The Pi 4's two HDMI connectors share one vc4 DRM card, and DRM master is
exclusive per card -- so the old per-connector-mpv design could never light
the second screen (the mirror mpv died with "Failed to acquire DRM master:
Permission denied"). Replace it with a minimal X server started by the
mediapi-mpv unit via xinit: X is the single DRM master, xrandr --same-as
clones the first output onto every other connected HDMI, and one fullscreen
mpv renders to both. Uses hwdec=v4l2m2m-copy (Pi HW decoder, ~1/3 the CPU of
software) and carries audio + the app's sole IPC socket.
- new scripts/mediapi-session.sh (X client: waits for connectors, mirrors,
execs mpv); rewritten mediapi-mpv unit (xinit on VT7)
- delete scripts/start-mpv.py and all mirror-socket/broadcast code in
player.py, config.py, __init__.py -- a single mpv means one socket
- install.sh installs xserver-xorg-core/xinit/x11-xserver-utils, writes
/etc/X11/Xwrapper.config, adds the user to input,tty
- README + troubleshooting updated
Verified from a cold boot on the Pi: both pixelvalve CRTCs scan the same
framebuffer; app healthy; HW decode engaged.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Move user-specific config (login, media roots, port, AP ssid/psk, service
user) into a gitignored .env; add .env.example template.
- config.py reads .env at startup via a tiny zero-dependency parser (works for
both `uv run` and systemd), and fails loudly if required vars are unset.
- load_secret_key falls back to an ephemeral key on a read-only filesystem
instead of crashing.
- systemd units become .template files; deploy.sh renders them with the
.env-derived user/paths.
- deploy.sh: refuses to run on a read-only overlay, git pull --ff-only,
uv sync, ensure secret key, re-apply the AP from .env, install units,
restart, health-check with automatic rollback to the previous commit.
- Scrub literal credentials/ssid out of the README; document .env + deploy.sh.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Raspberry Pi 4 appliance that boots as a WiFi access point and serves a
phone-controlled web app for browsing /localmedia and driving video
playback out the Pi's HDMI port.
- NetworkManager-based AP setup (documented in README)
- Flask app + vanilla HTML/JS single-page UI (Control / Playback modes)
- mpv persistent daemon (DRM/KMS HDMI output) controlled over JSON IPC
- long-lived session-cookie auth
- "keep playing" folder auto-advance, including when started mid-folder
- systemd units for both mpv and the app, autostart on boot
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
