GuiMods will not be available in gui-v2

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Kevin Windrem asked Nov 21, '23

GuiMods will not be available in gui-v2

I'm sure this announcement will disappoint many, but my current plan is to abandon GuiMods.

I will continue to provide limited support for GuiMods on any GX device that still runs GUI v1 (CCGX, Venus GX, Opto GX) but there will be no enhancements to gui-v2. The gui-v2 team has done an incredible job with gui-v2 and I see no reason to enhance it further.

Much of the interest in GuiMods was the enhanced flow page that shows voltage and current. gui-v2 does not provide that information, however that detail is one tap away by "drilling down" into each subsystem shown on the Overview page. This like GuiMods details pages and what you'd experience using the AC and DC coupled flow pages GuiMods provides.

I do plan on finding a way to provide my external transfer switch and generator enhancements to a system running gui-v2 at least in part. But please be patient as Victron is still working on a way to allow third-party enhancements to gui-v2.

For those that rely on GuiMods or my other packages, I recommend you continue to use GUI v1 locally. gui-v2 will hide any status or control over the packages. gui-v2 is available via a web browser (venus.local/gui-beta) even with GUI v1 running locally.

Venus OS

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xavier-64 commented · Nov 29, 2023 at 09:35 AM

Hello Kevin,

"I do plan on finding a way to provide my external transfer switch and generator enhancements to a system running gui-v2 at least in part. But please be patient as Victron is still working on a way to allow third-party enhancements to gui-v2."

You done a very great job with GUI-V1 !

Thank you for the update !

Now all is working OK, no special needs to change !
But ok, lets wait for the GUI-V2 final version and further the External Transfer Switch and Gesent enhancements !

Regards

Xavier.

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Modifications Space

Node Red Space

Answer 1 · 2023-11-22T20:15:49Z

michaeld answered · Nov 22, 2023 at 08:15 PM

Thank you for all your hard work!

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Answer 2 · 2023-11-23T10:37:57Z

Al answered · Nov 23, 2023 at 10:37 AM

Yes, thanks Kevin, much appreciated for your work, I'm really torn if I will be able to use GUI V2 without the extra details GUI Mods gives on the overview.

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Kevin Windrem commented · Nov 28, 2023 at 11:08 PM

The GuiMods project started by adding details to the tiles in the flow page. At the time these were seen by many as critical information only available by digging into the device menus. Next was an effort to make the flow page a single page showing all status including tanks and temperatures. The result was a crowded screen with abbreviated details and compressed tiles (tanks and temps). Also response to changing pages, etc. slowed significantly.

At the same time, installers were looking to see more devices on the flow page. Enter AC and DC coupled variants of the flow page which had no detail (just total power).

While many technically oriented people can look at a number and figure out if that is a good or bad value, a better approach is to represent power graphically relative to its maximum value. I feel showing only the gauge or graph of power vs time and show the number only on a details page would be the best approach, but keeping the total power on screen isn't a bad compromise.

Even with the screen full of numbers, there was still information that was not visible without digging through menus. The details pages accessible by tapping on each tile of the flow page provided most of that missing detail. In retrospect, adding the details pages was a better solution, keeping the flow page as an overview and allowing the user to access details quickly. Moving tanks and temps to a separate page allowed more detail and also space for more devices.

gui-v2 does all these things and also provides the user with a watts/amps selection to see production and consumption in a number familiar to them. Not all "drill-down" pages have been created but eventually each tile on the flow page will have one. The drill-downs will provide breakdowns for what is shown on the overview and brief pages including AC vs DC solar production, critical and non-critical AC loads as well as other parameters (e.g, voltage and frequency). Drill-down pages provide a better view of the device/subsystem than can be provided in a small portion of the screen occupied by each tile. So ... while gui-v2 seems to be missing many things GuiMods displays on a crowded flow page, I think most will find the Overview provides useful system status with rapid access to details when they are needed.

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cyrusllc Kevin Windrem commented · Dec 06, 2023 at 07:24 PM

I like your Idea. I just finished installing Gui mod on my Cerbo s GX 2 days ago. Its a vast improvement on the stock version. I also enabled Node- red and Signel-K. I'm looking forward to exploring the possibilities on this amazing device. I'm a retired Professional Control Systems engineer and have created, designed and programed HMI's in one form or an other for 30years. The one thing that would be missing is and interactive alarms page. but then I may not have realized that is alraedy an option since I've only begun the fun.

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Kevin Windrem cyrusllc commented · Dec 06, 2023 at 11:25 PM

While the notification system isn't functional yet in gui-v2, I'm hoping the "Brief" page will be a place to show alerts. In normal operation, the Brief page is kind of an "all is well" page. When conditions requiring user action or critical conditions exist, these become infinitely more important than what is shown there, or even the other pages.

Alerts need to be a layer above what is normally shown with the ability to acknowledge the issue so the display can return to normal. Warning and critical conditions that persist need to be shown in areas even after confirming the initial alert. This could be for example, turning the tile on the overview page or the related section of the Brief page yellow or red (or flashing them with those colors). An example of this is an increasing inverter temperature that will eventually result in shutdown. This kind of condition requires user interaction such as reducing loads, activating additional cooling or whatever.

GUI v1 does this to some extent with critical issues that overlay the current screen temporarily, but you need to go into the notifications page by tapping an icon on the top bar to see what's going on or what happened briefly to trigger the alert.

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Answer 3 · 2023-11-28T22:28:28Z

rock2ya answered · Nov 28, 2023 at 10:28 PM

Thank you Kevin for all of your work and support!

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Answer 4 · 2023-11-29T19:58:51Z

thaelian answered · Nov 29, 2023 at 07:58 PM

Thanks for all your hard work Kevin.

Will your other packages still be supported? VeCanSetup specifically. I get that its not GUI related, just curious about your plans for the other packages.

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Kevin Windrem commented · Nov 29, 2023 at 08:15 PM

Yes. VeCanSetup, RpiDisplaySetup, RpiGpioSetup and ExtTransferSwitch will all continue on.

ExtTransferSwitch currently used the GUI to set up the digital input so I'm still working on how this will happen along with other enhancement contributors and Victron itself.

The other three packages don't have a GUI component.

ShutdownMonitor will probably become Raspberry PI only if I keep it at all. On the PI, it can use a GPIO input to trigger the shutdown. There's also a shutdown command in the General menu but has little value on platforms like Cerbo since it eventually reboots after receiving a shutdown command.

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satmaster200 Kevin Windrem commented · Dec 01, 2023 at 05:59 PM

Hi Kevin!

First of all a big thank you for all your work with Guimods!

May I encourage you to keep ShutdownMonitor at least for the Raspberry Pi? It's such a nice feature to be able to shut down the Pi via the Screen, without either rebooting it and pulling the Powercord at the right moment or ssh into the Pi or fiddling and add hardware to a GPIO to trigger the shutdown.

Best Regards!

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Kevin Windrem satmaster200 commented · Dec 01, 2023 at 10:56 PM

A shutdown pin on the PI would be trivial to bring into the new environment but we will have to see where things end up with the ability to modify gui-v2. Options are being discussed here:

https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/245056/venus-os-modifying-gui-v2.html

I have a PI that I use for development and power cycle it sometimes more than a dozen times in a day and have yet to see any file system corruption so I'm not convinced a "clean shutdown" is even necessary.

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Answer 5 · 2023-11-29T20:02:52Z

kevgermany answered · Nov 29, 2023 at 08:02 PM

Thanks from me too. I never loaded it, but was about to. Guess I missed the boat. I'm sure your work will be missed greatly.

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Answer 6 · 2023-12-02T00:40:59Z

derrick thomas answered · Dec 02, 2023 at 12:40 AM

@Kevin Windrem there is a small group of people (myself included) that take advantage of the additional relays (3-6) being displayed on the gui as an added feature with your guimods. Any chance you might look into making this available along with a few of the other afore mentioned mods that will carry over to the new gui?

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Kevin Windrem commented · Dec 02, 2023 at 12:50 AM

It's hard to say at this point what gui-v2 enhancements would be possible. I will do what I can, when there's a gui-v2 enhancement mechanism in place.

Keep in mind that the RpiGpioStup that adds additional relays applies only to the Raspberry PI. However, there is another enhancement (RemoteGPIO) that adds relays via an external relay board. It may do additional digital inputs also. This also relies on GuiMods for the relay setup and the relay overview.

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derrick thomas Kevin Windrem commented · Dec 02, 2023 at 12:55 AM

I have one additional 4-relay module and two 2-relay modules added to my cerbo GX and I do benefit from your guimods displaying the additional relays. Would be a shame to see those go away, but if I have to stick with the old gui for a while I will.

I very much appreciate all you do for this community, you are absolutely a valuable resource here. Thank you.

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mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ derrick thomas commented · Dec 02, 2023 at 03:51 PM

Hey all, having multiple relays (or other outputs) is on our radar to have native.

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derrick thomas mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented · Dec 02, 2023 at 04:32 PM

This is really great news!

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Answer 7 · 2023-12-02T02:28:48Z

Kevin Windrem answered · Dec 02, 2023 at 02:28 AM

Please be aware that gui-v2 is a couple months away from a viable alternative to GUI v1. That's a long time in the Victron software development eco-system. gui-v2 is truly an awesome preview of what is to come and the development team deserves much praise.

Also, a plan for how gui-v2 can be modified is unknown at this point however Victron is committed to finding a way to enhance but-v2 by third-party developers. I will be monitoring their progress and contributing where I can.

While GuiMods flow enhancements probably do not make sense for gui-v2, I am committed to providing enhancements to the stock system where practical.

Your input on what enhancements are of value to you do help in deciding where to focus my efforts.

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marcotrotamundos O commented · Feb 11 at 04:11 PM

Thank for your great and hard job all this time.

Surely gui v2 solves the shortcomings for which we installed guimods, but a new path has been opened for motorhome users. It would be great to control our heating and lights systems from the same screen, like the new development of Markus Buck (You can check it on https://youtu.be/JvIKf1ds3gI). I’m sure that many of us would be willing to pay for those new screens and control all our devices from a single screen/system. Victron should employee or collaborate with you or Marcus to make a development that would be unbeatable. Just an idea :))

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