new pie user. how to install LCD to work with retropie

NastyButtler322

@isayno find their website and look for that specific screen, then look for documentation on it. Normally you just have to edit the config file within the boot drive by copying and pasting a few lines of code. My first LCD screen had no help for me to set it up, I think it was the same brand, but I didn't know to look for text to copy and paste, so it might be there. If not, a good brand to get is waveshare.

isayno

@NastyButtler322 thank you for the reply, i guess my biggest question was which driver? the ubuntu or the raspbain?

NastyButtler322

@isayno Not saying that its not a driver, but I doubt that it is a driver. Its very possibly just some simple lines of text that you have to add to the config.txt file within the boot partition. But I'm not positive. Does your screen only interface with the gpio pins, or does it also come with an HDMI connector?

Also, why do you ask specifically between a Ubuntu or raspbian driver? Did it come with a disk with a compressed Ubuntu and raspbian file? If so, those are likely to be image files that you can install on the microSD card. Those would be the complete operating systems. If that is the case, I recommend the raspbian image. You can uninstall the desktop from raspbian and have only the operating system as a command prompt, you can then install retropie on top of that, and add a code to start emulation station.

I haven't looked the specifics of how to do that for you because it would be a waste of my time if that is not the reason you asked about Ubuntu or raspbian. Let me know and I'll try to help further.

isayno

@NastyButtler322 i ask because in the user manual on the CD it says for raspbian use these directions, for Ubuntu use these other directions. they are the exact same.

It has HDMI connector. Its also a touch screen and i don't care if that part works.

So, in order to get it to work looks like i just need to edit the config file? which is what most of my research told me. Would the driver be just for the touch screen part?

It came with a pdf that says where to get the driver and a website that has them.

BTW thanks for the help! i have been ignored on 2 other forums.

glennlake

@isayno I have never used this screen but I followed your link from amazon and the first question may give you some help. It's a response from another customer that purchased this screen. I copied it here.
Question: Will this work out of the box with noobs or do you have to install additional drivers to support?
Answer: No, the display did not work directly out of the box. You are provided a DVD with software including zipped images for Raspian, Ubuntu and IoT. Additionally, SD formatter and Win32DisKimager and instructions. What is not included is the decompression software required to unzip the images (.7z format). Download 7-Zip if you do not already have it. Briefly, I formatted a 16G SD Card, Unzipped the provided Raspian Image and used the Win32DiskImager to load onto the SD card. Connected the Display, HDMI and Power. Inserted the SD Card and applied power. Raspian Pi booted immediately to the screen with full functionality.
I hope this helps.

isayno

@glennlake so does that mean i have to put rasbain on it first? or can i just put retropie on and make it work that way?

glennlake

@isayno Reading your post it looks to me like you have never made this screen work. What I was looking at was stepping back and first see if you screen is even working (DOA happens). By following there advice first, you can eliminate that as a problem. If it works from the DVD version of Raspian, then we can look at configuring the retropie for your screen. Get back to us after you try this. Retropie works almost all the time with no tweaking but sometimes it needs a little help.

moosepr

that screen looks to me like it works via HDMI. This should mean that you dont need any drivers to make it work (as a screen at least). The pi should just see it as any other tv/monitor. The only thing you may need to do is force the pi to use HDMI, and maybe set the resolution to match (although most screens can accept a wide range of input and make it fit the panel)

I can only assume the drivers are needed just for the touchscreen element

glennlake

@moosepr I think your right. I was looking for the simplest way for isayno to prove the screen and the pi both work. Then look at the retropie configs.

moosepr

i would say the next step would be to get the memory card into a computer, edit the config.txt file, and uncomment the line

hdmi_force_hotplug=1

it will probably have a hash (#) infront of it to comment it out. remove the hash to make the line live

what this will do is force the pi to use HDMI all the time. It could just be something as simple as the pi starts before the screen is ready, and it is switching over to component output because it cant see your screen. for more information on the options in the config.txt file check the pi documentation

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/config-txt/video.md

glennlake

@moosepr That's good insight. I was working under the premise that we have several unknown things (screen, retropie image SD build) and need to make sure each are working before editing the config. I guess it's the teacher in me:-).

isayno

Success! I added the script i needed to the command line. did it like 5 times never worked. looked deeper in the files on the cd and it had a config file to use. copyed and pasted that. worked perfect. thanks for the help guys! the config file name was in Chinese, probably the reason i never opened it.

glennlake

@isayno Glad we could help! I always come to a problem where nothing works until I can prove it. It's slower but almost always work. Welcome to the Wonderful World of RetroPie. I have spent a great many hours with this and if you ask nicely and follow the rules you will find people here willing to help!!

isayno

Thanks! Now let me ask this if anyone here knows i need a power bank that will work with the pie. i have a crappy knockoff brand that i hooked up to it. it powers on and works fine, but i have the lightning bolt on the screen. looking that up says low voltage, right? anyone know if a bank that will work? or how to fix the lighting bolt? i have tried shorter fatter cable to no sucess.

glennlake

@isayno The pi3 needs 2 to 2.5 amps by it's self to run well. If the screen is pulling power from the pi I think that is your problem. I couldn't find a manual for your screen but in the remarks on Amazon's site saying he had some problems. I will paste it here:
"Works pretty well and Does what I need it to do. I followed the instructions others have posted to get the pi to display to the screen and it works perfectly. Has a weird quirk which I cant seem to figure out. I decided not to power the screen from the USB of the pi so that I don't have any power issues when the pi is running. But if my power source is separate I.e 1 power source for the pi then another for the screen nothing will display on to the screen. However if I have 1 power source lets say a battery bank with 2 USB ports and the pi and screen are powered off that everything works fine. But once I power the screen on separate battery bank nothing is displayed again. Which I find odd that the screen needs to be powered on by what seems to be the same power circuit as the pi and that it's not just hdmi. Weird but for my application they're on the same power source anyways."
It looks like the power source for the pi and the screen needs to be from the same source. My guess is the ground may be the issue but I have other info. Hope this helps.

glennlake

@glennlake said in new pie user. how to install LCD to work with retropie:

@isayno The pi3 needs 2 to 2.5 amps by it's self to run well. If the screen is pulling power from the pi I think that is your problem. I couldn't find a manual for your screen but in the remarks on Amazon's site saying he had some problems. I will paste it here:
"Works pretty well and Does what I need it to do. I followed the instructions others have posted to get the pi to display to the screen and it works perfectly. Has a weird quirk which I cant seem to figure out. I decided not to power the screen from the USB of the pi so that I don't have any power issues when the pi is running. But if my power source is separate I.e 1 power source for the pi then another for the screen nothing will display on to the screen. However if I have 1 power source lets say a battery bank with 2 USB ports and the pi and screen are powered off that everything works fine. But once I power the screen on separate battery bank nothing is displayed again. Which I find odd that the screen needs to be powered on by what seems to be the same power circuit as the pi and that it's not just hdmi. Weird but for my application they're on the same power source anyways."
It looks like the power source for the pi and the screen needs to be from the same source. My guess is the ground may be the issue but I have no other info. Hope this helps.