Issue with BalenaOS Overlay: .dtbo File Not Visible in resin-boot/boot/overlays

Product support balenaOS
1

Issue with BalenaOS Overlay: .dtbo File Not Visible in resin-boot/boot/overlays

Hardware

  • Raspberry Pi 4
  • 2.8-inch Waveshare DSI LCD

Problem

I’m trying to use the Waveshare 2.8-inch DSI LCD with BalenaOS. I have confirmed that the screen works perfectly with Raspbian, but I’m encountering issues when trying to use a custom device tree overlay (.dtbo) on BalenaOS.

I compiled my .dtbo file and copied it to the resin-boot/boot/overlays directory on the SD card. However, when I access the terminal, I cannot see or detect the file.

Steps I Followed

  1. Compiled the .dtbo file successfully.
  2. Inserted the SD card into my computer and copied the .dtbo file to the resin-boot/boot/overlays directory.
  3. Inserted the SD card back into the Raspberry Pi 4 and powered it on.

Observation

When I check via the terminal or BalenaOS, the .dtbo file is not visible or recognized.

Questions

  1. Why might the .dtbo file not be visible or recognized in the resin-boot/boot/overlays directory?
  2. Are there specific steps or configurations required to properly use custom device tree overlays on BalenaOS?
  3. Has anyone else experienced a similar issue?

Any suggestions or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

2

Hello @rms first of all welcome to the balena community!

Could you please confirm the version of the Raspbian that you are using? and the version of balenaOS?

Thanks!

3

Hi @mpous ,
Raspbian-> Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Balena HostOS Version → balenaOS 6.0.50+rev4

Regards

5

Thanks for sharing @rms

could you please try /mnt/boot/overlays instead of resin-boot/boot/overlays? Using /mnt/boot/overlays means the overlays are located in the first fat partition so the Pi can load them at boot time.

Could you please try that and check if after specifying the overlay with the required params works as expected?

Thanks

6

Hi @mpous,
Thanks for your reply, everything works now but I have one more question. Is there any way to show the console messages on the screen?

Regards

1 Like
7

Hello @rms glad that you made it work!

Is there any way to show the console messages on the screen?

Do you mean on the 2.8-inch waveshare screen? Maybe you can bridge the logs to the container that manages the content for the display?

8

@rms Hoping you can help me as I am currently trying to get this screen working in my project as well. My question is, did you recompile the Waveshare DTBO files? Or were you able to use/copy the ones from Raspbian? I’m currently using a Kedei 5-inch screen without issues. I wanted to try to scale down to this 2.8-inch screen from Waveshare, but I haven’t been able to figure it out yet. Any guidance on what you did to get it working would be appreciated.