iMonHelper Files

iMon_Helper

Requirements:
Mac OS X running on a PPC or Intel processor 
LCDproc
iMon LCD or VFD

Information:
iMon_Helper is intended as a go-between to allow your Mac OS X installation of LCDProc to communicate with your iMon display.  Because it is installed a separate binary, you will not need special Mac OS X specific compilations of LCDproc or the iMon driver to take advantage of the features of your iMon display.  This will allow you to keep updated with the latest features of the iMon LCDproc driver.

Downloads:
iMon_Helper_0.61.tgz 	-	PPC/32 bit Intel
iMon_Helper_0.65.tgz	-	32/64 bit Intel

Installation:
A good install location would be:
/usr/local/bin/iMon_Helper

Configuration:
First, change the LCDproc driver path to the correct location.  If you have used 'make install', the correct path is likely:
DriverPath=/usr/local/lib/lcdproc/

Next, make sure LCDproc is configured to use the correct display.  The LCDd.conf file must be edited for your environment.
If you have a display that does not use the HID protocol, use:
Driver=imon
Otherwise,  if you have a display that does use the HID protocol (there will likely be a small green sticker on the back of the display that says "HID" or white printing on the circuit board), use:
Driver=imonlcd
When using the imonlcd driver you will also need to select the correct protocol.  New devices use:
Protocol=1

Regardless of what driver you are using, you need to use the following setting:
Device=/dev/stdout
This sends the iMon commands from LCDproc to the standard output.

You might also consider adding the following LCDproc [server] settings:
ServerScreen=blank 
Backlight=on

Testing the configuration:
Make sure LCDproc is loading correctly by first running the program from the command line like so (assuming the default installation location):

/usr/local/sbin/LCDd

You should see some unreadable output like:
X??? !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:????;

Terminate the program by running the command:
sudo killall LCDd

Testing connection with iMon display:
Run the iMon_Helper program from the command line to see if it connects properly to the display like this (assuming installation in /usr/local/bin):
/usr/local/bin/iMon_Helper

You should see some connection information like:
Mac OS X iMON Helper: Found device matching ID:0x15c2/0x0038.
Mac OS X iMON Helper: found interface: <IOUSBInterface>
Mac OS X iMON Helper: found HID driver: <IOUSBHIDDriver>
Mac OS X iMON Helper: Opened HID device.
Mac OS X iMON Helper: found interface: <IOUSBInterface>
Mac OS X iMON Helper: found HID driver: <IOUSBHIDDriver>
Mac OS X iMON Helper: Opened HID device.
Mac OS X iMON Helper: Reading data from stdin...

Running LCDproc with iMon_Helper:
To run LCDproc with the iMon_Helper you must pipe the output of LCDproc to iMon_Helper using a command such as:
/usr/local/sbin/LCDd | /usr/local/bin/iMon_Helper

Note the "pipe" character ("|") which is shift-backslash on most keyboards.

Stopping LCDproc:
You can terminate LCDproc from the command line using a command such as:
sudo killall LCDd

iMon_Helper will notice that LCDproc has stopped and will automatically close the connection to the iMon display.

Using the Remote:
The standard Apple HID drivers will allow most of the buttons on a HID device to function.  If you do not have a HID device, or you want to use the rest of the buttons, install the Active_Remote_Script.app in your Applications folder, or in your home folder.  Then, run iMon_Helper with the '-r' flag like so:
/usr/local/sbin/LCDd | /usr/local/bin/iMon_Helper -r
When iMon_Helper reads a remote button press, it passes it on to the AppleScript application bundle, which in turn passes it along to Remote Buddy (http://www.iospirit.com/products/remotebuddy/).  This is a slow process, but has the advantage of allowing the user to create their own remote functions by editing the  Active_Remote_Script.app script.  This script can edited to forward the button press to other programs as well.


Good luck!

iMon_Helper is copyright (c) 2012 Eric Pooch.
epooch@cox.net