A big problem with Adafruit touchscreen

[Malman35]

Hi,
on my birthday back in march I got a adafruit PID #1601 (touch screen)
I tried the easy install but it did not work so...
I followed their DIY install script here https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pit ... sy-install
I ssh into my rpi to do what it said. This is what I first typed in (like it said)

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curl -SLs https://apt.adafruit.com/add | sudo bash

That work all fine and dandy with the adafruit logo made out of text
but the strange thing is when I typed the next bit in

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sudo apt-get install -y adafruit-pitft-helper

it only took about 45 seconds. The instructions said it would take about 20 min! well I just went on any ways but when finished the other steps I rebooted my rpi (through ssh) like it said to do, the screen was plain white!
I then decided to follow the detailed instructions to try to pin point the problem.
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pit ... stallation
I passed this part with out any problems.

OK since you're not going to run the helper, lets add the device tree overlay manually. Edit /boot/config.txt with
sudo nano /boot/config.txt
and add the following lines at the end:

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[pi1]
device_tree=bcm2708-rpi-b-plus.dtb
[pi2]
device_tree=bcm2709-rpi-2-b.dtb
[all]
dtparam=spi=on
dtparam=i2c1=on
dtparam=i2c_arm=on
dtoverlay=pitft28r,rotate=90,speed=32000000,fps=20

It was already there so I did not have to do anything.
the next thing said this

Run the following commands to startx on the /dev/fb1 framebuffer, a.k.a PiTFT screen:

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sudo mv /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-fbturbo.conf ~
export FRAMEBUFFER=/dev/fb1
startx

but when I typed this in

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sudo mv /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-fbturbo.conf ~

it said

mv: cannot stat `/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-fbturbo.conf': No such file or directory

So I am thinking that probably something went hay wire with the kernel install. Could someone that is more knowledgeable with this help me.

Note:I am only 14 so please excuse my ignorance that I have at moments

[electronicsguy]

Try this:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-fbturbo

This will install that package if you don't have it installed already. Let us know the output from this.
if everything is ok, try your previous command again.

[Malman35]

Try this:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-fbturbo

This will install that package if you don't have it installed already. Let us know the output from this.
if everything is ok, try your previous command again.

It said I already have xserver-xorg-video-fbturbo. I tried this again but it didn't work

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sudo mv /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-fbturbo.conf ~

It said this

mv: cannot stat `/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-fbturbo.conf': No such file or directory

I was curious so I did this

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cd /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/

And it was valid. there was a folder by that name. I then used ls to see what was in it and this is what came up

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[email protected] /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d $ ls
10-evdev.conf  50-synaptics.conf

I don't know if that will help but I thought I would let you know anyways

[Malman35]

So can I not use it then? Why can't I get all of the kernel installations? Can someone please help. Thank you in advance if you do.

[AndyD]

So can I not use it then? Why can't I get all of the kernel installations? Can someone please help. Thank you in advance if you do.

@Malman35 where do you want to go from here? You appear to be in a bit of a mess.

The sad thing is that the driver for the "Adafruit PiTFT 2.8" resistive touch screen" is now a part of the kernel that comes with Raspbian. It would be nice if Adafruit updated their instructions.

So you really need to make a choice! Either try to fix up your current system or start again with a fresh copy of the operating system.

[Malman35]

So can I not use it then? Why can't I get all of the kernel installations? Can someone please help. Thank you in advance if you do.

@Malman35 where do you want to go from here? You appear to be in a bit of a mess.

The sad thing is that the driver for the "Adafruit PiTFT 2.8" resistive touch screen" is now a part of the kernel that comes with Raspbian. It would be nice if Adafruit updated their instructions.

So you really need to make a choice! Either try to fix up your current system or start again with a fresh copy of the operating system.

I could start again. I haven't done anything but to try to set up the screen. But if I did start from scratch what would I do then? Could someone give some detailed instructions (I am not very good at assuming what people mean ) since apparently the adafruit instructions were not up to date BTW I was using noobs.

[AndyD]

I haven't done anything but to try to set up the screen. But if I did start from scratch what would I do then? Could someone give some detailed instructions (I am not very good at assuming what people mean ) since apparently the adafruit instructions were not up to date BTW I was using noobs.

OK, you appear to be comfortable making changes to the config.txt. So, starting from a fresh copy of NOOBS you would do the following.

1) Edit config.txt and add the line. Then reboot.

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dtoverlay=pitft28-resistive,rotate=90

2) Assuming you have not set the Raspberry Pi to boot into the desktop. Log into the Raspberry Pi using a keyboard and mouse (That is don't try the following via SSH).

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FRAMEBUFFER=/dev/fb1 startx

If that works, we can look at setting up the touch screen etc.

[Malman35]

starting from a fresh copy of NOOBS you would do the following.

1) Edit config.txt and add the line. Then reboot.

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dtoverlay=pitft28-resistive,rotate=90

I was able to do that fine with no problem

2) Assuming you have not set the Raspberry Pi to boot into the desktop. Log into the Raspberry Pi using a keyboard and mouse (That is don't try the following via SSH).

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FRAMEBUFFER=/dev/fb1 startx

If that works, we can look at setting up the touch screen etc.

Well in short, it did not work. Here is the details. I did what you said to type in but nothing came up on the small screen and so I then plugged in my monitor to make sure i typed it in right and sure enough i did. The desktop was enlarged (like it would look on my TFT screen) but on my HDMI monitor! I then rebooted my pi to see if that would work but it did not. instead when I typed

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FRAMEBUFFER=/dev/fb1 startx

it looked normal. the desktop was not enlarged. so I am kinda baffled by this whole ordeal. I hope there is a way to get it working because my parents would be disappointed to know it is just sitting around (not to mention my disappointment ) Thanks for the feedback AndyD

BTW I did not SSH

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FRAMEBUFFER=/dev/fb1 startx

I just blindly typed it in.

[AndyD]

OK lets start trouble shooting. Can you try the following commands (doesn't matter how you log in SSH would be fine) and post the results

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dmesg | grep fbtft

and

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ls -l /dev/fb1

[notro]

I use con2fbmap when I test fbtft:

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$ con2fbmap 1
console 1 is mapped to framebuffer 0
$ con2fbmap 1 1
$ con2fbmap 1
console 1 is mapped to framebuffer 1
$ con2fbmap 1 0
$ con2fbmap 1
console 1 is mapped to framebuffer 0

This will put the console on the tft display (/dev/fb1), and it always works out of the box.
Here's some X windows info: https://github.com/notro/fbtft/wiki/FBT ... -x-windows

[Malman35]

Before I post the results I should let you know that when I plugged my rpi I am using with the screen in i also plugged in my moniter to make sure i put my password and stuff in. The interesting thing was that the text on the screen was much bigger like it would be on my tft touch screen. Just thought I would let you know since it was the first time it did that.

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dmesg | grep fbtft

Nothing happened. My tft touchscreen was still blank white and no text came up in command line. I have no clue how this is of any use but if what I told you can help you figure it out well then I am glad to do it.

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ls -l /dev/fb1

this is what is said when I put that in

ls: cannot access /dev/fb1: No such file or directory

I hope that helps you out in trying to figure out the problem. Thanks again AndyD

[AndyD]

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ls -l /dev/fb1

this is what is said when I put that in

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ls: cannot access /dev/fb1: No such file or directory

OK well that is a problem. It means that the driver isn't loaded.

Just to be clear:-

• you are now working with a newly re-imaged version of Raspbian (or NOOBS). Is that correct?
• Is this the latest Raspbian or NOOBS image from the download page or an older image?
• You added the line "dtoverlay=pitft28-resistive,rotate=90" to the config.txt file

Also, are you using NOOBS? I only ask so that I can be clearer in the instructions I give.

[Malman35]

• you are now working with a newly re-imaged version of Raspbian (or NOOBS). Is that correct?

Yes

[*]Is this the latest Raspbian or NOOBS image from the download page or an older image?

I got a brand new copy of NOOBS from the RPI downloads page.

[*]You added the line "dtoverlay=pitft28-resistive,rotate=90" to the config.txt file[/list]

Yes I did.

Also, are you using NOOBS? I only ask so that I can be clearer in the instructions I give.

I am using NOOBS and I chose the rasbian on the start up menu selection

[AndyD]

@Malman35 the strange thing is if I don't have an Adafruit TFT display. If I add "dtoverlay=pitft28-resistive,rotate=90" to my config.txt file I get a device create

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ls -l /dev/fb1
crw-rw---T 1 root video 29, 1 May 18 23:39 /dev/fb1

and I get the following message from dmesg

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dmesg | grep fbtft
[    5.576901] fbtft: module is from the staging directory, the quality is unknown, you have been warned.
[    5.763404] fbtft_of_value: buswidth = 8
[    5.803512] fbtft_of_value: debug = 0
[    5.873827] fbtft_of_value: rotate = 90
[    5.935210] fbtft_of_value: fps = 25

One thing worth trying. Edit the file /etc/modprobe.d/raspi-blacklist.conf and comment out the line

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blacklist spi-bcm2708

change it to

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# blacklist spi-bcm2708

and then reboot (and check the dmesg output and if the /dev/fb1 device exists).

Also, how are you editing config.txt in NOOBS?

[Malman35]

@Malman35 the strange thing is if I don't have an Adafruit TFT display. If I add "dtoverlay=pitft28-resistive,rotate=90" to my config.txt file I get a device create

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ls -l /dev/fb1
crw-rw---T 1 root video 29, 1 May 18 23:39 /dev/fb1

and I get the following message from dmesg

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dmesg | grep fbtft
[    5.576901] fbtft: module is from the staging directory, the quality is unknown, you have been warned.
[    5.763404] fbtft_of_value: buswidth = 8
[    5.803512] fbtft_of_value: debug = 0
[    5.873827] fbtft_of_value: rotate = 90
[    5.935210] fbtft_of_value: fps = 25

One thing worth trying. Edit the file /etc/modprobe.d/raspi-blacklist.conf and comment out the line

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blacklist spi-bcm2708

change it to

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# blacklist spi-bcm2708

and then reboot (and check the dmesg output and if the /dev/fb1 device exists).

Also, how are you editing config.txt in NOOBS?

Aha! When I edited /boot/config.txt file I added this

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dtoverlay=pitft28-
resistive,rotate=90

instead of

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dtoverlay=pitft28-resistive,rotate=90

This happened cause when I saw it it was on my phone and it had squished it so I thought a enter was supposed to be there. any how the screen is plain black now (yippee we change the screen from white to black. How cool. just kidding ) this is what came up when i typed

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[email protected] ~ $ls -l /dev/fb1
crw-rw---T 1 root video 29, 1 Jan  1  1970 /dev/fb1

I haven't set up the time.
here is what came up next

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[email protected] ~ $dmesg | grep fbtft
[    6.875262] fbtft: module is from the staging directory, the quality is unknown, you have been warned.
[    6.945705] fbtft_of_value: buswidth = 8
[    7.091551] fbtft_of_value: debug = 0
[    7.097430] fbtft_of_value: rotate = 90
[    7.320022] fbtft_of_value: fps = 25

But when I type

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FRAMEBUFFER=/dev/fb1 startx

It won't come up on the screen so when I plugged in my moniter (after it did not show up on my tft screen) it was enlarged like it should be on my little screen. Also there was no file by the name of /etc/modprobe.d/raspi-blacklist.conf

[AndyD]

...Also there was no file by the name of /etc/modprobe.d/raspi-blacklist.conf

OK, that is a good thing!

Is you TFT display changing at all when you boot your Raspberry Pi?

Try the following. It should produce a random pattern on your TFT display.

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cat /dev/urandom > /dev/fb1

[Malman35]

...Also there was no file by the name of /etc/modprobe.d/raspi-blacklist.conf

OK, that is a good thing!

Is you TFT display changing at all when you boot your Raspberry Pi?

No... It is just plain black

Try the following. It should produce a random pattern on your TFT display.

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cat /dev/urandom > /dev/fb1

Whoa !!!!!! Static appeared on my screen! how cool is that! Seriously I am ecstatic (no pun intended ) that something came up on my screen!

[DougieLawson]

Whoa !!!!!! Static appeared on my screen! how cool is that! Seriously I am astatic ecstatic (no pun intended ) that something came up on my screen!

FTFY, you're welcome.

[Malman35]

Whoa !!!!!! Static appeared on my screen! how cool is that! Seriously I am astatic ecstatic (no pun intended ) that something came up on my screen!

FTFY, you're welcome.

Your welcome. I had to look up what FTFY meant because I didn't know. (I only text my parents so I don't know all those achrenimes )
Spelling is the subject I am worst at.
Hope to get the screen up and running soon.

[AndyD]

Whoa !!!!!! Static appeared on my screen! how cool is that! Seriously I am ecstatic (no pun intended ) that something came up on my screen!

Well that is good news!

OK appears I missed an important step. Edit the file /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-fbturbo.conf and change

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        Option          "fbdev" "/dev/fb0"

to

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#        Option          "fbdev" "/dev/fb0"

Now try

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FRAMEBUFFER=/dev/fb1 startx

[Malman35]

Wooooohooooo it works!
The screen shows a desktop!!!!!!! I would show you a picture but it says the file is to big. oh well. Thanks for your help AndyD but how do I get the touchscreen to work
Oh I thought of something else. I wanted to know how to use the 4 little buttons that are below the touchscreen. Also could I use them with a terminal command.

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#the code for if I push one of the buttons
pkill epiphany #stops any running windows of epiphany so you won't have a whole bunch of windows open
epiphany www.raspberrypi.org 

[Malman35]

A little help please!

[AndyD]

A little help please!

Hi Malman35,

I don't have a touch screen set up, but I am willing to help. Unfortunately at the moment I don't have time to look into it. Hopefully someone else will step in.

[Malman35]

A little help please!

Hi Malman35,

I don't have a touch screen set up, but I am willing to help. Unfortunately at the moment I don't have time to look into it. Hopefully someone else will step in.

No problem. Thank you for being very responsive. I just hope someone else does step in that has legitimate help.

[m160447ec]

hi every one ,i am new to raspberry pi.I am trying to install adafruit 2.8 inches 320x240 touch screen on my pi(rasbian stretch os new release) but i am not able to do that.please help me out.i have been trying from last 10 days.[https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pit ... stallation] .like above mentioned iam also getting same error(mv: cannot stat `/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-fbturbo.conf': No such file or directory) when i use (sudo mv /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-fbturbo.conf ~)
thank u in advance