TOUCH screen LCDs are now available for use with Raspberry PI.
7 Inch LCDs work straight from the box as soon as you plug it onto your PI.No driver is required , but the touch response is poor & screen width is not full.
This post walks you through the steps of installing proper Drivers for touch to work smoothly & also installation of virtual keyboard is introduced.
The 7 inch LCD used here has a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels & the screen is Capacitive Touch.
HDMI interface is provided for Display & USB interface for touch control. Both the HDMI & USB cables are provided in the box.
Connect the HDMI cable to the HDMI port of Raspberry PI & THE USB cable to any one port of the RPI.Slide the mini switch to ON position.
Provide a 5v 2Amp power source to the RPI , no separate power is required for the LCD
Connect the RJ45 cable from the Internet providing Router to the RJ45 jack of Raspberry PI.In case of PI3 also this internet connection is a must for driver download & setup.Later you can switch on the WIFI on PI3 to connect with internet.
Insert the micro SD card with the latest RPI3 RASPBIAN Image on to the PI & switch ON the power.
You can see the initial screen is not Full screen. But interestingly , the touch will work.
step 1 : CONFIG.txt editing to get FULL Screen Display :
To get the full screen display , you need to edit the CONFI.TXT file inside /boot folder.You can remove the SD card & plug it to PC using a card reader.
Open the folder & look out for the CONFIG.TXT file .Open this file using Wordpad or Notepad++.
Scroll down to the end of the file & append these lines :
Setting max_usb_current=1 sets the available current over USB to 1.2A (default is 600mA)
This can help if you have a decent power supply (2A, at least) and need to power the external Touch screen display.
For supporting HDMI modes that aren’t from the official CEA/DMT list of modes
use hdmi_mode=87
& then define the CVT – Coordinated Video Timings
The hdmi_cvt 800 400 60 6 0 0 0
defines the timings of the component video signal
hdmi_cvt=<width> <height> <framerate> <aspect> <margins> <interlace> <rb>
width width in pixels
height height in pixels
framerate framerate in Hz
aspect aspect ratio 1=4:3, 2=14:9, 3=16:9, 4=5:4, 5=16:10, 6=15:9
margins 0=margins disabled, 1=margins enabled
interlace 0=progressive, 1=interlaced
Save this changes.Remove the SD card & plug it to RPI.
On rebooting you can find the FULL SCREEN display , but sadly the TOUCH performance will degrade. The touch selection will not be the one you insisted on touch.
To solve this problem you need to install the drivers.
step 2 : TOUCH DRIVER DOWNLOAD & Preparation
To install the Drivers , open the browser on PI & browse to
http://www.waveshare.com/wiki/5inch_HDMI_LCD
Scroll down to the driver section & download the driver which says
LCD-show-160811.tar.gz
http://www.waveshare.com/w/upload/3/3d/LCD-show-160811.tar.gz
Click on the link to Download.
By default the tar file will be downloaded to /root/Downloads
Using FILE MANAGER locate this folder & copy the downloaded tar file.
Now paste this file under /home/pi/Downloads
Right click the file & click on Extract Here.. to unzip the file.
Now you can see the unzipped folder.
Copy the PATH to this folder or note down the path , as we need it to install from within the Terminal.
step 3 : DRIVER INSTALLATION
Open the Terminal & change directory to the PATH copied as in above step.
The path is /home/pi/Downloads
Note the capital D in Downloads , as Linux is case sensitive.
To list the contents use ls command
The list will display the folder LCD-show which contains the driver we need.
Change Directory to LCD-show.
ls to list the contents
LCD-800×480-show is the driver we need to install.
To install use the command dot forward slash LCD7-800×480-show
./LCD7-800×480-show
The RPI will Reboot automatically & displays Full Screen.
Now try the TOUCH Functionality.It will be breeze to use the touch now, after driver installation.
step 4 : VIRTUAL KEYBOARD Installation
Now is the time to install the virtual keyboard .This avoids the physical keyboard & is a must for a touch screen.
Under Terminal type in
sudo apt-get install matchbox-keyboard
The keyboard installation starts.
When prompted , enter y to continue.
Once the installation is over you can see the KEYBOARD under Accessories.
If the KEYBOARD Icon is not seen under Accessories , click on
Preferences —> Main Menu Editor.
Under Main Menu Editor , put a tick mark against KEYBOARD.
A reboot is required.
Now open the KEYBOARD & enjoy.
Watch this demo VIDEO :
5 inch TOUCH SCREEN for RPI :
http://www.alselectro.com/7-inch-touch-screen-for-rpi–hdmi.html
alselectro 