PiTFT solid white screen

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serfma
 
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PiTFT solid white screen

Post by serfma »

Went through the installation on a fresh install of Raspbian (With NOOBS) and the screen is solid white. I have NOT soldered it yet, did not think it needed to be, so I've got it held in place for now. Not sure if that should really matter, but I've done two fresh reinstalls and nothing works. Console gives me this message;

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[   12.960784] stmpe-spi spi0.1: unknown chip id: 0x0
[   12.968725] stmpe-spi: probe of spi0.1 failed with error -22
Went through the installation step by step (https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pit ... stallation) and once I got to the step to reboot and then run the following commands;

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 sudo modprobe spi-bcm2708
sudo modprobe fbtft_device name=adafruitts rotate=90
export FRAMEBUFFER=/dev/fb1 
startx
it sticks at;

Code: Select all

pi@raspberrypi ~ $  sudo modprobe spi-bcm2708
pi@raspberrypi ~ $ sudo modprobe fbtft_device name=adafruitts rotate=90
pi@raspberrypi ~ $ export FRAMEBUFFER=/dev/fb1
pi@raspberrypi ~ $ startx


X.Org X Server 1.12.4
Release Date: 2012-08-27
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux 3.2.0-2-mx5 armv7l Debian
Current Operating System: Linux raspberrypi 3.6.11+ #26 PREEMPT Tue Nov 26 18:19:51 SGT 2013 armv6l
Kernel command line: dma.dmachans=0x7f35 bcm2708_fb.fbwidth=1280 bcm2708_fb.fbheight=720 bcm2708.boardrev=0xe bcm2708.serial=0x460ab291 smsc95xx.macaddr=B8:27:EB:0A:B2:91 sdhci-bcm2708.emmc_clock_freq=100000000 vc_mem.mem_base=0x1ec00000 vc_mem.mem_size=0x20000000  dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=ttyAMA0,115200 kgdboc=ttyAMA0,115200 console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p8 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline rootwait
Build Date: 18 December 2013  05:20:52PM
xorg-server 2:1.12.4-6+deb7u2 (Julien Cristau <[email protected]>)
Current version of pixman: 0.29.3
        Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
        to make sure that you have the latest version.
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
        (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.1.log", Time: Wed May 14 22:22:17 2014
(==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"

So now I'm to the point where I have no idea what else to try. Any help will be appreciated greatly.

EDIT: Flashed the September 25th Raspbian image and it still has the same issue. Same error code and all. Do I just need to solder it on and see then?

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

It simply will not work without soldering.

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serfma
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by serfma »

adafruit_support_rick wrote:It simply will not work without soldering.
Thank you, that's also the answer I was looking for. Whether I could simply use the screen by holding it in place w/o soldering. I'm working on soldering it now.

EDIT: Soldered the plate and still having the same exact issues as above.

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Please post clear, detailed pictures of both sides of the board, showing your soldering.

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serfma
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by serfma »

adafruit_support_rick wrote:Please post clear, detailed pictures of both sides of the board, showing your soldering.
Sorry that it took so long to get photos, but, http://imgur.com/a/Bovdu. It's very sloppy, I know, first time soldering and the soldering iron I had wasn't properly cleaned so it was difficult to do.

I'll embed them below so that it's easier to view. EDIT: Never mind, they were not scaled down. :P

EDIT2: After looking at https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-gui ... ring/tools I realize how horrible of a job that I've done at soldering and it's probably the reason why it's not working. I'll try to re-solder all of the pins.

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serfma
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by serfma »

Tried to resolder the pins. Still a solid white screen. Reseated the ribbon, still a solid white screen. Is there any possible way of getting a replacement board or screen? Was going to purchase another kit, but they're out of stock. Right now it's a paper weight and it's quite upsetting.

http://i.imgur.com/CZ6Xphv.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/7edmtTZ.jpg

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Well, honestly, I think the soldering is still a problem. First thing, clean off the burned flux with a q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol. Then have a look at our tutorial on soldering:
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-gui ... ring/tools

You want your joints to be clean, smooth, and shiny, with a convex section, like this:
Image
The solder should flow across the pad and up the pin.

The way you get this to happen is by evenly heating the pad and pin with the iron. The iron doesn't melt the solder, the pad and pin melt the solder. Touch the iron to one side of the pad/pin, and touch the solder to the other side.

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serfma
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by serfma »

adafruit_support_rick wrote:Well, honestly, I think the soldering is still a problem. First thing, clean off the burned flux with a q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol. Then have a look at our tutorial on soldering:
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-gui ... ring/tools

You want your joints to be clean, smooth, and shiny, with a convex section, like this:
Image
The solder should flow across the pad and up the pin.

The way you get this to happen is by evenly heating the pad and pin with the iron. The iron doesn't melt the solder, the pad and pin melt the solder. Touch the iron to one side of the pad/pin, and touch the solder to the other side.
Alright, so the very end of my brand new soldering iron (the very tip) is black. It is not a pencil tip, more of a flat-head tip. Do I need to clean it someway? If so, how? It seems that it's already burnt and won't properly heat up the pin worth anything. It IS a 15 watt soldering iron which I thought was the minimum, when really it's 25. Regardless, the pin/pad doesn't get hot enough to melt the solder and I believe it's because the tip is burnt/tarnished/whatever and I'm not quite sure how I should clean it.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

the tip is burnt/tarnished/whatever and I'm not quite sure how I should clean it.
This stuff does a pretty good job of reviving badly oxidized tips:
http://www.amazon.com/Weller-Tip-Tinner ... tip+tinner

With a low-wattage iron, you really need to take your time. Give the tip a chance to fully heat before touching it to the joint. Then after each joint, give it a few moments to come back up to full temperature.

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

This thing is great for keeping it clean, too:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1172

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serfma
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by serfma »

adafruit_support_bill wrote:
the tip is burnt/tarnished/whatever and I'm not quite sure how I should clean it.
This stuff does a pretty good job of reviving badly oxidized tips:
http://www.amazon.com/Weller-Tip-Tinner ... tip+tinner

With a low-wattage iron, you really need to take your time. Give the tip a chance to fully heat before touching it to the joint. Then after each joint, give it a few moments to come back up to full temperature.
Just now getting around to getting a new tip and I have a 40 watt iron. Before I even start, should I clean off the board of all solder and such, or should I just solder on the pins that have virtually no solder on them?

EDIT: Just trying not to spend $30 on getting it soldered on since no one in a 50 mile radius knows how to solder. (I checked everywhere) It's becoming increasingly frustrating :P

Also, once I get it to heat up for 10 - 15 minutes, do I need to apply solder to the tip, wipe it on a damp sponge, then tin it again or? I'm wanting to make sure I do it perfectly this time around.

EDIT #2: Is it possible to purchase another, clean, board? If so, how much would it be? Not talking about the screen itself. I've finally resoldered as best as possible and cleaned up the board with q-tips and isopropyl alcohol and tried the screen, to no avail. :/

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Can you post some new pictures of the soldering?

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serfma
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by serfma »

adafruit_support_rick wrote:Can you post some new pictures of the soldering?
Looks very messy, not sure how to clean it up. Tried desoldering braid but the pins are way too small for it to actually pick up any solder, so I attempted to "refine" the solders :P

http://imgur.com/GZAdphy,tJqRiAB,dYzkZvJ

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Use some isopropyl alcohol and scrub off the burnt flux with an old toothbrush.

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serfma
 
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Re: PiTFT solid white screen

Post by serfma »

After that, is it safe to say that maybe it's just the screen? I've yet to test it with this most recent soldering but the previous one failed to work.

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