Matrix Panel not working

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JoeSchwartz
 
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Matrix Panel not working

Post by JoeSchwartz »

This is copy of email sent to support. Email has original photo, but with 1MB limit had to crop for this post.

Just received panel and changed it out with a working 32x64 panel on a Raspberry PI. All I get is scrambled lines. Picture is attached. I also tried it another Raspberry PI with a working 32x64 and same result. Please advise on return procedure and replacement. Thank You.


Order #2889266-4750660418 - Shipped
Order Details
ItemPriceQtyTotal
64x32 RGB LED Matrix - 4mm pitch PID: 2278
Attachments
20220729_114906 (3).jpg
20220729_114906 (3).jpg (1005.23 KiB) Viewed 214 times

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by mikeysklar »

Just to confirm.

The new panel which just arrived and is not working correctly had been tested with a Pi that had the exact same 64x32 RGB LED Matrix with 4mm pitch (ADA# 2278)?

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JoeSchwartz
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by JoeSchwartz »

Yes, received yesterday [Thursday] Order Confirmation No: 2889266-4750660418
Same Panel on the PI, purchased from Adafruit. Tried on another Raspberry PI with same setup 64x32 4mm pitch. Same result, just scrambled lines.

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by mikeysklar »

Okay assuming the only thing that has changed is the panel with your existing setup then we should swap the panel.

Please contact [email protected] and request a replacement. Include a link to this forum thread and your order ID#.

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JoeSchwartz
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by JoeSchwartz »

I received the replacement RGB 32x64 panel today [Thursday 04AUG22]. Tried it out and a little different. Initially, get the squiggle lines, the the scroll will start, play for a few seconds, then back to squiggle lines again. And that just keeps repeating, squiggle lines, scroll okay, then squiggle lines. On Monday, I received another panel [from Adafruit Order No: 2891513-6868688094] a 32x64 5mm pitch. That panel works fine on the same Raspberry PI setup, that I tried the first panel on and then tried the replacement panel on just now.
I have three Raspberry PI's all running same setup, so I tried the replacement panel on those PI's and same result [squiggle lines, scroll okay, then squiggle lines].
I have a video of the replacement panel with off/on scrolling and the squiggle lines, but it is too large to attach to this post [1MB limit]. Do you have another way for me to upload the video to you, think that would say a lot. Thanks for the prompt replacement panel and please let me know how to proceed.
Thanks again.
Regards...

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by mikeysklar »

Okay, so the replacement panel is still not right, but the a separate order new panel is working properly.

Is there any obvious difference between the two panels you just received (part#, connectors, assembly quality, soldering, etc).

You can post a video to google drive, Youtube, google photos, Imgur, etc. then drop us a link.

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JoeSchwartz
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by JoeSchwartz »

The original order and replacement panels were 32x64 4mm Pitch. The separate order panel [which works okay] is a 32x64 5mm Pitch. The setup is RaspberryPI with Adafruit Matrix Bonnet, RPI power and 5V-4A power plugged into the bonnet. I don't see any difference[s] in the panels, no obvious issues that I can see. As said, I have three working panels on RaspberryPI's and I tried the the original and replacement panel on all three, with the same result, scroll okay then scrambled lines then scroll okay.
Here are links to three videos, one from yesterday, one this morning, and third which shows the current panel working okay. Thanks for your help. Look forward to hearing from you.
Regards.



Links to youtube videos are below. These two show the scroll, then scrambled lines.
https://youtu.be/zmAKaH-lENU
https://youtu.be/KGcm80cPCN0

This video shows current panel working okay.
https://youtu.be/mA_WwmUHE2c

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by mikeysklar »

Are you running the same sort of news scrolling feed when testing the new panels versus the working originals?

What have you been using for a power supply?

Can you post a photo of the glitching replacement 4mm panel connections with your Pi?

Can you show a photo of the back of the panel chip soldering. Maybe a shift-register has been compromised?

Is it correct to say that all the 5mm panels have worked correctly, but the 4mm are showing the glitch behavior?

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JoeSchwartz
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by JoeSchwartz »

Answer to your questions:

Are you running the same sort of news scrolling feed when testing the new panels versus the working originals?
**Yes, using same program when testing the new panels, same RaspberryPI 3B+

What have you been using for a power supply?
**I mentioned in previous post: RaspberryPI with Adafruit Matrix Bonnet, RPI power and 5V-4A power plugged into the bonnet.

Can you post a photo of the glitching replacement 4mm panel connections with your Pi?
**Google Drive Link with photo of RaspberryPI connections and power.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Can you show a photo of the back of the panel chip soldering. Maybe a shift-register has been compromised?
**Also in Google Drive, same link as above. I did not see any obvious defects.

Is it correct to say that all the 5mm panels have worked correctly, but the 4mm are showing the glitch behavior?
**Yes, that is correct. The 5mm panel I just purchased and received last Monday works okay on the same RPI setup.
**As said, I have three RPI's with previously purchased Adafruit panels, one with 5mm, two with 3mm. They are working okay.

Looked around on the net and found two github posts about user issues very similar this one. Although it appears to be users running Arduino ESP32, they mention "newer boards [panels] shipping with a newer chip FM6126A versus the old one, FM6124A" and random scrolling. I could not find a reference to what chip the Adafruit panels are using.
And I guess it is possible that no one else has recently purchased a new 32x64 panel and plugged it into a three year old RaspberryPI running this program, which is variation on the Henner/Zeller library examples. https://www.instructables.com/Raspberry ... ling-Sign/

Here are those two links from GitHub, although they may not be relevant to this issue, the similarity was interesting. HZeller does have some comments within.
Maybe something in there will help.

https://github.com/hzeller/rpi-rgb-led- ... issues/746
https://github.com/pixelmatix/SmartMatrix/issues/78

It would be interesting to know which chip is in the 32x64 panels that I received.
Thanks for your time.
Regards

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by mikeysklar »

Interesting find with the forum discussions.

Do you want to try running the resetmatrix.py they have been having success with on the most recent 4mm 32x64 displays you received?

Code: Select all

sudo python3 resetmatrix.py

Code: Select all

#!/usr/bin/python3

from __future__ import print_function
from gpiozero import LED
from time import sleep
#     0123456789012345

b12a="0111111111111111"
b12b="0111100000111111"
b12c="0111111111111111"
b12d="0111100000111111"

b13a="0000000001000000"
b13b="0000000001000000"
b13c="0000000001000000"
b13d="0000000001000000"

# b12  - 1  adds red tinge
# b12  - 9/8/7/6/5  =  4 bit brightness
# b13  - 9   =1 screen on
# b13  - 6   =1 screen off
xr1=LED(5)
xr2=LED(12)
xg1=LED(13)
xg2=LED(16)
xb1=LED(6)
xb2=LED(23)

xA=LED(22)
xB=LED(26)
xC=LED(27)
xD=LED(20)

xLAT=LED(21)
xCLK=LED(17)
xOE=LED(4)

xCLK.off()

xOE.off()

xA.on()
xB.off()
xC.off()
xD.off()

xr1.off()
xr2.off()
xg1.off()
xg2.off()
xb1.off()
xb2.off()

b12=b12a
b13=b13a

for x in range(128):
	y=x%16
	if(y==0):
		print(' ',end='')
	if (b12[y:y+1] is "0"):
		print('0',end='')
		xr1.off()
		xr2.off()
		xg1.off()
		xg2.off()
		xb1.off()
		xb2.off()
	else:
		print('1',end='')
		xr1.on()
		xr2.on()
		xg1.on()
		xg2.on()
		xb1.on()
		xb2.on()
	xCLK.on()
	sleep(0.001)
	xCLK.off()
	sleep(0.001)
	if(x>31):
		b12=b12b
	if(x>63):
		b12=b12c
	if(x>95):
		b12=b12d
	if(x==(128-12)):
		print('*',end='')
		xLAT.on()

xLAT.off();
print('')

for x in range(128):
        y=x%16
        if(y==0):
                print(' ',end='')
        if (b13[y:y+1] is "0"):
                print('0',end='')
                xr1.off()
                xr2.off()
                xg1.off()
                xg2.off()
                xb1.off()
                xb2.off()
        else:
                print('1',end='')
                xr1.on()
                xr2.on()
                xg1.on()
                xg2.on()
                xb1.on()
                xb2.on()
        xCLK.on()
        sleep(0.001)
        xCLK.off()
        sleep(0.001)
        if(x>31):
                b13=b13b
        if(x>63):
                b13=b13c
        if(x>95):
                b13=b13d
        if(x==(128-13)):
                print('*',end='')
                xLAT.on()

xLAT.off();
print('')

xOE.on();


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JoeSchwartz
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by JoeSchwartz »

I tried the python reset matrix script you provided, no change/improvement, still scrambled lines.

Thinking there may be some changes in the H/Zenner Matrix library I built a new Raspberry PI from scratch, new SD Card, latest OS, reloaded all the RGB programs. Using the originally purchased 32x64 4mm panel and the newly built Raspberry PI, same result - scramble lines. Tried a 32x64 panel [purchased from Adafruit over two years ago] from an existing setup - works okay. Tried the 32x64 5mm I just purchased - works okay. Tried a 32x64 3mm from Waveshare purchased on Amazon, received yesterday - And that works okay. YouTube video link next line.
https://youtu.be/Zia9uXF_n2E

The above steps tend to eliminate the chance that the Raspberry PI and/or the RGB files/programs are the cause of the issue with the scramble lines.
I also tried this: have a Arduino Mega R3 running a python scroll on a 32x64 Matrix panel [purchased from Adafruit over two years ago]. I swapped out that panel with the first just purchased 32x64 that has scrambled lines on the RaspberryPI and it works okay on the Arduino Mega.

And this: Have a Adafruit Matrix Portal [Starter Kit] running the Openweather program. The panel with scrambled lines on the RaspberryPI works okay on the Matrix Portal.
I realize the Mega and Matrix Portal are totally different platforms from the Raspberry PI.

My conclusion from the above testing says there is something "very unique" about the [new] 4mm panel with scrambled lines, that only happens on a RaspberryPI. Versus the older 4mm panels [purchased from Adafruit] that still work on the Raspberry PI. I don't know what the "very unique difference" may be on the new panels.

Thanks for your time and feedback.
Regards.

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by mikeysklar »

Your testing is quite helpful. Something about the Pi is different with the 4mm.

When using the Pi4 are you using a Matrix Hat or RGB Matrix Bonnet or perhaps another HUB75 adapter?

Is the only code you are using the hzeller rpi-rgb-led-matrix code?

I'd like to understand if there is a possible pinout difference with the Pi's that might matter or if it just the hzeller software having an incompatibility with the 4mm 64x32.

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JoeSchwartz
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by JoeSchwartz »

Using both Matrix Hat and RGB Matrix Bonnet. The new RPI configured yesterday uses a RGB Matrix Bonnet.
Have tried the new panel[s] on both so don't see a difference there.

Yes all the RPI programs are using the HZeller RGB Matrix Master Library.

Did another test, this one with new RPI, Matrix Bonnet and LCD Clock python script. It also uses the HZeller RGB Matrix Master. Works okay with an older 32x64 4mm and the new Waveshare 32x64 3mm I got this week. But same result with the new 4mm panel, scrambled lines.

This is what the LCD clock looks like on the new 3mm panel. https://youtu.be/kbSmiE3qyJk

The testing I did yesterday was trying eliminate the HZeller as the culprit, i.e., built a new RPI from ground up and installed the latest HZeller library from GitHub. That worked with the old 4mm panels, as well the new 5mm and 3mm panels. There is just some quirk with the new 4mm panels the Raspberry [or HZeller library] does not like and those panels have the scrambled lines.

I can't find anything on the web search that relates to this exact issue, other than the two [sort of related] links sent the other day.

Thanks for your time and look forward to hearing from you.
Regards.

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by mikeysklar »

Here are some thoughts on further troubleshooting what is going on with the Pi + hzeller + 4mm to cause the glitching.

1) Make sure you are calling the hzeller code with the correct chipset flags.

Code: Select all

--led-panel-type=FM6126A
versus

Code: Select all

--led-panel-type=FM6127
2) Post a simple example that does not work on the Ada 4mm, but works with the 5mm. Both the code and how you launch it.

3) Compare the chipsets and shift registers between the 4mm and 5mm Ada panels. What is different?

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JoeSchwartz
 
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Re: Matrix Panel not working

Post by JoeSchwartz »

This is from the H/Zeller webpage:
There are some panels that have a different chip-set than the default HUB75. These require some initialization sequence. The current supported types are --led-panel-type=FM6126A and --led-panel-type=FM6127.

I tried calling both programs with the option --led-panel-type=FM6126A and --led-panel-type=FM6127. Received the error: error: unrecognized arguments: --led-panel-type=FM6127, same with FM6126A. The two text files attached show RPI terminal input/output testing both programs.

I then tried a simple scrolling program on the 4mm panel [does not work] and the 5mm panel [works okay]. The Testing_Scroll_py.txt file show the led panel type errors and the program running in RPI terminal.

The YouTube links below show the 4mm and 5mm panels running the scroll.py script.

RGB 5MM Working
https://youtu.be/4IYWWC-xqew

RGB 4MM Not Working
https://youtu.be/1wydAJm-nSk

I don't know how to compare chips and shift registers, didn't find anything on the web on how to do that. Can you let me know what to do.

Thanks for your time.
Regards.
Attachments
TestingRGB_ScrollingSign.txt
(2.67 KiB) Downloaded 3 times
scroll.py
(4.99 KiB) Downloaded 1 time
Testing_Scroll_py.txt
(1.8 KiB) Downloaded 4 times

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