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LEDMatrix/wiki/WIKI_QUICK_START.md

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Quick Start Guide

Get your LEDMatrix system up and running in minutes! This guide covers the essential steps to get your display working.

Fast Path (Recommended)

If this is a brand new install, you can run the all-in-one installer and then use the web UI:

chmod +x first_time_install.sh
sudo ./first_time_install.sh

Then open the web UI at:

http://your-pi-ip:5001

The steps below document the manual process for advanced users.

Prerequisites

Hardware Requirements

  • Raspberry Pi 3B+ or 4 (NOT Pi 5)
  • Adafruit RGB Matrix Bonnet/HAT
  • 2x LED Matrix panels (64x32 each)
  • 5V 4A DC Power Supply
  • Micro SD card (8GB or larger)

Software Requirements

  • Internet connection
  • SSH access to Raspberry Pi
  • Basic command line knowledge

Step 1: Prepare Raspberry Pi

1.1 Create Raspberry Pi Image

  1. Download Raspberry Pi Imager
  2. Choose your Raspberry Pi model
  3. Select "Raspbian OS Lite (64-bit)"
  4. Choose your micro SD card
  5. Click "Next" then "Edit Settings"

1.2 Configure OS Settings

  1. General Tab:

    • Set hostname: ledpi
    • Enable SSH
    • Set username and password
    • Configure WiFi

  2. Services Tab:

    • Enable SSH
    • Use password authentication

  3. Click "Save" and write the image

1.3 Boot and Connect

  1. Insert SD card into Raspberry Pi
  2. Power on and wait for boot
  3. Connect via SSH: 
    ssh ledpi@ledpi

Step 2: Install LEDMatrix

2.1 Update System

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y git python3-pip cython3 build-essential python3-dev python3-pillow scons

2.2 Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/ChuckBuilds/LEDMatrix.git
cd LEDMatrix

2.3 Install Dependencies

sudo pip3 install --break-system-packages -r requirements.txt

2.4 Install RGB Matrix Library

cd rpi-rgb-led-matrix-master
sudo make build-python PYTHON=$(which python3)
cd bindings/python
sudo python3 setup.py install

2.5 Test Installation

python3 -c 'from rgbmatrix import RGBMatrix, RGBMatrixOptions; print("Success!")'

Step 3: Configure Hardware

3.1 Remove Audio Services

sudo apt-get remove bluez bluez-firmware pi-bluetooth triggerhappy pigpio

3.2 Blacklist Sound Module

cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rgb-matrix.conf
blacklist snd_bcm2835
EOF

sudo update-initramfs -u
sudo reboot

3.3 Optimize Performance

# Edit cmdline.txt
sudo nano /boot/firmware/cmdline.txt
# Add "isolcpus=3" at the end

# Edit config.txt
sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt
# Change "dtparam=audio=on" to "dtparam=audio=off"

sudo reboot

Step 4: Configure LEDMatrix

4.1 Basic Configuration

sudo nano config/config.json

Minimal Configuration:

{
  "display": {
    "hardware": {
      "rows": 32,
      "cols": 64,
      "chain_length": 2,
      "brightness": 90,
      "hardware_mapping": "adafruit-hat-pwm"
    }
  },
  "clock": {
    "enabled": true
  },
  "weather": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

4.2 Set Permissions

sudo chmod o+x /home/ledpi

4.3 Setup Cache (Optional)

chmod +x setup_cache.sh
./setup_cache.sh

Step 5: Test Basic Display

5.1 Run Display

sudo python3 display_controller.py

Expected Behavior:

  • Display should show "Initializing" message
  • Clock should display current time
  • Weather should show current conditions (if API key configured)

5.2 Stop Display

Press Ctrl+C to stop the display

Step 6: Configure APIs (Optional)

6.1 Weather API

  1. Get free API key from OpenWeatherMap
  2. Create secrets file: 
    cp config/config_secrets.template.json config/config_secrets.json
sudo nano config/config_secrets.json
  3. Add your API key: 
    {
  "weather": {
    "api_key": "your_api_key_here"
  }
}

6.2 Test Weather Display

sudo python3 display_controller.py

Step 7: Install as Service

7.1 Install Service

chmod +x install_service.sh
sudo ./install_service.sh

7.2 Control Service

# Start display
sudo systemctl start ledmatrix.service

# Stop display
sudo systemctl stop ledmatrix.service

# Check status
sudo systemctl status ledmatrix.service

# Enable autostart
sudo systemctl enable ledmatrix.service

7.3 Convenience Scripts

chmod +x start_display.sh stop_display.sh

# Start display
sudo ./start_display.sh

# Stop display
sudo ./stop_display.sh

Step 8: Web Interface (V2)

8.1 Start the web interface manually (optional)

python3 start_web_v2.py

8.2 Autostart the web interface (recommended)

Set "web_display_autostart": true in config/config.json. The installed ledmatrix-web.service will call start_web_conditionally.py to start the web UI on boot.

Access the web interface at:

http://your-pi-ip:5001

Step 9: Add More Features

8.1 Enable Stocks

Edit config/config.json:

{
  "stocks": {
    "enabled": true,
    "symbols": ["AAPL", "MSFT", "GOOGL", "TSLA"]
  }
}

8.2 Enable Sports

{
  "nhl_scoreboard": {
    "enabled": true,
    "favorite_teams": ["TB"]
  }
}

8.3 Enable Music

{
  "music": {
    "enabled": true,
    "preferred_source": "ytm"
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  1. No Display:

    • Check hardware connections
    • Verify hardware_mapping setting
    • Ensure power supply is adequate

  2. Permission Errors:

    sudo chmod o+x /home/ledpi

  3. Import Errors:

    cd rpi-rgb-led-matrix-master/bindings/python
sudo python3 setup.py install

  4. Cache Issues:

    chmod +x fix_cache_permissions.sh
./fix_cache_permissions.sh

Test Individual Components

# Test clock
python3 -c "from src.clock import Clock; from src.display_manager import DisplayManager; c = Clock(DisplayManager({})); c.display()"

# Test weather (requires API key)
python3 -c "from src.weather_manager import WeatherManager; from src.display_manager import DisplayManager; w = WeatherManager({'weather': {'enabled': True}}, DisplayManager({})); w.display_weather()"

Next Steps

1. Configure Your Preferences

  • Edit config/config.json to enable desired features
  • Add API keys to config/config_secrets.json
  • Customize display durations and settings

2. Add Sports Teams

  • Configure favorite teams for each sport
  • Set up odds ticker for betting information
  • Customize display modes

3. Set Up Music Integration

  • Configure Spotify or YouTube Music
  • Set up authentication
  • Test music display

4. Customize Display

  • Add custom text messages
  • Configure YouTube stats
  • Set up "of the day" content

5. Web Interface

  • Access web interface at http://ledpi:5001
  • Control display remotely
  • Monitor system status

Quick Reference

Essential Commands

# Start display manually
sudo python3 display_controller.py

# Start service
sudo systemctl start ledmatrix.service

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop ledmatrix.service

# Check status
sudo systemctl status ledmatrix.service

# View logs
journalctl -u ledmatrix.service

# Edit configuration
sudo nano config/config.json

# Edit secrets
sudo nano config/config_secrets.json

Configuration Files

  • config/config.json - Main configuration
  • config/config_secrets.json - API keys
  • ledmatrix.service - Systemd service

Important Directories

  • /var/cache/ledmatrix/ - Cache directory
  • assets/ - Logos, fonts, icons
  • src/ - Source code
  • config/ - Configuration files

Congratulations! Your LEDMatrix system is now running. Check out the other wiki pages for detailed configuration options and advanced features.

Need Help?

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