_0.6.2~wheezy-1_armhf.deb" with current version)
Install:

sudo dpkg -i python-rpi.gpio_0.6.2~wheezy-1_armhf.deb [/spoiler]

Install Python backlight library:
[spoiler]Install PIP:

		sudo apt install python-pip

Install backlight library:

sudo pip install rpi_backlight [/spoiler]

Setup button script:
[spoiler]Note: When updating just copy new code over old (or edit lines) and reboot machine

mkdir scripts cd scripts nano bl-control.py
Paste following:

[code]#!/bin/python

########################## User Variables ###########################
screenDelay = 30 # number of minutes before turning off the screen #
blState = 2 # default brightness of the backlight (1-3) #
LOWBRIGHT = 32 # lowest brightness level # Set these between #
MIDBRIGHT = 64 # medium brightness level # 11-255 for custom #
HIGBRIGHT = 192 # highest brightness level # brightness levels #
#####################################################################

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
import time
import rpi_backlight as bl
import subprocess
import os

GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
GPIO.setup(26, GPIO.IN, pull_up_down = GPIO.PUD_UP)
GPIO.setup(13, GPIO.OUT)

led = GPIO.PWM(13, 2000)
led.start(100)

ledLvl = 100
ledDir = 0

buttonState = 0 #current button state
lastButtonState = 0 #previous button state
timePressed = 0 #when was button pressed
stateChange = “” #holds command when changing bl state
lastStatus = “” #stores playback state when turning off bl
lastBlState = blState #previous backlight state (primed with default
lastPlayState = “play” #what was volumio doing when bl turned off
pausedTime = 0 #when was unit paused

gamma = 2.8 #gamma adjust for LED (makes breathing smooth)
max_in = 100.0 #the maximum level to call for adjustment
max_out = 100.0 #the maximum level for PWM (100 for RPi)
levelOutput = 0.0 #variable to hold the adjusted level output

screenDelay = screenDelay * 60 # change from minutes to seconds for timer

bl.set_power(True) #turn on bl
bl.set_brightness(64, smooth = True, duration = 1) #set bl level

while 1: #repeat continously
buttonState = 1 - GPIO.input(26) #invert state due to pullup

try: #trys to open volumio and if it hasn't loaded waits 5 seconds to try again - this is as the script loads befor volumio and was causing the script to fail to load
	
	status = subprocess.check_output("volumio status | sed -e 's/true/True/g' -e 's/false/False/g' -e 's/null/False/g'", shell=True) #find out current status of volumio
	status = eval(status)
	
	if (status["status"] == "pause" and lastPlayState == "play"): # checks if volumio has just paused
		pausedTime = time.time() # store the time volumio paused
	elif (status["status"] == "stop" and lastPlayState == "play"): # checks if volumio has just stopped
		pausedTime = time.time()
	elif (status["status"] == "play" and lastPlayState <> "play" and blState == 0): # has volumio started playing and is the backlight off
		stateChange = "resume" 									# restore backlight
		
		
	if (time.time() - pausedTime > screenDelay and status["status"] <> "play" and blState <> 0): # check if paused for longer than "screenDelay" seconds, volumio is not playing and backlight is on
		stateChange = "blOff" 									# turn off backlight
		
	
	if (buttonState == 1 and lastButtonState == 0):
		timePressed = time.time() 								#store time button pressed
		
	elif (buttonState == 1 and lastButtonState == 1): 			#button held
		if (time.time() - timePressed > 2): 					#if held for more than two seconds turn off bl
			stateChange = "blOff"
			
	elif (buttonState == 0 and lastButtonState == 1): 			#button released
		if (time.time() - timePressed <= 2): 					#if button released before two seconds passed change brightness
			pausedTime = time.time() 							# update pause time to reset the timer
			if (lastStatus == "play"): 							# checks to see if unit was previously paused by using the button to turn off backlight and resumes again
				stateChange = "resume" 							# resume screen brightness and playback
			else: 												# otherwise just move to next brightness level
				stateChange = "nextBL" 
			
	elif (buttonState == 0 and lastButtonState == 0): 			#button not pressed
		if (blState == 0):										#backlight if off, 'breath' the LED
			levelOutput = ((ledLvl/max_in) ** gamma) * max_out	#gamma calculation
			if (levelOutput > 100): levelOutput = 100			#clamp output to max PWM level (100 for RPi)
			
			if (ledDir == 0):									#ramp intensity down
				led.ChangeDutyCycle(levelOutput)				#set PWM output from gamma corrected level
				ledLvl = ledLvl - 1								#reduce brightness for next pass
				if (ledLvl == 1):								#when brightness at lowest point (not 0 as LED goes off and looks odd)
					ledDir = 1									#switch brightness direction to increase
			else:												#ramp intensity up
				led.ChangeDutyCycle(levelOutput)
				ledLvl = ledLvl + 1
				if (ledLvl == 100):								#switch direction when at max brightness
					ledDir = 0
					
		time.sleep(0.05)										#if no button being pressed sleep for 50mSec - prevents loading a thread

	
	if (stateChange == "blOff"):
		os.system("volumio volume mute")						#mute volume 
		if (status["status"] == "play"):						#check if currently playing
			os.system("volumio pause")							#pause playback
			lastStatus = "play"									#store that the unit was playing when backlight turned off
		lastBlState = blState									#store the current backlight level
		blState = 0												#set to backlight off
		stateChange = ""
		bl.set_brightness(11, smooth = True, duration = 1)		#reduce brightness to min
		bl.set_power(False)										#then turn off completly.
	
	elif (stateChange == "nextBL" or stateChange == "resume"):
		led.ChangeDutyCycle(100)								#turn on led
		
		if (stateChange == "nextBL"):							#chang to next bl level
			
			if (blState == 0):									#restore bl level if previously off
				blState = lastBlState
			else: 
				blState = blState - 1							#next bl level
				
			if (blState < 1): 									#roll-over
				blState = 3
		elif (stateChange == "resume"):							#restore bl level and start playing (if paused when turning off bl)
			os.system("volumio volume unmute")					#unmute volume
			blState = lastBlState
			if (lastStatus == "play"):
				os.system("volumio play")
				lastStatus = ""
			
			
		# next section sets current brightness level. Change the first number in bl.set_brightness 
		# between 11-255 if other brightness levels required.
		if (blState == 1):
			bl.set_power(True)
			bl.set_brightness(LOWBRIGHT, smooth = True, duration = 1)
		elif (blState == 2):
			bl.set_power(True)
			bl.set_brightness(MIDBRIGHT, smooth = True, duration = 1)
		elif (blState == 3):
			bl.set_power(True)
			bl.set_brightness(HIGBRIGHT, smooth = True, duration = 1)
			
		stateChange = ""

	lastPlayState = status["status"]
	lastButtonState = buttonState #store current button state to determine if button still being pressed or not.

except: #wait five seconds for volumio to load
	time.sleep(5)[/code]

At the top of the script there are the user variable. These allow the default settings to be changed for the backlight time delay and the default backlight level as well as the backlight brightness for each level

########################## User Variables ########################### screenDelay = 30 # number of minutes before turning off the screen # blState = 2 # default brightness of the backlight (1-3) # LOWBRIGHT = 32 # lowest brightness level # Set these between # MIDBRIGHT = 64 # medium brightness level # 11-255 for custom # HIGBRIGHT = 192 # highest brightness level # brightness levels # #####################################################################
Press [CTRL]+X and save file.

Set bl-control.py to boot on startup:

sudo nano /etc/rc.local

before the final “exit 0” paste:

python /home/volumio/scripts/bl-control.py &

(the “&” is important to allow the script to run in the background!)[/spoiler]

Reboot device!

sudo reboot

If all goes to plan you should reboot and pressing the button will change the backlight level and holding should turn it off, with the LED “breathing”.

Sites and posts that helped me with this
[spoiler]https://volumio.org/forum/volumio-touchscreen-mouse-cursor-t6629.html
https://volumio.org/forum/screentimeout-rpi-touchscreen-t5059.html#p23854
https://volumio.org/forum/installing-rpi-gpio-volumio-t3544.html#p15591
https://github.com/linusg/rpi-backlight
https://www.hackster.io/glowascii/raspberry-pi-shutdown-restart-button-d5fd07
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48133509/python-2-7-9-subprocess-convert-check-output-to-dictionary-volumio
https://learn.adafruit.com/led-tricks-gamma-correction/the-longer-fix
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/68734/how-do-i-disable-restore-pages-chromium-didnt-shut-down-correctly-prompt
https://volumio.org/forum/virtual-keyboard-kiosk-mode-t4995.html[/spoiler]

Updates:
2018/12/29: updated python script to pause music (if playing) when turning off backlight and resume when turning back on
2019/01/01: added gamma correction for LED brightness to make it look smoother
2019/01/02: warning about changing positions of volume and track
2019/01/06: Updated to remove Chromium restore pages dialog if it doesn’t get closed correctly on shutdown/reboot
2019/01/11: Added section to install the on screen keyboard “matchbox-keyboard”
2019/01/12: Updated python script to turn off screen when paused for a given amount.
2019/02/02: Removed bug where playback didn’t resume after turning off the backlight manually (thanks to ReM.2311for finding it). Added ability to easy change the backlight levels with the “User Variables” section. All 3 settings can be adjust to what ever is preferred. Mutes audio on pause and un-mutes on playback (again thanks to ReM.2311 for the suggestion!)

Old Script
[spoiler][code][code]#!/bin/python

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
import time
import rpi_backlight as bl
import subprocess
import os

GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
GPIO.setup(26, GPIO.IN, pull_up_down = GPIO.PUD_UP)
GPIO.setup(13, GPIO.OUT)

led = GPIO.PWM(13, 2000)
led.start(100)

ledLvl = 100
ledDir = 0

buttonState = 0 #current button state
lastButtonState = 0 #previous button state
timePressed = 0 #when was button pressed
lastBrightness = 0 #brightness when backlight turned off
lastStatus = “” #was the volumio playing when turning off screen

blState = 2 #current bl level
bl.set_power(True) #turn on bl
bl.set_brightness(64, smooth = True, duration = 1) #set bl level

gamma = 2.8 #gamma adjust for LED (makes breathing more consistant)
max_in = 100.0 #the maximum level to call for adjustment
max_out = 100.0 #the maximum level for PWM (100 for RPi)
levelOutput = 0.0 #variable to hold the adjusted level output

while 1: #repeat continously
buttonState = 1 - GPIO.input(26) #invert state due to pullup

if (buttonState == 1 and lastButtonState == 0): #button pressed
	timePressed = time.time() #store time button pressed
	
elif (buttonState == 1 and lastButtonState == 1): #button held
	if (time.time() - timePressed > 2): #if held for more than two seconds turn off bl
		status = subprocess.check_output("volumio status | sed -e 's/true/True/g' -e 's/false/False/g' -e 's/null/False/g'", shell=True)
		status = eval(status)
		if (status["status"] == "play"):
			os.system("volumio pause")
			lastStatus = "play"

		lastBrightness = blState #store current bl level
		blState = 0 #set bl level to off
		bl.set_brightness(11, smooth = True, duration = 1) #reduce bl down
		bl.set_power(False) #turn bl off
		ledLvl = 100
		ledDir = 0
		
elif (buttonState == 0 and lastButtonState == 1): #button released
	if (time.time() - timePressed <= 2): #if button released before two seconds passed change brightness
		if (lastBrightness > 0): #determines if bl was off and reset to bl level before turning off
			blState = lastBrightness
			lastBrightness = 0 #reset
			if (lastStatus == "play"):
				os.system("volumio play")
				lastStatus = ""
		else: #other wise go to next bl level
			blState = blState - 1
	
		if (blState < 1): #roll-over
			blState = 3
		
		#next section sets current level. Change the first number in bl.set_brightness between 11-255 if
		#other brightness levels required. Ignore the blState == 0.
		if (blState == 0):
			bl.set_brightness(11, smooth = True, duration = 1)
			bl.set_power(False)
		elif (blState == 1):
			bl.set_power(True)
			bl.set_brightness(32, smooth = True, duration = 1)
		elif (blState == 2):
			bl.set_power(True)
			bl.set_brightness(64, smooth = True, duration = 1)
		elif (blState == 3):
			bl.set_power(True)
			bl.set_brightness(192, smooth = True, duration = 1)

elif (buttonState == 0 and lastButtonState == 0): #button not pressed
	if (blState == 0):										#backlight if off, 'breath' the LED
		levelOutput = ((ledLvl/max_in) ** gamma) * max_out	#gamma calculation
		if (levelOutput > 100): levelOutput = 100			#clamp output to max PWM level (100 for RPi)
		
		if (ledDir == 0):									#ramp intensity down
			led.ChangeDutyCycle(levelOutput)				#set PWM output from gamma corrected level
			ledLvl = ledLvl - 1								#reduce brightness for next pass
			if (ledLvl == 1):								#when brightness at lowest point (not 0 as LED goes off and looks odd)
				ledDir = 1									#switch brightness direction to increase
		else:												#ramp intensity up
			led.ChangeDutyCycle(levelOutput)
			ledLvl = ledLvl + 1
			if (ledLvl == 100):								#switch direction when at max brightness
				ledDir = 0
	else:
		led.ChangeDutyCycle(100)
	time.sleep(0.05)										#if no button being pressed sleep for 50mSec - prevents loading a thread

lastButtonState = buttonState #store current button state to determine if button still being pressed or not.

[/code][/code][/spoiler]

[dedero]

Thanks a lot for this tutorial! it looks very complete and even with the plans design to print it out, awesome man!

I will try your tutorial very soon, I would need to order the screen first…

Regarding the case, I would like to ask how did you manage the back of the case, as far as I can see in the project link, there is kind of empty hole so I cannot realize how you’ve manage to hold the Pi (with a potential DAC attached on it), you’ve screwed the Pi with 4 screws and the board “naked” or you’ve attached a Pi case to the back?

I’m looking forward to test your solution!, as soon as I can, I will come back to you with results

Cheers,
Bruno

[smartroad]

@dedero

Thanks a lot for this tutorial! it looks very complete and even with the plans design to print it out, awesome man!

I will try your tutorial very soon, I would need to order the screen first…

Regarding the case, I would like to ask how did you manage the back of the case, as far as I can see in the project link, there is kind of empty hole so I cannot realize how you’ve manage to hold the Pi (with a potential DAC attached on it), you’ve screwed the Pi with 4 screws and the board “naked” or you’ve attached a Pi case to the back?

I’m looking forward to test your solution!, as soon as I can, I will come back to you with results

Cheers,
Bruno

Cheers I have left the case naked. Where I have mine you can’t see behind it so looks clean. It also means I didn’t have to waste plastic lol

Let me know how this works for you. I do have a new update for the script I am testing which adds a timer for the screen so that when you pause the screen will turn off after 30 minutes (default but easily changed). It’ll turn back on by either pressing the button or starting playback again (via another browser). I’m away on work but will update here once i am home again.

[dedero]

Ahhh cool, I see, it’s not really bad leaving it naked I guess, it also gives you some space to attach whatever DAC you want without taking care of how deep is the case in the back…

The new feature in the script sounds great!, quite an interesting function to save energy

One other thing that came to my mind, how do you handle the keyboard stuff?, for example to find some song, artist, online radio, etc?, is there any on-screen keyboard in Raspbian GUI?

Cheers!
Bruno.

[smartroad]

I have been looking at a couple of solutions for an on-screen keyboard. Currently if I need to do text input it is back to computer or phone. Hopefully that will change soon though

[FFrank]

Wow, this is a great project!

I was thinking to build something like this…

I have 0 experience in 3D printing. Can I just get the files and go to a service and let it print?

What are all the part for? Do you have more pictures/videos?
Especially the round thing - what is it for?
Are there different versions of the parts?

Would be nice to get some more explanation.

Concerning the keyboard…will a USB Keyboard work?

By the way, which Pi do you use? Will the current model work?

Thanks.

Best.
F.

[damiani8]

@dedero

Ahhh cool, I see, it’s not really bad leaving it naked I guess, it also gives you some space to attach whatever DAC you want without taking care of how deep is the case in the back…

The new feature in the script sounds great!, quite an interesting function to save energy

One other thing that came to my mind, how do you handle the keyboard stuff?, for example to find some song, artist, online radio, etc?, is there any on-screen keyboard in Raspbian GUI?

Cheers!
Bruno.

Changing from ‘openbox’ to ‘matchbox’ window manager and then using matchbox-keyboard works very well.

virtual-keyboard-kiosk-mode-t4995.html

[smartroad]

@dedero

One other thing that came to my mind, how do you handle the keyboard stuff?, for example to find some song, artist, online radio, etc?, is there any on-screen keyboard in Raspbian GUI?

I have updated the guide to show how to install matchbox-keyboard that will allow for on-screen keyboard input. As damiani8 pointed out the link (I was already looking at it but lost my link so thanks for popping that back up!!!) I have used the advice of the people in it and copied the keyboard.xml file of Xoliul which is fantastic for basic input with decent sized buttons on the 7" screen!

Next up is finding a way to update that background and colours to better match the Volumio aesthetic!

I am still working on the new script, I want to simplify a couple of bits and make it a little easier to read/maintain. I hope to have it up here in a week or so - work is hectic so I don’t have the time to allocate at the moment

[smartroad]

@FFrank

Wow, this is a great project!

I was thinking to build something like this…

I have 0 experience in 3D printing. Can I just get the files and go to a service and let it print?

What are all the part for? Do you have more pictures/videos?
Especially the round thing - what is it for?
Are there different versions of the parts?

Would be nice to get some more explanation.

Concerning the keyboard…will a USB Keyboard work?

By the way, which Pi do you use? Will the current model work?

Thanks.

Best.
F.

I’ll try to get to your questions soon! but a couple of quick ones - have a look on the Thingiverse link for more details about the printed parts (you should be able to view the models to give an idea on what they do). You should be able to just send the files for printing, I have never done this as I have my own printer so YMMV.

Keyboard, I have just updated the guide for an on-screen one.

Pi wise I use the Pi3 Model A with a IQAudio DAC.

[dedero]

Awesome information regarding the touch screen keyboard!, thanks a lot for adding it to the guide!

[smartroad]

@dedero

Awesome information regarding the touch screen keyboard!, thanks a lot for adding it to the guide!

Thanks. We all live off the back of giants and this wouldn’t exist if not for the great work of all the people I have linked to

My next task is to see if I can get Python to intercept the touch events so that when the screen is off and you touch it, the screen comes back on but doesn’t send the touch input to the browser. At the moment you can still use the touch screen to interact with Volumio even when the backlight is off. If you know where the play button is on the screen you can press it and the screen would come back on again for example lol

[FFrank]

Hi,
I had a look at the pictures. Put I am still not sure what this is for:

Any hint?
Thanks.
F.

[damiani8]

Great work there, I’m glad my matchbox reminder helped!!!

My setup uses an Allo DigiOne and I’ve just added a rotary encoder for the volume control, I’m not using the rotary plugin as it really wasn’t fit for purpose (the debouncing was awful) so I used Python and the made use of Martin O’Hanlon’s KY040 work (github.com/martinohanlon/KY040)

I soldered leads to the RPi as my GPIO pins were used by the DigiOne, that itself posed a little trouble as I needed to find 2 pins that were not being used. I ended up using GPIO27 (CLK) and GPIO25 (DATA) and the 3.3V and GND.

My Python code is as follows:

from time import sleep
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
import requests
from ky040.KY040 import KY040

CLOCKPIN = 27
DATAPIN = 25
SWITCHPIN = 0

def rotaryChange(direction):
    global api_session
    resp = api_session.get('http://localhost:3000/api/v1/commands/?cmd=volume&volume=%s' % ('plus' if direction==1 else 'minus'))

def switchPressed():
    print "button pressed"

api_session = requests.session()

GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
ky040 = KY040(CLOCKPIN, DATAPIN, SWITCHPIN, rotaryChange, switchPressed, rotaryBouncetime=250)
ky040.start()

try:
    while True:
        sleep(0.1)
finally:
    ky040.stop()
    GPIO.cleanup()

My rc.local is:

/opt/vc/bin/tvservice -o
/usr/bin/python /home/volumio/rotary.py &
sudo sh -c 'echo 0x0 > /sys/devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/buspower'

You will notice I have a few power saving options, I’ve switched the HDMI output off (via tvservice) and disabled the USB as I’m not using this as I access a NAS. In addition to these I’ve switched off the LEDs on the PI by using the following in my config.txt

# Disable the ACT LED.
dtparam=act_led_trigger=none
dtparam=act_led_activelow=off

# Disable the PWR LED.
dtparam=pwr_led_trigger=none
dtparam=pwr_led_activelow=off

Also in the:

sudo nano /etc/default/cpufrequtils

and change the following from ‘performance’ to ‘ondemand’

GOVERNOR="ondemand"

[smartroad]

@FFrank

Hi,
I had a look at the pictures. Put I am still not sure what this is for:

Any hint?
Thanks.
F.

It is a plug for the button. I made it so you can block off the button’s hole if you don’t have the button yet but plan to. That way you don’t have to have a hole and you don’t need to print a new part with the hole

It’s totally optional and not needed in most circumstances

[smartroad]

@damiani8

Great work there, I’m glad my matchbox reminder helped!!!

It was a useful reminder thanks!

I control the volume with my DIY amp rather than with Volumio (I actually wish I could turn off that display and re-purpose it for the artwork!), although I have setup my amp to use an encoder so it can do multiple jobs (including volume lol)

[IronFly]

Maybe you can add to your guide (so can be a full official Raspberry Pi 7" touch screen guide):

to edit the config.txt

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Rotate screen

# Rotate Screen lcd_rotate=2

Disable Bluetooth

# Disable BT dtoverlay=pi3-disable-bt-overlay

[smartroad]

@IronFly

Maybe you can add to your guide (so can be a full official Raspberry Pi 7" touch screen guide):

to edit the config.txt

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Rotate screen

# Rotate Screen lcd_rotate=2

Disable Bluetooth

# Disable BT dtoverlay=pi3-disable-bt-overlay

Without this wanting to sound rude, could you explain the benefits for this? I have not needed to rotate the screen for mine. Is there any advantage to disable bluetooth? Just trying to find out more info before adding things in

[smartroad]

@damiani8

Could you let me know which encoder you used? I am thinking of adding more features to the hardware side and like the idea of adding the option for a hardware volume control

[IronFly]

@smartroad

Without this wanting to sound rude, could you explain the benefits for this? I have not needed to rotate the screen for mine. Is there any advantage to disable bluetooth? Just trying to find out more info before adding things in

About the BT is just powersaving, like the CPU on demand and LEDs off.

About the screen, mine was upside down using the case for LCD touchscreen, others had yhe same issue.

This one for reference:
raspberryitalia.it/prodotto … ase-clear/

[smartroad]

@IronFly

About the BT is just powersaving, like the CPU on demand and LEDs off.

About the screen, mine was upside down using the case for LCD touchscreen, others had yhe same issue.

This one for reference:
raspberryitalia.it/prodotto … ase-clear/

Ahh right, the case that I have with this design keeps the screen the right way up, hence why I didn’t include it Maybe these designers should make cases that doesn’t have it rotated LOL