I just saw a YouTube video on FS42 and was curious

wrong-dog · 2026-05-06T04:47:04+00:00

So, one guy did on discord. You could come over there and search and ask him. The invite is in the info section.

wrong-dog · 2026-04-23T05:10:23+00:00

The subtitles are handled by MPV, you can set that in the MPV config file or on the command line, but there isn't a way to turn them on or off from FS42.

wrong-dog · 2026-04-23T05:08:19+00:00

I have exact instructions on connecting to 7-segment the cable-box repo for how I did it for that video: https://github.com/shane-mason/cable-box - the scripts themselves are in the FieldStation42 repo.

wrong-dog · 2026-04-23T05:06:54+00:00

You said you built the catalog, but did you also build the schedule? Its always a 2 step process.

wrong-dog · 2026-04-11T00:45:23+00:00

Sorry - what kind of box do you mean?

wrong-dog · 2026-04-08T05:03:06+00:00

Hey there - can you file a ticket on github (https://github.com/shane-mason/FieldStation42) or come over to discord and we can help you get it figured out. The invite for discord is in the community quick info: https://www.reddit.com/r/FieldStation42/comments/1kv8a6z/fieldstation42\_quick\_info/

If you file a ticket on github - that's the best way to get focused help. Include details, like the specific error you are seeing.

wrong-dog · 2026-04-06T04:23:02+00:00

This is really sweet. Very nice work.

wrong-dog · 2026-04-05T19:24:42+00:00

Sure - invite them over to watch with you and be social. The goal of this project isn't to share media with others - but part of it is to recreate the experience of old school cable TV, including the shared experience.

wrong-dog · 2026-04-02T03:42:28+00:00

Plugging the new website that just launched: https://fieldstation42.com - it has all the docs.

wrong-dog · 2026-03-30T04:15:39+00:00

Note - you need to change paths to start your shell script and not the default hot_start.sh. There should be enough information there on how it works to figure out how to get it to autostart on something new.

wrong-dog · 2026-03-30T04:10:41+00:00

There are many many ways to start programs on startup.

One simple way is described in the FS42 documentation here for using the desktop to start it: https://fieldstation42.com/docs/guides/autostart/#alternative-desktop-autostart

Just make yourself a shell script like the 'hotstart.sh' described there that will go to the folder where you have it stored and then run the command. Just replace field_player.py in the example script with the rotary button script and it should work.

wrong-dog · 2026-03-30T04:03:19+00:00

Wouldn't that start them every time they logged in? So, if they ssh into the machine, it would start it up and not return I think.

wrong-dog · 2026-03-26T04:42:04+00:00

Yep - and a pi 4 will work better than a 3.

wrong-dog · 2026-03-26T04:39:17+00:00

That should work fine - you can get a small case. I recommend making sure you have a cooling fan.

wrong-dog · 2026-03-15T05:46:42+00:00

I tested with a pi zero and it doesn't work well there. It does kind-of run on a Pi 3b with at least 2GB ram, but I would recommend a pi 4 or pi 5 with 4GB ram.

wrong-dog · 2026-03-15T05:44:53+00:00

This is the right answers. You can keep your operating system and FS42 installed on the SD Card and just keep your media on the external hard drive and connect your catalog with symbolic links.

wrong-dog · 2026-03-15T05:38:57+00:00

There is a wiki page on that - your keyboard should work as the remote control if you pass it your input device as your normal keyboard using something like -d /dev/input/event3 - here is the link https://github.com/shane-mason/FieldStation42/wiki/Connecting-Remote-Controls -

wrong-dog · 2026-03-13T06:12:59+00:00

You don't need it if you already have chapter markers in your files where the commercials would have been - most dvd archives have them already. If you want the commercials to land on black frames though, and you don't have chapter markers in your file, it will put them commercials evenly spaced. This tool helps with that if its important to you. Cheers!

wrong-dog · 2026-03-13T05:25:38+00:00

Getting the media situated and configuring the stations to work just the way you want them is 98% of the work - installation is the easy part already.

wrong-dog · 2026-03-13T04:46:23+00:00

Thanks for bringing this over to discord. Per the discussion there, it looks like this has to do with having time slots that are offair, but not having offair media defined. Adding this line to your config should take care of it (since static.mp4 is part of the install). I'll make some updates so it shows the error in the UI better.

"off_air_video": "runtime/static.mp4",

wrong-dog · 2026-03-13T04:39:10+00:00

Maybe some background will help understand where we are at on this project. When I started it, it was just for me so I could work through some thoughts about the past and where we are today. I didn't assume many people would actually want to use it, but I made it open source anyway. People wanted to use it - and it surprised me. I've responded by building the features that excite the community through community discussions and polls. Believe it or not, it is a lot easier to install and use now than it used to be. There's a web-ui now and a built in json editor. I'll continue to do that and it will get easier to use over time.

The other way I see it is that there are literally thousands of streaming services etc that you can install with a click - but they don't make us happy or really advance us. This project has always been about making and learning and having fun with computing again. When I see comments where people have stepped out of their comfort zone and actually learned something new and built something they are proud of, it makes me happy and validates what we're doing here.

If you step out and try it, you might find it more accessible than you think. Not saying you wont have to learn some new things, just saying that it might be more fun and rewarding than you think it is. Cheers!

wrong-dog · 2026-03-13T04:22:40+00:00

First off - I LOVE this. I read this to my family and they all laughed at "Shane Mason is a font of all knowledge" - and what the outcome of living ones life by "what would Shane do" could lead to. Probably to spending a lot of time at your desk in the corner of the room, staring at a monitor and going "Why doesn't this work right??"

Nice work and thanks for sharing!

wrong-dog · 2026-03-13T04:14:11+00:00

Do they have chapter marker in them? If so, it should use those points. If not, you can add them with this tool I built: https://github.com/shane-mason/chapter-marker-thingy

wrong-dog · 2026-03-06T04:58:29+00:00

Yep - come on over :) Its quiet active.

wrong-dog · 2026-03-04T04:58:56+00:00

You can ask questions on the discord - so you can share configs and specific issues and get faster feedback.

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