PicoChess v3.1 Images

[RandyR]

Hi everyone.

I have updated my images, incorporating the changes made by Gerhard, Ghislain, Dirk M. and Dirk S. (and any others who supported them). There are some modifications:

board.py - added code to help with DGT chessboard bluetooth connection
menu.py - added PCM as a sound card control
utilities.py - used a different geo-location provider
picochess.ini - added descriptive and missing text for some options (work-in-progress)

As before the images are set up for the DGTPi. I would suggest using the Lite image in the stock DGTPi (RPi3b), but the Desktop does work. Instructions are included to use them in a standalone config.  

For those using an attached monitor (e.g. display case) you can see the PicoChessWeb Instructions.txt file to see how to enable Chromium kiosk mode. You can adjust the delay for starting Chromium in the kiosk.sh file in the pi user's home folder.

Only the public domain MAME roms are included, as before. Thanks to Dieter for providing mess v0.252. The chessengine plugin is the one from Sandro Ronco.

Wine and Box86 are not installed. But experienced users can do that themselves if it's required to run x86 engines locally.

I have not carried out extensive testing so let me know if you have issues. Also, I can only test the DGT chessboard. But at least you should be able to enjoy the new enhancements. I will try to update them regularly, but no promises. :^)

Here are the links to the images:

Desktop (4.0 GB)

Lite  (3.6 GB)

Don't forget to allow extra time on first boot. And have your chessboard ON before starting for a smoother experience.

Randy

[Dirk]

Ah finally the 3.1 images - that's is great, thank you Randy.

This will help avoiding some confusion with missing functions in the 3.0 images ;-)

In the near future I think more and more people who are interested in PicoChess will use the PicochessWeb hardware and software solution.

Furthermore I think even in the standard DGTPI it is no problem to run a desktop Raspian OS - so maybe it would make sense to provide just a Desktop version of the DGTPI preconfigured image and a PicochessWeb preconfigured image (maybe for the popular 7 inch display resolution 1024x600) which can also be used as a stand alone unit when someone just wants to use the web browser of a phone or tablet (just put a headless PI somewhere in your room and use a tablet beside your eboard!)

Just an idea. 

I will Check the (desktop) image on my devices when I am back at home...

Thanks again!

Dirk

[RandyR]

Hi Dirk,

Yes, you are probably right that the Lite image is not really necessary. Also, just having the Desktop image would be easier to maintain going forward.

I tested the Desktop image in my 7-inch touch screen unit and the web browser worked fine in the PicoChess Web configuration. I can't test any other sizes so there might need to be some settings changes needed for specific hardware (e.g. in the config.txt file).

Randy

[RandyR]

Let's see if this gets through.

Images updated yesterday. Same links.

Randy

[Dirk]

Hurray Google - not.

Von meinem iPad gesendet

Am 10.03.2023 um 15:56 schrieb RandyR <randy...@gmail.com>:



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[RandyR]

It appears that I can now reply from the group using my Android phone, instead of needing to use GMail, without switching to desktop mode, although that could just be a glitch.

I still think we should find a better platform.

Randy

[Ghislain Bourgeois]

1 2 1 2 testing

Hopefully this goes through, I have not had much luck posting here. I also think a change of platform might be in order.

I have updated my repo with changes from Randy's image, except for larger files like books/engines and other binaries. I am also gradually working on making it easy to get all the parts in place automatically. My repo now does not contain any tablebases, but instead has a script to download them from the Internet Archive, that can be used when creating images.

Ghislain

[m371...@gmail.com]

I noticed in piochess.ini that “Alt-Move” is set to True….

 

Sent from Mail for Windows

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[Randy Reade]

I'll change it to false in my next update.

Randy

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[Andrew Nassih]

since many of the updates are in '.py' form, can we centralize a repo to download and apply to our images instead of having to flash a new card everytime?

[waldomiro dias machado junior]

Good morning!

I recently wrote myself, I'm a beginner to PicoChess 3.1 Web.

Congratulations to the developers, you do a wonderful job!

I use a Raspbarry pi 4b with a 7" Oficlal display and a Certabo Curzio.

Unfortunately I couldn't enable the sound via cable and P2 connector, I put it in the option always and unfortunately it doesn't work.

It would be wonderful if it worked offline and if you could make a menu easier to use. I have a lot of difficulty using it, I find it very confusing. I know that you use the keys of the DGT PI buttons.

If that ever happens, PicoChess 3 will be better than Mephisto Phoenix.

Grateful,
Waldomiro.

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[Ghislain Bourgeois]

I am currently working on that in my repo: https://github.com/ghislainbourgeois/picochess

The challenge currently is around the user files (*.ini mostly) and binary files (engines, books, tablebases). I already removed the tablebases from the repo and replaced them with a script to download them, so updating from the repo will not override the existing tablebases, but they are still easy to get. I am currently working on renaming the default picochess.ini file, so that an update from the repo will not update the user configuration.

Once I have something ready, I will post on this group to get some help testing in different setups.

Ghislain

[RandyR]

It appears that I left out a file in my image archives. I'll add it to the next update and attach it here.

Randy

[Marc Hamilton]

Randy, 

I've never understood using the Pi as a stand alone. After commenting out the DGTPi setting in the picochess.ini file (I think it can be done in the menu with 3.1), do I just enter the IP address in a browser and play with a mouse onscreen?

[Marc Hamilton]

Thinking about this a bit more, since the timing also needs adjusted. I just flash my current image to a second card, modify the settings and use that card to play onscreen and the other one to play on the board. 

Sent from my Samsung Tab S7

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From: pico...@googlegroups.com <pico...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Marc Hamilton <m371...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2023 8:35:49 AM
To: PicoChess <pico...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: PicoChess v3.1 Images

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[Randy Reade]

Hi Mark,

Standalone is the setup when you are just using a Pi, not wired to a DGT3000 clock (a.k.a. a DGTPi). I set my images up for the DGTPi since that was the first Pi I ever owned. But now I think most people just use a Pi, which is much cheaper, and rely on the webserver to operate the 'buttons'. Also, since the image is set for the DGTPi, if you use it in that configuration and you have some custom hardware wired to the GPIO, you can possibly damage that hardware by the dgtpicom program sending commands to it.

Randy

[Marc Hamilton]

Do I use the IP address or an HDMI cable to attach it to the monitor. After some thought on this, I suspect it is the latter, since there is discussion on using a 7" monitor wired to the Pi. 

Sent from my Samsung Tab S7

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From: pico...@googlegroups.com <pico...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Randy Reade <randy...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2023 8:52:02 AM
To: pico...@googlegroups.com <pico...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: PicoChess v3.1 Images

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[Marc Hamilton]

Since I have a Pi wired to a DGT clock, I can unplug the connection and not risk damaging the circuitry.

Sent from my Samsung Tab S7

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From: Marc Hamilton <m371...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2023 8:58:59 AM

[Randy Reade]

You don't need a monitor if your Pi is connected to your network. Just open a browser on another PC/tablet/etc. and enter the ip address of your Pi to access the webserver interface. Or, if you have a monitor attached, open a browser locally with the ip address 127.0.0.1 (or use 'localhost'). If your Pi is in a display case, set up kiosk mode, ala PicoChess Web.

Randy

[RandyR]

Just a reminder that the Desktop image is set up for a DGTPi with sound forced to the headphone (A/V) jack. This is to allow PicoChess, which is started as root from the picochess.service to have sound (i.e., to allow the root user to play sounds). If you are using an HDMI monitor,  you will most likely need to edit the /etc/asound.conf file to switch the audio to your HDMI monitor. It is currently set to device 0 which is the headphone jack for a Pi. Note that switching via the speaker icon will have no effect on the root user sound.

If you run the command:

pacmd list-sinks | grep -e 'name:' -e 'index:'

it will show which output devices are available. The asterisk shows which one is default (for user pi). Use the index number in the /etc/asound.conf file to set the desired output device for everyone.

Randy

[RandyR]

Hi Everyone,

I have updated my images with the latest code changes committed by Ghislain to his Github repo.

The links are the same.

Randy

[m371...@gmail.com]

I’m still confused by this… I commented out the DGTPi=True in the Pico ini file and commented out the core timings in config.txt.

I started the pi and open the screen in a browser by using the IP address.

I can make the first move with the mouse, but I don’t get back an opponents move.

Also, the message “no DGT e-Board” is being displayed at the top of the screen.

 

 

Sent from Mail for Windows

 

From: Randy Reade
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2023 9:08 AM
To: pico...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: PicoChess v3.1 Images

 

You don't need a monitor if your Pi is connected to your network. Just open a browser on another PC/tablet/etc. and enter the ip address of your Pi to access the webserver interface. Or, if you have a monitor attached, open a browser locally with the ip address 127.0.0.1 (or use 'localhost'). If your Pi is in a display case, set up kiosk mode, ala PicoChess Web.

 

Randy

 

On Sat, Mar 11, 2023 at 11:02 AM Marc Hamilton <m371...@gmail.com> wrote:

Since I have a Pi wired to a DGT clock, I can unplug the connection and not risk damaging the circuitry.

 

Sent from my Samsung Tab S7

From: Marc Hamilton <m371...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2023 8:58:59 AM
To: pico...@googlegroups.com <pico...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: PicoChess v3.1 Images

 

Do I use the IP address or an HDMI cable to attach it to the monitor. After some thought on this, I suspect it is the latter, since there is discussion on using a 7" monitor wired to the Pi. 

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[m371...@gmail.com]

Okay, I figured it out… I had to go in the menu and specify “Web Play” now it is responding with a move… pretty cool - thanx

 

Sent from Mail for Windows

 

From: RandyR
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2023 12:34 PM
To: PicoChess
Subject: Re: PicoChess v3.1 Images

 

Just a reminder that the Desktop image is set up for a DGTPi with sound forced to the headphone (A/V) jack. This is to allow PicoChess, which is started as root from the picochess.service to have sound (i.e., to allow the root user to play sounds). If you are using an HDMI monitor,  you will most likely need to edit the /etc/asound.conf file to switch the audio to your HDMI monitor. It is currently set to device 0 which is the headphone jack for a Pi. Note that switching via the speaker icon will have no effect on the root user sound.

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[Randy Reade]

Oh. You should have mentioned you were trying to use the new no-eboard mode. 🤪 I couldn't figure out what you were talking about. Glad you're sorted. 🙂

Randy

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[Marc Hamilton]

Here you go... 

Picochess 3.1 (YouTube)

[christopher stummer]

Is that under engines? Can't seem to find web play?

Best,

Chris

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[m371...@gmail.com]

It’s under System -> e-Board -> No e-Board (Web Play)

 

In the video I state the Pi is connected by BT, while that’s true, it’s connected to my network by a wireless connection.

 

Sent from Mail for Windows

 

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[RandyR]

Hi Everyone,

I have updated my images with the latest PicoChess code. There are some important changes to be aware of:

The Lite image is basically the same, designed for use on the DGTPi without a desktop GUI installed. Instructions are included in the file to explain how to use the image in a stand-alone configuration, i.e. not in a DGTPi (or wired DGT3000 mod).

And, to reward Dirk for his kindness to me, the Desktop image is now set up to be used in a stand-alone RPi with a monitor attached (similar to the PicoChess Web image you may have used). It will open a browser window on the monitor after PicoChess starts (kiosk mode). Read through the documentation enclosed in the archive for details, including how to change to the PicoChess Web wallpaper or use in a DGTPi. Sound has been configured for the AV jack on the Pi. As explained in the enclosed docs (did I mention to READ THE DOCS?), issue the following command via SSH or directly using a keyboard (Alt-F4 will close the browser window):

sudo aplay -l

and edit the /etc/asound.conf file to match the card you want (probably 1 or 2 since it is set to 0 by default). Using raspi-config will not switch the sound (for root).

If you use a touchscreen, you may need to install an overlay to enable the touch function. My 7-inch Eviciv touchscreen worked without any further configuration.

There has been limited testing so there may be bugs, but I wanted to get this out as soon as possible. If you do have issues that are not covered in the documentation or you cannot solve, just ask on the forum and someone will hopefully be able to assist.

The links are the same.

Desktop (4.0 GB)

Lite  (3.6 GB)

[Dirk]

Finally a PicoChessWeb image - that is great and many people will really enjoy this!!! 

Thank you so much Randy!

Dirk

[waldomiro dias machado junior]

Hi Randy,

I'm already downloading and then I'll install it on my Raspberry pi4B.

Thank you very much for your excellent work and for sharing knowledge!

Grateful,
Waldomiro

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[Amp]

Hello. In this version I can put an initial position and picochess scans and analyzes it from that position ??? There is a video where you can see this ???  My idea is to put a position and study it from there, for example to study finals and be able to play against the computer.  Thank you very much and congratulations on the project

[Henri]

Hi there Randy,

Thank you very much for the latest images!

In the Desktop version, in order to adjust the screen resolution to the 'official' 7 inch display you need to put these alterations in the /boot/config.txt file:

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
framebuffer_width=1024
framebuffer_height=600

# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
hdmi_drive=2
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16

Maybe you can add this to your instructions.

Great stuff!!

Henri

[Randy Reade]

Hi Henri,

Thanks for sharing that! I'm sure anyone using the official 7-in. display will appreciate it. Unfortunately, I could only test my settings on the display I use. Perhaps I will switch the config.txt to be compatible with the official display. I can always revert the changes for my own display.

Thanks again.

Randy

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[waldomiro dias machado junior]

Hi Henri,

I'm having the same problem as you faced related to the display.

My equipment is a Raspberry p1 4B with the official 7 inch display.

I tried using the same parameters you used and unfortunately it didn't work.

I have an older picture where the display works fine but the sound doesn't. In the parameters appears:
hdmi_drive=1
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16

And the framebuffer 1024 and 600

I also tried this setup and it didn't work either.

Did you do anything else that I haven't done yet? Did you just change the framebuffer and the hdmi?

Grateful,
Waldomiro.

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[Henri]

Hi Waldomiro,

Only changed the framebuffer and hdmi like I mentioned above. After that the resolution is fine here. I'm using a small speaker, attached to the audio-jack. That works excellently too, much better than sound through HDMI, which is soft and crackly.

Henri

[waldomiro dias machado junior]

Hello Henri,

Thank you very much for your reply.

I made these changes which are very simple, but unfortunately, mine didn't work. The chessboard is huge on the screen, only half of the black pieces appear.

Please answer me one more question if possible: If you built your Raspberry with the official 7" display, did you also connect the green and yellow wires from the screen to the Raspberry or just the red and black ones?

I'm thinking of all the possibilities.

Grateful,
Waldomiro

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[Henri]

Hi Waldomiro,

Mine is a Wimaxit Raspberry Pi 3 4 Model B 3 7 "Touch Screen Hdmi Monitor 1024X600. As far as I remember it is directly connected through a HDMI and a USB dongle, the only thing connected through wires are the speakers on the monitor.

Henri

[RandyR]

Waldomiro,

What is the screen resolution for your display? Is it 800×480?

Randy

[waldomiro dias machado junior]

Hi Randy,

I went looking for the specs: 800x480

So I must change to these values, right?

Waldomiro

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[Randy Reade]

Can you use these values:

max_usb_current=1

hdmi_force_hotplug=1

config_hdmi_boost=7

hdmi_group=2

hdmi_mode=1

hdmi_mode=87

hdmi_drive=1

hdmi_cvt 800 480 60 6 0 0 

Add any ones that are missing.

Randy

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[waldomiro dias machado junior]

Hi Randy


Those values that are missing I put them all in: uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)?

max_usb_current=1
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
config_hdmi_boost=7
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=1
hdmi_mode=87
hdmi_drive=1
hdmi_cvt 800 480 60 6 0 0

Should I also change framebuffer to: width=800 and height=480?

Waldomiro

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[Randy Reade]

You can. It only affects the console, though. You are booting to the GUI.

Randy

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[Henri]

Hi Randy,

I'm playing around with your latest desktop image, loving it. But... of course I have questions. Firstly, a part of the webpage (down/right) is not used and that seems to be kind of unusual, looking at screenshots of Dirk. Look at the attachment to see what I mean. Secondly, there is a very nice option to shut up the Mame-engines, but it doesn't work for me. No matter how I try, my favourite retro-engines keep beeping the hell out of me. Any ideas?

Henri  

Op dinsdag 14 maart 2023 om 23:36:54 UTC+1 schreef RandyR:

[Randy Reade]

Hi Henri,

I believe as you make moves the book/game section moves down. I'll look at the sound issue.

Randy

[Henri]

Hi Randy,

Nope, doesn't move down....

Henri

Op woensdag 15 maart 2023 om 22:18:49 UTC+1 schreef RandyR:

[RandyR]

Hi Henri,

I can confirm the retro-sound control isn't working. Also, the web server seems to depend on the window size (I guess I'm stating the obvious there). When I open the browser on my PC and adjust the browser window, only the board element seems to resize vertically. And there is a minimum size for the board element. Below that, you lose the right-hand windows (maybe they move down below the board, but there's no scroll bar on the window. I think that's handled in the javascript or css code. 

I think Dirk, Ghislain and Gerhard will need to look at it. I suppose you could set a better resolution in your config.txt. I'm not sure what aspect ratio is ideal. I see the same thing at 1200x768 (for my 4-inch LCD which is 800x480 pixels). I'll have to check later on the 7-inch screen.

Randy

[RandyR]

Hi Henri,

On my 7-inch Eviciv, it looks correct at a desktop resolution of 1024x600 (which is my screen's native resolution). Are you able to try that on your system? Or use your screen's native resolution? I'm using the settings as per the config.txt in my Desktop image.

Randy

On Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at 4:31:45 PM UTC-5 Henri wrote:

[waldomiro dias machado junior]

Good night Randy!

I have no words to thank you for all the effort you made to help me, amazing!

Finally my Raspberry pi 4B with the official 7 inch screen worked, including the sound, it's amazing!

Congratulations to all the specialists who dedicate themselves intensely to this voluntary work!

Grateful,
Waldomiro.

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[RandyR]

Hi Henri,

So, I switched my SD card back to the 7-inch display, reverted my config.txt back to what's on my image and the retro-sound setting works. Something strange was happening though. I initially had no picochess sounds. Even trying to play a sound didn't work. I realized that the audio output for Pi was set to audio jack so I switched it over to HDMI. Then when I tried to play a sound, sox froze. Trying to play as sudo said "play FAIL sox: Sorry, there is no default audio device configured". But, when I went into the menu and changed the engine to Stockfish (it was still on Mephisto MMV) sound suddenly reappeared. Strange. Maybe it was a glitch or something I did when swapping between Pi's. I'll redo things tomorrow.

Randy

[RandyR]

Good to hear it's working now, Waldomiro.

If anyone needs the fix for the official 7-inch display (800x480 px), ensure these lines are in the config.txt:

framebuffer_width=1280
framebuffer_height=768

hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=23

#dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d

I guess since it connects via DSI you cannot use the KMS driver.

Randy

[Dirk]

Yes it would be nice if at least the html "card" on the side down right would dynamically adjust to the screen size (better all elements would be dynamic/responsive ) .

As Randy wrote: the current display is kind of optimized for a 7inch1024X600 pixel screen I think.

(For me it fits for my PicoChessWeb system perfectly and for my DGTPI/Revelation I don't use the web server that much...)

Unfortunately  I am not able to adjust this and maybe it is not so easy without breaking something else in the display!?

So we have to wait until for someone with more html/java know how jumps in and fixes this I think...

Sorry,

Dirk

[gkalab]

Now I can't seem to get a message through, I try to rephrase it - maybe it gets through the spam filter now.

Thanks Randy for the image, it works out of the box!

Yes, I designed the layout for a resolution of 1024x600. My knowledge regarding css/js is very limited and I don't know how to make the design independent of the resolution.

You can improve the rendering of the scroll bars when you add

--enable-features=OverlayScrollbar

to the call of the web browser.

Gerhard

[Randy Reade]

Thanks, Gerhard. I think it should be OK for people to adjust their desktop resolution to optimize the layout. I suppose the display might look cropped depending on the native resolution.

Randy

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[RandyR]

Hi Dirk,

I wonder if a better option to mute the MAME sound would be to change the setting in mame.ini and restart mess. Perhaps just using sed to toggle it OFF or ON. It looks like you do it as the engine is called. I'll do some more tests today.

Randy

[Dirk]

Hi Randy,

yes the mame sound is set via a call parameter like the speed option which we already had - so this was the easiest method. It is like the speed parameter a valid option and should work like a mame.ini parameter (and on my systems (all 3) it does work - don't know if changing mame.ini would be be "better" (don't think so - why should it?) at least I don't know how to change this easily.

Dirk

[Randy Reade]

Hi Dirk,

Yes, I agree it should be the same. The only thing different between the 2 RPi4b's I was testing (other than the displays) is that the first one uses the headphone audio and, like Henri, the selection didn't turn off the MAME sounds and the 2nd uses HDMI, which I think works, but I had some strange Sox lockups when I moved the SD card over. I haven't had time to do any further testing, but I will.

Randy

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[RandyR]

Hi Dirk,

I tested the retro-sound option and it doesn't appear to be working (at least on the Pi with the 4-inch screen). It looks like the speed and sound settings are not getting passed to the mess command:

I tried switching engines to Stockfish and back and still had MAME sounds. Restarting PicoChess likewise didn't help. Neither did a reboot.

Randy

[RandyR]

Ok, so I see the same htop display when using the 7-inch display (no changes made except editing /etc/asound.conf to select the hdmi card (1) as default and rebooting) and I don't hear any MAME sounds. Something is strange though. When I selected the MAME engine (MM V) I didn't hear the "OK Engine" announcement from Christina but did hear the PicoTutor voice. When I changed the level, I did hear Christina announce "OK Engine, OK Time". That's not a big deal or maybe it's normal. Anyway, it works when you are using HDMI but I can't test the headphone jack as there isn't enough space in the case to plug in my speaker. Maybe I can find a right-angle connector. Don't see what the difference is. Maybe how MAME was compiled? I'm using Dieter's binary.

Randy

[RandyR]

It appears I'm not getting MAME sounds at all via HDMI. I just enabled them but only hear the PicoChess/PicoTutor voices. No beeps.

Randy

[Dirk]

Hi Randy,

you should have used Dirk S. image as a base image then it would work ;-))))))))))

The problem with your image looks like to be an inconsistency with the mame/mess file, the mame bash scripts and the new 3.1 picochess version for setting the speed and sound options - ha I guess these yyou guessed this as well ;-)

If you did not use Dirk's PicoChessWeb image I guess you are missing an important parameter in the bash scripts for starting mame:

thats how it should like eg for academy:

#!/bin/bash

cd /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation; SDL_VIDEODRIVER=dummy /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/mess $1 -video none -plugin chessengine academy

The &1 will be replaced by options from picochess during the mame call...

I have attached for your convenience all my files with the parameter....

Hopefully that's it.

Dirk

[Randy Reade]

Oh, that is so sneaky. 😁

I think that will fix the retro-sound and retro-speed option, but I think my HDMI issue is a setting in the config.txt file (might need hdmi_drive=2).

I guess I have some work to do...

Thanks, Dirk.

Randy

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[Henri]

Hi Randy,

On the bright side, I solved my display problem. I played around with the  hdmi_mode= option in /boot/config.txt and found out that some numbers lead to a 'full' and beautiful screen layout. But the strangest thing is that after applying the initial hdmi_mode=16, the screen suddenly now is perfect too. Is there some strange magic hidden in your image Randy? ;)

Henri 

Op donderdag 16 maart 2023 om 21:04:42 UTC+1 schreef Dirk:

[Dirk]

Yes I remember having the same sound problems with my MolliPi: mame sound and voice sound sometimes worked both sometimes only one of them. It changed after rebooting or after first voice or mame sound that the other sound magically switched off for some reason.

Wilhelm and I got thsi fixed by setting different asound configurations and or config.txt stting for the internal sound card we use in our custom DGPIs.

Don't know how to fix the hdmi/sound problem you have at the moment but I am sure there is a correct setting for this...

Dirk

[Randy Reade]

That is strange, Henri. I'm glad it's looking better now.

Randy

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[Randy Reade]

Hmmm, the hdmi_drive=2 change didn't fix it. Maybe it IS the outdated mame scripts. Strande that the PicoChess sounds come through but not the MAME ones. I'll install them and test.

I wonder if anyone using my image with an HDMI monitor is seeing the same issue?

Thanks again.

Randy

[RandyR]

It appears MAME doesn't like audio over HDMI when using the vc4-kms-v3d driver. I'll put together a new image - tomorrow, hopefully. If you want to fix it yourself (you are using HDMI audio) edit your config.txt file and set these options:

framebuffer_width=1024
framebuffer_height=600

hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16
#dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d           <--------------  add # to comment this line out

Then reboot. You may need to edit /etc/asound.conf as HDMI will become device 0. If you use the AV jack, and you make these edits, you will likely need to switch to device 1.

Randy

[RandyR]

There seems to be an issue with the retro-sound setting. When sound is selected OFF, the whole retro-speed and retro-sound section in picochess.ini (below) gets deleted, not just the option(s):

## Experimental Retrospeed section 1.0 = original, valid options are 0.2 to 2.0 or 0.01 for full speed.
## Only use with a Raspberry Pi 4B hardware or better. Leave it blank for the original speed.
#rspeed = 1.0

## Retro-Sound Setting for mame engines: default sound is off, if you want to switch it on, set rsound = True by
## uncommenting the next line
#rsound = True
rsound = True

Can someone else confirm?

Randy

[Ghislain Bourgeois]

I can confirm, I just tried and the whole section got deleted.

Ghislain

[Ghislain Bourgeois]

This specific use case uses the configobj library instead of using `write_picochess_ini`, and what happens is that it reads in all the file and makes all settings into a dict. The dict does not contain any of the comments. When the config dict is written back, it rewrites the entire file, without the comments. This should be an easy fix, I will take a stab a it.

Ghislain

[Ghislain Bourgeois]

Oh well, turns out that a lot of the file uses the same construct, so it will be a much larger fix.

I will fix everything on my fork this weekend, but I have tested this and it works:

  2578         elif self.state == MenuState.RETROSETTINGS_RETROSOUND_ONOFF:
  2579             # do action!
  2580             self.engine_retrosound = self.engine_retrosound_onoff
  2581             self.res_engine_retrosound = self.engine_retrosound
  2582             write_picochess_ini("rsound", self.engine_retrosound
  2583             # trigger rspped event for rsound change (does just an engine restart)
  2584             self._fire_event(Event.RSPEED(rspeed=self.retrospeed_factor))
  2585             text = self._fire_dispatchdgt(self.dgttranslate.text("B10_okrsound"))
  2586             self._fire_event(Event.PICOCOMMENT(picocomment="ok"))

Ghislain

[Randy Reade]

Thanks, Ghislain. I think it was changing picochess.ini ownership to root as well. But that might have been while I was doing things.

It's hard to keep track sometimes. :^)

Randy

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[Ghislain Bourgeois]

Dirk reported a problem to me around the impossibility to set the `dgtpi` setting and some other settings to False anymore. It turns out the library configargparse has a bug with boolean values. One of my changes was to move picochess.ini to picochess.ini.defaults, and have configargparse read both of them, with picochess.ini taking priority. However, it turns out that it does not work properly with booleans. If a value is set to True in the defaults file, it becomes impossible to override it. In the case a value is set to False in the defaults file, it can be properly overridden in the user's config.

For that reason, I just pushed a change that sets all the default values to False. It is not the prettiest fix, but at least it lets everyone choose their own configuration.

Randy, I am not sure if your latest images contained the picochess.ini.defaults file, but if it does, it might make sense to update when you get the chance.

For anyone that has problem disabling a feature, changing it in the picochess.ini.defaults will fix it for now.

Ghislain

[Randy Reade]

Thanks, Ghislain,

I didn't have the defaults file but will add it. I made a new image today but it's failing my testing. I have to check that I'm using the latest python files. Picochess crashes when getting the engine name or list, something about engine [ ] 'text' in picochess.py (I'm not at my machine right now). I think I've seen it before but forget what the issue was. A missing engine or bad engines.ini? 

Anyway, I'll troubleshoot that and add pull any updates from your repo before uploading a working image.

Randy

P.S. a previous post said MAME didn't work with the vc4-kms-v3d driver. This was wrong. You can run MAME as user Pi from the desktop with no issues. Haven't been able to fix it for root, yet.

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[christopher stummer]

Hi guys,

I just flashed the desktop img on a rpi 7inch touch screen w/ a rpi3b. Things look to be working except the dgt3000 clock which no longer displays the pico menu. Computer arrows are showing but no output. It's probably something small I missed in the config.txt or pico chess ini. Just wondering if anyone else experienced the same? Maybe relay some advise where and what to check? 

Thanks in advance,

Chris

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[Randy Reade]

Hi Chris, 

Can you describe your setup in a bit more depth? What board are you using? How is the clock connected?

Randy

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[christopher stummer]

Hi Randy,

After I sent the mail I also started reading old threads and came across a similar issue. I commend all pi4 in the config.txt even the core 250 above it and restarted. Worked after that. You are the one that suggest that fix. 

7 inch touch 

Rpi3b

Dgt wired 

Dgt3000 clock 

Works great thanks for the help and img (: 

Best,

Chris

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[Randy Reade]

That's great, Chris. 

Enjoy.

Randy

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[Ghislain Bourgeois]

Hi Randy,

If you did not have the defaults file, there is no need to add it or update to the latest code. There is not any good reason to use it right now in public images and it might break things. I just wanted to let you know in case you already incorporated that change.

Dirk mentioned the same issue to me, but the line numbers in the traceback did not match what I have in my repo, so I cannot easily debug it. All I can say is that I do not see this error on my DgtPi running the version in my repo.

Ghislain

[Randy Reade]

OK. Thanks, Ghislain. I'll do some more testing tomorrow.

Randy

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[Randy Reade]

And I'll get the exact error I received. 

Randy

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[Ghislain Bourgeois]

Regarding the comments being removed from picochess.ini when disabling features, I have some changes that seem to fix the issue in my testing. You can find it here: https://github.com/ghislainbourgeois/picochess/tree/fix-picochess-ini-handling

I have not pushed that to the master branch yet, as I have not tested all the changes, but wanted to share to get some feedback in the meantime.

Ghislain

On Friday, March 17, 2023 at 4:53:03 PM UTC-4 RandyR wrote:

[Henri]

Hi Randy,

Since the latest update (which includes a new kernel) my Desktop image freezes after starting up the kioskmode....

Henri

[Randy Reade]

Interesting, Henri. I was having the same issue but was looking at PicoChess being the culprit. Thanks for letting us know.

Randy

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[Dirk]

Hello Randy, hi Ghislain,

I can't confirm this issue with my picochess system and it uses definetly the configobj method. 

I just switched the retro sound off (before it was on) and i still see the comments:

## Retro-Sound Setting for mame engines: default sound is off, if you want to switch it off, set rsound = True or and uncommemnt the next line
#rsound = True 

Don 't know whats going on in your systems!?

Dirk

[RandyR]

There is definitely an issue in my Desktop image when updating to the latest bootloader and kernel:

raspberrypi-bootloader/stable 1:1.20230317-1 armhf [upgradable from: 1:1.20230106-1]
raspberrypi-kernel/stable 1:1.20230317-1 armhf [upgradable from: 1:1.20230106-1]

I did the updates individually. Once I updated the bootloader, PicoChess locks up with the following error:

Mar 19 13:46:06 picochess python3[1270]:   File "/opt/picochess/picochess.py", line 2954, in main
Mar 19 13:46:06 picochess python3[1270]:     text: Dgt.DISPLAY_TEXT = state.dgtmenu.get_current_engine_name()
Mar 19 13:46:06 picochess python3[1270]:   File "/opt/picochess/dgt/menu.py", line 1306, in get_current_engine_name
Mar 19 13:46:06 picochess python3[1270]:     text = EngineProvider.installed_engines[self.menu_engine_index]["text"]
Mar 19 13:46:06 picochess python3[1270]: IndexError: list index out of range

I then updated the kernel but it didn't help. I ran the 'sudo rpi-eeprom-update' command and received:

*** UPDATE AVAILABLE ***
BOOTLOADER: update available
   CURRENT: Thu 03 Sep 2020 12:11:43 PM UTC (1599135103)
    LATEST: Wed 11 Jan 2023 05:40:52 PM UTC (1673458852)
   RELEASE: default (/lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader/default)
            Use raspi-config to change the release.

  VL805_FW: Dedicated VL805 EEPROM
     VL805: up to date
   CURRENT: 000138c0
    LATEST: 000138c0

I used 'sudo raspi-config' to switch to the latest bootloader (Advanced Options/Bootloader Version) and that didn't fix it either. I haven't been able to downgrade the bootloader/kernel (yet) so I may start with a fresh RPiOS image, update it and then add PicoChess.

It's worth noting that this only happened with the Desktop image on my RPi4b-4GB. Updating the Lite image on my DGTPi (RPi3b) went smoothly.

I have no idea how the bootloader/kernel update affects the PicoChess code.

In the meantime, if you have carried out a software update on your Pi and now have this issue, you can re-flash your SD card with my last image until I can upload a new one.

Randy

[Randy Reade]

Hi Dirk,

I suspect your code must be different from Ghislain's repo. I don't see what else could cause it, unless the OS software is different somehow.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Randy

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[Ghislain Bourgeois]

Hi Dirk,

if you add the line "rsound = True" to picochess.ini (uncommented), restart picochess, and then try to disable from the menu, do you still have the comments? The only other hypothesis I had was the update I pushed for configobj from 5.0.6 to 5.0.8 and I just downgraded and tested again, and get the exact same issue.

Ghislain