2014-05-25, 17:58
Because the XBMC on iMON Display plugin is no longer develop and it is a bit buggy I thought I give LCD Smartie a go and try if it can be configured with the iMON displays. It actually works pretty well although for example the codec icons doesn't work. There's little bit work in seting it up so I though I write some istructions if anyone else wanna try it. I have iMON LCD display but I think this works also with the VFD display if you download the correct driver. Following instructions are tested and should work for both XBMC Gotham and Kodi Helix.
Installing:
1. Download LCD Smartie latest beta from http://lcdsmartie.sourceforge.net/smartied.htm
2a. If you have iMON LCD display, Download iMON display driver modified_iMON_OEM_LCD_dll.zip from https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5q7z57zmyczc9...k6NRa?dl=0
2b. If you have VFD from an Antec Fusion (with the 4-pin FDD power connector that doesn't work with iMON manager) you don't need to download the driver file (Thanks nedge2k
)
3. Download XBMC for LCDSmartie plugin from http://xbmc4lcdsmartie.codeplex.com/
4. Unzip LCD Smartie wherever you want
5. Unzip iMON_OEM_LCD.dll to \lcd_smartie_v5.4.2.92 Beta\displays\
6. Unzip XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll and Newtonsoft.Json.dll to \lcd_smartie_v5.4.2.92 Beta\plugins\
7. Copy SG_VFDU.dll from \SOUNDGRAPH\iMON\ folder to \lcd_smartie_v5.4.2.92 Beta\ and rename it to SG_VFD.dll
Setting up:
1. In iMON manager activate the display plugin mode and set the frontview start up to always and disable everything in automode tab. Also disable the date in clock section. I noticed that if date is displayed, the iMON manager steals the display from LCD Smartie quite often.
2. Enable 'Allow programs on this system to control XBMC/Kodi' in XBMC/Kodi's System Settings
3. Add following to file LCDSmartie.exe.config right after the first line ”<configuration>”
<appSettings>
<add key="XBMC4LCDSmartie.Host" value="127.0.0.1"/>
<add key="XBMC4LCDSmartie.Port" value="9090"/>
<add key="XBMC4LCDSmartie.RefreshInt" value="300"/>
<add key="XBMC4LCDSmartie.XBMCTestMode" value="TCP"/>
</appSettings>
DO NOT CHANGE the port 9090 even though you use different port in XBMC because XBMC for LCDSmartie uses direct tcp connection to JSON interface.
4a. Start LCD Smartie and go to setup. In display settings click the plugin tab and if your display is LCD select iMON_OEM_LCD.
4b. If you have the VFD from an Antec Fusion (with the 4-pin FDD power connector that doesn't work with iMON manager), you can use imond.dll (Thanks nedge2k)
5. In screen tab select the LCD size. Modes 1x16 and 2x16 work. I prefer 1x16 because then the text has better readability from distance but if you like two lines of information then select 2x16.
6. Restart LCD Smartie and adjust display contrast to desired level.
7. Now you should see text in your display send by LCD Smartie.
Configuration:
In LCD Smartie you can configure different screens that change periodically. In the left side of the setup window you can find various built-in commands that can be used to show for example RSS feeds, system info etc. Just enable as many screens you want and start making your iMON display the information you wish.
You can get various information from XBMC using XBMC for LCDSmartie plugin, read the plugins readme.txt for detailed information. For example the function $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,2,2,) fetches what is currently played. I found that this doesn't always fetch all the information that I desire, for example the channel when watching live tv. But no worries. The function $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,3,<InfoLabel>,) can fetch any InfoLabel you want so you can actually customize screens based on different content (tv, music, movies, etc.). Examples:
$dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,3,MusicPlayer.Artist,) - $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,3,MusicPlayer.Title,)
This diplay shows currently playing music information in format ”Artist” - ”Title”.
If you want now playing info to be present all the time just customize a screen for it and make it stcky in the LCD Smartie setup. In action tab you can create conditions when a certain screen is called for example if music is playing. Use function $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,2,1,) to fetch the contect type that is playing and make the condition. Examples:
If $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,2,1,) = song Then GotoScreen(2).
Now screen 2 is activated if music is playing on XBMC.
If $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,2,1,) = channel Then GotoScreen(3)
Screen 3 is activated when watching live TV.
If you make now playing screens sticky and want the screens to start rotate periodically when nothing is played you can make condition
If $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,4,,) = -888 The GotoScreen(1)
Now when nothing is played it goes to first screen and start rotate the unsticky screens (if the screen 1 is not sticky).
As you can see configurating LCD Smartie takes a little time but it's not so complicated when you get a hang of it. The result is quite good and you can really make your iMON screen to show exactly what you want. Unfortunately the iMON manager still steals the screen sometimes and then it displays the clock. This usually happens when LCD Smartie displays stationary text. But after the information changes, LCD Smartie takes control again so this is not a very big problem.
Feel free to ask if you have any problems in installation or configuration. Enjoy!
Installing:
1. Download LCD Smartie latest beta from http://lcdsmartie.sourceforge.net/smartied.htm
2a. If you have iMON LCD display, Download iMON display driver modified_iMON_OEM_LCD_dll.zip from https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5q7z57zmyczc9...k6NRa?dl=0
2b. If you have VFD from an Antec Fusion (with the 4-pin FDD power connector that doesn't work with iMON manager) you don't need to download the driver file (Thanks nedge2k
)3. Download XBMC for LCDSmartie plugin from http://xbmc4lcdsmartie.codeplex.com/
4. Unzip LCD Smartie wherever you want
5. Unzip iMON_OEM_LCD.dll to \lcd_smartie_v5.4.2.92 Beta\displays\
6. Unzip XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll and Newtonsoft.Json.dll to \lcd_smartie_v5.4.2.92 Beta\plugins\
7. Copy SG_VFDU.dll from \SOUNDGRAPH\iMON\ folder to \lcd_smartie_v5.4.2.92 Beta\ and rename it to SG_VFD.dll
Setting up:
1. In iMON manager activate the display plugin mode and set the frontview start up to always and disable everything in automode tab. Also disable the date in clock section. I noticed that if date is displayed, the iMON manager steals the display from LCD Smartie quite often.
2. Enable 'Allow programs on this system to control XBMC/Kodi' in XBMC/Kodi's System Settings
3. Add following to file LCDSmartie.exe.config right after the first line ”<configuration>”
<appSettings>
<add key="XBMC4LCDSmartie.Host" value="127.0.0.1"/>
<add key="XBMC4LCDSmartie.Port" value="9090"/>
<add key="XBMC4LCDSmartie.RefreshInt" value="300"/>
<add key="XBMC4LCDSmartie.XBMCTestMode" value="TCP"/>
</appSettings>
DO NOT CHANGE the port 9090 even though you use different port in XBMC because XBMC for LCDSmartie uses direct tcp connection to JSON interface.
4a. Start LCD Smartie and go to setup. In display settings click the plugin tab and if your display is LCD select iMON_OEM_LCD.
4b. If you have the VFD from an Antec Fusion (with the 4-pin FDD power connector that doesn't work with iMON manager), you can use imond.dll (Thanks nedge2k
)5. In screen tab select the LCD size. Modes 1x16 and 2x16 work. I prefer 1x16 because then the text has better readability from distance but if you like two lines of information then select 2x16.
6. Restart LCD Smartie and adjust display contrast to desired level.
7. Now you should see text in your display send by LCD Smartie.
Configuration:
In LCD Smartie you can configure different screens that change periodically. In the left side of the setup window you can find various built-in commands that can be used to show for example RSS feeds, system info etc. Just enable as many screens you want and start making your iMON display the information you wish.
You can get various information from XBMC using XBMC for LCDSmartie plugin, read the plugins readme.txt for detailed information. For example the function $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,2,2,) fetches what is currently played. I found that this doesn't always fetch all the information that I desire, for example the channel when watching live tv. But no worries. The function $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,3,<InfoLabel>,) can fetch any InfoLabel you want so you can actually customize screens based on different content (tv, music, movies, etc.). Examples:
$dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,3,MusicPlayer.Artist,) - $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,3,MusicPlayer.Title,)
This diplay shows currently playing music information in format ”Artist” - ”Title”.
If you want now playing info to be present all the time just customize a screen for it and make it stcky in the LCD Smartie setup. In action tab you can create conditions when a certain screen is called for example if music is playing. Use function $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,2,1,) to fetch the contect type that is playing and make the condition. Examples:
If $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,2,1,) = song Then GotoScreen(2).
Now screen 2 is activated if music is playing on XBMC.
If $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,2,1,) = channel Then GotoScreen(3)
Screen 3 is activated when watching live TV.
If you make now playing screens sticky and want the screens to start rotate periodically when nothing is played you can make condition
If $dll(XBMC4LCDSmartie.dll,4,,) = -888 The GotoScreen(1)
Now when nothing is played it goes to first screen and start rotate the unsticky screens (if the screen 1 is not sticky).
As you can see configurating LCD Smartie takes a little time but it's not so complicated when you get a hang of it. The result is quite good and you can really make your iMON screen to show exactly what you want. Unfortunately the iMON manager still steals the screen sometimes and then it displays the clock. This usually happens when LCD Smartie displays stationary text. But after the information changes, LCD Smartie takes control again so this is not a very big problem.
Feel free to ask if you have any problems in installation or configuration. Enjoy!
Is it just a dummy exe that does nothing and used only to trigger the iMonManager to turn off the display?