OpenCPN on Raspberry Pi w/touchscreen not working

[Eight Sails]

Thanks Dave, I'll do that.

Context: I just returned to Toronto from cruising the Thousand Islands, with 29 hour passages downlake and back. I ran headless using VNC on an ancient Nexus 7 (best Android tablet ever) to access OpenPlotter and OpenCPN on the Pi. That worked great and if it hadn't, my primary cockpit display is a B&G Vulcan 7. If ruggedized, waterproofed, sunlight-viewable tablets and displays weren't as expensive as commercial plotters (go figure), I wouldn't have bought one. Downstairs at the chart table, the only thing better than raster (bsb) charts on OpenCPN with a large screen is paper charts for tracking, route planning and seeing the big picture. Oh, and Class B AIS vessel names show up on OpenCPN, which they don't on the Vulcan -- but that would be another thread.

I've broken WiFi and locked myself out of the Pi before, however, and needed to use a monitor to get back in when VNC couldn't connect. The 13.5" touchscreen didn't arrive in time to see action, so now I'm sorting it out at leisure.

A 7" screen isn't ideal for chart table use but big enough. For sentiment's sake, I keep MapTech Pocket Navigator on an iPAQ pocket PC at home, to remind me of how I used to get around Lake Ontario before OpenCPN came along and made the world better. Had to use (and calibrate) a tiny stylus, learned to do that with pinpoint accuracy. The boat was smaller too, a Contessa 26. Before that, a handheld Magellan with no maps at all, just Lat and Lon. Ugghhh. Seemed like a miracle at the time, though.

[verkerkbr]

Originally Posted by Eight Sails

I have the same issue withh OpenCPN 5.6.2 and Pi 4 with a 13.5" touchscreen monitor I recently bought (I'd rather not run headless on the boat; if something goes wrong and VNC can't connect when I boot, and I'm offshore not at the dock, I'm scr**ed). This isn't an issue with the standard 7" Pi screen, for sure.

I don't believe this is an issue with X or with touch calibration, either. Every OpenCPN UI object *except* the toolbar works fine. No other app in the OpenPlotter image I use exhibits this issue. I'm posting this from my boat using the Chromium browser on the Pi 4. I edit a lot and placing the insertion bar with the tip of my finger is a snap. Nope -- I think not an X bug, or calibration issue unless specifically related to the way the OpenCPN developers coded the toolbar. To cite but one other example: the chart options panel works perfectly. Like others, I've found that touch highlights toolbar items (.e.g. Enable Tracking, Dashboard) and it displays tool tips but it won't open the tools.

Clicking with an actual mouse works OK. But I don't want a mouse sliding all over the chart table when the boat is heeled over and punching into a heavy sea.

IMO this is a fundamental usabilty issue with potentially serious safety implications at sea.

A mouse is not very practical on a boat. I'am using a wireless keyboard with a pad.
Does not rides off the chart table like a mouse.

With the pad I switches settings on/off . Screen movements I do on the screen.

With two fingers move on the pad I can zoom in and out.

It is a Logitech K400 keyboard. Works very well .

Bram

[Eight Sails]

The LogiTech bluetooth keyboards with touchpad are great. I have a KT820, which is 2 " wider than your K400. I sometimes use it at the dock. Its too big to store inside the chart table, though. A mouse is easier to tuck inside--but can't leave it on the desk under way or it'll end up in the galley sink.

Back on the touchscreen topic, I did more testing today and found that single-finger drag to move the chart is fine but two-finger pinch-to-zoom doesn't work in OpenCPN 5.6.2. Add that to the toolbar glitch. This is with no 3d party driver (not needed or provided with the monitor), just the standard touch driver in the OpenPlotter image, HDMI video, USB-C touch, USB-C power (three cables). The Pi and a compass chip are boxed into the desk and the cable bundle passes through a small hole in the desktop. Not a biggie -- the + and - controls work well enough. Its a rough edge to be smoothed down and maybe a clue to the nature of the toolbar issue.

[mgrouch]

Originally Posted by Eight Sails

I have the same issue withh OpenCPN 5.6.2 and Pi 4 with a 13.5" touchscreen monitor I recently bought (I'd rather not run headless on the boat; if something goes wrong and VNC can't connect when I boot, and I'm offshore not at the dock, I'm scr**ed). This isn't an issue with the standard 7" Pi screen, for sure.

I don't believe this is an issue with X or with touch calibration, either. Every OpenCPN UI object *except* the toolbar works fine. No other app in the OpenPlotter image I use exhibits this issue. I'm posting this from my boat using the Chromium browser on the Pi 4. I edit a lot and placing the insertion bar with the tip of my finger is a snap. Nope -- I think not an X bug, or calibration issue unless specifically related to the way the OpenCPN developers coded the toolbar. To cite but one other example: the chart options panel works perfectly. Like others, I've found that touch highlights toolbar items (.e.g. Enable Tracking, Dashboard) and it displays tool tips but it won't open the tools.

Clicking with an actual mouse works OK. But I don't want a mouse sliding all over the chart table when the boat is heeled over and punching into a heavy sea.

IMO this is a fundamental usabilty issue with potentially serious safety implications at sea.

You could try BBN marine OS instead of OP.
It’s also for pi4 free and open source.
It doesn’t have those issues with touchscreen.
Latest is arm64 bullseye based version.