EXT-Screen.js file keeps reverting to default values

freddy_boy

I have been using EXT-Screen with EXT-Pir on my Magic Mirror for awhile now. It seems to work fine, but I do have an occassional problem which I would like to resolve. This is how my configuration file is written:

Entries for /home/pi/MagicMirror/config/config.js

{
  module: 'EXT-Screen',
  position: 'bottom_left',
  configDeepMerge: false,
  config: {
    screen: {
      delay: 2 * 60 * 1000,
      mode: 4,
      displayStyle: "Text",
      displayLastPresence: false,
      gpio: 21
    },
  }
}

When I walk in front of my mirror, I expect the sensor to detect my presence and activate the screen. When it doesn’t work, I already know how to resolve the issue. The way it is resolved is that I need to edit my /pi/MagicMirror/modules/EXT-Screen/EXT-Screen.js configuration file. I have determined that my calendar and news modules will occassionally get hung up, so I followed one recommendation to auto-reboot my Magic Mirror once-a-week. Normally, this works fine, and the mirror will operate as expected. When it doesn’t, I have determined that the EXT-Screen.js file seems to get automatically reconfigured to default values. Namely, the two values are:

mode: 1
displayLastPresence: true

I reconfigure these two values to the values I need:

mode: 4
displayLastPresence: false

(NOTE: The important value is the ‘mode’, and I only toggle the ‘displayLastPresence’ field so that I can get a quick indicator that it has reverted back to the old value)
Upon reboot/restart, everything is working fine again. Is there any way to prevent the EXT-Screen.js file from going back to its default values? Again, this doesn’t happen all the time. I have added a cron job to reboot the mirror 4 times per month at 4 am:

0 4 1 * * sudo reboot
0 4 7 * * sudo reboot
0 4 15 * * sudo reboot
0 4 22 * * sudo reboot

My mirror will reboot on the 1st, 7th, 15th and 22nd of each month and it and normally, I can confirm that everything is properly working after these dates. It seems to randomly return the default values to the EXT-Screen.js file. The config.js file remains intact with the correct values. Appreciate any ideas… thanks.

bugsounet

ah … are you really sure of your configuration !? (not me)
maybe some times wiki can help

freddy_boy

I have confirmed that BOTH of my config.js and EXT-Screen.js files have mode set to 4. I will continue to monitor the reboots and will report back when the failure occurs.
I have made a note of the date when the files were last written. If the EXT-Screen.js file gets re-written with the mode value reverting back to 1 at the next failure, I suppose I can try to change file permissions (eg. chmod 444) but I’m not sure if that would be recommended… Again, I am not sure if there is any way of making this consistently fail, so it might take some time before I can report any new developments.

bugsounet

@bugsounet said in EXT-Screen.js file keeps reverting to default values:

ah … are you really sure of your configuration !? (not me)
maybe some times wiki can help

I repeat again…
After if you prefer…

Your config is TOTALY wrong…
COPY SAMPLE CONFIG of the wiki and retry
You Don’t have to edit main core file

freddy_boy

Oh, ok. The Wiki page shows the two versions (minimal configuration and personalized configuration). I thought that I could just pick and choose some of the lines. The note indicated “Don’t copy/past the entire default config, just add in default config your needed new change value !”. I will copy the sample file and edit the values I need and post the results. Thanks!

bugsounet

now that you see the default personlized config …

Are you really sure that your config :

{
  module: 'EXT-Screen',
  position: 'bottom_left',
  configDeepMerge: false,
  config: {
    screen: {
      delay: 2 * 60 * 1000,
      mode: 4,
      ....
    },
  }
}

is the same like this ???
The personalized default config :

{
  module: 'EXT-Screen',
  position: 'top_left',
  config: {
    debug: false,
    animateBody: true,
    delay: 2 * 60 * 1000,
    ....
  }
},

That’s why … I say … your config is really wrong
All of your value in screen:{} are ignored

freddy_boy

Yes, I see the problem… but not sure what happened here. I’ve been using my configuration for quite awhile now, so I didn’t think that there was any issue with my configuration file. I was able to observe the mode change in the EXT-Screen.js file, which was what was confusing me. I have made the correction, so I am anticipating that the problem has been resolved. Thanks very much for the assistance!

bugsounet

ok, right, i keep this topic open

Let’s confirm in a couple of days !

Note: I have to do some update in a couple of days for EXT-Screen

freddy_boy

Ok. Thanks. I will update when available, and continue to monitor the reboots…

bugsounet

see /boot/config.txt file
the response is inside

bugsounet

enable:

# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
config_hdmi_boost=4

replace:

dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d
by
dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d

note: it’s a system file!
so use sudo nano /boot/config.txt

when saved reboot your pi

freddy_boy

Ok. Changes made… thanks.

bugsounet

It’s better?

freddy_boy

So far, so good.

Solved EXT-Screen.js file keeps reverting to default values