New and confused.

SexyTrogg

@mickyas Id use the advice that @Mykle1 gave. The Xscreensaver is really easy to use and is much easier than editing a file through the terminal

mickyas

@SexyTrogg Just to clarify…every time i’d like to add a module i have to first open a terminal then enter … sudo nano /boot/config.txt … then (copy and paste?) enter the text/code (copy and paste?) for the module…where?..anywhere? Then ctrl x and save then reboot???
Mick

SexyTrogg

@mickyas That’s the hard way (in my opinion).
I use Filezilla to connect to my PI though FTP. That lets me easily click and drag new modules into the /modules folder. I also use FTP to download the config file to my PC and make edits there before I upload it back. But yes, every module needs for you to manually add it to the config. All modules on github follow a similar format where the Readme will give an example of the lines of code you need to put into the config.

Mykle1

@mickyas said in New and confused.:

I opened a terminal put in … sudo nano /boot/config.txt (pressed enter)
then added …display_rotate=1
avoid_warnings=1 (it already had the display_rotate=1 as the first line)
then i pressed ctrl x and saved, then rebooted, No difference still wrong orientation. :-((( I even tried changing the text ‘vertical’ to horizontal’ and still nothing. I’d already altered the screen orientation (playing around) from horizontal to vertical but i’d like to change it back but nowt

When I said “reverse the directions” I guess I wasn’t clear enough. The directions are telling to you to “add” display_rotate=1. You want to “remove” that line of code because that is telling your system to rotate the screen. If that line of code is there twice then you need to remove both instances for your screen to go back to landscape mode.

Mykle1

@mickyas said in New and confused.:

Just to clarify…every time i’d like to add a module i have to first open a terminal then enter … sudo nano /boot/config.txt … then (copy and paste?) enter the text/code (copy and paste?) for the module…where?..anywhere? Then ctrl x and save then reboot???

Mick, here’s an easier way to add a module and you only have to use the terminal once. Lets use my MMM-JEOPARDY module as test. Go to this page of modules https://github.com/MichMich/MagicMirror/wiki/MagicMirror²-Modules#3rd-party-modules and scroll down until you see MMM-JEOPARDY by Mykle1 . Click on it.
Now you’re at my repo for that module. Click on the green Clone or download button on the right. That shows you the url to get the module. Copy that url.

Now open a terminal and type cd MagicMirror/modules. Now you’re in the MagicMirror/modules directory. Now type git clone and one space and paste the url that you copied from my repo for the module. It should look like this:
git clone https://github.com/mykle1/MMM-JEOPARDY.git and press your Enter key. This will download the module into the modules folder where it belongs.

You’re now done with the terminal! (for now)

From your Pi desktop, click the File Manager folder. Double click the MagicMirror folder. Double click the config folder. Double click the config.js file. Your config.js file is now open in a text editor. You have to add an entry for the module you just downloaded so that MM knows to load it. Lets put MMM-JEOPARDY under your calendar module entry so that it appears under the calendar on your mirror. Modules that occupy the same postition load in the order they appear in the config.js file. Scroll down to the calendar entry in the config.js file. The entry “ends” at the last }, before the next module entry that begins with a single {.

Copy and paste this “between” the ending of the calendar module entry and the beginning of the next module. (It’s probably compliments)

             {
		disabled: false,
		module: "MMM-JEOPARDY",
		position: "top_left",
		config: {
			rotateInterval: 25 * 1000,         // New Clue Appears             
			useHeader: false,                  // true if you want a header
			header: "This is Jeopardy!",
			maxWidth: "250px",
			animationSpeed: 3000,              // Fades to next clue
		}
		},

SAVE!

Go back to your terminal, or open a new one, and type npm start in the MagicMirror directory.

From now on, you’ll find the entry you need to make in the README file of each module that you download. You now have a guide on how to do that.

mickyas

@Mykle1 Perfect description of how to carry out an install, i like laymans terms :-))) step by step…perfect, much appreciated. :-))
Mick

Mykle1

@mickyas said in New and confused.:

Perfect description of how to carry out an install, i like laymans terms :-))) step by step…perfect, much appreciated. :-))

You’re welcome. Enjoy your mirror.

caseyrcoughlin

@Mykle1 said in New and confused.:

@mickyas said in New and confused.:

Just to clarify…every time i’d like to add a module i have to first open a terminal then enter … sudo nano /boot/config.txt … then (copy and paste?) enter the text/code (copy and paste?) for the module…where?..anywhere? Then ctrl x and save then reboot???

Mick, here’s an easier way to add a module and you only have to use the terminal once. Lets use my MMM-JEOPARDY module as test. Go to this page of modules https://github.com/MichMich/MagicMirror/wiki/MagicMirror²-Modules#3rd-party-modules and scroll down until you see MMM-JEOPARDY by Mykle1 . Click on it.
Now you’re at my repo for that module. Click on the green Clone or download button on the right. That shows you the url to get the module. Copy that url.

Now open a terminal and type cd MagicMirror/modules. Now you’re in the MagicMirror/modules directory. Now type git clone and one space and paste the url that you copied from my repo for the module. It should look like this:
git clone https://github.com/mykle1/MMM-JEOPARDY.git and press your Enter key. This will download the module into the modules folder where it belongs.

You’re now done with the terminal! (for now)

From your Pi desktop, click the File Manager folder. Double click the MagicMirror folder. Double click the config folder. Double click the config.js file. Your config.js file is now open in a text editor. You have to add an entry for the module you just downloaded so that MM knows to load it. Lets put MMM-JEOPARDY under your calendar module entry so that it appears under the calendar on your mirror. Modules that occupy the same postition load in the order they appear in the config.js file. Scroll down to the calendar entry in the config.js file. The entry “ends” at the last }, before the next module entry that begins with a single {.

Copy and paste this “between” the ending of the calendar module entry and the beginning of the next module. (It’s probably compliments)
             {
		disabled: false,
		module: "MMM-JEOPARDY",
		position: "top_left",
		config: {
			rotateInterval: 25 * 1000,         // New Clue Appears             
			useHeader: false,                  // true if you want a header
			header: "This is Jeopardy!",
			maxWidth: "250px",
			animationSpeed: 3000,              // Fades to next clue
		}
		},
SAVE!

Go back to your terminal, or open a new one, and type npm start in the MagicMirror directory.

From now on, you’ll find the entry you need to make in the README file of each module that you download. You now have a guide on how to do that.

Another newbie here but instead of starting my own thread, I’ll just piggyback on this one. This helped me understand things a lot but I think I’m either doing something wrong or the raspberry pi isn’t wanting to work with me.

I went in to the File Manager folder and saw everything that was supposed to be there. But when I tried to open the config.js file it didn’t pull up a text editor. Instead I had to choose a program to open it with and when I chose the text editor or anything else for that matter it just closed the program selection window and then nothing else happened. So I was never able to pull anything up to edit or add to it. Any ideas?

Thanks

EDIT - So I came back to it this morning and while I still wasn’t able to get it to work I figured out that I was asking it to open with a program it’s not able to open with, like text editor under accessories in the “Choose Application” menu. So I tried to open it with the Terminal and it acted like it was going to open and gave me a pointer with an hourglass next to it and after about 7 seconds or so nothing happened and the hourglass went away. So I’m still doing something wrong, still not sure what. Any help is appreciated.

Mykle1

@caseyrcoughlin said in New and confused.:

So I’m still doing something wrong, still not sure what. Any help is appreciated.

A few questions:
Can you create a new document with your text editor? If so, then the problem is NOT your text editor.

Is your config.js file named EXACTLY, “config.js”? The icon should look like a “gear”. Text files should look like a page of text. If the file “type” is incorrect then that could make the text editor unable to open the file. Check the properties of the file.

Long shot here: Are you sure the file isn’t opening below the visible area of the window? Meaning, make sure you scroll all the way through the entire window as the file may have opened outside of your view.

caseyrcoughlin

@Mykle1 said in New and confused.:

@caseyrcoughlin said in New and confused.:

So I’m still doing something wrong, still not sure what. Any help is appreciated.

A few questions:
Can you create a new document with your text editor? If so, then the problem is NOT your text editor.

Is your config.js file named EXACTLY, “config.js”? The icon should look like a “gear”. Text files should look like a page of text. If the file “type” is incorrect then that could make the text editor unable to open the file. Check the properties of the file.

Long shot here: Are you sure the file isn’t opening below the visible area of the window? Meaning, make sure you scroll all the way through the entire window as the file may have opened outside of your view.

The file is named config.js exactly with a gear for an icon. It also has a config.js.sample next to it and the icon looks like a page with lines on it so I’m assuming that’s a text file. But as far as the Text Editor, therein may lie the problem. I can’t even find the text editor on my raspberry pi…does it not come with one? It comes up on the “Choose Application” box under “Accessories” but under the Applications Menu under “Accessories” I only have File Manager, Task Manager, and Terminal. Also, another question…when the Magic Mirror is running, how to I get it to stop and get back to the desktop GUI? I’ve just been rebooting it so far.