I don’t run the QtSoundModem on the same machine as the node so I use a systemd service script to automatically start up QtSoundModem and put it on a virtual-VNC session that is independent from the physical desktop.
The following systemd scripts call a pair of bash scripts located within the home directory, so that modifications can be done to them without having to reinitialize the systemd service.
Packages Required
sudo apt install realvnc-vnc-server
sudo apt install screen
Note: realvnc is free on the Raspberry Pi, alternatives that may work for other platforms: tightvnc or tigervnc
Systemd Scripts
/lib/systemd/system/qtsm.service
[Unit]
Description=QtSoundModem Start Script
After=vvnc.service
Wants=vvnc.service
[Service]
Type=forking
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/bin
Restart=always
RestartSec=20
StartLimitInterval=60
StartLimitBurst=3
User=pi
Group=pi
ExecStart=/usr/bin/screen -S QTSM-Console -d -m /home/pi/bin/startqtsm
SyslogIdentifier=QTSM-Debug
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
/lib/systemd/system/vvnc.service
[Unit]
Description=Shack Desktop Start Script by PE1RRR
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=forking
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/bin
Restart=always
RestartSec=20
StartLimitInterval=60
StartLimitBurst=3
User=pi
Group=pi
ExecStart=/home/pi/bin/vvnc
SyslogIdentifier=Shack-VNC
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Virtual Virtual VNC?
vvnc for virtual-VNC, yep its a virtual virtual desktop, one that runs independently from the default usually found running as a clone of the desktop monitor display.
This script starts a virtual VNC screen that can be attached from any device such as a smart phone, iPad or other desktop Pi.
/home/pi/bin/vvnc
#!/bin/bash
vncserver -kill :1
vncserver :1 -geometry 2732x2048
Set permissions to execute:
chmod 755 /home/pi/bin/vvnc
QtSoundModem Start Script
/home/pi/bin/startqtsm
cd /home/pi/bin
# Launch invisibly
# /home/pi/bin/SM nogui
# Launch with GUI
# Set the display number here. If HDMI connected monitor, this is usually :0
# For VNC sessions, this is determined in the desktop- check it with “echo $DISPLAY” in a shell within the VNC.
DISPLAY=:1
export DISPLAY
/home/pi/bin/QtSoundModem # path to your QtSoundModem binary
Set permissions to execute:
chmod 755 /home/pi/bin/startqtsm
There are a couple of ways of launching QtSoundModem, I prefer to have the GUI to keep and eye on the waterfall and monitor packets etc.. there is an option to start it invisibly in which case- you can opt to use the nogui mode, and remove all references to vvnc.service in the previous scripts as they won’t be needed.
Initialise systemd
Need only doing once:
sudo systemctl enable qtsm.service
sudo systemctl enable vvnc.service
To Stop/Start manually:
sudo service qtsm start
If the vvnc service is not yet running qtsm’’s service will auto-start it for you. This is due to the “Wants=“ directive in qtsm.service.
Restarting the vvnc service will kill any vnc server running on the display defined in the /home/pi/bin/vvnc file before starting up again.
Displaying the VNC Session
If all has gone well, then QtSoundModem should be displayed on your Virtual VNC screen. That is, assuming you’ve connected a VNC client to it to display it!
The common way to connect to the VNC server is using the address and the display number. 0 (zero) nearly always refers to the hardware-wired display, and the first virtual server after that is :1
e.g IP-address:1
vncviewer 192.168.0.44:1
Monitoring the Consoles
As these systemd scripts launch with the screen command, this provides a way to keep an eye on the console output without it thrashing the SD Card with continuous writes. To attach to the running screen console, try the following:
screen -r
If you only have one screen session running then it will re-attach automatically, if not then it will show you a list from which you must provide a string after the -r that can be wildcard-matched either with the process number or the console’s name.
If you find the articles, or content in general posted here useful, enjoyable or maybe even something else, please consider making a small contribution towards my hosting fund so that I may continue to provide my services for free to as many people as possible.
Eindhoven.space 