PiTFT doesn't seem to work

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callmedata
 
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PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by callmedata »

Hello all, I've been away for a little while, but finally got back to installing my 2.8" PiTFT capacitive touch screen onto my Model B. I followed the tutorial for simple instruction on the product page, and selected "no" for both questions after the install (using the text editor and using tactile button on pin #23). I rebooted my RasPi, and I get some display on the TFT during the reboot, but nothing when I'm in Raspian.

I do have power to the screen, and I am also hooked up to an external monitor via HDMI, but when I unplug my external monitor, nothing seems to happen on the TFT. Any ideas what this could be? Do I have to install a new image of Raspian (still new to this RasPi thing so I'm afraid of doing that right now, but will if it's necessary).

Thanks for any help.

mike

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Franklin97355
 
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Re: PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by Franklin97355 »

Do I have to install a new image of Raspian
I'll let someone with knowledge on the PiTFT answer the other questions but have you done a "sudo apt-get update" recently?

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callmedata
 
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Re: PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by callmedata »

Yes, that was part of the process for getting my RasPi ready for this.



mike

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

We've just updated the tutorials for both PiTFT models with OS images and new scripts to make the installation process easier. Give it a look and see if it works for you:

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-2-8 ... sy-install

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callmedata
 
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Re: PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by callmedata »

OK, sorry for all the handholding requests...but...

I got my PiTFT up and running, but now I'd like to know how to navigate the windows on it. The screen doesn't seem to be large enough to let me get to the bottom of a window. I'd like to know how to do this in both the UI and in the terminal.

Thanks again for any help you can give me.

Mike

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Re: PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

Sorry for the late reply, but I've been digging around to find details of a solution that will help.

The main problem is that the Linux desktop was never designed for displays as small as 320x240. The PiTFT works best as a video/image monitor, or as a display for a graphical IO panel.

In theory you can create a framebuffer larger than the display and scroll around it by moving the pointer to the sides of the screen using `xrandr`, but I haven't been able to get it to work.

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callmedata
 
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Re: PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by callmedata »

Yeah, that seems a little advanced for me right now. I figured I would buy the tft based on the images in the "shop" section. It looks like they can get a full display out of it somehow, but so far I am unable to do the same.

Any other suggestions or tutorials that might point me in the direction of making this happen?

Thanks,
Mike

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Re: PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

You'll want a display that takes HDMI or NTSC/PAL input. You can connect that directly to the RasPi's video output.

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callmedata
 
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Re: PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by callmedata »

Im back after a long absence, giving the RasPi another go.

I have the 2.8" cap touch screen hooked up to the RasPi, and also hooked up the HDMI out to my TV. My problem is, I get the opening boot code on my TV, but it doesn't scroll all the way down to the login command prompt. However, I can see it on the 2.8" TFT. I can still log in, but can only see the GUI on the TFT, not on the large screen TV. I need to have more acreage to be able to scroll down the windows to finish setting up my Pi.

Does anyone know how to make my HDMI out display the Raspian GUI instead of the TFT?

Thank you,
Mike

PS, if you need, I'll submit a picture of what's going on in my reply.

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carldec
 
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Re: PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by carldec »

I think I am having the same issue.

I am very interested in switching between the tft and using just a hdmi monitor. When I remove the tft the pi hangs at the lines for that set values for the tft. I would like to be able to remove the 3.5 tft and just use a monitor.

Only way I can think to do that now is to reinstall my backup rapsian.

Is there another way?

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

@carldec: Please start a new thread for your issue. Trying to debug more than one system in a thread is just a recipe for confusion.

@callmedata: Use an SD reader to plug the card into a desktop computer/laptop. It should mount as a small USB drive named 'boot'.

Open the file 'cmdline.txt' and delete any expressions involving `fbcon`:

Code: Select all

fbcon=map:10 fbcon=font:VGA8x8
With those gone, the RasPi should boot to a login on the HDMI display.

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callmedata
 
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Re: PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by callmedata »

adafruit_support_mike,

Thank you. This helped me to log in on the HDMI screen. Now my next problem is that I still can't get the GUI to display on the HDMI screen. I need to do so in order to be able to scroll down the windows in order to finish configuring my wifi, so I can update. I think once I get that done, I'll be off to the races.

Will I be able to view the GUI using this build customized for the 2.8" TFT? Or do you have another solution in which I can actually scroll down the windows to get to the bottom of them? Any help is greatly appreciated. Sorry I'm asking for so much hand-holding. All I want to do is build Dave Hunt's camera slider.

Thanks again for your help so far.

Mike

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Re: PiTFT doesn't seem to work

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

Now that you can get a command-line login on the HDMI display, log in and enter:

Code: Select all

sudo raspi-config
That will run a program that lets you set various options the system needs to know at boot time. One of them will enable/disable the GUI on startup.

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