WaveShare 7.9 DSI

[speakerguy]

I have felt like I have been searching for years for an answer although it only has been weeks, so I am here gracefully asking for help.   I am using a raspberry PI 3B+ with A Dac 2 Pro (currently not installed) and a Waveshare 7.9" DSI interface.  I was able to to get it running on volumio but after a few months decided I really did not like the software. Anyways I can get the drivers to install from git hub, after installing git.  They don't like to be installed locally for some reason.  The screen does turn on after the install, and I can view Terminal and the main login, but the local UI does not load,  on both the HDMI and the DSI screen.  I did notice during the installation of the drives, terminal did give me one line that read "It already exists and does not need to be added."  I don't believe this is an error, but it could be.  I am not very familiar with this distro of Linux.  I have also noticed that it seems to break the control the web ui had over the config.exe file.

After the reboot I get, "MPD ERROR JSON.parse:unexpected end of data at line 1 column 1 of the JSON data."

If anyone has had experience with DSI screens, I would gratefully appreciate any help getting it running.  As I really don't want to have to purchase the HDMI version unless I really have to.

Thank you again in advance.

[Tim Curtis]

The vendor's product installer prolly breaks the config that moOde expects. Thats no surprise since vendors have no idea what they are installing into.

Reboot then post the following output

The startup log via SSH using the command below or download it from the "Logs" section of System Config screen

Code:

moodeutl -l

Post the contents of /boot/config.txt via SSH

Code:

cat /boot/config.txt

[TheOldPresbyope]

@speakerguy 

From the middle of your post

...Anyways I can get the drivers to install from git hub, after installing git.  They don't like to be installed locally for some reason.

What do you mean by "...they don't like to be installed locally..."? 

Reading through https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/7.9inch_DSI_LCD, there doesn't seem to be anything controversial about the drivers themselves. You have to be careful with the portion of the install script which modifies the moOde's /boot/config.txt file. I've only skimmed through it so can't comment in detail.

...The screen does turn on after the install, and I can view Terminal and the main login, but the local UI does not load,  on both the HDMI and the DSI screen.

If you can read the lines written to the terminal by Linux during bootup then you must be pretty well configured. However, did you enable the Local Display function in mOde's System Configuration panel? Without that, you'll see no local UI on either a connected HDMI display or a DSI screen.

...I did notice during the installation of the drives, terminal did give me one line that read "It already exists and does not need to be added."  I don't believe this is an error, but it could be.  I am not very familiar with this distro of Linux.  I have also noticed that it seems to break the control the web ui had over the config.exe file.

Sorry, I don't know what to say about the message if you don't say what it is that already exists. As for your last comment, it may relate to what I said above about modifying /boot/config.txt.

Regards,
Kent

[speakerguy]

Thank you Gentlemen for your quick reply.

I will post the the logs and the config.txt below.  I played around in the config file last night and it is confirmed that something is going on as when I loaded a backup config profile and rebooted the pi, the Local UI did display on the HDMI screen, but the Waveshare did not even turn on.  So I removed every line one at a time that the Waveshare .sh file had added to the config and discovered it does need all of them but the (dtoverlay=WS_xinchDSI_Touch,I2C_bus=10,invertedx,invertedy) and (ignore_lcd=1) to show at least terminal on it.  I am also assuming it would need the dtoverlay for the touch function to work properly when it is all said and done.  Its also like another line needs to be added to the config file the tell the local UI to start after the drivers for the Waveshare have loaded.  Thank you again for you help I will keep digging and let you know what I find.

logs below this line

Code:

20230516 230823 worker: --
20230516 230823 worker: -- Start moOde 8 series
20230516 230823 worker: --
20230516 230823 worker: Successfully daemonized
20230516 230823 worker: Waiting for Linux startup...
20230516 230829 worker: Linux startup complete
20230516 230829 worker: Boot config backed up
20230516 230833 worker: File check (OK)
20230516 230834 worker: Session vacuumed
20230516 230834 worker: Session loaded
20230516 230834 worker: Debug logging (OFF)
20230516 230834 worker: --
20230516 230834 worker: -- Audio debug
20230516 230834 worker: --
20230516 230834 worker: ALSA cards: (0:Headphones | 1:vc4hdmi | 2:empty | 3:empty
20230516 230834 worker: MPD config: (1:vc4-hdmi | mixer:(PCM) | card:1)
20230516 230834 worker: ALSA mixer actual (PCM)
20230516 230834 worker: ALSA PCM volume set to (amixer: Unable to find simple control 'PCM',0)
20230516 230834 worker: --
20230516 230834 worker: -- System
20230516 230834 worker: --
20230516 230837 worker: Host      (moode)
20230516 230837 worker: Hardware  (Pi-3B 1.2 1GB)
20230516 230837 worker: moOde     (8.3.2 2023-04-21)
20230516 230837 worker: RaspiOS   (11.6)
20230516 230837 worker: Kernel    (6.1.21-v7+ #1642)
20230516 230837 worker: Procarch  (armv7l, 32-bit)
20230516 230837 worker: MPD ver   (0.23.12)
20230516 230837 worker: CPU gov   (ondemand)
20230516 230837 worker: Userid    (pi)
20230516 230837 worker: Homedir   (/home/pi)
20230516 230837 worker: USB boot  (not enabled yet)
20230516 230837 worker: File sys  (expanded)
20230516 230837 worker: HDMI port (Off)
20230516 230837 worker: Sys LED0  (On)
20230516 230837 worker: Sys LED1  (On)
20230516 230837 worker: --
20230516 230837 worker: -- Network
20230516 230837 worker: --
20230516 230837 worker: eth0 adapter exists
20230516 230837 worker: eth0 address check (Off)
20230516 230837 worker: IP addr (192.168.1.14)
20230516 230837 worker: Netmask (255.255.255.0)
20230516 230837 worker: Gateway (192.168.1.1)
20230516 230837 worker: Pri DNS (192.168.1.1)
20230516 230837 worker: Domain  ()
20230516 230837 worker: wlan0 adapter does not exist
20230516 230837 worker: --
20230516 230837 worker: -- Software update
20230516 230837 worker: --
20230516 230837 worker: Automatic check (Off)
20230516 230837 worker: --
20230516 230837 worker: -- Audio config
20230516 230837 worker: --
20230516 230837 worker: MPD conf update skipped (USB device)
20230516 230837 worker: ALSA card number (1)
20230516 230837 worker: MPD audio output (vc4-hdmi)
20230516 230838 worker: Audio formats (Unable to detect formats)
20230516 230838 worker: ALSA mixer name (PCM)
20230516 230838 worker: MPD mixer type (software)
20230516 230838 worker: Hdwr volume controller not detected
20230516 230838 worker: ALSA output mode (Default: plughw)
20230516 230838 worker: ALSA loopback (Off)
20230516 230838 worker: Reset renderer active flags
20230516 230838 worker: CamillaDSP configuration (off)
20230516 230838 worker: CamillaDSP volume sync   (off)
20230516 230838 worker: CamillaDSP volume range  (60)
20230516 230838 worker: --
20230516 230838 worker: -- File sharing
20230516 230838 worker: --
20230516 230838 worker: SMB file sharing (Off)
20230516 230838 worker: NFS file sharing (Off)
20230516 230838 worker: --
20230516 230838 worker: -- MPD startup
20230516 230838 worker: --
20230516 230839 worker: MPD started
20230516 230839 worker: MPD accepting connections
20230516 230839 worker: MPD output 1 ALSA Default (On)
20230516 230839 worker: MPD output 2 ALSA Bluetooth (Off)
20230516 230839 worker: MPD output 3 HTTP Server (Off)
20230516 230839 worker: MPD crossfade (off)
20230516 230839 worker: MPD ignore CUE files (yes)
20230516 230839 worker: Default playlist loaded for first boot
20230516 230839 worker: --
20230516 230839 worker: -- Music sources
20230516 230839 worker: --
20230516 230839 worker: USB sources
20230516 230839 worker: No drives found
20230516 230839 worker: NAS sources
20230516 230839 worker: None configured
20230516 230839 worker: --
20230516 230839 worker: -- Feature availability
20230516 230839 worker: --
20230516 230839 worker: Input select (available)
20230516 230839 worker: Input (MPD)
20230516 230839 worker: Output (vc4-hdmi)
20230516 230839 worker: Bluetooth (available)
20230516 230839 worker: AirPlay renderer (available)
20230516 230839 worker: Spotify renderer (available)
20230516 230839 worker: Squeezelite (available)
20230516 230839 worker: RoonBridge renderer (not installed)
20230516 230839 worker: Multiroom sender (available)
20230516 230839 worker: Multiroom receiver (available)
20230516 230839 worker: UPnP renderer (available)
20230516 230839 worker: DLNA server (available)
20230516 230839 worker: GPIO button handler (available: started)
20230516 230839 worker: Stream recorder (available: not installed)
20230516 230839 worker: HTTPS-Only mode (n/a)
20230516 230839 worker: --
20230516 230839 worker: -- Other
20230516 230839 worker: --
20230516 230839 worker: USB volume knob (Off)
20230516 230839 worker: LCD updater engine (started)
20230516 230839 worker: USB auto-mounter (udisks-glue)
20230516 230839 worker: Saved MPD vol level (0)
20230516 230839 worker: Preamp volume level (0)
20230516 230839 worker: MPD volume level (0) restored
20230516 230839 worker: ALSA volume level (None)
20230516 230839 worker: Auto-play (Off)
20230516 230841 worker: LocalUI (On)
20230516 230841 worker: Automatic CoverView (Off)
20230516 230841 worker: On-screen keyboard (On)
20230516 230841 worker: Library scope (all)
20230516 230841 worker: View reset to playback
20230516 230841 worker: Maintenance interval (360 minutes)
20230516 230841 worker: Screen saver activation (Never)
20230516 230841 worker: Session permissions (OK)
20230516 230841 worker: --
20230516 230841 worker: -- Startup complete
20230516 230841 worker: --
20230516 230841 worker: Mount monitor (off)
20230516 230841 worker: Watchdog monitor (started)
20230516 230841 worker: Ready


and the config.txt with the screen installed is below this line

[cm4]
otg_mode=1

[pi4]
hdmi_force_hotplug:0=1
hdmi_force_hotplug:1=1

[all]
disable_splash=1
disable_overscan=1
hdmi_drive=2
hdmi_blanking=1
hdmi_force_edid_audio=1
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_group=0
dtparam=i2c_arm=on
dtparam=i2s=on
dtparam=audio=on
dtoverlay=disable-wifi
#dtoverlay=disable-bt
ignore_lcd=1
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d
dtparam=i2c_vc=on
dtoverlay=WS_xinchDSI_Screen,SCREEN_type=5,I2C_bus=10
dtoverlay=WS_xinchDSI_Touch,I2C_bus=10,invertedx,invertedy

I hope this helps with the troubleshooting and thank you again for you help.

[Tim Curtis]

I only have the Pi 7" Touch display and so can't offer any help but maybe someone with the same or similar Waveshare display has had success and can help troubleshoot. It looks like it needs some kernel-specific drivers, overlays and other configs.

Also if the vendor has a support Forum I'd check that out.

[TheOldPresbyope]

@speakerguy 

Did you notice that back in February, @AndromedaStrain started a thread about the same display in this same forum?

in his case, he was able to configure and start up the Waveshare display so I suggest you ask him what he did.

His problem concerned the orientation of the moOde WebUI in the display once it was running. He never reported back if he solved the problem.

Like Tim, I have only the official Raspberry Pi 7" DSI display.

Regards,
Kent

[speakerguy]

Thank you again for your suggestions, and sorry about the delayed response.  Needed a few nights away of from the project.  I will be contacting the other user in the forum that was posted, and no I was not aware of that post.  Nothing was pulled up int he search when I originally was looking for answers.  I have a feeling its something that Waveshare could have changed in their install scripts as the post is back from January of this year and I have been through all the steps roughly 15 times from scratch with different versions of Moode audio.  And considering Waveshare did update the driver packages which includes the install script about 2 months ago, that could be the issue.  I have also contacted Waveshare to see if they could provide the old version of the drivers.

Thank you again, for you help and i will post on this forum when it is up and running.

[varunach]

@speakerguy were you able to resolve this? I'm considering getting a waveshare display as well and wanted to know if it'll work with Moode. LMK

[AndromedaStrain]

Hello speakerguy , hi GUYS
excuse the delay.. very pleased to hear that I am not alone in this valley of tears ... ;,))
(maybe between the tears we will find the solution...)
... It’s been a long time since the post mentioned
what I saw in the new version released by Tim 8.3.6 is that... now the same kernel version also declared by Waveshare is supported in the how-to for the 7.9 DSI" (https///www.waveshare.com/wiki/7.9inch_DSI_LCD) ...
but with these how-to with a quick setup I did not solve the prob.
I want to review the tread history and re-evaluate the steps I took months ago to better understand the steps I had implemented.

I hope that joining forces in our work can be useful

[fdealexa]

Hi,
Have you seen the Thread? It seems to me that somebody else is using the same display of your.
Regards,
Francesco