Based on some email I received from "radish" and a thread in the Tivo UK forum, I have updated DisplayText to version 1.1. The latest version is available on my web site .

The modification was to use module newtxt2osd instead of newtext2osd which supports a better looking screen font (descender characters are not chopped off). I got the newtxt2osd file from this thread. I have added the newtxt2osd module to the displaytext.tar file instead of linking to cwingert's web site which only has the older version.

To install displaytext, put displaytext.itcl in the tivoweb_tcl/modules directory and put newtxt2osd in the /var/hack/bin directory (if you use a different directory for your bins, edit the itcl file). Make sure the newtxt2osd file is marked executable (chmod 755 /var/hack/bin/newtxt2osd). Finally, restart (Full Reload) TivoWeb.

By the way, the background color can be set to 0 for a tranparent background. However, characters may be hard to see depending on the TV image so I left the default background color as 1 (gray).

Gary

So, just to be clear, there are still only two versions of newt*2osd in existence, right?

1) newtxt2osd (cwingert's version, from this thread)
2) newtext2osd-1.3z (Zirak's modification, from this thread)

There isn't a newtext2osd version out there somewhere, right? It's just newtxt2osd, and then newtext2osd-1.3z.. (assuming cwingert didn't like calling the text2osd clone newtext2osd because it was too long, then Zirak either missed that or named his deliberately, right?)

Just trying to document this well, I'd hate for there to be 8 versions of this thing. So many hacks currently (and will) use it.

(sending Zirak and cwingert PM's about this thread, inviting them to comment)

Thanks,
..Jeff

My recollection of newtext2osd is as follows:

cwingert wrote it based on embeems display code in tivovbi. The versions that exist are 1.0 through 1.3. The changes in the versions are mostly adding of options (display until a file is created, clear the screen, position in different places, etc), and changing of the display to increase the number of lines that can be displayed. The latter is the direct cause of the bottom of characters being chopped off. TCS originally used the text2osd program, which I thought came with the tivo, but I'm not certain. text2osd is uglier, but allowed more lines to be displayed. TCS will not work properly with the older versions/fewer display lines.

TCS came from the merging of two hacks, one of which I never posted here (Stock quotes on the tivo, and TellTivo, the latter essentially being the core of tcs, monitoring the remote, and starting/restarting applications.) The orignial stock quote program did not support multiple pages, so more lines was highly desirable. newTXT2osd is an early version of newtext2osd, and was posted in the old stock quotes on the tivo thread. Dropping the "e" has no real meaning.

Personally, I am still in favor of more lines as opposed to the pristine display. There are just too many places where 16 lines is insufficient. (NFL and MLB standings are the first to come to mind.)

So, to answer your question, there are either 5 or 6 versions that I am aware of:

1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and my modification, 1.3z.

The sixth being newtxt2osd, which may or may not be 1.0 or 1.1, or may have been before or after them. I don't think the ability to clear the screen existed prior to 1.2.

Hope that helps.

Yes Zirak, that helped a lot. Thanks.

Here's my concern.. I think that all hacks written here should be able to coexist on the same TiVo. Here, we apparently squeaked by a collision because the older version newTXT2osd happened to have a different name, so one could still have a /var/hack/bin/newTXT2osd and a /var/hack/bin/newTEXT2osd beside each other.

However, as more and more hacks are written that take advantage of generic tools like this, problems like this will arise again. As soon as you have two separate hacks that both were designed for different versions of the same-named tool, you've got headaches.

So, here's a proposal: Create a newer version (1.4) that takes several extra options.

One is -z (or actually, some better choice than that, but it illustrates my point here), which makes Zirak's modifications.

Another lets you display with fewer characters on the screen, but without chopping descender characters.

Any new changes people need get added as command-line options.

This way, we have one generic tool that everyone can use, transparently. That's the way the best unix tools have been made.. (Imagine 20 versions of "cut"?)

Does the source code exist for all previous versions of newtext2osd, including newtxt2osd? Was newtxt2osd a version from the same codebase, or was it written independently?

..Jeff

I run a rather busy FTP server and thought this program would be a nice addition to my setup.

I am running RaidenFTPD (http://www.raidenftpd.com/en) and it has the neat feature of being able to execute commands on things like SFV uploads, New dirs etc.

I have installed Displaytext and configured my FTP server to call web pages. So now when I am watching my favourite shows I get updated when uploads start. When a release is complete etc.

I will do a quick tutorial on the settings this evening when I get home in case anyone is interested in this. I know it's not 100% TiVo related but it's integrating more systems nicely into one... Resistance is futile...

I probably wasn't clear, but its the same program, same code, just (possibly) a different version. It might just be 1.0 or 1.1. Consider the missing "e" a typo.



Personally, I don't want to take over the code. There is (apparently) new osd stuff in the works, which will supposedly be an improvement - Vapor stage though. My modification was trivial, just expanding the background "mask" to cover the entire rectanglar display area. Option -z is already taken, btw.



Yes, it would be bad karma to change the current defaults -- who knows who is using it, and for what.



Well, technically, it already is that, you just want some more options. 1.3 is just the latest version, with all the others including newtxt2osd older versions. 1.3z is completely compatible with 1.3 in all respects, the display just looks better IMHO.



They are all the same based on tivovbi. Don't know about the source.

Is "ls" not a built-in command on Tivo's version of Linux/Unix?

Ok, don't want to divert the subject of this thread too much, so I'll post just this last comment (mostly for future reference).

After looking at the usage statements and running the various versions of the code, I'm pretty sure that the newTXT2osd file now included in displaytext was branched off after 1.0 of newtext2osd (before 1.1 came out). It had changed -s to be from microseconds to seconds (as 1.1 does), but didn't have 1.1's -m argument for microseconds. It also has a bug that 1.0 and 1.1 have, so it was at least way before 1.2.

1.2 was the last version that used the old font layout, and it fixes a bug that existed where text would wrap around the top incorrectly for the last line or so, so one would think that would be the one to ship with displaytext. However 1.2 introduced a bug that causes it to crash with input of too many lines (1.3's testgrid causes 1.2 to crash). This was fixed with 1.3 (and 1.3z) but 1.3 and 1.3z have the chopped descender characters.

1.3's chopping of characters increases the vertical screen resolution from 17 to 24, so it's definitely useful for some to have, but should probably be an option. (Well, I'd say using the old larger font style should be the option, and the default should be the higher screen res, but that's just my opinion).

Argh. Clearly a new version (1.4) is needed that makes these things options and maintains the latest fixes for previous bugs. That way, displaytext, TCS, and any other hacks wanting to use newtext2osd can use the same executable (and people won't have to worry about potential conflicts). Oh yeah, and by the way, the usage string for all versions says "newtxt2osd", but the executables have all been "newtext2osd". Argh.

For those not knowing, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 are all available (source included) at:
http://www.geocities.com/wyngnut2k/
and Zirak's 1.3z modification is available at:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-v...&threadid=74564

If no one else tackles this, eventually I'll try to get around to creating a 1.4. Does anyone know a better way to get in touch with Chris than his email address?

..Jeff

What is the maximum amount of characters that can be output to screen. I seem to only be able to output short messages. I want to just dump a string no matter how long the text is to the screen - I don't care at this point if it goes over the edge of the screen.

It looks like if the string is over a certain length that it will not display it at all!

Based on Popular Demand

Its back and configurable as ever.

changes for version 1.4 (12/12/2002)
-Added color strings
credit johnkemeny@yahoo.com for mapping numbers to colors
I had to change quite a few though. ... John, get a new TV
-Added different aspect ratios for different users
Default is for the most information packed onto a screen (looks fine on my 65" HDTV
Zirak's for his development (--zirak command line option)
GarDavis's for his development (--gardavis command line option)
-Added long arguments, because the single character options are running out

http://www.geocities.com/wyngnut2k

Holy crap batman, he's alive!

Cool! I'll update DisplayText to use this latest/greatest version.

I like the new --gardavis option

Anyone know what's happened to http://www.webguild.com/tivo/ ?

Have I just chosen a bad time to visit - or has it dissapeared? If it's disappeared... anyone know where I can get DisplayText 1.2 from?

Cheers
Russell

Looks like it's up to me, give it a try again..

Cool - it does work now - it was just down for a bit then... phew!

The links aren't working for me.

can anyone provide a mips compiled version of newtext2osd??
thanks!!
T.

Can anyone point me to another link where I can download displaytext? I think gardavis's site is down.
thanks! jz

I just noticed that my firewall was configured incorrectly after replacing a router last week. Please try again.

Gary

thanks- awesome module!

newtext2osd won't work on a series 2, even if recompiled. It would need to be rewritten to support the S2 hardware, which differs from the S1.

Is there a mapping available to map the number to it's color?

Zaq...

I've been trying to download a copy of displaytext.tar for a few weeks, checking in every now and again, but to no avail. I just assumed the website was broken.
Finally I figured out the problem. The javascript links on the webguild.com website don't work with mozilla (1.5). It all worked fine when I tried to download with explorer via a spare windows nt laptop.
Just thought I'd warn anyone having similar problems to me.

Is it possible to pass a new line command to the newosd module via displaytext?

Great job! Thanks!

It looks like the link http://www.geocities.com/wyngnut2k is down,
anybody kind enough to post v1.4 for s1 ?
Thanks

www.pvrfiles.com

Thank you.

Anybody know where I can get the displaytext.itcl and the flushres.tcl I searched everywhere but I could not found them (for series 1 SAT-T60 with 3.0.1c2 and tivowebplus).

Thanks,
Peter

The DisplayText site (http://www.webguild.com/tivo) is up again. The site was down from 9:30am Saturday to Tuesday morning due to Hurricane Frances (we're near Boca Raton, FL).

We were lucky, no damage though trees are down in the neighborhood. It was no fun not having power, however, and the wind was a bit threatening.

Gary