Re: [Hampshire] Linux and LED Scrolling Signs

2020-10-26 Thread Rob via Hampshire
Thanks to all who replied.

I think I'm going to report to the powers that be that this is a bad idea.   
What we're after (for work) is a sign which shows either something like "All 
Systems Go" or lists the server(s) down.

I guess we could "sacrifice" a display and leave it on 24/7/365 but a sign 
would seem to be a better (greener) solution.   Can anyone suggest any other 
possibilities?

Cheers
Rob

-Original Message-
From: Hampshire  On Behalf Of Andy Random 
via Hampshire
Sent: 26 October 2020 03:54
To: Hampshire 
Cc: Andy Random 
Subject: Re: [Hampshire] Linux and LED Scrolling Signs


Hi,

On Sun, 25 Oct 2020, Rob via Hampshire wrote:

> However, I don't want to use Windows and I have in mind a bash script to
> output the text to be displayed.   Not too fussed about speed, font size,
> any other such settings - it's just the text we need.   Does anyone know one
> of these that plays well with Linux?

I don't have any experience with the device you linked to, but the following 
links suggest that it is possible with at least some similar devices.

https://github.com/jnweiger/led-name-badge-ls32

https://github.com/DirkReiners/LEDBadgeProgrammer

http://www.daveakerman.com/?p=1440


It looks like there are a few different types of device out there and if it was 
me I'd be buying from a cheaper source like:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/274310652674?chn=ps&var=574414481122&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=574414481122_274310652674&targetid=938486033460&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9045748&campaignid=10195651586&mkgroupid=107296210212&rlsatarget=pla-938486033460&abcId=1145987&merchantid=6995734&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxNT8BRD9ARIsAJ8S5xbE757dDAek12CV32-K6-LROdiyWosJwPf6IA6A_sMsooWpOdfsoaYaAtOsEALw_wcB

https://www.ledcontrollercard.com/english/led-name-badges-mini-led-screen-built-in-lithium-battery.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwxNT8BRD9ARIsAJ8S5xYEdJN1Z35vrSv_humOKehYZd9bJaJi8fuTw9nVcJN1WOl8jDERTXoaAvpbEALw_wcB

https://www.wish.com/product/5b2b9a3cdfc57b64c25681c0?hide_login_modal=true&from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=GB&_force_currency_code=GBP&pid=googleadwords_int&c=%7BcampaignId%7D&ad_cid=5b2b9a3cdfc57b64c25681c0&ad_cc=GB&ad_curr=GBP&ad_price=8.00&campaign_id=6493229882&exclude_install=true&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxNT8BRD9ARIsAJ8S5xZQDLoeUeEzmJrHDLpD-Rp4KwRekMWn5OeyCx3h_M6VCP4_GztzNFcaAlYcEALw_wcB&share=web


However I've not personally used any of them so I'm not recommending any of 
them and most of them seem to be shipping from the Far East and will take a 
while to reach you.

The upsides of Amazon are faster delivery and if you order from them and can't 
get it to work with Linux within a reasonable time you are likely to be able to 
return it.

If you do order something I'd be interested to hear how you get on.

   Andy





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Re: [Hampshire] Linux and LED Scrolling Signs

2020-10-26 Thread Gordon Scott via Hampshire

Any mileage in small a raspberry-Pi screen?
Some are direct to the Pi, some are HDMI.

https://thepihut.com/collections/raspberry-pi-screens
... other vendors available.

On 26/10/2020 08:59, Rob via Hampshire wrote:

Thanks to all who replied.

I think I'm going to report to the powers that be that this is a bad idea.   What we're 
after (for work) is a sign which shows either something like "All Systems Go" 
or lists the server(s) down.

I guess we could "sacrifice" a display and leave it on 24/7/365 but a sign 
would seem to be a better (greener) solution.   Can anyone suggest any other 
possibilities?

Cheers
Rob



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Re: [Hampshire] Linux and LED Scrolling Signs

2020-10-26 Thread Bob Dunlop via Hampshire
Hi,

Very different spec from "battery powered toy badge".  For a room sized
display with permanent power available and a need for connectivity I'd
look at some of the more serious hobby sites.  Plenty of Arduino or
Raspberry Pi interfaced displays giving you a choice of Ethernet/Wifi/
Bluetooth connectivity and a lot of different programming options.

Good search terms for these sites are "LED matrix" or simply "matrix".

A couple to get you started.

[1] https://www.tindie.com/search/?q=matrix
[2] https://shop.pimoroni.com/?q=led+matrix

Or a really cool project if probably not that useful for your use case.

[3] 
https://hackaday.com/2020/10/04/an-led-cube-to-display-cpu-vitals/#more-434443


On Mon, Oct 26 at 08:59, Rob via Hampshire wrote:
> Thanks to all who replied.
> 
> I think I'm going to report to the powers that be that this is a bad idea.   
> What we're after (for work) is a sign which shows either something like "All 
> Systems Go" or lists the server(s) down.
> 
> I guess we could "sacrifice" a display and leave it on 24/7/365 but a sign 
> would seem to be a better (greener) solution.   Can anyone suggest any other 
> possibilities?

-- 
Bob Dunlop

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Re: [Hampshire] Linux and LED Scrolling Signs

2020-10-26 Thread Thomas Kluyver via Hampshire
On Mon, 26 Oct 2020, at 08:59, Rob via Hampshire wrote:
> What we're after (for work) is a sign which shows either 
> something like "All Systems Go" or lists the server(s) down.
> 
> I guess we could "sacrifice" a display and leave it on 24/7/365 but a 
> sign would seem to be a better (greener) solution.

From what you describe, this wouldn't change often, so maybe an e-ink display 
would be a green option? As I understand it, e-ink only requires power to 
update, so it can be very efficient for something that's mostly constant.

Second hand e-readers can be a cheap way to get a fairly large e-ink display. I 
was toying with this idea a few years ago, and found that old Kobo e-readers 
run Linux and are reasonably hackable - I think someone used one to display a 
weather forecast, for instance. That might be more involved than you want for a 
simple text sign, but I can dig out the links I found at the time if anyone is 
interested.

If you can spend a bit more money and/or accept a smaller display, you can get 
e-ink displays to use with Raspberry Pis or microcontrollers, e.g. 
https://shop.pimoroni.com/?q=eink

Thomas

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