From the forum post (Edited for content and grammar):

I recently discovered this as I had a need for something else but I thought it might be nice to check the status of remote and local frontends.

• http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Telnet_socket

I wrote a script that displays local and remote frontends status in conky and I would like to share it with you. I am just learning about scripting and this is my first attempt at variables i mostly just put stuff in that i could be typed type from shell with no variables or error correction so i learned a bit preparing this.

The instructions on how to use are in the comments of the file and this link should let you know about mythtv telnet and how to enable it.

The second screen shot shows how I use it combined with DemonBobs idea and conky mythtv recording status howto found here

#!/bin/bash

#Made By Kemble Wagner

#To use this Script you need to Enable Network Remote Control Interface on Mythfrontend

#Thanks to wagnerrp from mythtv-users on freenode for his contributions and tips

#the output files are meant to be used with conky

#e.g .conkyrc

#${color #8844ee}Local Frontend Status:

#${color #8844ee} ${execi 30 mythnc.sh > /dev/null && cat /var/tmp/local.myth}

#${color #8844ee}Remote Frontend Status:

#${color #8844ee} ${execi 30 mythnc.sh > /dev/null && cat /var/tmp/remote.myth}

#Version 0.2 14/04/09  

#Version 0.3 "       " fixed sed to make it parse long file names and unusual characters with spaces and no spaces when outputting Video Playback

#Version 0.4 "       " added more events to output in human friendly terms changes it so only one instance of nc is used to prevent hammering of ports

#Version 0.5 17/04/09 add some fixes to playback status and added a check status in the even the frontend not running but the host is up







#change the host names to suit add more if needed

LOCALHOST=box

#path to text file leave as default is ok 

OUTPUTFILE1=/var/tmp/local.myth

OUTPUTFILETMP1=/var/tmp/local.myth.tmp

FETEST1=/var/tmp/local.fetest

FILENAME1=`cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep 'Playback Video' |sed  -e 's/[[ 	]]*/_/g' | sed 's/(.*)..*/1/' |  sed  's/  *//g' | sed -e 's/^.*///;s/ .*$//'`

RECFILE1=`cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep 'Playback Recorded' |sed  -e 's/[[ 	]]*/_/g' | sed 's/(.*)..*/1/' |  sed  's/  *//g' | sed -e 's/^.*///;s/ .*$//'`

#remote host variables





#the stuff below is an attempt to convert telnet status info into human friendly readable info



#below are localhost checks



nc -c exit  $LOCALHOST 6546 && echo opened >  $FETEST1|| echo closed > $FETEST1





#Checking if MythFrontend is running 





if (cat $FETEST1 | grep closed ); then

  echo "$LOCALHOST is up but MythFrontend doesn't seem to be running" > $OUTPUTFILE1 



else

echo -e "query location

exit" | nc $LOCALHOST 6546 > $OUTPUTFILETMP1

fi



#Checking for TV recording Menu

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep PlaybackBox ); then

  echo "$LOCALHOST is Idle in TV Recordings Menu" > $OUTPUTFILE1



else 



#Checking for Program Guide

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep GuideGrid ); then

  echo " $LOCALHOST is in TV Guide" > $OUTPUTFILE1

else 



#Checking for MythVideo Gallery

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep videogallery ); then

  echo "MythVideo Menu On $LOCALHOST is Idle" > $OUTPUTFILE1

else 



#Checking for MythVideo Listings

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep videolistings); then

  echo "MythVideo Menu On $LOCALHOST is Idle" > $OUTPUTFILE1

else 



#Checking for MythVideo Browser

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep videobrowser); then

  echo "MythVideo Menu On $LOCALHOST is Idle" > $OUTPUTFILE1

else 

#Checking for MythMusics

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep playmusic ); then

  echo "Playing Music Cant you Hear?" > $OUTPUTFILE1

else 



#Checking for MainMenu

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep MainMenu ); then

  echo "$LOCALHOST is in The Main Menu" > $OUTPUTFILE1



else 



#Checking for Live TV

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep "Playback LiveTV" ); then

  echo "$LOCALHOST is Watching Live TV" > $OUTPUTFILE1

else 



#Checking for MythVideo Playback

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep "Playback Video" ); then

  echo "MythVideo is playing $FILENAME1" > $OUTPUTFILE1

else 



if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep  "Playback Recorded" ); then

    echo "MythTV is playing recording $RECFILE1" > $OUTPUTFILE1

else











#if none of the above simply display then query status output

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep "#"); then 

cat   $OUTPUTFILETMP1 | grep "#" > $OUTPUTFILE1 





fi 

  fi 

     fi 

        fi   

           fi

              fi 

                fi

                  fi

                     fi

                        fi

                          fi









#setting remote host variables you can reproduce this for as many hosts as you want

REMOTE=frontend

OUTPUTFILE2=/var/tmp/remote.myth

OUTPUTFILETMP2=/var/tmp/remote.myth.tmp

# script gets slow if the host is not up when continueing to set remote host variables so check its up first

#checking remote frontend is up first

if ! `/bin/ping -W1 -c1 $REMOTE >/dev/null 2>&1` ; then

echo "$REMOTE Seems Offline" > $OUTPUTFILE2 && exit 0

else



#contine setting remote host variables 



FILENAME2=`cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep 'Playback Video' |sed  -e 's/[[ 	]]*/_/g' | sed 's/(.*)..*/1/' |  sed  's/  *//g' | sed -e 's/^.*///;s/ .*$//'`

RECFILE2=`cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep 'Playback Recorded' | sed -e 's/^.*///;s/ .*$//' | sed 's/(.*)..*/1/'`

FETEST2=/var/tmp/remote.fetest





#below are remote host checks



nc -c exit $REMOTE 6546 && echo opened >  $FETEST2|| echo closed > $FETEST2



#Checking if MythFrontend is running 



if (cat $FETEST2 | grep closed ); then

  echo "$REMOTE is up but MythFrontend doesn't seem to be running" > $OUTPUTFILE2 



else



echo -e "query location

exit" | nc $REMOTE 6546 > $OUTPUTFILETMP2

fi





#Checking for TV recording Menu

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep PlaybackBox ); then

  echo "$REMOTE is Idle in TV Recordings Menu" > $OUTPUTFILE2 

else 



#Checking for Program Guide

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep GuideGrid ); then

  echo "$REMOTE is in TV Guide" > $OUTPUTFILE2

else 



#Checking for MythVideo Gallery

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep videogallery ); then

  echo "MythVideo Menu On $REMOTE is Idle" > $OUTPUTFILE2

else 



#Checking for MythVideo Listings

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep videolistings); then

  echo "MythVideo Menu On $REMOTE is Idle" > $OUTPUTFILE2

else 



#Checking for MythVideo Browser

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep videobrowser); then

  echo "MythVideo Menu On $REMOTE is Idle" > $OUTPUTFILE2

else 



#Checking for MythMusics

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep playmusic ); then

  echo "Playing Music Cant you Hear?" > $OUTPUTFILE2

else 



#Checking for MainMenu

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep MainMenu ); then

  echo "$REMOTE is in The Main Menu" > $OUTPUTFILE2

else 



#Checking for Live TV

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep "Playback LiveTV" ); then

  echo "$REMOTE is Watching Live TV" > $OUTPUTFILE2

else 



#Checking for MythVideo Playback

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep "Playback Video" ); then

  echo "MythVideo On $REMOTE is playing $FILENAME2" > $OUTPUTFILE2

else 



if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep  "Playback Recorded" ); then

    echo "MythTV On $REMOTE is playing recording $RECFILE2" > $OUTPUTFILE2

else







#if none of the above simply display then query status output

if (cat $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep "#"); then 

cat   $OUTPUTFILETMP2 | grep "#" > $OUTPUTFILE2 







fi 

  fi 

     fi 

        fi   

           fi

              fi 

                fi 

                   fi

                      fi

                        fi

                          fi

                            fi 

                               fi

I think it is pretty subtle considering how much I had to write in
order to enable a few lines in conky. Anyway, this was fun for me i hope people try it and let me know how it goes post back if you need any help i would be glad to help if you have any problems setting it up.

References

• Original Forum post by oobe-feisty