Defective RGB board (64x32)

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lad016
 
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Defective RGB board (64x32)

Post by lad016 »

Hello - I recently purchased two RGB boards (listed below) for creating the MLB scoreboard project (https://github.com/MLB-LED-Scoreboard/m ... scoreboard). The 3mm pitch board works brilliantly, while the 4mm pitch just shows a mess of lights. I've tried re-flashing the Pi4 a few times and end with the same result. While running the samples from https://github.com/hzeller/rpi-rgb-led-matrix, it appears both boards do not show the content properly, however as previously stated, running the MLB scoreboard program works without issues.

64x32 RGB LED Matrix - 4mm pitch
64x32 RGB LED Matrix - 3mm pitch

The connection on the 4mm pitch board seems slightly askew, so I'm not sure if that is cause for concern or not. Assuming there should not be a difference in spec for outputting to the same board with a different pitch?

Pictures attached for good/bad examples.
Attachments
good1.jpeg
good1.jpeg (335.4 KiB) Viewed 125 times
bad1.jpeg
bad1.jpeg (406.19 KiB) Viewed 125 times
bad2.jpeg
bad2.jpeg (406.42 KiB) Viewed 125 times

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lad016
 
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Re: Defective RGB board (64x32)

Post by lad016 »

bump

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Re: Defective RGB board (64x32)

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

How are the boards being connected to the Pi? Are you using a HAT or bonnet?

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Re: Defective RGB board (64x32)

Post by lad016 »

Via Adafruit RGB Matrix Bonnet for Raspberry Pi PID: 3211

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Re: Defective RGB board (64x32)

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

We should try again using the examples from the hzeller library to test basic functionality.

There's some info here:
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-rgb ... g-matrices

Did you use the installer script from there to install the hzeller library?

What was the full command line you were using to run an example?

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lad016
 
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Re: Defective RGB board (64x32)

Post by lad016 »

OK so I re-installed everything and ran the demo on both my 3mm pitch board and the 4mm pitch board. The 3mm pitch board runs perfectly as I mentioned before. The 4mm board looks terrible. Please see the attached images from the same demos on both boards. Seems like the 4mm board is somehow defective?
Attachments
4mm_bad.jpeg
4mm_bad.jpeg (348.04 KiB) Viewed 86 times
3mm_good2.jpeg
3mm_good2.jpeg (292.8 KiB) Viewed 86 times
3mm_good.jpeg
3mm_good.jpeg (273.22 KiB) Viewed 86 times

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lad016
 
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Re: Defective RGB board (64x32)

Post by lad016 »

an additional image of the bad board
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4mm_bad2.jpeg
4mm_bad2.jpeg (256.03 KiB) Viewed 86 times

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Re: Defective RGB board (64x32)

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

Thanks for retesting. Good that at least the 3mm pitch is working. So know the setup nominally works.

One more thing to try - swap ribbon cables. If different ones were being used.

And you're adding some gpio-slowdown to the command line?

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Re: Defective RGB board (64x32)

Post by lad016 »

Yes I had gpio slowdown on the command and tried multiple values. I swapped ribbon cables and tried again, but still the same result. Ultimately I swapped the power cable also and funny enough that seemed to fix the issue. Not sure why that would have mattered since after comparison, they are exactly the same with similar ratings.

Either way - success! Thanks for your assistance.

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Re: Defective RGB board (64x32)

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

Wow! Cool. Glad it got working. Agree, that does seem odd. Luckily with the two sets of matrices, could continue swapping things to see if you can further isolate the issue. Like does the 3mm panel glitch if you use it with the sus power cable?

If the issue shows up again on the 4mm, also check the general condition of the soldering etc. of the power connector itself where it attaches to the matrix panel. Just look for anything obvious, like poorly aligned pins.

And thank YOU for continuing with all the troubleshooting!

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Re: Defective RGB board (64x32)

Post by lad016 »

That's the funny thing is the 3mm pitch board never had an issue, I even kicked it back on after swapping the power cable. The general condition of both boards seems OK with the exception of the IN port on the 4mm seems to be askew and one of the pins a little bent, but that never seemed to change throughout ribbon changes, etc. Only when the power cable was switched did it work.

I'll keep an eye on it, thanks again!

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