Scoreboard Kiosk: Operation and recovery

Operation and recovery

The browser watchdog reopens the display if Chromium exits. An administrator can reload the active display and inspect station health. The network monitor checks the assigned board approximately every ten seconds. After two failures, or an initial failed check, the station changes to a local connection screen rather than continuing to display an old scoreboard indefinitely. When the board responds again, the fullscreen browser returns to it automatically. A disabled display remains unavailable until its Sports Hub definition is active again. This requires network access; the kiosk does not provide offline scorekeeping or promise live scores offline.

Setup runs only on loopback. It uses a salted administrator PIN, separate HttpOnly/SameSite admin cookie, request token, five-minute inactivity lock and explicit logout. No admin link appears on the scoreboard/connection screen. Use the separate administrator browser profile and lock it before returning the workstation to other users. Saved display URLs contain access tokens and are kept in the private ~/.ga360-scoreboard-kiosk/station.json file. HTTPS certificate verification stays enabled. The Chromium sandbox remains enabled; never run as root or add --no-sandbox.

Manual start: python3 app.py. Set/reset the PIN while the station is stopped: python3 app.py --set-admin-pin. For an existing browser installation: python3 app.py --browser /path/to/chromium. Run the local service without launching a browser for diagnostics: python3 app.py --no-browser. Disable login autostart: python3 linux_setup.py disable-autostart.

Chromium fullscreen is presentation mode, not an operating-system access barrier. Use a dedicated Ubuntu kiosk account and the OS’s device controls when unattended physical access must be restricted. Browser/site media and network behavior still need commissioning on the installed PC, screen and Sports Hub server.