Setting up VGA666

[hippy]

From viewtopic.php?f=107&t=112112&p=768995&h ... 66#p768995
02 Jun 2015

The latest firmware makes more use of dt-blob.bin, and it sounds like the one supporting the VGA adaptor will have to be updated.

I am just about to try VGA666 and have been trying to figure out what I need to do to get that working to ensure I don't bork the Pi installation I already have.

I am unsure if I need to run "sudo apt-get install rpi-update" or "sudo rpi-update" - How do I tell ?

And if I do, will that then mean the dt-blob-dpi.bin for VGA666 will not work ?

I have spent some time researching what I need to do but am no longer sure if the information is correct or will even work if I try it.

Does anyone know if installing VGA666 will work, will bork my system, or what information I need to supply to have those questions answered ?

[kusti8]

So, it seems that the latest firmware doesn't work on the B+ from reading (I don't have a VGA666). But I think this should work (but make a backup first just in case). In the thread you linked the person posted that it had worked the couple of weeks earlier of Jun 02, so using rpi-update, we can get the firmware from that time. We first have to install rpi-update.

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install rpi-update

And then we have to run it with the following hash. The hash is from May 13, so you're getting slightly older firmware, but it should work with the VGA666

Code: Select all

sudo rpi-update 03b44377dd1f410900d93ca92d39cdacba3544ac

And then setup as normally, but where it says to run rpi-update, DON'T, because you already did it here to a slightly older version. Any newer version won't work!

Edit: I don't know if they updated the firmware to work with the VGA666 sometime, but the dt-blob.bin seems to be 9 months old. I can't read technical firmware talk, so I can't really make sense of the commits. This will work, though.

[AndyD]

Hi Hippy,

There is a pending pull request for fenlogic/vga666. The pull request is only for the dts (source) file for dt-blob-dpi.bin file.

I have successfully compiled the dts file using the instruction from here and I am currently using it on a Raspberry Pi B+ with a VGA666 adapter using the latest firmware.

I am not sure why the pull request hasn't been accepted or why the binary hasn't been updated. At the moment the instruction here do not work because the current binary (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fenlo ... ob-dpi.bin) does not work with the latest Raspberry Pi firmware that you get using rpi-update.

The options at the moment would appear to be one of the following:-

1) Compile the dt-blob-dpi.bin yourself
2) Work out which firmware commit caused the vga666 dt-blob to stop working and use rpi-update to get an earlier firmware version. @kusti8 says you should use 03b44377dd1f410900d93ca92d39cdacba3544ac
3) Wait for the dt-blob-dpi.bin to be updated in github.

Calling @6by9, @pelwell, @popcornmix, @Gert van Loo, @PhilE ... Is there any reason @pelwell's patch can't be accepted?

PS: This took some time to write. I see @kusti8 has posted with the firmware version that works with the current blob.

[hippy]

What a dog's breakfast.

I suppose the first questions are; do I even need to upgrade firmware, and how do I tell ?

I really don't want to jump through hoops which I don't have to, don't want to risk breaking something when I don't need to.

[kusti8]

I suppose you do need to update the firmware, though after looking I don't see anything that relies on the latest firmware. That's why I suggest you make a backup and then fiddle with building the new dt-blob-dpi or update the firmware that I suggest, both should work.

Try it out, but make a backup first.

I guess in this situation you need to jump through some hoops.

[AndyD]

What a dog's breakfast.

I disagree.

I suppose the first questions are; do I even need to upgrade firmware, and how do I tell ?

Run the command

Code: Select all

vcgencmd version

And look at the the date (the first line of the output). This will give you the release date of your current firmware. If the date is after 21/12/2014 (which is probably is) then there is no reason to update your firmware.

I really don't want to jump through hoops which I don't have to, don't want to risk breaking something when I don't need to.

There really is little risk. If your Raspberry Pi won't boot with the blob in place all you would need to do is remove /boot/dt-blob.bin and remove the lines enable_dpi_lcd=1 and
display_default_lcd=1 from config.txt. Not very hard if you use Raspbian (may be a little more tricky if you are using Raspbian via NOOBS).

[hippy]

There really is little risk. If your Raspberry Pi won't boot with the blob in place all you would need to do is remove /boot/dt-blob.bin ...

It was more 'is it worth going to the effort of building an interface and trying it' only to find it did not work,with the risks involved in upgrading firmware.

The "vcgencmd version" command revealed I had fairly recent firmware so I did choose to try it and that seems to work with a lashed-up 0V, V-sync, H-sync and 1-bit analogue interface. Not very well, but enough to indicate it does work okay.

Just for reference, my "vcgencmd version" is ...

Apr 21 2015 14:42:19
Copyright (c) 2012 Broadcom
version 2d5ad04b63af4233440c3f7c8587108223201102 (clean) (release)

[AndyD]

In a recent firmware release, there is now an overlay for the Fen Logic VGA666 board. This will turn up in the Raspbian repository sooner or later. It is now much simpler to get the VGA666 adapter working, with the new overlay. You no longer need to use dt-blob.bin, instead you add

Code: Select all

dtoverlay=vga666

to /boot/config.txt

[TerbrackEDV]

Hello,
is there anyway to use the config.txt to initialize a dual head system ?

[AndyD]

Hello,
is there anyway to use the config.txt to initialize a dual head system ?

It really depends on what you mean be a dual head system. You can use both the HDMI and VGA outputs at the same time. Have a look at @tvjon's post (on another thread) for details. However one of the displays will be limited to the output from omxplayer (or any other program that can display using the GPU and allows you to set the display number).

[TerbrackEDV]

Thanks for the quick answer,

i would like to use both, the hdmi and the vga port simultaniosly on X.
Not to start a programm an tell him what display to use.

We want to use the PI to connect to our Terminalserver and therefor i would
like to have a dual head system since our users were getting used to 2 displays
on their desktop.

Right now it seems to me that i am only able to use one display directly.
Like Xinerama

[AndyD]

i would like to use both, the hdmi and the vga port simultaniosly on X.

Unfortunately, that won't work. The X server uses the framebuffer. When you use the VGA666 adapter you can either have the single framebuffer displayed on the VGA display or on an HDMI/AV display attached to the Raspberry Pi, not both.

[TerbrackEDV]

So, when i want to use something simular to Xinerama i would have to use ?

Since the VGA Adapter was advertised like it was the solution for my problem...

[AndyD]

Since the VGA Adapter was advertised like it was the solution for my problem...

I haven't seen that. Do you have a link?

[kirgene]

Can I use VGA adapter that uses all GPIO pins for 24bit colour (VGA888) with current firmware?

[aBUGSworstnightmare]

Can I use VGA adapter that uses all GPIO pins for 24bit colour (VGA888) with current firmware?

Hi,
don't know. Just wanted to let you know that I've compiled a device tree for 24bit colour. In principle it is working, but there is a issue when displaying Gradient Pictures (revealing a Problem with the pinout and/or dpi Interface).

I'm using this on a Pi B+ (refer to viewtopic.php?p=801413#p801413 for more info).