Raspberry Pi TFT menu

A simple Raspberry Pi menu that can be used with 3.5-inch TFT touch display.
The project is heavily inspired by this repository.

Usage

1. Clone this repository

   git clone https://github.com/So-Cool/rPiTFT.git /home/pi/pitftmenu
   

2. Add a cron job to run the menu at system bootup

   mkdir logs
   sudo crontab -e
   
   # Add the line below
   @reboot sh /home/pi/pitftmenu/menu.sh >/home/pi/logs/cronlog 2>&1
   

3. Make sure that the menu is run when logging out of bash

   vim ~/.bash_logout
   
   # The structure of the file should be as follows
   if [ "$SHLVL" = 1 ]; then
       #...
       sudo /home/pi/pitftmenu/menu.sh
       #...
   fi
   

Screenshots

01_menu_run.py

02_menu_system.py

03_menu_services.py

04_menu_stats.py

Caveats

To test your screen run:

sudo FRAMEBUFFER=/dev/fb1 startx"

Configure Waveshare 3.5inch RPi LCD

Manufacturer's guide can be found here.
The drivers are available here. To install them do:

wget http://www.waveshare.com/w/upload/4/4b/LCD-show-161112.tar.gz
tar xvf LCD-show-*.tar.gz

Then configure Xorg and calibrate & rotates the touchscreen

cd LCD-show-*
sudo mkdir /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
sudo cp -rf ./LCD-show/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf-35-180  /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf

To force Xorg to run on the TFT (/dev/fb0 is HDMI and /dev/fb1 is TFT):

sudo cp -rf ./LCD-show/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-fbturbo.conf  /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/
sudo mv /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-fbturbo.conf ~

# Update /etc/inittab
#sudo cp ./LCD-show/inittab /etc/

# Kernel modules
sudo cp ./LCD-show/waveshare35a-overlay.dtb /boot/overlays/waveshare35a.dtbo
sudo cp ./LCD-show/waveshare35a-overlay.dtb /boot/overlays/

# Clean the temporary files
rm -fr ./LCD-show

Boot configuration

sudo echo "
dtparam=i2c_arm=on
dtparam=spi=on
enable_uart=1

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on
dtoverlay=waveshare35a:rotate=270
dtoverlay=ads7846,cs=1,penirq=17,penirq_pull=2,speed=1000000,keep_vref_on=1,swapxy=1,pmax=255,xohms=60,xmin=200,xmax=3900,ymin=200,ymax=3900
" >> /boot/config.txt

Command line configuration

#fbcon=map:10 -- transfers the console to the screen
#sudo echo " fbcon=map:10 fbcon=font:ProFont6x11 logo.nologo" >> /boot/cmdline.txt

Finally tocuch screen is broken on debian Jessy due to SDL2.x library bug. You can downgrade it following the instructions outlined here.

You can alos downgrade SDL to 1.2 by executing attached script:

sudo ./fix_sdl.sh

If you want to symlink the touch panel to /dev/touchscreen do (more info here):

sudo echo 'SUBSYSTEM=="input", KERNEL=="event[0-9]*", ATTRS{name}=="ADS7846*", SYMLINK+="input/touchscreen"' >> /etc/udev/rules.d/95-ads7846.rules

If you want to turn off the console blanking do:

# https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pitft-3-dot-5-touch-screen-for-raspberry-pi?view=all#turn-off-console-blanking

Touchscreen calibration

From terminal

sudo apt-get install evtest tslib libts-bin
#sudo evtest /dev/input/event2
sudo TSLIB_FBDEVICE=/dev/fb1 TSLIB_TSDEVICE=/dev/input/event2 ts_calibrate
sudo TSLIB_FBDEVICE=/dev/fb1 TSLIB_TSDEVICE=/dev/input/event2 ts_test

From X

sudo apt-get install -y xinput-calibrator
#sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf
#FRAMEBUFFER=/dev/fb1 startx & DISPLAY=:0.0 xinput_calibrator
#echo "sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf and copy the output"