Quirky Xerus 8.1.4 for Raspberry Pi2 and 3

[Sylvander]

Did the necessary following all instructions.
Everything worked just fine.
Now typing this from RPi2 Quirky Xerus 8.1.4 on my Sony Bravia 32 inch smart TV, with USB wireless keyboard and mouse.
HDMI connection to tv.

Problem:
1. Text etc is too small when viewing 32 inch screen from 8-10 feet away.
What is the best way to fix this problem.

[don570]

If you change your config.txt file to

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hdmi_group=4
hdmi_mode=1

changes your monitor to 720i which makes text big

http://elinux.org/RPiconfig#Video_mode_options


EDIT:
Wrong numbers
Change to

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hdmi_group=1
hdmi_group=4

____________________________________________________

In addition.....
geany has preference file that is easy to change
look up 'geany' on this forum

[Sylvander]

1.

If you change your config.txt file to

Code: Select all

hdmi_group=4
hdmi_mode=1

changes your monitor to 720i which makes text big

a. Connected the Quirky Xerus mmc to my PC->USB socket, mounted the sdb2 partition holding the OS, found the "/mnt/sdb2/boot/part1/config.txt" file, opened it using Xfe->abiword, then:

a1. Searched for "hdmi_group=".
Found 2 that had numbers on the end, but only the 2nd came after a single hash [commented settings came after a double hash] as follows...
#hdmi_group=1
Can you confirm I should change this to....
#hdmi_group=4

a2. Searched for "hdmi_mode=".
Found 2 that had numbers on the end, but only the 2nd came after a single hash as follows...
#hdmi_mode=1
Can you confirm I should leave this unchanged?

2.

In addition.....
geany has preference file that is easy to change
look up 'geany' on this forum

I fail to understand the significance/meaning of what you say here.
What is a geany preference file?
Why would I want to use it?
When I search the forums for "geany", lots of threads are found, and I don't know which to read.

[greengeek]

I fail to understand the significance/meaning of what you say here. What is a geany preference file? Why would I want to use it?
When I search the forums for "geany", lots of threads are found, and I don't know which to read.

I think don570 is implying that it will be easier to read text from a distance if you increase the font size in geany (assuming geany is what you use to read text files...).

The file /root/.config/geany/geany.conf contains parameters that you can change to set geany behaviour the way you prefer.

[Sylvander]

I think don570 is implying that it will be easier to read text from a distance if you increase the font size in geany (assuming geany is what you use to read text files...).

Understood, BUT...
It isn't just the fontsize in geany I need to increase.
In fact, it isn't just the GLOBAL font size I need to increase.
It is E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G I need to increase.
Anything that needs to be seen and understood.
e.g. Icons on the desktop, items in the menus, buttons, etc.

The file /root/.config/geany/geany.conf contains parameters that you can change to set geany behaviour the way you prefer.

OK, I'll use this [for geany] if other more global fixes don't do the trick.

[TeX Dog]

font size per dpi setting under X. higher number the larger they appear. I forgit where the setting is but still too small

[Sylvander]

1

font size per dpi

I believe I understand this.

2

setting under X.

Don't understand this.

3

higher number the larger they appear.

Understand this.

4

I forgit where the setting is

So I've no idea where to go to change the setting.

[amj]

Optimising for readability tends to be an iterative process. One simple starting point is:

menu > desktop > chtheme gtk/qt theme chooser

Bottom left you will see a font button. You can increase font size or select a bold font (or both).

If JWM fonts are a problem you will need to edit /root/.jwm/jwmrc-theme by hand. Bump up the numbers until you get something easy to read

Most applications will have their own function for changing font and font size.

Don570's suggestion is perfectly sensible but it involves putting your screen into a lower resolution. Something that you may not want since it impacts other functions such as video playback.

You don't need to edit config.txt offline. Just mount the boot partition and use a text editor. The changes will not take effect until you reboot.

Although making multiple bespoke changes is tedious it will eventually give you a better result that trying to find a global trick that changes everything in one go.

[Sylvander]

@amj:

1. "menu > desktop > chtheme gtk/qt theme chooser
Bottom left you will see a font button. You can increase font size or select a bold font (or both)."
Understood.

2. "If JWM fonts are a problem you will need to edit /root/.jwm/jwmrc-theme by hand. Bump up the numbers until you get something easy to read
Most applications will have their own function for changing font and font size."
Understood, but I was hoping to avoid the necessity of doing it this way.

3. "Don570's suggestion is perfectly sensible but it involves putting your screen into a lower resolution. Something that you may not want since it impacts other functions such as video playback."
OUCH!
Pity about the negative impact on "other functions such as video playback".

4. "You don't need to edit config.txt offline. Just mount the boot partition and use a text editor."
I find it easy/easier to make the edits on my PC.
Which is the boot partition?
The 2nd/larger one holding the OS?

4. "Although making multiple bespoke changes is tedious it will eventually give you a better result that trying to find a global trick that changes everything in one go."
Pity about this.
I've tried to make "bespoke changes" in the past, and found these inadequate because only some things were improved, and others not.

Each suggestion and point of view increases my mental picture/understanding of things.
Getting closer to the point where I should act.

[blackcorvo]

For anyone trying to get Raspberry Pi 3's Wireless to work on Quirky, try the following:
Using BerryBoot, go to Edit Menu, then set up your wireless connection from there. Once it's connected and working, exit and start up Quirky.

I was able to make mine work that way!

[don570]

a1. Searched for "hdmi_group=".
Found 2 that had numbers on the end, but only the 2nd came after a single hash [commented settings came after a double hash] as follows...
#hdmi_group=1
Can you confirm I should change this to....
#hdmi_group=4

EDIT:
I made a mistake the numbers should be exchanged --->

Code: Select all

hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=4

There is some problems with video playback using Barry's video app
but try various settings such as half video frame size.

_________________________________________________________

[Sylvander]

I made a mistake the numbers should be exchanged --->

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hdmi_group=1
hdmi_group=4

I fail to understand what this means.
Which number[s] should be exchanged for which?

[amj]

There is some problems with video playback using Barry's video app
but try various settings such as half video frame size.

One thing that has not been mentioned in this thread: Newly installed QX814 leaves the RPi video memory at the default 64Mb. Anyone wanting to make serious use of the RPi for video playback should bump the GPU memory up to 128Mb with a gpu_mem_1024=128 instruction in config.txt.

In addition it pays to use menu > system > wcpufreq CPU scaling tool to ensure that the ondemand governor is enabled with (I suggest) a 50% threshold. Also use menu > system > bootmanager configure bootup to ensure that the wcpufreq service is automatically activated during system startup (by default it is off).

I'm running QX814 on both RPi2 and RPi3 and have been interested to see that a wide range of video files will play back OK on the RPi3. The RPi2 is more prone to performance issues.

[Sylvander]

Anyone wanting to make serious use of the RPi for video playback should bump the GPU memory up to 128Mb with a gpu_mem_1024=128 instruction in config.txt.

My "config.txt" file [read on my PC] includes only a single line that includes "gpu_mem_1024=" as follows...
#gpu_mem_1024=944
What should I do to that?

[amj]

I fail to understand what this means.
Which number[s] should be exchanged for which?

We don't know the exact details for your 'Sony Bravia 32 inch smart TV' so we can't tell you the optimal settings. Read the Sony documentation to find out the full range of capabilities your TV has and then read through the explanatory text in the video section of config.txt

In addition there is online help at:

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https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/config-txt.md
http://elinux.org/RPiconfig
http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/tags/config.txt/info

Don570 suggested running your TV at a lower resolution than the default. That will automatically have the side-effect of making the text on the screen larger. The Sony documentation should tell you the range of options you have and the config.txt parameters provide the means to select between those alternative options.

[amj]

My "config.txt" file [read on my PC] includes only a single line that includes "gpu_mem_1024=" as follows...
#gpu_mem_1024=944
What should I do to that?

Remove the # and change 944 to 128.

[don570]

I should have exchanged the numbers...

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hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=4 

This will make the screen easier to view if you have a viewing problem.

______________________________

[Sylvander]

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hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=4 

This made an improvement = the items on screen are now increased in size, but not by enough.
I can only just read them from about 6 or 7 feet.
Need them even bigger so I can read them from say 10 to 12 feet.

[Dud]

I recently used hostapd from (iIrc) ubunti xenial universe.
I'm trying to build a cleaner system from scratch in the light of experience but hostapd seems to have gone from the ppm.

Ideas?

Tia, Cheerio.

[don570]

Need them even bigger so I can read them from say 10 to 12 feet.

It makes the apps difficult to run , however
for the biggest size characters...

change

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hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=4

to..

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hdmi_safe=1

http://elinux.org/RPiconfig