Welkom

Welcome on my ON7LDS.net site.

Choose a subject on the main menu bar to see the corresponding options.

Nextion Display Layout

I extenden PD0DIB's Model 10 with some 'settings' pages.
There is a page where you can update your users and groups files !

Read about it on this page

 

New NextionDriver release

Since some time, MMDVMHost does not send the location to the display any more.
The new NextionDriver release 1.20 solves this problem. When using NextionDriver 1.20, all relevant information is again sent to the display.
In the mean time, possible strange behavior with the temperature also has been solved.

Other improvements include the possibility to update your users and groups files to have recent data at all time.

Read about it at my github page
 

 

DisplayServer for Windows

There is a very nice alternative to MMDVMHost: DMRHost.

One of the nice things of this program is that it separated all things that have not much to do with the communication into another piece of software : DisplayServer.
This means you can run a program on your Windows PC as a display to DMRHost. And at the same time running your Nextion or other display(s) !

Check my DMR software page.

 

Pi FM RDS Transmitter

Make your own FM RDS Transmitter station with a Raspberry Pi

 

OpenGD77

OpenGD77 firmware van 1/10/2020 met nederlandstalige menu's

 

BM262 SMSC

I made an English translation of the German Wiki page about their BM SMSC

 

 

Schematic overview Nextion Driver

I made a schematic overview of how it all fits and connects.
The first shows the configuration when the display is connected to the host (the Pi).
The second shows the modem-connected display setup (and an optional second display)

 

 

 

 

Minor change (17/04/2019)

If using a modem connected display, you might do a full reinstall of NextionDriver.
Or just change /lib/systemd/system/networking.service

(look at line 4 in https://github.com/on7lds/NextionDriverInstaller/blob/master/nextiondriv...)

NextionDriver will start later in the bootprocess (it will wait for the network to become online) but it wil give less problems when it needs the transparent data option.

 

 

/dev/ttyNextionDriver present/not present on Pi-Star configuration ???

NB: Read this item carefully. It is very important when running NextionDriver on Pi-Star.

How does this NextionDriver thing work ?

Without NextionDriver, MMDVMHost talks directly to the display via the serial port (/dev/ttyAMA0 or /dev/ttyUSB0 or ...)

When you use NextionDriver, NextionDriver sits between MMDVMHost and the display. So it is NextionDriver who talks to the display (via the serial port) and MMDVMHost has to talk to NextionDriver. To accomplis this, NextionDriver creates a virtual serial port which is called /dev/ttyNextionDriver.

IMPORTANT:

  • the virtual serial port /dev/ttyNextionDriver exists ONLY when nextiondriver is running
  • do not create /dev/ttyNextionDriver yourself (When NextionDriver starts, it will delete what you created !)
  • Pi-Star lists only active ports

So when NextionDriver is not (yet) running, Pi-Star does NOT list /dev/ttyNextionDriver. Even if you previously selected /dev/ttyNextionDriver ! I did make some software changes to solve this and asked the Pi-Star developers to incorporate this into their code, but there is not (yet) an answer concerning this issue.

This means : if you correctly selected /dev/ttyNextionDriver, it is in the config. Even if Pi-Star does not show it. And it works if NextionDriver starts. But it may be gone if you change your configuration without NextionDriver running.
 

So if the display shows 'Nextiondriver Started', but it does not show the MMDVMHost data, there might be another error in your configuration.

 

 

New NextionDriver functionality (dec 2018)

  • refreshfield command : refresh all fields when switching to a page
    • when you manually switch to a page, set the command in the initialize event, then  the most recent fields will immediately be sent to the display by NextionDriver
  • 'last head' page : last (max) 20 heard users
    • give the LH command in the initialize event, and the NextionDriver will send the requested number of last heard users
  • display sleep function: save backlight lifetime
  • 'stop processing MMDVMHost commands to display' setting
    • to switch to own screenswithout MMDVMHost switching back to another screen, i.e. :
      • go to own system settings
      • stop MMDVMHost or shutdown or reboot even when a QSO is in place
  • update display with .tft file
    • update display without stopping MMDVMHost

--> check https://github.com/on7lds/NextionDriver/blob/master/README.md

 

Want to install NextionDriver on your Pi-Star ?

Go to DMR Software -> Pi-Star + NextionHelper

I made an installation program to do all configuration and installation for you.

 

Hint: using Pi-Star but struggeling to read he status pages on your phone ?
Try Pi-Star mobile (extranal link, this is not software from me)

 

Projects

Working on some new projects regarding MMDVMHost and Nextion displays. New software available !

Pi-Star like dashboard with status of active modes and connections !

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATTENTION! Info about NextionDriver :

if you are using NextionDriver 1.00 with an USB/Serial convertor, you may experience some problems.
Please upgrade your NextionDriver !

 

 

This site is work in progress, if you think something is wrong or is missing, please contact me.