linuxSmartie

Alphanumeric LCD controller software for Linux (kind of LCDSmartie for Windows but no GUI, no config file, no plugins, no Windows).

Hardcoded to work with 4x40 character display because that's what I have. Uses Matrix Orbital protocol over serial. Should work with most other display sizes by modifying src/lcd.c. If you're trying to make it work with anything else, good luck.
Originally written in C++26, then in C++20, and now finally in C23 because GOD C++ IS A MESS.
-It is at feature parity with C++- It used to be at feature parity with C++ version, I added AIO and removed Home Assistant support.
Vaguely inspired by suckless software philosophy, as in:

The config is the source code

Same as plugins. Just write in more features scrub, learn some C, damn

TODOs

GPU power is jumpy, average? Use accumulator instead?
Extra screens support perhaps? just halt sensors monitoring thread and print another struct on display if needed, have a semaphore or sth
Maybe not even screens, keep the 1st line and change lines 2-4
Media playback screen (use mpris, get playback info with mpris)
In the lcd lib, reimplement all the features I have in picoSmartie + maybe finally add keypad support for both so I can toggle backlight (?) or change screens if I want any
Screens could be automatic tbh, like if it detects media playing it switches to media screen, if in media screen and GPU power > 80W it switches to main (hwmon) screen

LCD layout (on Windows)

It looks something like this

****************************************
0.4      0    ||09:30:36|         124fps
53/40/35C 4.53GB          544MB   32/40C
26W  424R      65.9W    0R   7/244W  11W
1,200V 1186MHz  3150       2/9MHz 0,112V
****************************************

Ok but what does it all mean

In general left side is CPU/system stuff, right side is GPU stuff

{act core cnt} {whea} {time} {bar/1cpu%}{bar/AllCPU%}{TIME}{gpu%} {xbat} {fps}

{dieAvg}/{cache}/{iod}C {ram}GB  {vram}GB  {edge}/{junction}C

{cpuPpt}W {cpufan}R {wallPow}W {gpufan}R {gpuPpt}/{cap}W {gpuBoard}W

{cpuV}V {avgCpuFreq}MHz {gpuCoreClkCap} {gpuCoreClk}/{gpuMemClk}MHz {gpuV}V

Not all of this will be possible ofc but it's a start

Raw LCD Smartie lines below:

Text01="$dll(hwinfo,1,Average Active Core Count,1)$Fill(9)$dll(hwinfo,1,Total Errors,0)$Fill(14)$dll(tinybar2,8,$dll(hwinfo,1,Max CPU/Thread Usage,),1)$Fill(5)$dll(tinybar2,7,$dll(hwinfo,1,Total CPU Usage,),1)$Time(hh:mm:ss)$dll(tinybar2,6,$dll(hwinfo,1,GPU Utilization,),1)$dll(xbat,1,i,1)$Fill(33)$Right($dll(hwinfo,1,Framerate (Presented),0),$4%)fps"
Text02="$dll(hwinfo,1,1|CPU Die (average),0|a)/$dll(hwinfo,1,1|L3 Cache (CCD1),0)/$dll(hwinfo,1,1|CPU IOD Hotspot,0)$Chr(176)$Fill(10)$dll(format,2,$dll(hwinfo,1,1|8|4,0),0##B)B$Fill(24)$Right($dll(format,2,$dll(hwinfo,1,GPU D3D Memory Dedicated,0),0##B),$6%)B$Fill(34)$Right($dll(hwinfo,1,GPU|1|1,)/$dll(hwinfo,1,GPU|1|4,)$Chr(176),$7%)"
Text03="$dll(hwinfo,1,5|1,0)W$Fill(5)$dll(hwinfo,1,3|2,)R$Fill(14)$Right($dll(tasmopwr,1,tasmota-plug-pc.lan,)W,$6%)$Fill(21)$Right($dll(hwinfo,1,GPU|3|1,)R,$5%)$Fill(27)$Right($dll(hwinfo,1,GPU|5|9,0)/$dll(hwinfo,1,GPU|5|10,0)W,$8%)$Fill(36)$Right($dll(hwinfo,1,GPU|5|7,0)W,$4%)"
Text04="$dll(hwinfo,1,Vcore,3)V $Right($dll(hwinfo,1,Average Effective Clock,a)MHz,$7%)$Fill(16)$dll(hwinfo,1,GPU Shader Clock Frequency Limit,)$Fill(21)$Right($dll(hwinfo,1,GPU|6|2,)/$dll(hwinfo,1,GPU|6|4,)MHz,$12%)$Fill(34)$dll(hwinfo,1,GPU|2|1,3)V$CustomChar(1,16,6,9,8,8,9,6,0)"

So what's still missing

Per-core CPU load, doable but annoying
FPS counter, maybe possible? Not really on wayland, by design
Active core count, probably impossible but loadAvg is better
GPU board power, probably impossible, it was estimated on windows anyway
CPU cache/iod, likely impossible, zenpower doesnt show it
GPU clock limit, probably impossible, gpu_metrics doesnt show it?

Shit needed to compile on Debian 13

V simple:

sudo apt install build-essential meson libusb-1.0-0-dev pkgconf
make configure
make build

You're probably on some meme immutable distro so use Debian 13 on distrobox. Any distro with GCC and cmake should work tbh.

Additional notes

To read motherboard sensors on ASUS ROG STRIX B550-A GAMING, as of Linux 6.16 (and up) you need to boot with kernel parameter of acpi_enforce_resources=lax and load the nct6775 module.
- On Fedora Workstation it can be added by appending it to /etc/kernel/cmdline.
- On atomic desktops (Silverblue/Kinoite), rpm-ostree kargs --append-if-missing=acpi_enforce_resources=lax
You need to be able to read RAPL as user. Create in /etc/tmpfiles.d/intelrapl.conf with content z- /sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl:0/energy_uj 0440 root uucp - -. Adjust uucp to whatever group applicable, like dialout.
ModemManager might steal the port sometimes. Either disable the service or setup an udev rule: SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2e8a", ATTRS{idProduct}=="000a", ENV{ID_MM_DEVICE_IGNORE}="1"
compile_commands.json is so clang understands this project, so we can edit it with helix/neovim. Generated with bear -- make, make sure to run make nuke beforehand.

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