Raspberry Pi Zero Dashboard Using DAKBoard

In this project, I will show how I made a dashboard using an old Pi Zero W and Dakboard.

Pi Zero W

HDMI cable

HDMI to Mini-HDMI Adapter

Power Supply(5v 1a)

TV

USB Hub for Pi Zero(Make sure to get one compatible with the Pi Zero)

Keyboard

MicroSD card(I used 8gb)

Some Linux Shell knowledge:)

OPTIONAL: Timed outlet

1. Install Raspbian Lite(ONLY LITE!) on your MicroSD card.
2. Start basic setup and set the time to your local time(this will be important in another step)
3. Run the following commands in your Linux Shell(these will install the needed dependencies):

sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg x11-xserver-utils xinit openbox unclutter
sudo apt-get install chromium-browser

4. Now that we have the xserver and browser, we can now edit the autostart. Type in:

sudo nano /etc/xdg/openbox/autostart

NOW BEFORE DOING ANYTHING, GO TO THE NEXT STEP TO SET UP DAKBOARD!!!!

1. Go to dakboard.com
2. Make an account
3. Choose a plan(Free gives you a predefined screen, Essential and above allow you to customize it.)
4. Go to your screens and start editing either Predefined or Custom if you paid
5. Once done, find the private URL and save it.

Now that we have the private URL, edit /etc/xdg/openbox/autostart with the following(note: The second-to-last and third-to-last line are connected):

xset s off
xset s noblank
xset -dpms


setxkbmap -option terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp
unclutter &

sed -i 's/"exited_cleanly":false/"exited_cleanly":true/' ~/.config/chromium/'Local State'
sed -i 's/"exited_cleanly":false/"exited_cleanly":true/; s/"exit_type":"[^"]\+"/"exit_type":"Normal"/' ~/.config/chromium/Default/Preferences

chromium-browser --disable-infobars --noerrordialogs --kiosk 'http://yourdakboard.privatescreen.here'

Of course, replace http://yourdakboard.privatescreen.here with the real private screen URL.

In this, we disable screensavers, disable the mouse unless you use it and make it so if you press Control+Alt+Backspace, you terminate the xserver and trick Chromium into thinking it exited cleanly, and of course, launch Chromium.

Now, we need to start this on launch(I will also make it shutdown at a specified time, but you can not do that if you wish. While you are in your home directory(use cd ~ to get there) input the following:

nano .bash_profile

Now put the following there(the sudo shutdown part is optional)

sudo shutdown -h 20:00
startx

This will auto start xserver and shutdown the pi at 20:00(or 8 PM)(If you do the sudo shutdown part, make sure your time is in 24 hour format)

Now, when you restart your Pi, it should startx almost immediately at boot up. If you don't want the rainbow splash(which is really a GPU test) or the scrolling text, do the following:

sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt
Change console=tty1 to console=tty9 loglevel=3
THEN...
sudo nano /boot/config.txt
Add disable_splash=1

Now set up connections to your TV.

OPTIONAL: Set up your Timed outlet to just after the Raspberry Pi shuts down.

Pat yourself on the back for surviving a Linux Command Shell and making something you can use to flex on your friends:)

Thanks to https://die-antwort.eu/techblog/2017-12-setup-raspberry-pi-for-kiosk-mode/ . The steps for setting up kiosk mode were from them, with slight edits by me.