PiGRRL Zero kit - White Screen

[gamegunner]

Hey everyone,
Just finished wiring up the 2.2" screen that came with the PiGrrl Zero kit and I'm getting a white screen when trying either the PiGrrl zero image from the guide or downloading a fresh copy and manually setting up the screen. I saw in similar threads the same issue and I've checked my solder joints with a multimeter already. I'm lost to why it won't work. If I enable HDMI and plug in the mini HDMI, change the config to display HDMI it works just fine on my TV. Attached is the output of dmesg while SSHed to the Pi while connected to HDMI and with the PiTFT screen on. Any insight?

[adafruit_support_mike]

The dmesg trace shows that the PiTFT software is installed and seems to work normally.

Post a photo showing your hardware and connections and we'll take a look. 800x600 images usually work best.

[gamegunner]

Attached is a picture as requested in 800x600, sorry I know my soldering skills aren't the best yet. -_-;
Crossing my fingers for some hope though.

[adafruit_support_mike]

Some of those joints need work. I see a few where there doesn't seem to be any connection between the solder and the pad.

Take a look at our Guide to Excellent Soldering for tips, and give the board another pass with the soldering iron:

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-gui ... -soldering

[gamegunner]

OK awesome, I'm going to try to fix up some of the points now and I'll update with a new photo and the status shortly. Thanks!

[gamegunner]

So just an update, I got the screen working!! You were right it was a solder joint issue! You rock!
Only issue I have is now that the Pi Zero is soldered to the HAT I tested a button and only a single button doesn't work and its impossible to get to the wiring underneath to check the join without undoing the soldering I fixed. I ran a spare wire where the GPIO pins on the HAT show the numbers (GPIO13) to the B4 button and doesn't work. My question is can I have the ability to utilize the other GPIOs on the HAT to wire to the button? If so where is the configs can it be done to map a GPIO on the HAT to a keyboard button? I think once I get that I should be rocking. Thanks again!

[adafruit_support_mike]

Yeah, you can move the signal to another GPIO pin.

This tutorial page shows how to change the pin mapping:

https://learn.adafruit.com/retro-gaming ... -retrogame

[Lathen]

Hello,

I seem to be experiencing an issue that many people who have built the Pi Grrl Zero have bumped into in one form or another. I have assembled the project (minus the housing) only to find that the PiTfT displays a white screen and nothing more. I have attempted to use multiple tools to write the ISO to the card, have extracted the file utilizing several different utilities, and have done all of this with both the original ISO and the updated ISO from adafruit. I have attached pictures in case, by some twist I have managed to fault in my soldering. Any input is very much appreciated!

[Lathen]

*Update* I have tried my PiGrrl Zero image on a Raspberry Pi A and it worked flawlessly on my TV and several smaller monitors. Sadly the PiGrrl assembly is still giving me nothing more than a blank white screen.

[adafruit_support_mike]

Your construction looks good.

Post the output from `dmesg` (between CODE tags please) and let's see what the OS has to say.

[Lathen]

Sure thing Mike. I have the mini HDMI to HDMI converter coming tomorrow, so I should have an answer by tomorrow night. Thanks in advance for the help!

[Lathen]

I was able to boot the Pi Zero through a mini HDMI to HDMI cable, and the OS ran perfectly on the larger screen. The controls seemed to work as well. The dmesg command yielded a large output that I could not scroll through, and unfortunately my attempts at logging in through SSH have failed. It seems to like everything except the tft.

[adafruit_support_mike]

Use the command:

Code: Select all

sudo sh -c "cd /boot ; dmesg >dmesg.txt"

then plug the SD card into a desktop computer. The partition that mounts under the name 'BOOT' will contain a file named 'dmesg.txt' that contains the output from the command.

Please post the contents of that file between CODE tags and we'll see what the OS has to say about the display.