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--- doc:appunti:hardware:raspberrypi_digitalframe [2021/01/09 16:02] – [Screen Saver] niccolo
+++ doc:appunti:hardware:raspberrypi_digitalframe [2025/04/07 15:16] (current) – [Hide the mouse pointer] niccolo
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
-The first step was to order the hand-made **wood frame** from a craftsman. The profile size is shown in the picture, the inner space to accomodate the monitor is **54.0 x 32.5 cm**.
+The first step was to order the hand-made **wood frame** from a craftsman. The profile size is shown in the picture, the inner space to accommodate the monitor is **54.0 x 32.5 cm**.
 {{ .:raspberrypi:frame-profile.png?280 |Wood Frame Profile}}
@@ Line 62: / Line 62: @@
 I downloaded and installed **RaspiOS 2020-05-27 Buster**, based on Debian 10. I choosed the **full** version "with desktop and recommended software".
-FIXME The WiFi is handled by Network Manager? The **/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf** does conflict with Network Manager? The **/boot/wpa_supplicant.conf** trick explained in [[https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/wireless/headless.md|Setting up a Raspberry Pi headless]] does conflict as well?
+==== WiFi ====
+I installed the **Xfce** desktop environment; on Debian 10 this is bundled with the **[[https://packages.debian.org/buster/network-manager|NetworkManager]]** service, which handles wired and wireless connections.
+Beware that NetworkManager does conflict with the **/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf** configuration file: if you configure a WiFi connection in this file, you will end-up with two **wpa_supplicant** instances conflicting each other (so you shouldn't even use the trick to [[https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/wireless/headless.md|setup a Raspberry Pi headless]]). Use instead the NetworkManager applet from the Xfce environment to connect to your WiFi network, the network preferences will be saved into **/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/**.
 ==== Desktop Autologin ====
@@ Line 97: / Line 101: @@
 ==== Hide the mouse pointer ====
-If you use only the keyboard to control the interface, the **mouse pointer** at the center of the screen is definitely annoying. Fortunately enough there is the Debian package **unclutter**: once installed you will find a running process when you initiate your desktop session:
+The **[[https://github.com/RigacciOrg/photo-reframe-slideshow|photo-reframe]]** program used as directory browser and slideshow, uses the **setOverrideCursor()** function to **hide the mouse pointer** when run full screen.
+Neverthless, if you use only the keyboard to control the interface, the **mouse pointer** at the center of the screen is definitely annoying. Fortunately enough there is the Debian package **unclutter**: once installed you will find a running process when you initiate your desktop session:
 <code>
@@ Line 104: / Line 110: @@
 The mouse pointer will disappear after one second of **idle time**, just to reappear if you move the mouse. If you want to customize the options, change the file **/etc/default/unclutter**.
+:!: Unfortunately the **unclutter** program **does not work in Wayland**, which is the graphical backend installed by the Raspberry Pi OS based on Debian 12, in replacement of the legacy X11. If you search for an hide cursor solution on Wayland, beware of this [[https://github.com/seffs/wayfire-plugins-extra-raspbian/releases|hide-cursor plugin]] which is intended for the **Wayland** + **Wayfire** environment (backend and window manager). On the Raspberry Pi 2 only the **Wayland** + **Labwc** environment is supported. For this reason I decided to use raspi-congif and [[raspberry_x_wayland|revert back to the X11]].
+==== Turning off the power LED ====
+When the digital frame is in stand-by (the screen is black and turned off), there is a red light glow around the frame, caused by the **Raspberry Pi power LED** being very bright, this is particularly disturbing when the room is dark. Fortunately enough there is a way to turn off the LEDs, just add the following snippet at the end of **/boot/config.txt** and reboot:
+<file>
+# Disable Ethernet LEDs
+dtparam=eth_led0=14
+dtparam=eth_led1=14
+# Disable the PWR LED
+dtparam=pwr_led_trigger=none
+dtparam=pwr_led_activelow=off
+# Disable the Activity LED
+dtparam=act_led_trigger=none
+dtparam=act_led_activelow=off
+</file>
+This works well on my **Raspberry Pi 2** model, the matter is discussed in a **[[https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=149126|post of the RaspberryPi.org forum]]**.
 ==== Keyboard Shortcut ====
@@ Line 111: / Line 139: @@
 ==== Screen Saver ====
-The program **photo-reframe** is configured to call two external programs, one to **disable the screensaver** at program start and one to **re-enable the screensaver** at program exit. The helper programs should be named **screensaver-off** and **screensaver-on** respectively, and they are searched into the **PATH**. In this way you can leave the desktop power saving active (//Settings// => //Power Manager// => //Display//, if you are using XFCE): the screen will remain active if a slideshow is running, but it goes blank otherwise.
+The program **photo-reframe** is configured to call two external programs, one to **disable the screensaver** (at program start) and one to **re-enable the screensaver** (at program exit). The two helper programs should be named **screensaver-off** and **screensaver-on** respectively, and they are searched into the **PATH**. In this way you can leave the desktop power saving active: the screen will remain active if a slideshow is running, but it goes blank otherwise.
-Here there are the off/on scripts:
+Beware that the **xfce4-power-manager** program overloads the functionality offered by DPMS (controlled by the **xset** program); e.g. the screen blanking is perfomed even with DPMS disabled. The reccommended XFCE power manager settings (//Settings// => //Power Manager// => //Display//) are:
+  * **Display power management**: On - This will **enable DPMS**.
+  * **Blank after**: Never - This prevents the software screen blanking (no DPMS).
+  * **Put sleep after**: 5 minutes -  This is enforced via **DPMS Standby**.
+  * **Switch off after**: 6 minutes - This is enforced via **DPMS Off**.
+With these settings display blanking is controlled by DPMS only (no software blanking); the slideshow program can simply disable DPMS to keep the screen always on. XFCE saves the Power Manager settings into the file **$HOME/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-power-manager.xml**.
+=== screensaver-off ===
 <code bash>
 #!/bin/sh
+# Disable software screen saver.
+xset s off
+# Disable DPMS screen saver.
 xset dpms force on
 xset -dpms
 </code>
+=== screensaver-on ===
 <code bash>
 #!/bin/sh
+# Disable software screen saver.
+xset s off
+# Enable DPMS screen saver.
+xset dpms 300 300 300
 xset +dpms
 </code>
+=== How to use xset ===
 With the command **xset q** it is possibile to query the status of the **[[wp>VESA_Display_Power_Management_Signaling|DPMS]]** (you must be the user owning the X display):
@@ Line 151: / Line 199: @@
 If you disable the screensaver from the desktop environment (in our case XFCE //Settings// => //Power Manager// => //Display//), you will see the line **DPMS is Disabled** in ''xset q'' output.
+==== Desktop Fonts ====
+To have bigger fonts into XFCE menu we opened the **Settings** => **Appearance** => **Fonts** menu and increased the font size. Settings are saved into the file **$HOME/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xsettings.xml**.
 ===== Executing programs from the Firefox browser =====
@@ Line 253: / Line 307: @@
 See the man page for **nm-system-settings.conf**, the article **[[https://fedoramagazine.org/randomize-mac-address-nm/|Randomize your MAC address using NetworkManager]]** and this **[[https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=196348&start=25#p1524581|post]]** on how to disable it on the Raspberry Pi.
+Alternatively you can uninstall the **NetworkManager** package and use **dhcpcd5** for all the network settings.
 ===== Web References =====
   * **[[https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/config-txt/video.md|Video options in config.txt]]**
+  * **[[https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xfce#Display_blanking|XFCE, DPMS and display blanking]]**