Introduction: Facebook LED Blink on New Notifications and Messages
It is a quick and easy project to do, provided you have the required stuff.
Step 1: How Does It Work?
There are two parts that power this project.
The first part is a small program that turns on or off the LEDs that are on a parallel port using inpout32.dll. The program hosts a tiny server that its one and only purpose is to understand HTTP requests.
The second part is a Greasemonkey script that detects when you have a new notification/message.
If you have a new notification or a message, the script will request a URL from the server the program described above hosts, and the program will understand the URL, and will start blinking the requested LED.
After you read your new notification/message, the script will request the same URL as before, which tells the program to stop blinking the LED.
Simple eh?
Step 2: Requirements
You will need:
- Windows (also works with x64 versions)
It should be possible to make this work on Linux, but not on a Mac, because as far as I know, Macs do not have a parallel port
- A parallel port
Most new computers don't have an integrated parallel port, so you'll have to buy a PCI-to-parallel card yourself. From what I read on the internet, not all cards will work, and USB-to-parallel also won't work.
- Mozilla Firefox with the Greasemonkey extension installed or Google Chrome (Opera might work too)
- 2 LEDs
- Centronics Printer cable (optional; I use it as an extension cable)
Step 3: Download and Configure the LED Blinker
Download the LED Blinker from this step's attachments, and unzip it somewhere.
Open Device Manager (you can do that by pressing WindowsKey+R and typing devmgmt.msc in the window that comes up), double click on Ports (COM & LPT), and then double click on your parallel port (it is usually listed as ECP Parallel Port or Printer Port or something similar).
On the new window that comes up, click on the Resources tab and note the first part of the I/O Range setting (check the attached screenshot). *
Once you have that, go to the folder where you unzipped the application, and open the address.txt file. Replace the contents of that file with the address you noted above (again, check the attached screenshot), and save it.
Once that's done, double click on LEDBlinker.exe to open the application (note: On Windows Vista/7 you must run it as an administrator for the first time!). You won't see anything, but you can verify that the program is running by looking for it in the Task Manager. If you have a firewall, it might warn you that the program is trying to listen on port 4012. You must allow it for the program to work (for more information check step 1).
Note: If you are getting an error when you run the application saying that it can't find mswinsck.ocx, then download it from here, and place it in the same folder as the program. It should work then (again, if you're using Windows Vista/7 you'll have to run it as an administrator for the first time).
*: If there are more than one I/O Ranges, then try them all until you find the one that works. Make sure you terminate LEDBlinker.exe via the Task Manager every time you change address.txt.
Attachments
Step 4: Connect the LEDs to the Parallel Port
If you are using a printer cable, check the third picture for reference, otherwise, check the second.
Connect the longer lead* of the first LED to bit 1 (check the pictures mentioned above), and the shorter to any of the ground (GND) pins (it doesn't matter which one you choose). This will be the LED that will blink when you have a new notification.**
Connect the longer lead of the second LED to bit 6, and the shorter to any of the ground pins. This will be the LED that will blink when you have a new message.
To check if the notification LED is working click here (stop blinking).
To check if the message LED is working, click here (stop blinking).
If the LEDs aren't working, make sure that the LEDs are correctly inserted (try moving them a little), and that the LED Blinker is configured correctly and running.
*: If the leads of your LED have the same length then find the flat side of your LED. Connect the lead of that side to any of the ground pins, and the other to the bit pin.
**: It is possible to change that, but you will have to make a tiny change to the Greasemonkey script.
Step 5: Install the Greasemonkey Script
After you make sure the LEDs are working correctly, it's time to install the Greasemonkey script. The Greasemonkey script can be found here: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/82985
Click the above link, and then click the Install button and acknowledge the warning.
After you install the script, reload Facebook.
You're done! :)
Step 6: Some Things to Keep in Mind...
LEDBlinker.exe has to be open at all times, so it might be a good idea to have it run on startup when Windows boots.
Your browser also has to be open at all times, with a Facebook tab open.
The part that detects new messages has a limitation: You must already have a chat window open and minimized with the person that sends you the message; otherwise, the new message will not be detected.
