lcd4linux-devel

[Lcd4linux-devel] Driver for dpf-ax

[<sup...@wo...>]

Hi,

I'm a maintainer of dpf-ax, the tools for hacking AX206 Digital Photo Frames.

I've noticed some problems with the current DPF-driver for lcd4linux:

1. Does not compile with recent dpf-ax library.
2. Property "Backlight" supports only on/off instead of values from 0..7.
3. No support for the "Orientation" property.
4. *VERY* cumbersome to get this to work because you have to get & compile dpf-ax's library separately, rename the header file *AND* copy the library/header to a special location (which is documented nowhere.) :-(

There is a patch by Ondrej Wisniewski on the mailing list that fixes point 1 and 2. Thx Ondrej!
Point 3 is also fixed by Ondrej - but I dropped support for this property in the latest dpf-ax version. :-o

I'm currently thinking about re-writing the driver for lcd4linux to fix all these issues.
To address point 1 and 4 I would like to include all dpf-access routines into the driver. So no more need for external headers/libraries - and no more problems. :-)
Point 2 ist already fixed by Ondrej and point 3 I'm planning to re-implement in software.
It would be the cleanest approach to split the driver in 3 files, e.g.: drv_dpf.c, drv_dpflib.c and drv_dpflib.h.

So my question:
Is it possible / allowed / welcome for a driver to have more than one file? As far as I can see all current drivers have only one file (drv_XXXX.c.)

Greetings
superelchi

Re: [Lcd4linux-devel] Driver for dpf-ax

[Hans de G. <hde...@re...>]

Hi,

On 05/14/2013 11:05 AM, sup...@wo... wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm a maintainer of dpf-ax, the tools for hacking AX206 Digital Photo Frames.
>
> I've noticed some problems with the current DPF-driver for lcd4linux:
>
> 1. Does not compile with recent dpf-ax library.
> 2. Property "Backlight" supports only on/off instead of values from 0..7.
> 3. No support for the "Orientation" property.
> 4. *VERY* cumbersome to get this to work because you have to get & compile dpf-ax's library separately, rename the header file *AND* copy the library/header to a special location (which is documented nowhere.) :-(
>
> There is a patch by Ondrej Wisniewski on the mailing list that fixes point 1 and 2. Thx Ondrej!
> Point 3 is also fixed by Ondrej - but I dropped support for this property in the latest dpf-ax version. :-o
>
> I'm currently thinking about re-writing the driver for lcd4linux to fix all these issues.
> To address point 1 and 4 I would like to include all dpf-access routines into the driver. So no more need for external headers/libraries - and no more problems. :-)
> Point 2 ist already fixed by Ondrej and point 3 I'm planning to re-implement in software.
> It would be the cleanest approach to split the driver in 3 files, e.g.: drv_dpf.c, drv_dpflib.c and drv_dpflib.h.
>
> So my question:
> Is it possible / allowed / welcome for a driver to have more than one file? As far as I can see all current drivers have only one file (drv_XXXX.c.)

I'm afraid I cannot answer your question, since I'm not really a lcd4linux dev,
but as someone packaging lcd4linux for Fedora, and following this list for
quite a while now, I can tell you that the lcd4linux project is not really
actively maintained atm.

I think it is great that you want to improve support for the axp dpf-s, I
say go for it!  I'll surely happily add the patches to the Fedora packages,
even better would be if someone (maybe you) would revive the lcd4linux project,
if you're interesting try to see if you can reach the original admins, and if
they want to make you an admin for the sf project, then:

1) cleanup the axp driver
2) look at all the patches which have been posted on the list / are used by
distros and add them
3) prepare a new release
4) put a tarbal of this release on the downloads part of the sf project
5) ???
6) profit !

:)

Regards,

Hans

Re: [Lcd4linux-devel] Driver for dpf-ax

[<sup...@wo...>]

Hi Hans,

thanks for the info.
Even if lcd4linux is currently not actively maintained I know that many users of dpf-ax (including me) are using it.
I'm just interested to make it easier for everyone to get this up and running.
So maybe fixing the driver and posting a patch will do. If the patch finds its way into the svn - okay. If not,  checking out the current svn and applying the patch is also doable.

superelchi
 

> Gesendet: Dienstag, 14. Mai 2013 um 12:25 Uhr
> Von: "Hans de Goede" <hde...@re...>
> An: sup...@wo...
> Cc: lcd...@li...
> Betreff: Re: [Lcd4linux-devel] Driver for dpf-ax
>
> Hi,
> 
> I'm afraid I cannot answer your question, since I'm not really a lcd4linux dev,
> but as someone packaging lcd4linux for Fedora, and following this list for
> quite a while now, I can tell you that the lcd4linux project is not really
> actively maintained atm.
> 
> I think it is great that you want to improve support for the axp dpf-s, I
> say go for it!  I'll surely happily add the patches to the Fedora packages,
> even better would be if someone (maybe you) would revive the lcd4linux project,
> if you're interesting try to see if you can reach the original admins, and if
> they want to make you an admin for the sf project, then:
> 
> 1) cleanup the axp driver
> 2) look at all the patches which have been posted on the list / are used by
> distros and add them
> 3) prepare a new release
> 4) put a tarbal of this release on the downloads part of the sf project
> 5) ???
> 6) profit !
> 
> :)
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Hans
> 

Re: [Lcd4linux-devel] Driver for dpf-ax

[Ondrej W. <ond...@gm...>]

Hi,

I would also strongly encourage you to integrate the dpf-ax driver into 
lcd4linux. I tried to help with the patch I sent in some months ago 
because the dpf-ax driver from your repository was not compatible any 
more with the latest lcd4linux version (which I needed because of the 
MPD plugin). And it took me quite some time to make all the necessary 
changes to make everything build together. Therefore I wanted to share 
my changes with other people facing the same problem. Although the 
project does still seem to be maintained (there was some tiny patch 2 
month ago), contributions sent to this mailing list are not really 
discussed.

Since your driver is mainly (or exclusively?) used by lcd4linux, it 
makes perfect sense to integrate it. It will make life easier for a lot 
of people (including me, of course). I don't think there is a problem 
with your 3 files approach. I can see that currently there are some 
drivers with two files (.c and .h).

Keep up the good work.

Ondrej

/On 14/05/2013 13:04, sup...@wo... wrote://
/
> Hi Hans,
>
> thanks for the info.
> Even if lcd4linux is currently not actively maintained I know that many users of dpf-ax (including me) are using it.
> I'm just interested to make it easier for everyone to get this up and running.
> So maybe fixing the driver and posting a patch will do. If the patch finds its way into the svn - okay. If not,  checking out the current svn and applying the patch is also doable.
>
> superelchi
>

Re: [Lcd4linux-devel] Driver for dpf-ax

[<sup...@wo...>]

Hi Ondrej,

besides for lcd4linux dpfs are widely used as info displays for Video Disk Recorder VDR.
In fact after I had written a driver for VDRs plugin graphlcd a german reseller, who sold these dpfs for Euro 2,90 , was sold out in a couple of weeks. :-)
In this driver I also integrated the low level stuff and it works now for around 1 1/2 years without problems.
As I am also maintaining the dpf-ax code, I will make sure that the protocol will not change in the forseeable future. So integrating the protocol within a driver looks safe to me.

superelchi


> Gesendet: Dienstag, 14. Mai 2013 um 14:44 Uhr
> Von: "Ondrej Wisniewski" <ond...@gm...>
> An: lcd...@li...
> Betreff: Re: [Lcd4linux-devel] Driver for dpf-ax
>
> Hi,
> 
> I would also strongly encourage you to integrate the dpf-ax driver into 
> lcd4linux. I tried to help with the patch I sent in some months ago 
> because the dpf-ax driver from your repository was not compatible any 
> more with the latest lcd4linux version (which I needed because of the 
> MPD plugin). And it took me quite some time to make all the necessary 
> changes to make everything build together. Therefore I wanted to share 
> my changes with other people facing the same problem. Although the 
> project does still seem to be maintained (there was some tiny patch 2 
> month ago), contributions sent to this mailing list are not really 
> discussed.
> 
> Since your driver is mainly (or exclusively?) used by lcd4linux, it 
> makes perfect sense to integrate it. It will make life easier for a lot 
> of people (including me, of course). I don't think there is a problem 
> with your 3 files approach. I can see that currently there are some 
> drivers with two files (.c and .h).
> 
> Keep up the good work.
> 
> Ondrej
>