retropie and waveshare 32b?

RetroManCave

I've made a video of the Waveshare 3.5" running with these settings here:

I'll be following this up soon with a 3.2" screen for comparison to see which is most suitable for Retropie.

If you find this useful please take a moment to subscribe to my channel for more similar content.

Shakz

@RetroManCave
Just watched your vid and subbed. What are your video settings? Mine still looks terrible. I have the 3.2in screen.

wenamba

I just used the guide to setup my waveshare32b display and it worked like a charm! Thanks again for the guide. After the initial happiness, I also saw some flaws which I corrected. Perhaps others can benefit from them.

After getting the display to work there were borders around the screen and there was lagging between input and the screen. Borders are killing on a small screen like this, and can easily be fixed by setting extra parameters in the /boot/config.txt.

So this is what I added to the end of the file:

hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_cvt=320 240 20 1 0 0 0
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=87

The hdmi_cvt parameter can be edited if you have another display. Values stand for:

hdmi_cvt=<width> <height> <framerate> <aspect> <margins> <interlace> <rb>
width width in pixels
height height in pixels
framerate framerate in Hz
aspect aspect ratio 1=4:3, 2=14:9, 3=16:9, 4=5:4, 5=16:10, 6=15:9
margins 0=margins disabled, 1=margins enabled
interlace 0=progressive, 1=interlaced
rb 0=normal, 1=reduced blanking

The lag in the screen was because of the SPI speed, which by default is not very high. You can manually set it to an higher rate in the same /boot/config.txt.

Normally you would write this line: dtoverlay=waveshare32b
To add SPI speed, just add parameters to the end of this line. This would lead to the following completed line:
dtoverlay=waveshare32b,speed=42000000,fps=20

Setting the speed to 42000000 is the advised maximum speed, but I've seen people using 60000000. If you use an extender-cable or something like this, perhaps you have to lower this to 16000000 to make it stable. This will influence the speed of the screen and I advise to not use cables between your screen and the raspberry PI for optimal results.

The FPS of 20 is the same as what I set in the hdmi_cvt parameter. This is important to keep the same value.

Happy gaming.

tonaytan

so I have a problem with your guide, I want to install tactile switch buttons but guide your disables retrogame from adafruit is there a solution to that?

flashmaster

@wenamba what version of retropie do you use ? i have tried this set up on both 4.1 and 4.3 and with no joy just an expensive white touch for my raspberry pi

i have tried all above for 2 days now and not getting anywhere

ls /dev/fb* sometimes i will get /dev/fb1 or /dev/fb0 but nothing on my screen.

i have tried installing the driver that came with the cd into the pi root with winscp and still no joy.

i have tried installing just the normal setup that comes on the cd to test the screen and it works fine., just finding now impossible to get it working with retropie will try another week and if no joy will sell the screen on ebay to some fool

nitesuh

@senkun i bought the waveshare 4 inch hdmi display, and the above method isn't working with it.
please help me out!

andydubitsky

3.5 still works!!!!!! great job!!!!!!

tonaytan

@flashmaster hey flashmaster i solved it you need to go on https://github.com/mholgatem/GPIOnext follow his instruction install it and when you install it go to bash gpionext then configure and then choose keyboard just select random buttons and go back in with you retropie and go to configure and voila it will be recognised if you need further informations just reply

tonaytan

@tonaytan so guys I made a guide maybe someone wants to look into that because GPIOnext needs some commands that need to be added https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/12176/pigrrl-button-installation-need-advise

lixife

@tonaytan hi tonaytan Can you share your image file? I tried to set a week but only got a black screen

lixife

@senkun said in retropie and waveshare 32b?:

sudo reboot

According to this tutorial I only got a black screen. What is wrong?

pi@retropie:~ $ ls /dev/fb*
/dev/fb0 /dev/fb1
pi@retropie:~ $ sudo apt-get install cmake
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
cmake is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 93 not upgraded.
pi@retropie:~ $ git clone https://github.com/tasanakorn/rpi-fbcp
Cloning into 'rpi-fbcp'...
remote: Counting objects: 36, done.
remote: Total 36 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 36
Unpacking objects: 100% (36/36), done.
Checking connectivity... done.
pi@retropie:~ $ cd rpi-fbcp/
pi@retropie:~/rpi-fbcp $ mkdir build
pi@retropie:~/rpi-fbcp $ cd build/
pi@retropie:~/rpi-fbcp/build $ cmake ..
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 4.9.2
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 4.9.2
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc -- works
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting C compile features
-- Detecting C compile features - done
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++ -- works
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/pi/rpi-fbcp/build
pi@retropie:~/rpi-fbcp/build $ make
Scanning dependencies of target fbcp
[ 50%] Building C object CMakeFiles/fbcp.dir/main.c.o
[100%] Linking C executable fbcp
[100%] Built target fbcp
pi@retropie:~/rpi-fbcp/build $ sudo install fbcp /usr/local/bin/fbcp
pi@retropie:~/rpi-fbcp/build $ sudo nano /etc/rc.local
pi@retropie:~/rpi-fbcp/build $ sudo nano /etc/rc.local
pi@retropie:~/rpi-fbcp/build $ sudo reboot

tonaytan

@lixife i dont know how to message you private

mediamogul

@tonaytan said in retropie and waveshare 32b?:

i dont know how to message you private

Private messaging isn't an available feature on this forum.

tonaytan

https://imgur.com/a/kO8Ft proof that it worked!

Capteren

@wenamba umm i use speed as 90000000 but it still lagging is there way to make it smoother?

Mr.Monkeyface

I have tried this over and over but once I get to sudo cp waveshare-dtoverlays/waveshare32b-overlay.dtb /boot/overlays/waveshare32b.dtbo it never works I have tried both commands and nothing works. Any ideas.

super_hoops1967

sorry for bumping this old topic, but i've just got the 3.2" waveshare screen for a gamegear project, but when i go to run the 2nd command after installing a fresh version of retropie:

sudo cp waveshare-dtoverlays/waveshare32b-overlay.dtb /boot/overlays/

I get the below message:

cp: cannot stat 'waveshare-dtoverlays/waveshare32b-overlay.dtb': No such file or directory

any ideas please?

cheers
Gaz

mitu

@super_hoops1967 said in retropie and waveshare 32b?:

sorry for bumping this old topic

You should look for updated instructions on how to install the screen - the repository mentioned in the instructions has been restructured and the filenames don't match. Look into the repository documentation at https://github.com/swkim01/waveshare-dtoverlays and install your screen.

super_hoops1967

sorry about that thank you for the update. all instructions followed and i've got the fb1 folder. when i add the extra lines in and then reboot... i'm still getting a white screen on the waveshare 3.2 but retropie is showing on my monitor