Measured on the display with 16 pages: listing the directory took 350 ms,
and every loadPage() first asked LittleFS whether the file exists (26 ms
each) before opening it (25 ms) and reading it (11 ms); drawing all
previews took only 29 ms. The names of the stored pages are now kept
until a page is saved or deleted, and storedPage() looks there instead
of calling exists().
Version 2.19.1, tested on the display over OTA (save, list, delete).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The stopwatch counted with millis(), so it started at 0 after every
restart and would overflow after 49 days. It now keeps the real start
time (UTC ms) and the time counted before a pause, stored in NVS
(system/stopwatch_store) on every change, so it keeps counting while
the display is off or restarting. Stop pauses, Start continues, and the
Stopwatch tab can set the start to a date and time (local, summer time
by mktime) to count from, e.g. days since an event. Start, stop and set
need the synced time.
New page formats: 12d 4:05:09 and 3w 2d.
Version 2.19.0, tested on the display over OTA (set start, future and
invalid dates refused, pause, restart).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
With the 17 life_ patterns there are 66 icons, more than the 64 names the
cache held. It was cleared when full, so every pass over all icons (Icons
tab, page previews) read each one from LittleFS again: /api/icons took
6.5 s and blocked loop() all that time. The cache now holds 128 names and
forgets the missing names first. The sorted icon list is kept until an
icon is saved or deleted. /api/icons: 6.6 s -> 0.12 s.
Version 2.18.2, tested on the display over OTA.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2.18.0 stored the schedule on the display in version 5, so only that
version is read now.
Version 2.18.1.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Each page in a schedule block, and each rule that adds its page to the
rotation, has a "skip in slow mode" checkbox. While slow mode is on those
pages are left out of the rotation; when none of the block's pages are
left, the chosen page is shown. The rotation keeps its own timers.
Schedule format version 5; version 4 is converted when read and stored
again in version 5 on the next save.
Version 2.18.0.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
A new page element runs Conway's Game of Life in an area (the whole display
by default), one per page. Start: random dots, one pattern, or the icons
whose names start with a text in turn or in random order. Edges: wrap
around, dead, or a hidden margin where gliders fly out of view (leftovers
that stay put in the margin are cleared, so a glider gun runs cleanly).
It restarts when the board is still or repeats within 16 generations
and/or after a number of generations, after a hold time (an empty board
at once).
logic/life holds the board and timing (tested), display/life_player runs
the board of the shown page, ticked before each frame; frames are paced
like scrolling text. The element reuses existing fields, so the page
format stays the same. The Icons tab has a library of 17 LifeWiki
patterns (checked with a simulation), and the built-in page "Game of
Life" shuffles through the life_ icons. About 12 KB flash, 8 KB RAM.
Version 2.17.0, tested on the display over OTA.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The percentage (rounded down, in the element's font) is centred inside the
bar and its dots invert the bar, so it reads on the filled and the empty
part. It uses the bar's unused format and font fields, so the page format
stays the same. The Bad page shows it.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2.15.0 stored all settings, schedules and pages on the display in the
current formats (old_data_left 0), so only those are read now: settings
version 7, schedule version 4, page format 7. The one-time migrations
(icons from 2.10.0, data from 2.15.0) are removed too. About 9 KB less
flash. CLAUDE.md says how to keep data over a future format change.
Version 2.15.1.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Slow mode (Home Assistant switch "FlipDot Display Slow mode", dropdown
"FlipDot Display Slow mode interval", web UI Settings) makes the display
change only every 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or 60 minutes, on the clock, and
powers it off in between: less noise. Nothing else is drawn meanwhile, also
no page changes. It updates at once after boot, the night, the Power switch
and live mode, and when it is switched off. Rules can override it ("show at
once in slow mode"): while their page is shown the display works normally.
Settings layout 7 and schedule layout 4 (older records are converted; they
are stored again once the firmware is marked good, so a rollback still
finds the old ones). Pages in older formats are rewritten in the current
one, in time-boxed steps. /api/status reports old_data_left.
Version 2.15.0.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Pages choose their own refresh effect (or the Hardware setting), used when
the page appears and for its own changes. Schedule blocks that switch
instantly and rules still switch instantly. The ESP32 sends page effects
to the Nano with a new no-save flag (E ...,2), so page switches don't wear
the Nano's EEPROM. Page format 7 (version 6 pages are converted).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Home Assistant attributes can be paths into lists (forecast.1.condition).
- Date elements can show a day ahead (day offset 0-7).
- Pages hold 16 elements (page format 6; the old formats are frozen at 8).
Pages are reset in place (clearPage), not through a 4 KB temporary.
- Verwachting page: today (icon, temperature, max/min) and the next 2
days with 7 x 7 icons (weer7 <condition>), from a template sensor
(docs/home-assistant.md).
- examples/home-pages.json is exported from the display with all pages
and their icons, private entity id parts replaced by placeholders
(tools/export_examples.py replaces tools/make_example_pages.py).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Stored as icons at boot from the firmware's bitmaps (cut to 80 x 19), so
they can be edited; the firmware copies stay the fallback.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Rules: "also over a page chosen by hand" (on by default); off, a rule
waits until the manual pick ends. Schedule store version 3, version 2
records are read with the option on.
- The Clock page is stored at boot from the built-in one and can be
edited; Reset (deleting it) brings back the original.
- Home Assistant attributes were never found: ArduinoJson 7.4 takes a
char array key as a literal of its full array length.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Bitmaps that only pages use (backgrounds, images by state) are now icons:
own width and height, stored in /icons, not in the page lists or the Home
Assistant dropdowns. Page backgrounds and image elements use icons or
bitmaps; the renderer gets icons expanded at the top left, so pages look
the same. Web UI: Icons tab with an editor, Make icon / Make bitmap, Save
as icon on the Draw tab, icons in the backup.
A one-time migration in time-boxed steps moves the uploaded bitmaps that
only pages use, after the new firmware is marked good.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
scroll_speed is now a float (0.05-30 dots per second, e.g. 0.25 = one dot
every 4 s). Page format 5; version 4 pages are converted, version 3 goes
through version 4.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- net/ha_api: the HTTP requests run in a FreeRTOS task on core 0; loop()
only hands over copies through queues. The web UI's test button polls.
No more 3-4 s loop() stalls once a minute; timeout raised to 5 s.
- Progress bar page element (page format 4, v3 pages are converted)
- Plex user setting (settings v6): {plex_user} in entity ids
- Plex page (examples): watchers, play/pause icon, title, progress
- Bitmaps cached in RAM: a LittleFS read took ~100 ms on every render
and web preview; long JSON lists sent in 2 KB pieces
- Backup includes the refresh settings and the Plex user
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The Nano's periodic full redraw blocked for ~0.8 s. A frame that arrived
meanwhile overflowed its 64-byte serial buffer; lost bytes in a bitmap
shift the rest of the image (picture moved up), and diff frames never
repaired it.
- Nano: all drawing (frames, effects, the dot refresh) runs from update()
in ~1 ms slices; the refresh pauses while a frame is received or shown
- New commands: C (reply with the image checksum) and I (refresh minutes,
EEPROM)
- ESP32: NanoMonitor asks for the checksum after frames and sends the whole
image again on a mismatch, missing answer or Nano restart; counts ERR
replies. Periodic whole-image resync.
- Settings: "Dot refresh" and "Image resync" intervals (settings v5,
v4 records are migrated)
- System tab: loop timing, free memory, frame check counts
- test_driver: the real driver against a simulated panel
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- README is the overview; web UI, pages, Home Assistant, how it works,
wiring, Nano over WiFi and the recovery app have their own page in docs/.
- docs/web-ui.md has a screenshot of every tab, made with headless Edge by
tools/make_webui_screenshots.py.
- The web UI opens a page in the editor with #pages/<name>. Version 2.7.2.
- The reply wire is fitted (flashing the Nano over WiFi works).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
tools/make_page_screenshots.py asks the ESP32 to draw every page (with the
current Home Assistant values) and writes them as PNG in the style of the web
UI's live view to Pictures/pages/.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Each rule has the blocks it acts in (none: always; without a running
schedule always). Stored as a block mask (schedule format 2, version 1
records are converted), in JSON as the blocks' start times. Version 2.7.1.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Show as number (multiplier, decimals, auto unit W -> kW -> MW, without
minus sign), duration (seconds/minutes/hours as 2h 21m, 2:21:00, 2:21 or
smart), time (HA timestamps in local time, with weekday or date, or
relative: over 34 min / 12 min geleden) or own texts per state.
- Page format 3; version 2 pages are converted. Version 2.7.0.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Schedule: daily blocks from a start time, each with up to 6 rotating pages
or bitmaps (own duration), switching with the effect or instantly. A manual
pick (Show tab, HA Mode) lasts until the next block; Back to schedule ends it.
- Rules: an HA state (=, is not, above, below) shows a page while true, adds it
to the rotation while true, or shows it for N seconds when it becomes true.
Each rule is polled at its own interval, with a 60 s back-off on errors.
- PageSelector (pure logic, tested) decides the shown page; schedule stored in
NVS; HA sensor Shown page and button Back to schedule.
- Web UI: Schedule and Stopwatch tabs, bitmaps used by pages or rules in their
own subsection, schedule in export/import. Version 2.6.0.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Frames were sent as F0 plus one s command per yellow dot (thousands of
characters). During scrolling that overran the Nano's serial buffer, and
half-received frames redrew the whole screen. showBitmap() now sends two B
commands over the changed rectangle (dots off, dots on), or one B command for
a full frame, and the pacing counts the characters sent.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Text elements can scroll in a window at a set speed; clock, countdown and
stopwatch can show seconds. Moving pages are sent as instant frames (new
Nano command D1) and paced by the estimated flip time.
- Countdown to a date and time (smart, days, days + time, with seconds),
stopwatch (web UI, HA switch and reset button), image element (fixed or
by Home Assistant state), multiplier for HA values, degree sign (char 127)
in all fonts and the font converter.
- Page format version 2; version 1 pages are converted.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Export: everything in one JSON file (password and token only when ticked),
or a single page (with the bitmaps and fonts it uses) or bitmap. Import:
choose the items and the parts of the settings; items are added under a
free name unless an existing name is given, pages follow renamed bitmaps
and fonts. New endpoints: GET /api/font, GET /api/settings?secrets=1.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
serializeJson() replaces the String's content, so the comma was lost and
the web page could not load any list once a second page existed. Each list
now loads on its own, so one failure doesn't empty the others.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The hardcoded clock is now the built-in dynamic page "Clock". A dynamic page
has a background bitmap per time of day and up to 8 elements (clock, date,
Home Assistant value, text), each with position, alignment, font and overlay.
Pages are drawn on the ESP32, also for the web previews.
- Pages tab in the web UI: page editor with drag and drop, font upload
(TTF/OTF converted in the browser to the FDF1 dot font format)
- Built-in fonts Small, Normal, Large and Full height (generated by
tools/make_builtin_fonts.py), built-in bitmaps Pikachu and Pikachu yawning
- Home Assistant values over the REST API (URL and token in the HA tab)
- Settings version 4: evening settings removed (now time slots of the Clock
page), old records are converted
- HA Mode dropdown lists the dynamic pages and bitmaps
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Home Assistant: remove the Clock switch (its entity is deleted on connect),
add an IP sensor and Mode / Off image dropdowns whose options follow the
saved bitmaps. Remove the built-in "Nintendo border" bitmap.
Off image: a bitmap (or blank) left on the dots when the display switches off.
Nano: pause after each flip pulse and repeat pulses for changed dots, both
stored in EEPROM (G/N commands). Refresh effects (E command): instant,
sparkle, wipe, rain, from the middle out, diagonal, spiral, flip all then
reveal, push and random, optionally only for small changes. Effects run in
steps from loop() so serial input keeps flowing.
Web UI: flip settings, refresh effect and test patterns under Settings; the
System tab shows why the ESP32 last restarted. Settings records from
versions 1 and 2 are migrated. Firmware 2.3.0.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Web UI on port 80: live view of the display, choose the page (clock or
a bitmap), bitmaps (list, show, live, edit, delete), draw / image upload
with conversion in the browser, live mode, settings, Home Assistant
- Live view from a shadow buffer in the BROSE9323 driver (shownPixel)
- Settings in NVS with the original behaviour as defaults: schedule times,
quarter hours, yawning Pikachu, No WiFi screen, flip time, status LED,
Home Assistant broker (restart on change)
- Bitmaps on LittleFS; new 320 KB partition, ota slots now 1.31 MB
- DisplayController: pages, live mode, settings; app.cpp holds the objects
- README for the recovery app; docs for the web UI
- Tests: settings, time parsing, bitmap format and names, schedule with
settings, pages and live mode (95 total)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Clock firmware: 'Connecting to WiFi...' and 'Getting the time...' at
boot, 'Crashed!' in the OTA-only modes, and 'No WiFi' with the time
when WiFi is down for over a minute (new DisplayController screen)
- Recovery app: shows its reason, the setup WiFi name, or its IP address,
then powers the display off (flipdots keep the image)
- StatusScreen and drawTextLines shared by both apps
- Driver: ESP begin() no longer draws 'ESP Connected'
- Tests: No WiFi screen, short reason texts (70 total)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- New flash layout (partitions.csv): factory = recovery app, ota_0/ota_1 =
clock firmware; esp32_usb uploads to ota_0 so it never overwrites it
- src/recovery: WiFi + OTA + web page only. Opens the password protected
'FlipDot-Setup' AP with a captive portal when WiFi fails, lets you pick
another WiFi (stored in NVS, used by both apps), start the clock or stay
- Recovery is started when the clock firmware can't connect to WiFi,
crashes 3 times, after 3 quick power cycles, from a new Home Assistant
button, or by the bootloader when no clock firmware works
- Shared NVS store and boot switching in src/esp32/system
- Clock firmware keeps working on the old flash layout (falls back to
OTA-only safe mode)
- README: recovery app, one-time USB installation; tests: 65 total
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Rollback: override verifyRollbackLater() so a new OTA image stays
pending until it ran 60 s with WiFi; any earlier restart rolls back
(the Arduino core marked every image valid at boot before)
- Task watchdog (30 s) on loop(), paused during OTA uploads
- Crash counter in RTC memory: OTA-only window after a crash, 10 min
safe mode (WiFi + OTA only) after 3 crashes in a row
- Restart when WiFi stays down for 10 min
- Home Assistant sensor 'FlipDot Display Firmware' with version/state
- logic/boot_policy with tests (60 tests total)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Structure (src/esp32/):
- logic/: DisplayController, schedule, power timer, LED pattern; pure C++
- display/: FlipdotFrames and bitmaps
- nano_link/: NanoLink (relay, serial, READY, bootloader) and flash bridge
- net/: WiFi/OTA/panic window, Home Assistant
- config.h with all settings; libs.h (globals in a header) removed
Bug fixes:
- Home Assistant switches now report their state back and start as ON
- loop() no longer blocks: WiFi.waitForConnectResult() (up to 60 s
without WiFi) and getLocalTime() (5 s before NTP sync) were called
every iteration
- Power switch off now powers off after 1 s even when a 30 s countdown
is already running
- millis() overflow safe power-off timer; no frame catch-up bursts
- No garbage time string before NTP sync; 'Connecting...' stays instead
- Frames are only sent when the screen changes instead of every second
- Reset reasons are logged once instead of every 100 ms
- Removed dead code (unused fonts, WiFiMulti, rotated bitmap, ...)
Tests: new test_esp32 environment (26 tests); native renamed to test_nano
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Uploader sends 'FLASH <baud>' first; the ESP32 restarts the Nano and
bridges at that baud rate, then answers OK
- --baud=auto (default) tries 57600 (old ATmegaBOOT) then 115200 (Optiboot)
- Optional nano_reset GPIO (NPN to Nano RESET) pulses reset after power
on, needed for Optiboot which skips the bootloader after a power cycle
- Clear errors for outdated ESP32 firmware and missing wires
- README: bootloader table, reset wire, troubleshooting
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- ESP32: NanoFlashBridge on TCP port 2323. A connection power cycles the
Nano into its bootloader and bridges TCP <-> Serial2 at 57600 baud; the
clock pauses during the session, 10 s idle timeout
- tools/nano_net_upload.py: STK500v1 uploader over TCP (standard library
only), with sync retries, write and read-back verification. avrdude 6.3
net: ports are broken on Windows, so avrdude is not used
- New nano_ota environment: pio run -e nano_ota -t upload
- README: usage, requirements, troubleshooting; TODO for hardware test
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- New native environment: pio test -e native
- test/mocks: fake Arduino core, EEPROM and recording BROSE9323 driver
- test/test_nano: 25 tests covering every command, bitmaps, bad input,
flip time storage and the periodic full redraw
- Board environments ignore tests so they are never uploaded
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- config.h: all constants and debug defines
- command_parser.h/.cpp: CommandParser class, one method per command
- settings.h/.cpp: EEPROM flip time storage
- main.cpp: setup/loop and the periodic full redraw only
- Full redraw now checks frameEnded() after the serial buffer is drained
- Drop the SPI/Adafruit_I2CDevice include workaround (not needed)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- ESP32 talks to the Nano on UART2 (GPIO 17 TX / GPIO 16 RX); Serial (USB)
is now free for debug output and boot messages no longer reach the Nano
- README: wiring table, actual schedule (clock from 08:00), TODO section
for the rewiring
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Nano / driver:
- No full on/off flip at boot; the first display() after boot is a forced
full redraw instead, since the physical dot state is unknown
- Send READY when booted
ESP32:
- relayOn() only switches and waits when the relay was off, and waits for
the Nano's READY (3 s timeout) instead of a fixed 3 s on every frame
- relayOff() ends Serial and releases the TX pin so the idle-high line no
longer back-powers the Nano through its RX pin
- No display commands are sent while the relay is off
- Switching the relay on cancels a pending power-off countdown
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Commands run on '\n' instead of busy-waiting for a byte count, which
fixes s/F/T waiting for the next command and P drawing 0xFF garbage
- Invalid bitmaps no longer leak their data as commands; bitmap data is
streamed so full-screen bitmaps still fit
- Store flip time as uint16 with magic marker, validate 50-2000 us
- Overflow-safe millis() handling for the periodic refresh
- Run the full refresh only after D or when serial is idle, so incoming
data is not lost while the redraw blocks
- Put the boot refresh measurement behind MEASURE_REFRESH
- Fix DEBUG hex output and use F() strings to save RAM
- Driver: direct mode now updates the old buffer instead of re-setting
the new one
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
