Found use for an otherwise useless 2nd gen Kindle Fire - A simple PC monitor

steelo · September 13

Hey guys,

In case anybody is interested - Here is a simple Python/java script that runs on a server and streams usage information to an outdated Kindle (or pretty much any device with a web browser). It's pretty basic, but having a small tablet which shows my CPU, memory and disk usage in real time is satisfying. Feel free to improve/add on if you have any use for this!

Python/java code (if you want to review), files and instructions below:

Open python compiler and insert the following:

from flask import Flask, jsonify, render_template
import psutil

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/')
def index():
return render_template('index.html')

@app.route('/system_info')
def system_info():
cpu_usage = psutil.cpu_percent(interval=1)
memory_info = psutil.virtual_memory()
disk_info = psutil.disk_usage('/')
net_info = psutil.net_io_counters()

data = {
'cpu_usage': cpu_usage,
'memory_percent': memory_info.percent,
'disk_percent': disk_info.percent,
'network_sent': net_info.bytes_sent / (1024 * 1024), # MB
'network_recv': net_info.bytes_recv / (1024 * 1024), # MB
}

return jsonify(data)

if __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=5000)

Create a file called 'index.html' in notepad and insert the following text:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>System Monitor</title>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/Chart.js/2.9.4/Chart.min.js"></script>
<style>
body {
background-color: #000; /* Black background */
color: #fff; /* White text */
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
}
.container {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;
justify-content: space-around;
padding: 20px;
}
.chart-container {
width: 30%;
height: 300px;
margin-bottom: 20px;
text-align: center;
}
canvas {
width: 100% !important;
height: 100% !important;
}
.label {
color: #fff;
margin-top: 10px;
font-size: 18px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="container">
<div class="chart-container">
<canvas id="cpuChart"></canvas>
<div class="label">CPU Usage</div>
</div>
<div class="chart-container">
<canvas id="memoryChart"></canvas>
<div class="label">Memory Usage</div>
</div>
<div class="chart-container">
<canvas id="diskChart"></canvas>
<div class="label">Disk Usage</div>
</div>
</div>

ctx.restore();
var fontSize = (height / 114).toFixed(2);
ctx.font = fontSize + "em sans-serif";
ctx.textBaseline = "middle";

var percentage = chart.config.data.datasets[0].data[0];
var text = percentage.toFixed(1) + "%",
textX = Math.round((width - ctx.measureText(text).width) / 2),
textY = height / 2;

ctx.fillStyle = '#fff'; // White text
ctx.fillText(text, textX, textY);
ctx.save();
}
}
}
});
}

var cpuChart = createSkinnyPieChart(
document.getElementById('cpuChart').getContext('2d'),
[0, 100],
'CPU Usage'
);

var memoryChart = createSkinnyPieChart(
document.getElementById('memoryChart').getContext('2d'),
[0, 100],
'Memory Usage'
);

var diskChart = createSkinnyPieChart(
document.getElementById('diskChart').getContext('2d'),
[0, 100],
'Disk Usage'
);

function fetchData() {
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open('GET', '/system_info', true);
xhr.onload = function() {
if (xhr.status === 200) {
var data = JSON.parse(xhr.responseText);

// Update charts with real-time data
updatePieChart(cpuChart, data.cpu_usage);
updatePieChart(memoryChart, data.memory_percent);
updatePieChart(diskChart, data.disk_percent);
}
};
xhr.send();
}

function updatePieChart(chart, value) {
chart.data.datasets[0].data = [value, 100 - value];
chart.update();
}

setInterval(fetchData, 1000); // Fetch data every second
fetchData(); // Initial fetch
</script>
</body>
</html>

Create a folder called 'templates' and move the index.html into this folder. It is important that the templates folder is in the same location as the .py file (python script)

Run the python script using a compiler (I use Thonny)

The bottom shell section should tell you the ip address it is streaming to

Open up the ip address in a web browser on your tablet or smart phone

system_monitor.py index.html