EarlGreyTV

This repository explains how I run my smart TV setup EarlGreyTV.

Tip

I wrote a blog post about this too. And recorded a quick YouTube video.

Summary: I use a Linux-running laptop (which I spilled tea on) to render a browser in constant fullscreen. I then have a homepage with a smart TV-like look. The "apps" are simply links to websites.

Warning: This is mostly a collection of my notes. I haven't tested if these steps work perfectly on a fresh install. You should be able to debug things yourself if anything goes wrong.

I encourage you to customize this as much as possible. Please make it your perfect setup, not mine.

Configuring and Running Locally

The main "homepage" of EarlGreyTV is the earlgreytv.html file found in config_files/home/tv/earlgreytv/. This is where you tweak the homepage appearance and, importantly, configure the "apps".

In this repo, I have my own example with my apps. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm too scared of copyright to have logo files hosted here. I made this script so you can download them yourself:

# Download the logos in the logos.txt file
# E.g Netflix logo
./download_logos.sh

Now you should be able to open the HTML file in a browser. e.g.:

firefox config_files/home/tv/earlgreytv/earlgreytv.html

Adding Your Own Apps

The apps are defined in the JavaScript portion of the earlgreytv.html file. Specify your app name, URL, and logo (which should exist in the images/ folder).

const APPS = [
  { name: "App name", url: "https://example.org", image: "app.png" },
  /* ... */
]

Tip: You can add a shortcut icon in the top-right corner by specifying shortcut: true.

Hardware Setup Notes

TV

Get yourself something you can use as a screen for your setup. Ideally, it should be as dumb as possible - simply showing the output of the computer you plug into it.

I couldn't find a dumb TV, so I got a smart TV and used settings to dumb it down a bit.

I got a SAMSUNG 55" 4K UHD LED TV TU55CU7105KXXC (3840x2160), and connected it with HDMI.

I did this setting change:

> All Settings
> General & Privacy
> Start Screen Options
"Autorun Last App"

My HDMI connection is considered an "App".

Side note: Some TVs have hidden menus that can allow you to dumb them down even more, example. The regular settings seemed to work okay for me, though.

Computer

You need a computer to power your setup. An old used laptop is perfect.

I used a 5-year-old Lenovo laptop with a broken keyboard (because I spilled Earl Grey tea into it).

Remote

Since this setup is a regular desktop setup disguised as a smart TV, you need something to be your mouse. You also need a keyboard too (although maybe you can trigger an on-screen keyboard).

I chose the WECHIP W3 2.4G 3-i-1 2.4G Air Mouse. It uses a small gyroscope as input for the mouse and has a small keyboard on the back. It's good but a bit flimsy.

Optional Extras

HDMI USB CEC Adapter

I use CEC to allow my computer to suspend my TV. I need an adapter because the laptop doesn't support the CEC protocol itself.

I use the Pulse Eight USB-CEC Adapter.

USB Extender

For your mouse, you'll likely get a very small USB receiver, example. Depending on where you place your laptop, you might need to extend the receiver.

I use a generic USB extender, example.

Software Setup Notes

Operating System

I went with Debian Linux. I named my user tv.

Desktop Environment

I chose Sway. I needed something I could easily configure with a config file and that would be highly minimal.

In retrospect, maybe regular i3 would have been better. The automation tools that exist for the X Window System are more documented.

Run:

sudo apt install sway -y

Then log out of GNOME and log into Sway.

Packages

These are the packages I could gather from my notes. There may be a couple I forgot, and some that are not needed.

sudo apt install rsync pulseaudio pulseaudio-utils playerctl pamixer xdotool ydotool input-util xbindkeys wtype udev cec-utils -y

SSH notes

The next steps depend on an SSH connection to your TV. I recommend adding your TV computer to your ~/.ssh/config. This is how I connect to my TV:

ssh tv

Tip: Sway Commands Over SSH:

Interacting with Sway over SSH might give you an error like this: swaymsg/main.c:419] Unable to retrieve socket path.

This is my fix:

export SWAYSOCK=$(find /run/user/1000/ -name "sway-ipc.1000*.sock" -print -quit)
# Now you should be able to e.g. reload Sway:
swaymsg reload

Firefox Manual Settings

Set Zoom

You likely need some extra zoom on the website you visit. How much depends on how big your screen is. 200% looks good on my TV.

Navigate to about:preferences.

Set "Default zoom" to 200%.

Create Profile

The profile is used for a predictable path to place a config file.

Navigate to about:profiles.

Make sure to click "Choose Folder..." and set it to /home/tv/.mozilla/firefox/earlgreytv.

"Default Profile" should be set to "Yes"

Set Homepage

Navigate to about:preferences#home.

For the homepage, pick "Custom URLs...". Then set it to file:///home/tv/earlgreytv/earlgreytv.html.

Enable Stylesheets

Navigate to about:config, and set toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets to true.

Enable Activity Cursor

This will indicate on the cursor if the page is loading.

Navigate to about:config, and set ui.use_activity_cursor to true.

Sync Configs

Run ./sync.sh in this directory, to sync files needed for the EarlgreyTV setup.

# Make sure you have rsync
sudo apt install rsync -y
# Sync files 
./sync.sh

Apply Configs

Run ./apply.sh to restart any services that use config files. It doesn't restart Firefox.

./apply.sh

Casting via iPhone Shortcut

EarlGreyTV implements a very simple casting mechanism. A server will receive a URL from an HTTP request, and paste it into the Firefox address bar. The script for the casting server can be found here: config_files/home/tv/casting_server.py.

To make calls to the casting server easily from my iPhone, I created a shortcut that shows up in the Sharing Sheet when sharing a link from any app.

If you want to recreate the shortcut yourself, you can refer to these screenshots:

Further Notes

I ran into some issues with ydotool. This solution helped.
Your TV screen might not be primary on the initial Debian login screen. This can correct that.

Thanks To

Cup drawing logo: BorogoveLM, https://www.deviantart.com/borogovelm/art/Not-My-Cup-Of-Tea-297646401
Background drawing: Rebecca, https://krita-artists.org/t/drawing-with-water-soluble-ink/3069
Web SVG icon by HASTA ICON from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)
Folder SVG icon by Waldiz Production from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)
Document SVG icon by Adiyogi from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)
Send/shortcut SVG icon by HideMaru from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)
Kevin Balicot for making https://cataas.com (used as example "app")
Igor Chubin for making https://wttr.in (used as example "app")

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details

carltheperson / earlgreytv