Frequently Asked Questions

Help! My TV remote does not work, how do I fix it?

Many TV manufacturers require HDMI-CEC mode to be enabled manually, one needs to refer to the TV user guide to figure out how to configure the HDMI-CEC option on their television set. The HDMI-CEC option can be found under various names depending on the TV manufacturers, some for example: (TCL TV: T-Link, Panasonic TV: Viera Link, Samsung TV: Anynet+, Sony TV: Bravia Sync).

Also make sure your Plasma Bigscreen device is actually supported by libcec, check their supported hardware.

Some buttons on my TV remote are not working, I can’t exit an application or use the back button properly. How do I fix it?

HDMI-CEC on the beta image is in a testing phase. We have only been able to test the functionality on a few selected range of TV sets and have mapped TV remotes on the basis of those working devices. You can map and test your TV remote following a few simple steps of debugging and editing files listed below.

Test if the KEY is working with HDMI-CEC and extract it’s KEY CODE:

cd ~/.config./autostart-scripts/
python3 cec-daemon.py

Once the script is running, press the button on your TV remote to extract its KEY CODE, if no KEY CODE is found the KEY might not be part of HDMI-CEC controls enabled on your TV set, refer to the TV User Guide to know which keys are enabled under your TV manufacturers HDMI-CEC implementation.

Adding the found KEY CODE and mapping it in the CEC daemon:

cd ~/.config/autostart-scripts/
nano cec-daemon.py
  • Locate KEYMAP = {} in the daemon script
  • Add your KEY CODE in the following format to the list: “9: u.KEY_HOMEPAGE”
  • In the above example “u.KEY_HOMEPAGE” is mapped to the home button that is used to exit an application
  • “9” being the Key Code
  • “u.KEY_HOMEPAGE” being the action the key should perform

I have a generic USB remote but it’s missing the home key, how do I exit applications?

Not all generic USB remotes are built alike, therefore we recommend using a tested product like the “Wechip G20 Air Mouse With Microphone Remote”. If in-case you are unable to get your hands on one, you can still map an existing key on the remote.

Mapping the window close button to a button on a USB remote:

cd ~/.config/
nano kglobalshortcutsrc
  • Find the entry “Window Close” located under [Kwin]
  • Assign your button to the “Window Close” entry
  • Example: Window Close=Alt+F4\t’YourButtonHere’,Alt+F4\t’YourButtonHere’,Close Window

Voice applications do not start on boot and I see a blank screen. What should I do?

Voice applications are only accessible once MyCroft is ready and has started, you will be notified on the top panel when MyCroft has started and is in a ready state.

How do I exit applications using a external keyboard?

“Alt+F4” is the general shortcut assigned to closing applications using a external keyboard. Custom keys can be assigned to the following file for various actions:

cd ~/.config/
nano kglobalshortcutsrc

What is the hot key assigned to activate MyCroft voice control without a USB mic remote?

There is no hotkey assigned to MyCroft, the Generic USB remotes that have a mic button only activate the mic input on the USB remote hardware, to use MyCroft one needs to activate it with the hot word “Hey Mycroft”.

To use MyCroft one does not require a USB mic enabled remote specifically, any microphone that can be connected to your device should work.

For issues and troubleshooting your microphone not working one can refer to: https://mycroft-ai.gitbook.io/docs/using-mycroft-ai/troubleshooting/audio-troubleshooting.

How to contribute & upload your custom keymap for CEC?

Currently the development repository of the CEC daemon can be found at https://invent.kde.org/adityam/easycec with instructions on how to add a device with custom keymap.

Can Android apps work on Plasma Bigscreen?

There are projects out there like Anbox which is Android running inside a Linux container, and use the Linux kernel to execute applications to achieve near-native performance. This could be leveraged in the future to have Android apps running on top of a GNU/Linux system with the Plasma Bigscreen platform but it's a complicated task, and as of today (August 5th, 2021) some distributions already support Anbox and you can run Plasma Bigscreen on top of those distributions.

Can I run Plasma Bigscreen on my TV or setup-box?

In theory, yes. In practice, it depends.

Hardware support is not dictated by Plasma Bigscreen, instead it depends on the devices supported by the distributions shipping it. See the install page for more details of distributions shipping Plasma Bigscreen.

What's the state of the project?

Plasma Bigscreen is currently under heavy development and is not intended to be used as a daily driver.