SSD1306

[songlight]

Hello,

I would like to see how to connect the ssd1306 to the Arduino without the level shifter. Can someone show me how to hookit up?
Thanks.

[adafruit]

you must use a level shifter for Arduinos or it will damage the oled

[songlight]

you must use a level shifter for Arduinos or it will damage the oled

Thanks for the reply. I thought you could use the 3.3 volt output on the Arduino for the oled.
Can you explain?

[Stephanie]

You could use the 3.3v output to power the OLED but the SPI signals on the Arduino will still be at the full 5 volts which is too much for the OLED display. The purpose of the level shifter is that it reduces voltage on all the signal lines to 3.3v, not just the source voltage.

If you really don't want to use the level shifter, then you can mod your Arduino so the whole thing runs at 3.3v - and coincidentally LadyAda has a tutorial for this: http://www.ladyada.net/library/arduino/3v3_arduino.html

Cheers!

[songlight]

You could use the 3.3v output to power the OLED but the SPI signals on the Arduino will still be at the full 5 volts which is too much for the OLED display. The purpose of the level shifter is that it reduces voltage on all the signal lines to 3.3v, not just the source voltage.

If you really don't want to use the level shifter, then you can mod your Arduino so the whole thing runs at 3.3v - and coincidentally LadyAda has a tutorial for this: http://www.ladyada.net/library/arduino/3v3_arduino.html

Cheers!

That explains it very well. OK so now I have it all hooked up with 3.3v. Is the screen supposed to light up when power is applied? Mine does not. Also, I have tried to run the software but it will not run. Other programs run ok. Any suggestions?

I appreciate your help.

[adafruit]

no, it must be driven from the arduino to display anything

follow our tutorial to use the display
http://ladyada.net/products/oled12864/

[songlight]

no, it must be driven from the arduino to display anything

follow our tutorial to use the display
http://ladyada.net/products/oled12864/

I am driving everything from 3.3 volts off the Arduino nano but I get nothing on the screen. Also the software demo program you list will not load as it says there is an error. I don't know what to do next.

[adafruit]

you need to provide us more details and/or photos

[songlight]

you need to provide us more details and/or photos

How can I send you photos? What do you need to know that can help you to help me?
I have hooked up the oled as perscribed by the illustrations and have downloaded the software program. Is there some trouble shooting help available?

[adafruit_support_bill]

The best way for us to help troubleshoot is for us to have a look at your setup.
There is an "Upload Attachment" tab just below the messager editing window. You can add photos to your message with that.

[songlight]

The best way for us to help troubleshoot is for us to have a look at your setup.
There is an "Upload Attachment" tab just below the messager editing window. You can add photos to your message with that.

sdd setup.jpg (508.88 KiB) Viewed 2535 times

Here is my setup. I hope this helps.

[adafruit]

check your wiring, remove any extra wires and use shorter ones so that it matches the images on the site. the oleds are tested so its probably a wiring issue

[Stephanie]

I am driving everything from 3.3 volts off the Arduino nano but I get nothing on the screen. Also the software demo program you list will not load as it says there is an error. I don't know what to do next.

Just my 2cents but you mentioned you got an error when you tried the demo program, but you didn't say what the error was. Can you elaborate on the error message?

Also, if you couldn't get the example sketch to run, how are you testing the screen? What sketch are you using?

[songlight]

I get nothing on the screen.
Here is another pic more clearly of my set up.

[Stephanie]

The OLED screens don't light up just from having power applied. They have no backlight, it's the idividual pixels themselves which provide their own illumination. So until the screen is given something to display, it will most likely appear to be completely 'off'. This kind of threw me at first too - unlike eg. the 16x2 character displays where just giving them power will show you some life, with the OLEDs it basically goes all or nothing. That is, either it works fine, or it seems dead.

Are you still getting errors when you try running the demo sketch?