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mwp Migration Guide#

This document describes the migration from legacy (Gtk+-3.0) mwp to contemporary (Gtk4) mwp.

mwp

System Requirements#

  • Modern POSIX operating system, for example:
    • Alpine Linux 3.20+
    • Arch Linux
    • Debian "Trixie" / "Sid" (and derivatives)
    • Fedora 40+
    • FreeBSD 14+
    • MacOS (recent)

Specific components#

The following are minimum versions.

  • Gtk4 (4.14)
  • libsoup3 (3.2)
  • libshumate (1.3)
  • meson (1.40)
  • blueprint-compiler (0.12.0)
  • libvte4
  • libadwaita-1 1.5
  • libsecret-1

For replaying blackbox log, bbl2kml 1.0.24 or later is rquired.

GSettings /DConf schema#

The gsettings / dconf schema is now /org/stronnag/mwp/. The keys are (mainly) the same as for legacy mwp/gtk3 and may be migrated:

dconf dump /org/mwptools/planner/ | dconf load /org/stronnag/mwp/

Full list of settings is at the end of this document.

libshumate#

libshumate is the replacement for the obsolete libchamplain. libshumate uses a different cache directory organisation compared to libchamplain. If required, you can bulk move (rsync etc.) your old libchamplain files to the new locations.

The old files are under ~/.cache/champlain/, the new cache ~/.cache/shumate/; the following table illustrates the naming for Bing and OpenStreetmap caches. Other caches follow a similar pattern.

libchamplain libshumate
osm-mapnik https___tile_openstreetmap_org__z___x___y__png
BingProxy http___localhost_31897_Bing__z___x___y__png

Map Sources#

In preparation for the announced removal of the Bing Maps service, mwp adds two new imagery sources:

  • ESRI Clarity : No registration required, some minor data quality affects.
  • MapBox : Requires registration, the user acquiring a Mapbox API key. This key may be either stored in the Desktop keyring (managed by libsecret) or as a plain text string in the gsettings database.

Keyring#

Add to the MapBox key to the user keyring using secret-tool with the following attributes:

secret-tool store --label="Mapbox API" name mapbox-api-key domain org.stronnag.mwp
Password: *************************************************

Gsettings#

Alternatively, the key can be added to the gsettings database: 

 gsettings set org.stronnag.mwp mapbox-apikey 'pk.xxxxxxx'
 # where 'pk.xxxxxxx' is your MapBox API Key

Note that sadly libshumate creates a cache directory name from which the MapBox access token may be recovered, so there is little security / privacy gain by using the secret key-ring, alas. See Gitlab issue.

Bing Services#

While it lasts, the Bing services (no registration required) provide:

  • Bing Aerial : Imagery with no annotations
  • Bing Hybrid : Imagery with road / place annotations

Side Panel#

As libgdl is retired, a simple, bespoke panel comprising embedded resizeable panes has been implemented. The configuration may be user defined by a simple text file ~/.config/mwp/panel.conf.

  • The panel consists for four vertical panels
  • The top panel can hold three horizontal panes
  • The other panels can hold two panes.

Each entry is defined by a comma separated line defining the panel widget, the row (0-3) and the column (0-2) and an optional minimum size (only required for the artificial horizon). The default panel is defined (in the absence of a configuration file) as:

# default widgets
ahi,0,1,100
rssi, 1, 0
dirn, 1, 1
flight, 2, 0
volts, 3, 0

Which appears as: mwp4-panel-0

The available panel widgets are named as:

Name Usage
ahi Artificial horizon
dirn Direction comparison
flight "Flight View" Position / Velocity / Satellites etc,
volts Battery information
vario Vario indicator

No other legacy widgets have been migrated.

So using the following ~/.config/mwp/panel.conf

# default + vario widgets
ahi,0,1,100
vario,0,2
rssi, 1, 0
dirn, 1, 1
flight, 2, 0
volts, 3, 0

would appear as: mwp4-panel-1

Coexistence#

mwp (Gtk4) and legacy (Gtk+-3.0) versions can coexist.

  • Install legacy mwp (Gtk+-3.0)
  • Rename the executable (e.g. to mwp3)
  • Install master mwp (Gtk4).

If you use any of the map proxies (bproxy, gmproxy), you must use the latest version.

Display Variables / Tweaks#

There are a couple of Gtk related environment variables that may affect the performance of mwp, particularly on older or less well supported GPUs:

  • GSK_RENDERER : Recently the Gtk renderer default was changed from gl to ngl (4.14+) to vulkan (4.16+). On some older / less well supported GPUs it may be necessary to use the cairo renderer; cairo is also necessary on the author's touch screen tablet for correct touch screen WP dragging. Note that there may well be trade offs: on one of the author's machines, WP dragging seems slightly snappier using the cairo GSK_RENDERER, however the CPU usage for BBL replay is much greater using cairo compared to vulkan.
  • GDK_BACKEND : In the event that your hardware / software stack is almost hopelessly broken such that mwp is aborted with a Gdk message like "Error 71 (Protocol error) dispatching to Wayland display", then setting this variable to x11 may allow mwp to continue.

From mwp 24.10.28, mwp will set GSK_RENDERER=cairo for its own use if the OS or user has not previously set GSK_RENDERER.

The environment variable(s) may be set in ~/.config/mwp/cmdopts for mwp exclusive use if required. 

GSK_RENDERER=cairo

Otherwise, the variable(s) may be set in /etc/environment, .profile or a .config/environment.d file if required.

Optional#

If you use a map sources file in ~/.config/mwp, you may optionally convert the #X# elements (for X, Y, Z) replacing with more standard {x} etc.

Omissions#

  • ublox-geo (abandoned)

OS Specifics#

Debian#

For the Debian package runtime dependencies:

libadwaita-1-0 (>= 1.5~beta)
libc6 (>= 2.38)
libcairo2 (>= 1.2.4)
libgdk-pixbuf-2.0-0 (>= 2.22.0)
libglib2.0-0t64 (>= 2.80.0)
libgraphene-1.0-0 (>= 1.5.4)
libgstreamer1.0-0 (>= 1.6.0)
libgtk-4-1 (>= 4.13.5)
libgudev-1.0-0 (>= 146)
libjson-glib-1.0-0 (>= 1.5.2)
libpaho-mqtt1.3 (>= 1.3.0)
libpango-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0)
libprotobuf-c1 (>= 1.0.1)
libsecret-1-0 (>= 0.7)
libshumate-1.0-1 (>= 1.0.0~alpha.1+20220818)
libsoup-3.0-0 (>= 3.3.1)
libtinfo6 (>= 6)
libvte-2.91-gtk4-0
libxml2 (>= 2.7.4)
Example packages:

sudo apt install -y blueprint-compiler libprotobuf-c-dev \
  libvte-2.91-gtk4-dev libshumate-dev libpaho-mqtt-dev libgtk-4-dev \
  libadwaita-1-dev libsecret-1-dev

Ubuntu#

The Ubuntu 24.04 version of meson is too old. A more update version may be installed locally using pipx. For Ubuntu 24.10, the distro version is adequate.

sudo apt install pipx
pipx install meson

Other packages as for Debian.

Fedora#

Example package list:

sudo dnf5 install -y libshumate-devel vte291-gtk4-devel protobuf-c-devel \
    paho-c-devel blueprint-compiler gtk4-devel libsecret-devel

MacOS#

Requires mwptools 2024.11.20 or later.

  • Use Homebrew to install required packages (names may be evinced from the Linux docs)
  • Follow generic instructions for meson and ninja

Gsetting keys#

List of mwp settings#

Name Summary Description Default
adjust-tz Adjust FC's TZ (and DST) mwp should adjust FC's TZ (and DST) based on the local clock true
ah-invert-roll Invert AH roll Set to true to invert roll in the AH (so it becomes an attitude indicator) false
arming-speak speak arming states whether to reporting arming state by audio false
atexit Something that is executed at exit e.g. gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power idle-dim true. See also manage-power (and consider setting manage-power to true instead). ""
atstart Something that is executed at startup e.g. gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power idle-dim false. See also manage-power (and consider setting to true). ""
audio-on-arm start audio on arm start audio on arm (and stop on disarm) true
auto-follow set auto-follow set auto-follow on start true
auto-restore-mission Whether to automatically import a mission in FC memory to MWP If the FC holds a valid mission in memory, and there is no mission loaded into MWP, this setting controls whether MWP automatically downloads the mission. false
autoload-geozones Autoload geozones from FC Autoload geozones from FC on connect, remove from display on disconnect false
autoload-safehomes Load safehomes on connect . If true, then safehomes will be loaded from the FC on connection. false
baudrate Baud rate Serial baud rate 115200
beep Beep for alerts Whether to emit an alert sound for alerts. true
blackbox-decode Name of the blackbox_decode application Name of the blackbox_decode application (in case there are separate for iNav and betaflight) "blackbox_decode"
bluez-disco Use Bluetooth discovery Only discovered Bluetooth serial devices with non-zero RSSI will be offered true
default-altitude Default altitude Default Altitude for mission (m) 20
default-latitude Default Latitude Default Latitude when no GPS 50.909528
default-loiter Default Loiter time Default Loiter time 30
default-longitude Default Longitude Default Longitude when no GPS -1.532936
default-map Default Map Default map key ""
default-nav-speed Default Nav speed Default Nav speed (m/s). For calculating durations only. 2.5
default-zoom Default Map zoom Default map zoom 15
delta-minspeed Minimum speed for elapsed distance updates Minimum speed for elapsed distance updates (m/s). Default is zero, which means the elapsed distance is always updated; larger values will take out hover / jitter movements. 0.0
device-names Device names A list of device names to be added to those that can be auto-discovered []
display-distance Distance units 0=metres, 1=feet, 2=yards 0
display-dms Position display Show positions as dd:mm:ss rather than decimal degrees false
display-speed Speed units 0=metres/sec, 1=kilometres/hour, 2=miles/hour, 3=knots 0
dump-unknown dump unknown dump unknown message payload (debug aid) false
espeak-voice Default espeak voice Default espeak voice (see espeak documentation) "en"
flash-warn Flash storage warning If a dataflash is configured for black box, and this key is non-zero, a warning in generated if the data flash is greater than "flash-warn" percent full. 0
flite-voice-file Default flite voice file Default flite voice file (full path, *.flitevox), see flite documentation) ""
forward Types of message to forward Types of message to forward (none, LTM, minLTM, minMAV, all) "minLTM"
ga-alt Units for GA Altiude 0=m, 1=ft, 2=FL 0
ga-range Units for GA Range 0=m, 1=km, 2=miles, 3=nautical miles 0
ga-speed Units for GA Speed 0=m/s, 1=kph, 2=mph, 3=knots 0
geouser User account on geonames.org A user account to query geonames.org for blackbox log timezone info. A default account of 'mwptools' is provided; however users are requested to create their own account. "mwptools"
gpsd-host gpsd provider Provider for GCS location via gpsd. Default is "localhost", can be set to other host name or IP address. Setting blank ("") disables. "localhost"
gpsintvl gps sanity time (m/s) gps sanity time (m/s), check for current fix 2000
ident-limit MSP_IDENT limit for MSP recognition Timeout value in seconds for a MSP FC to reply to a MSP_INDENT probe. Effectively a timeout counter in seconds. Set to a negative value to disable. 60
ignore-nm Ignore Network Manager Set to true to always ignore NM status (may slow down startup) false
kml-path Directory for KML overlays Directory for KML overlays, default = current directory ""
led GPS LED colour GPS LED colour as well know string or #RRGGBB "#60ff00"
log-on-arm start logging on arm start logging on arm (and stop on disarm) false
log-path Directory for replay log files Directory for log files (for replay), default = current directory ""
log-save-path Directory for storing log files Directory for log files (for save), default = current directory ""
los-margin Margin(m) for LOS Analysis Margin(m) for LOS Analysis 0
mag-sanity Enable mag sanity checking mwp offers a primitive mag sanity checker that compares compass heading with GPS course over the ground using LTM (only). There are various hard-coded constraints (speed > 3m/s, certain flight modes) and two configurable parameters that should be set here in order to enable this check. The parameters are angular difference (⁰) and duration (s). The author finds a settings of 45,3 (i.e. 45⁰ over 3 seconds) works OK, detecting real instances (a momentarily breaking cable) and not reporting false positives. ""
manage-power manage power and screen whether to manage idle and screen saver false
map-sources Additional Map sources JSON file defining additional map sources ""
mapbox-apikey Mapbox API Key Mapbox API key, enables Mapbox as a map Provider. Setting blank ("") disables. ""
max-climb-angle Maximum climb angle highlight for terrain analysis If non-zero, any climb angles exceeding the specified value will be highlighted in Terrain Analysis Climb / Dive report. Note that the absolute value is taken as a positive (climb) angle 0.0
max-dive-angle Maximum dive angle highlight for terrain analysis If non-zero, any dive angles exceeding the specified value will be highlighted in Terrain Analysis Climb / Dive report. Note that the absolute value is taken as a negative (dive) angle 0.0
max-home-delta home position delta (m) Maximum variation of home position without verbal alert 2.5
max-radar-slots Maximum number of aircraft Maximum number of aircraft reported by iNav-radar 4
max-wps Maximum number of WP supported Maximum number of WP supported 120
min-dem-zoom Minimum zoom for DEM loading DEMs will not be fetched if zoom is below this value 9
misc-icon-size Miscellaneous icon size Size for miscellaneous icons (radar, GCS location) in pixels. -1 means the image's natural size (no scaling). 32
mission-meta-tag use meta vice mwp in mission file If true, the legacy 'mwp' tag is named 'meta' false
mission-path Directory for mission files Directory for mission files, default = current directory ""
msp2-adsb MSP2_ADSB_VEHICLE_LIST usage Options for requesting MSP2_ADSB_VEHICLE_LIST. "off": never request, "on:" always request, "auto:" heuristic based on serial settings / bandwidth "off"
osd-mode Data items overlaid on the map 0 = none, 1 = current WP/Max WP, 2 = next WP distance and course. This is a mask, so 3 means both OSD items. 3
p-pane-width Private setting Please do not change this unless you appreciate the consequences 0
poll-timeout Poll messages timeout (ms) Timeout in milliseconds for telemetry poll messages. Note that timer loop has a resolution of 100ms. 900
pos-is-centre Determines position label content Whether the position label is the centre or pointer location false
radar-alert-altitude Altitude below which ADS-B alerts may be generated Target altitude (metres) below which ADS-B proximity alerts may be generated. Requires that 'radar-alert-range' is also set (non-zero). Setting to 0 disables. Note that ADS-B altitudes are AMSL (or geoid). 0
radar-alert-range Range below which ADS-B alerts may be generated Target range (metres) below which ADS-B proximity alerts may be generated. Requires that 'radar-alert-altitude' is also set (non-zero). Setting to 0 disables. 0
radar-list-max-altitude Maximum altitude for targets to show in the radar list view Maximum altitude (metres) to include targets in the radar list view. Targets higher than this value will show only in the map view. This is mainly for ADS-B receivers where there is no need for high altitude targets to be shown. Setting to 0 disables. Note that ADS-B altitudes are AMSL (or geoid). 0
rings-colour range rings colour range rings colour as well know string or #RRGGBBAA "#ffffff20"
rth-autoland Set land on RTH waypoints Automatically assert land on RTH waypoints false
say-bearing Whether audio report includes bearing Whether audio report includes bearing true
show-sticks Whether to show sticks in log replay If "yes", stick position is shown bottom right during log replay, if "no" , never shown. If "icon", then it shown iconified (bottom right) "icon"
sidebar-type Sidebar type Options for the sidebar type. Unless you know better, leave at auto "auto"
smartport-fuel-unit User selected fuel type Units label for smartport fuel (none, %, mAh, mWh) "none"
speak-amps When to speak amps/hr used none, live-n, all-n n=1,2,4 : n = how often spoken (modulus basically) "none"
speak-interval Interval between voice prompts Interval between voice prompts, 0 disables 15
speech-api API for speech synthesis espeak, speechd, flite. Only change this if you know you have the required development files at build time "espeak"
speechd-voice Default speechd voice Default speechd voice (see speechd documentation) "male1"
stats-timeout timeout for flight statistics display (s) Timeout before the flight statistics popup automatically closes. A value of 0 means no timeout. 30
symbol-scale Symbol scale Symbol scale factor, scales map symbols as multiplier. 1.0
touch-factor Touch (Hi)DPI scaling Adjustment factor for HiDpi touch screens (0 disable, often 1.5 or 2.0). 0.0
touch-scale Touch symbol scale Symbol scale factor, scales map symbols as multiplier (for touch screens) 1.0
uc-mission-tags Upper case mission XML tags If true, MISSION, VERSION and MISSIONITEM tags are upper case (for interoperability with legacy Android applications) false
uilang Language Handling "en" do everything as English (UI numeric decimal points, voice), "ev" do voice as English (so say 'point' for decimals even when shown as 'comma') ""
view-mode UAV view mode Options for model view "inview"
vlevels Voltage levels Semi-colon(;) separated list of cell voltages values for transition between voltage label colours ""
window-scale Window size as percent of monitor Default window size size as percent of monitor size for non-full screen invocation. 80
wp-dist-size Font size (points) for OSD WP distance display Font size (points) for OSD WP distance display 56.0
wp-spotlight Style for the 'next waypoint' highlight Defines RGBA colour for 'next way point' highlight "#ffffff60"
wp-text-style Style of text used for next WP display Defines the way the WP numbers are displayed. Font, size and RGBA description (or well known name, with alpha) "Sans 72/#ff000060"
zone-detect Application to return timezone from location If supplied, the application will be used to return the timezone (in preference to geonames.org). The application should take latitude and longitude as parameters. See samples/tzget.sh ""

DBus#

The DBus name / path are changed to map the application Id; e.g. org.stronnag.mwp and /org/stronnag/mwp. A few of the DBus interfaces have been enhanced.