# acer-lighting

> **Fork Notice:** This is a fork of [fcrespo82/acer-lighting-daemon](https://github.com/fcrespo82/acer-lighting-daemon) with added GUI tray applet support.

**Thanks**

This project benefited greatly from the work, testing and research of several community contributors — especially: @ZoeBattleSand, @0x189D7997, and @JakeBrxwn. Their reverse-engineering, testing, tooling and discussion (see https://github.com/0x7375646F/Linuwu-Sense/pull/65) made much of this possible.

Small tools to control Acer laptop RGB zones and a daemon that persists/apply states.

> [!CAUTION]
> The code here was based on the work of others but it was written with the help of AI too

## Build

- Build the daemon only:

```sh
make acer-rgbd
```

- Build the CLI (used for manual commands and test targets):

```sh
make acer-rgb-cli
```

Or build everything with:

```sh
make build
```

## Install

Install the daemon, helper script and systemd units:

```sh
sudo make install
```

The `install` target will:
- Copy `acer-rgbd` to `/usr/local/bin/acer-rgbd` and `acer-rgb` to `/usr/local/bin/acer-rgb`.
- Install systemd unit and socket under `/etc/systemd/system/` and enable/start the service.
- Create `/var/lib/acer-rgbd/state.txt` with an initial "all green" state so the daemon applies green on first start.

If you need to undo the install:

```sh
sudo make uninstall
```

## GUI Tray Applet

A system tray applet is included for easy RGB control without using the command line.

### Dependencies

```sh
sudo apt install python3-gi gir1.2-appindicator3-0.1
```

### Running

```sh
python3 acer-rgb-tray.py
```

The applet appears in your system tray. Click it to access:
- **Color presets** (Red, Green, Blue, White, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Orange)
- **Custom...** - Opens a full color picker dialog
- **Effect** submenu - Static, Breathing, Neon, Wave, Ripple, Zoom, Snake, Disco, Shifting

### Autostart

To start the applet automatically on login:

```sh
cp acer-rgb-tray.desktop ~/.config/autostart/
```

Make sure the daemon is running before the applet starts:

```sh
sudo systemctl enable acer-rgbd.service
```

## Usage

- Send commands to the daemon using the `acer-rgb` helper (it talks to the daemon socket):

```sh
acer-rgb SET dev=keyboard hidraw=/dev/hidraw2 effect=static bright=100 r=0 g=255 b=0 zone=all
acer-rgb GET
```

- You can also use the CLI binary for direct HID control (for testing):

```sh
sudo ./acer-rgb-cli /dev/hidraw2 keyboard static --brightness 100 --rgb 0 255 0 --zone all
```

## State file

The daemon persists three lines (keyboard, lid, button) in `/var/lib/acer-rgbd/state.txt`. Editing that file (as root) changes the values the daemon will reapply on start.

## Logs & troubleshooting

View the daemon logs with:

```sh
journalctl -u acer-rgbd.service -f
```

If you modify the state file and want the daemon to reapply immediately, restart it:

```sh
sudo systemctl restart acer-rgbd.service
```

## Notes

- The installer writes an initial all-green state (keyboard/lid/button) to `/var/lib/acer-rgbd/state.txt` so newly installed systems show green LEDs by default.
- Running the daemon requires root privileges (or appropriate udev rules) to access the HID device.
- The GUI applet communicates with the daemon via socket (`/run/acer-rgbd.sock`) and runs as a regular user.