Raspberry Pi 7" display not working properly

Product support balenaOS
1

Hi,
I’m trying to get the photo-slideshow working to test my display:

But the screen is not found and it looks really bad.
On the same device I just had Openplotter running, it’s based on Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) and the display is working without any issues there. I confirmed it, by switching back to the other SD card and all works fine.

But when I insert the BalenaOS card it looks just like the attached picture. When rebooting it gets a bit brighter for a bit and then flickers continuously a little and looks like that picture.

In the Balena Console I see this: Looks like he cant’t find a screen…

kiosk  Build Date: 18 December 2021  09:05:36AM
 kiosk  xorg-server 2:1.20.4-1+deb10u4 (https://www.debian.org/support) 
 kiosk  Current version of pixman: 0.36.0
 kiosk          Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
 kiosk          to make sure that you have the latest version.
 kiosk  Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
 kiosk          (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
 kiosk          (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
 kiosk  (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Sat Jul 13 23:29:17 2024
 kiosk  (==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
 kiosk  (EE) 
 kiosk  Fatal server error:
 kiosk  (EE) AddScreen/ScreenInit failed for driver 0
 kiosk  (EE) 
 kiosk  (EE) 
 kiosk  Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support 
 kiosk           at http://wiki.x.org
 kiosk   for help. 
 kiosk  (EE) Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
 kiosk  (EE) 
 kiosk  (EE) Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.

IMG_0082
IMG_00821920×1440 206 KB

The display: https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-touch-display/

I’m using a Raspberry Pi 4.

When I compare the output from WORKING (Debian) to NOT WORKING (Balena) instance, I get:

WORKING (Debian) has, that NOT WORKING (Balena) has not:

  • arm_boost=1
  • enable_uart=1
  • disable_overscan=1
  • display_auto_detect=1

NOT WORKING (Balena) has, WORKING (Debian) has not:

  • avoid_warnings=1
  • disable_splash=1

Different values:

  • camera_auto_detect
    – Balena: camera_auto_detect=-1
    – Debian: camera_auto_detect=1
  • mask_gpu_interrupt1
    – Balena: mask_gpu_interrupt1=25635
    – Debian: mask_gpu_interrupt1=29731
  • max_framebuffers
    – Balena: max_framebuffers=-1
    – Debian: max_framebuffers=-2
  • over_voltage_avs
    – Balena: over_voltage_avs=-42500
    – Debian: over_voltage_avs=-36250

Balena:

root@ac20a19:~# hostnamectl
 Static hostname: ac20a19
       Icon name: computer
      Machine ID: cc84301275b64c13b3463cf5e84efb01
         Boot ID: 9ffd65fbe0ee46088d63339a3500b9c5
Operating System: balenaOS 5.3.21
          Kernel: Linux 5.15.92-v8
    Architecture: arm64
root@ac20a19:~#

Debian:

pi@openplotter:~ $ hostnamectl
   Static hostname: openplotter
         Icon name: computer
        Machine ID: a3841b30d2cd45b7b6fc461742ae7a8a
           Boot ID: 52c233cd98734b7a84c3d7049e29e87e
  Operating System: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)
            Kernel: Linux 6.1.21-v8+
      Architecture: arm64
pi@openplotter:~ $
3

I created a new fleet with the same project and moved the device over to that project. The display is now working properly.

root@ac20a19:~# vcgencmd get_config int
arm_64bit=1
arm_freq=1500
audio_pwm_mode=514
avoid_warnings=1
camera_auto_detect=-1
config_hdmi_boost=5
core_freq=500
core_freq_min=200
disable_commandline_tags=2
disable_l2cache=1
display_default_lcd=1
display_hdmi_rotate=-1
display_lcd_rotate=-1
dvfs=3
enable_gic=1
enable_uart=1
force_eeprom_read=1
force_pwm_open=1
framebuffer_ignore_alpha=1
framebuffer_swap=1
gpu_freq=500
gpu_freq_min=250
init_uart_clock=0x2dc6c00
lcd_framerate=60
max_framebuffers=-1
over_voltage_avs=-42500
pause_burst_frames=1
program_serial_random=1
total_mem=4096
hdmi_force_cec_address:0=65535
hdmi_force_cec_address:1=65535
hdmi_pixel_freq_limit:0=0x11e1a300
hdmi_pixel_freq_limit:1=0x11e1a300
1 Like
4

Thanks for confirming that now it’s working as expected @buri

Let us know if we can help more :slight_smile: