Pictureframe 1.05
Copyright 2002-2008 - Robert Pufky



Electronic Picture Frame:
-------------------------
These scripts will turn a Linux machine into a handy-dandy picture frame that 
will rotate through images.  It has the option to change the background matte 
color to match whatever you put it into, as well as displaying the filename in
any position over the picture.  Uploading pictures to this device is as simple
as drag and drop.

The first thing you should do is print off a copy of these instructions.  That
will make installation much easier (though it really isn't that hard - I'm just
a paper-instruction type of guy).

The second thing you should do is know NOT to STORE your pictures on this 
device.  No, really, I am being serious.  The nature of this device leads it to
suffer more than a normal computer would, and storing anything on it for backup
purposes would be, frankly, dumb.  You HAVE been warned!!

Instructions to disassemble your laptop and mount it in a frame (or "memory 
box" as they are usually deeper and work better) are NOT provided in these 
instructions.  Simply because I don't want people e-mailing me "omgz I followed
your instructions and now I am stuck with a disassembled laptop that is 
borked!!"  I might provide some picture references at a later date - you can 
Google for these types of images and find a solution that best fits your needs 
- I am just providing you with the tools to complete a frame, you're the one 
deciding to take apart your laptop.



Installation:
-------------
1) Hardware specifications & Debian netboot CD:

   Determine Hardware:
   -------------------
      You need to know what kind of processor, video card and resolution of
      your laptop before continuing.  These are most easily found on the the
      web, or the documentation that came with your old system.  Write these
      down.
      
      Older (pre macbook) mac's are POWERPC.  Modern mac's are INTEL.
      
      If you have an Intel CPU, you will need the 'i386' distribution
      If you have a powerpc CPU, you will need the 'powerpc' distribution
   
   Download Netboot Image:
   -----------------------
      Download and burn Debian net-installation disk based on your processor:
      
   i386 (Intel):
      http://ftp.nl.debian.org/debian/dists/etch/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/mini.iso

   powerpc (old mac):
      http://ftp.nl.debian.org/debian/dists/etch/main/installer-powerpc/current/images/powerpc/netboot/mini.iso

   You do not need to use the previous locations, you just need to have
   downloaded and burned the correct image for your laptop.

2) Boot computer with Debian net-installation disk.

3) When the boot menu appears just press the 'enter' key.  You will then be
   lead through the configuration of the system.  The defaults are fine in most
   cases, however, you might want to pay attention to the following:
   
   hostname:      name of the computer - i.e. "pictureframe"
   root password: a strong password.  DO NOT GIVE OUT!
   username:      a common user, you should create a user account for you.
   user password: a strong password.  DO NOT GIVE OUT!
   
   When prompted to use a Network Mirror, say YES; then select the mirror
   closest to you.

   On the Software Selection screen, UNSTAR all of the boxes, then continue

4) Copy and extract the pictureframe tarball (the archive you are reading this 
   out of) to your system.  The easiest way to do this is to login to the box 
   as the "root" user and issue the following commands:

      cd /root
      wget http://www.crazymonkies.com/Downloads/Projects/pictureframe/pictureframe-current.tar.gz
      tar zxvf pictureframe-current.tar.gz
      cd pictureframe

5) Once extracted, run the X-windows setup script.  Read the warnings!  Pay 
   attention to the video resolution, and pick the one that best fits your 
   needs.  Remember to read the installation dialog prompts and choose 
   accordingly.
  
      ./installx
  
6) Confirm that X-windows is working correctly for you by running the 
   following command:

      startx

   You should see a grey screen pop up, with a little "X" that you can move
   around with your mouse.  That means everything is great!  You can stop the
   X-windows server and move onto the next step.  To kill the server press 
   the following key combination:

      ctrl-alt-backspace

   If you don't see this grey screen, the most common problem is that the 
   X-server cannot find your ps2 mouse.  Don't worry!  You can reconfigure
   X-windows easily by typing the following command:

      dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

   During the configuration process, read the prompts carefully.  If you don't
   understand what something is, it is safe to accept the default.  What we are
   looking for is the "mouse" section.  In there, be sure to select this 
   option:

      /dev/psaux

   Re-test your settings by starting this step over again!

7) Verify video resolution is set to what your hardware can handle.  You will 
   get the best images (the oooo-aaahhh's from onlookers) if your resolution is 
   set to the native resolution of your laptop.  This is typicaly 1024x768, but
   has changed in recent years.  Don't worry!  you pictures will automatically 
   be resized to fit within whatever size you choose.  Run the following 
   command to change video settings (you will also go through other settings as 
   well):

      dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

   After it is finished test you installation by repeating step 6.

8) Whew!  Hard part is over (it really wasn't that hard was it?)  Now we just 
   need to install the actual pictureframe files so we can turn your laptop 
   into a shiny new electronic picture frame.  This can be done by running the
   following command (and remember - read the installation carefully, you might
   have to enter information):

      ./installpic

9) Now's the fun part.  Fire up your favorite editor, and checkout the 
   configuration file.  You'll want to make sure that the resolution is set to
   what your X-windows Server is running - beyond that, there's a whole bunch 
   of VERY cool options just waiting for someone to tweak.  Anyways, you can 
   edit the file by editing /etc/pictureframe/config.php, or just run the
   following command if you don't know how:

      nano /etc/pictureframe/config.php

10) Installation complete!  Pat yourself on the back, and have a beer.  Then 
    check out "How To Use The Picture Frame"



How To Use The Picture Frame:
-----------------------------
So a few things happened when you installed the pictureframe.  First, a user 
was created, and you created a password for that user.  The username is:

      picture

The password, is of course, whatever you entered during the installation.

So how to upload files to this baby and get it running?  Easy.  If you are 
using a Windows-based PC, you will want to download and install "winscp".  
This software allows you to copy over files to your display very easily and
very securely.  I've provided a handy-dandy link to the software right here:

      http://winscp.net/eng/download.php

When you are connecting to the display via winscp, you will need to know the
username and password, and the display's IP address.  If you are still logged
into the display, you can check it by typing in the following command:

      ifconfig

Which will return a whole bunch of numbers.  You want the "inet addr" field, 
and will probably look something like "192.168.0.4".  You can also check you 
router, etc.  MAC users can use "Fetch", as well as "scp" (linux users can use
this one as well); though I am not going to go over this usage in this 
document.

Once you've connected to the machine, double click on the "pictures" folder, 
and drag and drop your photos into there.  That's it.  Seriously.  The display 
will automatically detect changes in the directory, and will start processing 
those new files immediately.

Deleting files from this folder will also remove them from being displayed on
the display.  Please note that the more pictures you have, the longer the time 
will be between refreshes!  If you want instant gratification, you can always
reboot the display.



Legal Issues:
-------------
You may use this program for personal use only!  If you want to use any of the
code provided herein for commerical use (i.e. you will make money from it) 
please contact me at: github.com/r-pufky Chances are I'll just let you use
it, just ask!  If you ask after you've already done it, I won't be too happy 
about it.



Revision Information:
---------------------
1.05 - Changed installers to use/install: xorg, ssh, rdate; remove cdrom
       sources for apt, and verified cross-platform capability (PC & MAC)
1.04 - Change loading screen duration to be independant of waittime variable
1.03 - Inital public release
1.02 - Fixed some minor installation bugs
1.01 - Updated code, created installers for Debian
1.00 - Initial code / personal release (non-public)