Inspired by LG Companion for Windows (https://github.com/JPersson77/LGTVCompanion), LG Buddy is a set of scripts and service using https://github.com/chros73/bscpylgtv to turn LG WebOS TV's on and off automatically on startup, shutdown (but not reboot), sleep, and wake in Linux.

• Startup/Shutdown: Automatically turn TV on at boot and off at shutdown
• Sleep/Wake: Turn TV off on suspend, back on at wake
• Screen Idle/Resume: Turn TV off when screen goes idle, back on when you return (Wayland)
• Interactive Setup: configure.sh prompts for TV settings and updates all scripts automatically

You will need the following packages installed:

• python3, python3-venv, python3-pip — for bscpylgtv
• wakeonlan (or wol) — to wake TV from standby
• swayidle — for screen idle detection (Wayland only, optional)

Debian/Ubuntu/Pop!_OS:

sudo apt install python3-venv python3-pip wakeonlan swayidle

Fedora:

sudo dnf install python3 python3-pip wol swayidle

Arch:

sudo pacman -S python python-pip wakeonlan swayidle

Note: swayidle is only needed if you want screen idle/resume support. It uses the ext-idle-notify-v1 Wayland protocol and works on COSMIC, sway, and other Wayland compositors.

1. Clone or download the latest release of LG Buddy.

2. Make install.sh executable and run it:

chmod +x ./install.sh
./install.sh

3. The installer will:

   • Install prerequisites (python3-venv, wakeonlan or wol, swayidle)
   • Run configure.sh to set your TV's IP, MAC address, and HDMI input
   • Create the Python virtual environment and install bscpylgtv
   • Copy scripts to /usr/bin/ and set up systemd services
   • Set up the screen monitor user service (optional — you can disable it during install)

4. Restart your computer.

5. On first use, you may need to accept a prompt on your TV to allow this application to connect. See: https://github.com/chros73/bscpylgtv/blob/master/docs/guides/first_use.md

The screen monitor uses swayidle to detect when your screen goes idle. When idle:

• LG_Buddy_Screen_Off turns the TV off (if it's on the configured HDMI input)
• LG_Buddy_Screen_On turns the TV back on when you move the mouse or press a key

The idle timeout defaults to 300 seconds (5 minutes). You can change it in bin/LG_Buddy_Screen_Monitor.

Check status:

systemctl --user status LG_Buddy_screen.service

Test swayidle manually:

swayidle -w timeout 10 'echo IDLE' resume 'echo RESUMED'

To reconfigure your TV settings after installation, run:

./configure.sh

This updates the IP, MAC, and HDMI input in all scripts at once. It also detects your user ID automatically for scripts that run as root.

Rob Grieves aka https://github.com/Faceless3882 aka r/TheFacIessMan

• https://github.com/chros73 for the bscpylgtv software that makes this possible.
• https://github.com/JPersson77 for the inspiration and pointing me in the right direction.