Installing the screen

1Download and verify

Fetch the binary and the checksum file, then check one against the other.

curl -fLO https://marquee.yg-devworks.com/telechargements/v1.0.0/ecran-atelier-linux-amd64
curl -fLO https://marquee.yg-devworks.com/telechargements/v1.0.0/SHA256SUMS
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing

curl -fLO https://marquee.yg-devworks.com/telechargements/v1.0.0/ecran-atelier-linux-arm64
curl -fLO https://marquee.yg-devworks.com/telechargements/v1.0.0/SHA256SUMS
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing

The last command must answer ecran-atelier-linux-amd64: OK (or arm64). If it says anything else, stop right there: the file isn't the one that was published.

2Install the binary

The service expects it in /usr/local/bin, under the name ecran-atelier.

sudo install -m 755 ecran-atelier-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/ecran-atelier

sudo install -m 755 ecran-atelier-linux-arm64 /usr/local/bin/ecran-atelier

install sets the execute permissions, and swaps an existing binary for a fresh file rather than overwriting it in place: it's also the command for updates.

3The systemd service

Marquee runs as a systemd service. Create its unit:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/ecran-atelier.service

and paste this in:

[Unit]
Description=Marquee, your desk in lights
Documentation=https://marquee.yg-devworks.com/en/guide/ecran.html
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/ecran-atelier
Environment=ADRESSE=:8099
Environment=MUSIC_ASSISTANT=http://127.0.0.1:8095
# The lag between the sound and the spectrum, in milliseconds: the speaker's
# output latency. Tuned on site, by ear and by eye.
Environment=VISUALISEUR_DECALAGE_MS=0
# The port the machines' services (ecran-agent) connect to. With no machine
# token, it stays closed.
Environment=ADRESSE_MACHINES=:8098
# The weather location and the tokens live elsewhere, in mode 600: a systemd
# unit is readable by everyone, and a secret has no business in it.
# The "-" makes that file optional: if it's missing, the screen still shows
# what it knows instead of staying black.
EnvironmentFile=-/etc/ecran-atelier.env
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
# The machine serves music first: the dashboard comes second.
Nice=10
# It reads /proc and /sys for the rail's gauges and writes nothing, so we
# might as well forbid it to.
ProtectSystem=strict
ProtectHome=yes
PrivateTmp=yes
NoNewPrivileges=yes
DynamicUser=yes

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

No account to create

DynamicUser gives the service a throwaway user, and the Protect… lines lock it out of the disk: it reads /proc and /sys for its gauges, and writes nothing.

Music first

Nice=10: the machine serves music, the screen comes second.

No secrets here

Anyone can read a unit. The tokens go in /etc/ecran-atelier.env, in the next step.

Always up

If it falls over, it's back five seconds later, and it starts along with the machine.

4The settings file

Your settings and your secrets live in /etc/ecran-atelier.env, which only root can read.

sudo touch /etc/ecran-atelier.env
sudo chmod 600 /etc/ecran-atelier.env
sudo nano /etc/ecran-atelier.env

# The weather location: "lat,lon", or the name of a town.
METEO=50.85,4.35
# The Music Assistant token: see the next step.
MUSIC_ASSISTANT_JETON=<your Music Assistant token>
# One token per Mac: "Name=token;Other name=other token".
JETONS_MACHINES="MacBook Pro=<this Mac's token>"

A Mac's name is the one it will give in its config.json: no “=” and no “;”, 40 characters at most. Generate its token at random, right here:

openssl rand -hex 32

You'll copy it into the Mac's config.json, in the Installing the Mac service chapter. With no machine token at all, port 8098 stays closed: you can leave JETONS_MACHINES aside for now.

A value in this file wins over the one in the unit. Every variable, with its default value, is in the Settings chapter.

5The Music Assistant token

Since 2.10, Music Assistant refuses any anonymous access: Marquee needs a long-lived token. This command gets one using your Music Assistant username and password, which it asks you for (in French: Identifiant, then Mot de passe) without writing them down anywhere, then prints it:

python3 -c '
import getpass, json, urllib.error, urllib.request
def appel(commande, args, jeton=None):
    entetes = {"Content-Type": "application/json"}
    if jeton:
        entetes["Authorization"] = "Bearer " + jeton
    corps = json.dumps({"message_id": "marquee", "command": commande, "args": args}).encode()
    try:
        with urllib.request.urlopen(urllib.request.Request("http://127.0.0.1:8095/api", corps, entetes), timeout=10) as r:
            return json.load(r)
    except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
        raise SystemExit("Music Assistant a répondu %d à %s" % (e.code, commande))
identifiant = input("Identifiant Music Assistant : ")
connexion = appel("auth/login", {"username": identifiant, "password": getpass.getpass("Mot de passe : "), "device_name": "marquee"})
if not isinstance(connexion, dict) or not connexion.get("access_token"):
    raise SystemExit("identifiants refusés")
print(appel("auth/token/create", {"name": "marquee"}, connexion["access_token"]))
'

It needs python3 (sudo apt install python3 if it's missing) and Music Assistant at its usual address on the machine, http://127.0.0.1:8095. Copy the token it prints into /etc/ecran-atelier.env, on the MUSIC_ASSISTANT_JETON line, and nowhere else. It goes by the name marquee in Music Assistant, where you can revoke it.

6Start it, and check

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now ecran-atelier

The service starts, and will start again with the machine. Check that it answers:

curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8099/sante

The expected answer is {"etat":"ok"}. From your Mac, http://192.168.1.50:8099/ already shows the page: readable, keys inert, since Marquee only takes commands from the screen itself.

Its log, as it happens:

journalctl -u ecran-atelier -f

And after every change to /etc/ecran-atelier.env:

sudo systemctl restart ecran-atelier

7Kiosk mode

The screen shows the page in Chromium, in app mode and full screen, under the labwc Wayland compositor. greetd opens the session at boot, with no password: the machine powers on, the page appears. Install them, along with an account for the display:

sudo apt install labwc greetd chromium
sudo adduser marquee

Switch to that account:

sudo -iu marquee

and write Chromium's launcher:

mkdir -p ~/bin ~/.config/labwc
nano ~/bin/dashboard

#!/bin/sh
# The screen's browser: Chromium in app mode, full screen, under labwc.
# Started by ~/.config/labwc/autostart.
#
# --overscroll-history-navigation=0: a swipe from the edge would mean
#   "previous page", and the screen would stay blank.
# --disable-pinch: a pinch would zoom the page.

export HOME=/home/marquee
export XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/home/marquee/.config
export XDG_CACHE_HOME=/home/marquee/.cache
export XDG_DATA_HOME=/home/marquee/.local/share

exec /usr/bin/chromium \
  --ozone-platform=wayland \
  --user-data-dir=/home/marquee/.config/chromium-dashboard \
  --app=http://127.0.0.1:8099/ \
  --start-fullscreen \
  --no-first-run \
  --disable-session-crashed-bubble \
  --disable-infobars \
  --noerrdialogs \
  --overscroll-history-navigation=0 \
  --disable-pinch

Make it executable, then have labwc start it when the session opens:

chmod 755 ~/bin/dashboard
nano ~/.config/labwc/autostart

sleep 2
/home/marquee/bin/dashboard &

The sleep 2 gives labwc time to open its Wayland display: started too early, on the first boot, Chromium might not find it. The reference machine also starts waybar, a status bar, just before the launcher: that's optional (sudo apt install waybar, then a waybar & line). Then go back to your own account:

exit

Finally, have greetd start labwc under the marquee account at boot:

sudo nano /etc/greetd/config.toml

[terminal]
vt = 7

[default_session]
command = "labwc"
user = "marquee"

Replace the whole content of the file with these lines: the kiosk session becomes the default session, which greetd restarts on its own if labwc or Chromium falls over, without ever showing a login prompt. Then:

sudo systemctl enable greetd
sudo reboot

After the reboot, the page appears. From then on it reloads itself whenever the service changes version: no more need to touch Chromium.

8The right time

Install clock synchronization, then check it:

sudo apt install systemd-timesyncd
timedatectl

timedatectl should say System clock synchronized: yes.

Why? The time on the rail is the machine's, and so is the track position: Marquee works it out from the moment Music Assistant recorded it. Checked on 2026-09-25: on a machine whose clock was wrong, track positions were off.

9Sync the spectrum to the sound

A speaker takes a moment to play what it receives: left uncorrected, the spectrum dances ahead of the sound. VISUALISEUR_DECALAGE_MS holds the picture back by that many milliseconds. You tune it on site, by ear and by eye.

1. Play a track with sharp attacks: drums, a bass line.
2. Watch the bars. If they jump before the beat you hear, the spectrum is early.
3. Add or change the line in /etc/ecran-atelier.env, for example VISUALISEUR_DECALAGE_MS=150, then restart the service.
4. Repeat until picture and sound land together.

sudo nano /etc/ecran-atelier.env
sudo systemctl restart ecran-atelier

The page rereads the offset on every frame: no need to reload Chromium.

10Updating

Download and verify the new version as in step 1, install it as in step 2, then restart the service:

sudo systemctl restart ecran-atelier

The page reloads itself on the new version.