Duet wifi display support question
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It's a lot of work to add support for other LCDs and to maintain that support because the menu system and interaction with the rest of the firmware would need to be implemented. It's not going to happen any time soon.
It would be possible to use an Arduino or similar with a low-cost display and a rotary encoder to emulate some of the functions of PanelDue. Another user started implementing that, but AFAIK it wasn't finished.
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So basically, something that is usually seen relatively easy to accomplish, is seen as too hard to maintain for the Duet? With the sheer amount of support there is out there for all these other displays that are out here in the wild, most notably the "Reprap Discount Full Graphic Smart Controller", it is abit mind blowing to hear someone state that it is difficult to not just add, but 'maintain' something that seemingly wouldn't ever need to be changed, and thus maintaining would something to not even really worry about.
The only issue I can see would be that since it isn't arduino based like a RAMPS, it obviously wouldn't be the same 'menu' and 'layout' as something like the Marlin firmware. Thus the layout and menu would need to be created. But, again, that seems insanely simple to do considering there is already a pretty amazing web interface that already has all the variables and such, not to mention the already existing code to interact with the PanelDue. Granted, I believe the PanelDue is kind of its own separate system in itself and is merely just being fed values and then spitting out gcode back to the Duet. So all the infrastructure to enable support for these other screens appears to be pretty straight forward, with the only other reason for not including support for them being to keep the ecosystem of components closed off to drive up sales of those components… That, or the hardware itself is designed in such a way that other displays couldn't be used, but then that thought gets tossed aside because the same exact pins that are used to connect to an 'external SD card' on the back of a screen, can be used for running a TFT28 or similar screen, or even the Full Graphic Smart Controller....
So it seems more of a 'We just don't want to do it' and not a 'its too much for us to do' when the board itself is basically finished and the firmware working near flawlessly.
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So basically, something that is usually seen relatively easy to accomplish, is seen as too hard to maintain for the Duet? With the sheer amount of support there is out there for all these other displays that are out here in the wild, most notably the "Reprap Discount Full Graphic Smart Controller", it is abit mind blowing to hear someone state that it is difficult to not just add, but 'maintain' something that seemingly wouldn't ever need to be changed, and thus maintaining would something to not even really worry about.
The only issue I can see would be that since it isn't arduino based like a RAMPS, it obviously wouldn't be the same 'menu' and 'layout' as something like the Marlin firmware. Thus the layout and menu would need to be created. But, again, that seems insanely simple to do considering there is already a pretty amazing web interface that already has all the variables and such, not to mention the already existing code to interact with the PanelDue. Granted, I believe the PanelDue is kind of its own separate system in itself and is merely just being fed values and then spitting out gcode back to the Duet. So all the infrastructure to enable support for these other screens appears to be pretty straight forward, with the only other reason for not including support for them being to keep the ecosystem of components closed off to drive up sales of those components… That, or the hardware itself is designed in such a way that other displays couldn't be used, but then that thought gets tossed aside because the same exact pins that are used to connect to an 'external SD card' on the back of a screen, can be used for running a TFT28 or similar screen, or even the Full Graphic Smart Controller....
So it seems more of a 'We just don't want to do it' and not a 'its too much for us to do' when the board itself is basically finished and the firmware working near flawlessly.
It is all open source, so you can implement it yourself if you want.
It would need to be changed as new features are continually added though.
The pins can be configured in almost anyway you can imagine, so I don't think pinout would be an issue.
The board has a 3.3v logic, which might be an issue.
They are rather busy perfecting the firmware, which is always being improved and new features added. But it is a wifi board, so you can control it on any computer, tablet, or smart phone. That kinda pushes it's necessity further down the priority list.
But I do feel that it is inappropriate to imply greed a a motivating factor for not having the time to write the support. They work very hard to develop the most advanced and most versatile board on the market today. Please check out the firmware wishlist to get an idea of the types of features they are constantly adding.
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We initially planned on supporting a simpler LCD. that is why the headers are there on the board (LCD CONN and SD CONN). The reasons for not doing so yet are:
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While it may seam trivial to you to add a whole menu system, and UI control, as it is not yet implemented within the Duet it is a significant amount of firmware work to put in place, its also (despite what you say) another area that will need frequent updating as new features are added to the firmware.
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Most of our users who initially asked for a simple LCD, once they use the browser UI, feel its a lower priority than they may have initially thought. That is not to say it has no utility. Just that other firmware work is higher priority.
I actually developed a 3.3V version of the PanelOne, our simple LCD panel:
https://www.think3dprint3d.com/PanelOne
for this reason, however, once again it is not currently a high enough priority. -
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A 20x4 display for temps, and other fast reading values it's a great idea.
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A 20x4 display for temps, and other fast reading values it's a great idea.
<–-- i second this.
I recently (as in 3 or 4 days ago) finished setting the duet on my printer... and i really miss my LCD...it displayed temps... time and had a kill switch that is way easier to press than the reset button.
if 12864 is going to be supported... lets go for it.. it cost less than 20 bucks.
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Granted, I believe the PanelDue is kind of its own separate system in itself and is merely just being fed values and then spitting out gcode back to the Duet.
It sounds like you may not have done very much firmware development. Creating a whole new menu system is not "insanely simple". It is really time intensive, more so than other features that are currently on the wishlist. The cool thing about the wishlist is that it is an open voting system, the author of the firmware prioritizes based on community feedback. Which is admirable, in my opinion.
So all the infrastructure to enable support for these other screens appears to be pretty straight forward, with the only other reason for not including support for them being to keep the ecosystem of components closed off to drive up sales of those components…
The beautiful thing is that the hardware and firmware are both open source. There is nothing stopping you (or anyone else) from writing the code.
So it seems more of a 'We just don't want to do it' and not a 'its too much for us to do' when the board itself is basically finished and the firmware working near flawlessly.
No, it is more of a "there are other firmware feature requests that are much more popular/requested right now". You can see the list of requests here:
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The protocol on the PanelDue socket is the simple serial console, right?
So an Arduino + cheap LCD with firmware for UI can emulate PanelDue.
Now the question is who will write a whole OS for that
The "net" is full of 3.2" touchscreens with adapter for Arduino Mega 2560.
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With the web interface and the panel due you really don't need anything else. I hate with a passion anything with a rotary encoder wheel and layer after layer of menus. It is both not very unintuitive a very slow. Usually people buying this board do so with the touch screen in mind…At least I did bought both same day. I do not consider it too pricey for this much ability and fingertip freedom. To each his own of course...But why buy a top of the line controller and put an outdated display on it ? I had the old display on my other printer and took it off because I never used it as I always controlled it with Octoprint.
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PanelDue originally supported a 3.2" touch screen, but I dropped support for that before release because I just couldn't fit as much information on the screen as I wanted to, and the 4.3" screen didn't cost much more. Like PcS, I hate having layer after layer of menus. PanelDue with standard firmware has just 4 pages, with popup windows appearing over them when necessary.
I have been trying to reduce the production cost of the PanelDue control board, and hence the price I charge. The Brexit vote put paid to my first attempt because my component costs increased sharply as the £ fell. But at least I managed not to increase prices, and customers outside the UK benefitted from the change in exchange rate. I'm prototyping a new version with a cheaper processor, in another attempt to reduce the production cost.
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Thanks for the panel due. It was one item on a list of things that set this board apart from the competition for me personally. I find the menus well laid out and fast . The web interface is also a joy and the firmware configuration tool really sped up initial printer set up . I may have to upgrade the rest of my fleet . Thanks again.
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I would like to add to this. I was too very exited about 5" i got but having used it and having both, PanelDue and 20x4 character i have to say, 20x4 is a lot friendly to use. It just gives you that feedback of having hardware know rather than touchscreen.
Perhaps its just an individual preference and in time paneldue will get more functionality. -
What feedback from the 20x4 display are you referring to?
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Feedback for presing buttons he says
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PanelDue provides audible feedback whenever a button is pressed, with adjustable volume.
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Its not just that. Its same like in a vehicle. Its nicer to control things via phisical buttons rather then lcd touch screen.
Btw, does paneldue has limited set of characters on the keybard? I miss " for setting up wifi AP's -
Its not just that. Its same like in a vehicle. Its nicer to control things via phisical buttons rather then lcd touch screen.
A vehicle is a completely different environment, you need to feel the buttons so you can keep your eyes on the road.
Btw, does paneldue has limited set of characters on the keybard? I miss " for setting up wifi AP's
The latest beta PanelDue firmware provides a lot more characters.
