Announcement: CTE has updated their drivers.

ODwyerPW:
You know..the last thing I want to do is modify libraries when I buy something.

I simply want to work on my own projects and prototypes..and just have the stuff I BUY....well... WORK as advertised.

You are correct though...everything from ColdTears comes rotated 180 degF. That still persists.

So, with your modifications everything works...and is rotated correctly? Touch and Display? If so, have you thought about feeding those changes back to ColdTearsElectronics?

Yes I had thought about it. I'm just working on something at the moment and will then pass it back. What would be better for me is to get all the pin outs and pass everything back to Henning so it can be added to the genuine library and work from there.

I'm working on a GUI library which will work with the other 3 libraries (UTFT, UTouch and SD card). I'm working on normal buttons, radio buttons/groups, check boxs, pop up numeric/hex & alpha keyboards, pop-up message boxes etc. Biggest problem I have though is working out how to implement it into the IDE properly. PaulS has been giving me some help as I didn't know how to use one library from another. I think we are nearly there with that so it will be a case of implementing all the goodies then.

What really bugs me about their drivers, is that their demo shows it in the correct orientation. They either mirrored everything after the demo was made, or corrected the drivers for the demo but never applied the corrections to the drivers they offer us.

They seem to have decent product, but they are getting a bad reputation with their drivers. Not asking for drivers that make it work like an iPad, just basic functionality that we can use in our programs. And if you're going to use someone else's drivers for your hardware, don't render their functions unusable. Is that too much to ask.

promacjoe

Well I've been very busy!

I wanted to write a library to create all the GUI objects such as buttons, panels, radio sets, check boxes, pop up keyboards, etc etc but could I work out how to access the UTFT and UTouch libraries from my own library?...... No I couldn't.

So....

I have merged the CTE Touch & TFT libraries into ONE single library and complete with the modifications and now I am adding my GUI library into the same library...

Current position:

Both libraries merged and working using my CTE 7" display....

Adds functions:

setReverseY(boolean reversed);
setReverseX(boolean reversed);
addButton(....)
drawButton(....)
drawButton_pressed(....)
checkButton(....)

I have already written the following functions and need to incorporate them:

preserveColours()
restoreColours()
numberPad(...) {pop up numeric keyboard with optional decimal point button)
addPanel(...)
checkAllButtons()
clearButtons()

(all buttons/panels/keyboards are user adjustable for colour, border colour, pressed colour, border size, font etc)
eg. addButton(int buttonnumber,word x,word y,word xs,word ys,long colour,long borcolour,long textcolour,long presscolour,long presstextcolour,byte borwidth,String top,int xo,int yo,int font)

Plus I have made several private variables and functions public as they are useful.

To do list:

Incorporate my already written functions
Add checkboxs
Add radio boxes and radio groups
Add input boxes
Add alphabetical keyboard
Add hex keyboard
Add thermometer bar
Add rev counter display
Add calibrate function {so users can calibrate the display themselves}
Make my re-written TP_X to x / TP_Y to y functions work with the current screen orientation.

PLUS

Other things that people might point out as useful.....
Once all the above is done I'm looking at adding mouse/keyboard support with mouse pointers etc but I haven't looked at that at all yet.

I'm also having major problems with my Tajuino board which gets VERY hot and sometimes takes 5 or 6 attempts at uploading etc.

We now have in our possession 3 of the 5" CTE 800X480 displays. The first one was the one accidently purchased without a Font IC.

Cold Tears sent me an IC for it. I installed it... Meh.... doesn't work. Still can't use fonts or load bitmaps.

We also noticed the two most recent 5" screens we received have their connector located on the exact opposite side of the LCD screen. Strange.

Furthermore, the last two CTE DUE shields we purchased are version 1.03, as opposed to version 1.02.

We will try the 7" models next.

" I'm also having major problems with my Tajuino board which gets VERY hot and sometimes takes 5 or 6 attempts at uploading etc. "

I have also noticed that the 3.3 V regulator gets very hot on my Arduino due. I think the 7 inch display draws too much power for the due to realistically handle on a long-term basis. I'm not sure if a heatsink would correct the problem, So I plan to isolate the 3.3 V regulated output from the due and connect it to an external regulated power supply. 3A regulated Power supplies are cheap, and should eliminate the heat problem.

promacjoe

promacjoe:
" I'm also having major problems with my Tajuino board which gets VERY hot and sometimes takes 5 or 6 attempts at uploading etc. "

I have also noticed that the 3.3 V regulator gets very hot on my Arduino due. I think the 7 inch display draws too much power for the due to realistically handle on a long-term basis. I'm not sure if a heatsink would correct the problem, So I plan to isolate the 3.3 V regulated output from the due and connect it to an external regulated power supply. 3A regulated Power supplies are cheap, and should eliminate the heat problem.

promacjoe

So long as the rest of the board can handle it. Let us know how it goes as I was looking at doing something similar myself. What is the regulator on board rated at, just 500mA. We should be able to replace it with one rated at 1A and drive it from a lead attached to two USB ports.

According to the schematic, the Arduino due uses a NPC1117ST33T3G 3.3V regulator. According to the datasheet, this regulator is rated at 1A. since it is a linear regulator it generates a lot of heat, so replacing this regulator would not do much good.

My thought was to replace the power supply header on the adapter board with one that is extra long and bent to provide a place for external connectors. By snipping off the 3.3V pen that would plug into the Arduino due board, you would isolate the power going to the display. Now it can be connected to an external PWM power supply adjusted to 3.3 V. This type regulator does not get as hot and can produce a very stable voltage. And since you replaced the entire power header, you get access to the VIN,GND, master reset, 3.3V "IOREF PIN low current" and 5V power from the Arduino due as well.

This should eliminate the heat problem caused by pulling too much current from the due board.

promacjoe

promacjoe:
According to the schematic, the Arduino due uses a NPC1117ST33T3G 3.3V regulator. According to the datasheet, this regulator is rated at 1A. since it is a linear regulator it generates a lot of heat, so replacing this regulator would not do much good.

My thought was to replace the power supply header on the adapter board with one that is extra long and bent to provide a place for external connectors. By snipping off the 3.3V pen that would plug into the Arduino due board, you would isolate the power going to the display. Now it can be connected to an external PWM power supply adjusted to 3.3 V. This type regulator does not get as hot and can produce a very stable voltage. And since you replaced the entire power header, you get access to the VIN,GND, master reset, 3.3V "IOREF PIN low current" and 5V power from the Arduino due as well.

This should eliminate the heat problem caused by pulling too much current from the due board.

promacjoe

I hadn't thought about it to that extent yet but it's the back light that is drawing most of the current so with that in mind I was going to simply use the existing back light power connection to driver a transistor to switch a separate power supply to the back light from a second USB socket.

In fact forget what I said....

If you look at the CTE shield jumpers 3,4 & 5 control the connection to LEDA+. The default for these jumpers in JP3 & JP5 disconnected and JP4 connected. If you desolder JP4 then the shield no longer connects to the LEDA+ pin.

Now look at the LCD and the pin next to LEDA+ is labelled 5v..... This is a 5v connection to the backlight. Just connect your 5v supply to this pin through a current limiting resistor which limits the current to 620mA.

This will supply all the power to the backlight from the alternative supply leaving the Due to simply power the rest of the circuitry which appears to be 100mA

Simples.....

That would be a good way of doing it, but my project, a (DRO), is a standalone unit with maybe a USB host set up. I'm not planning on using the USB to power my project. I have a 9 V 3A power supply which will be more than enough power. I also need 1.5V, 3.3V, 5V, 9V power to be available if needed, external of the Arduino. I won't be pulling much current, and some voltage may not be needed for some applications. I would also like a external reset switch to be available.

promacjoe

There is another error in their documentation....

After lots of messing TP Data IN goes to pin 32 and also pin 4 but only if link 10 is soldered !! So basically it only actually goes to pin 32 normally.

That answers a question that I asked in another post. The schematic shows one thing, but the documents show something else. Their documentation is kind of vague and sporadic. Thankfully there are people in this group that has experimented enough and is willing to post the results. Thank you for that tidbit it will be very helpful to me and hopefully to others. Maybe someone will sort through all of this information and write a good tutorial.

every little bit helps.

promacjoe

I plan on doing just that shortly. I made a cable yesterday which replaces the CTE shield...

Basically take one old 40 pin IDE cable, cut it down to 8 inches and then crimp on 2 x 8 ways headers, 1 x 1 way header, 1 x icsp header and 2 x 16 way headers..... The 1x1 way header provides the 5v for the backlight bypassing the Due board and avoiding drawing too much current. I've tested touch, flash, screen and SD card functionality and they all work. The advantage of this method is that you get an understanding of exactly what you are connecting and to where plus you can still get at everything else. It very much helps if you are planning to build your own shields (I have also created an Eagle CAD device of the DUE which I've posted on here and will include in my "everything you wanted to know about getting the TFT to work thread later")

I've also merged ALL the relevant libraries bar the SD library (which I will be doing over the next couple of days) into one library with one folder.

So it should be an easy matter of making the lead (or buying a shield) and then using the ONE folder.

I have added functions for reversing the screen and touch panel plus moving several variables into the public area and am currently adding commands for a GUI I think I should call it DUEGUI :slight_smile:

Merging all these libraries together means that I can add a single command to load a screen from SD and display it, call a calibration setup screen and save the details to SD card or flash, create pop ups and all manner of other useful stuff whilst having as little as possible in the actual sketch.

All my hardware findings will appear in the next few days with an alpha test version of the combined library (it will have the current functionality of the separate libraries all in one plus a selection of the functions I have mentioned).

Cowaski,
you are doing awesome work.

I noted yesterday (May 1st) that Henning Karlsen updated his UTFT libraries to include the Elec Freaks Models: TFT01-5.0 & TFT01-7.0, which appears to be identical to Cold Tears 5" & 7" LCDs, but perhaps missing the IC Font chips.

I'll run some tests on these libraries..

It would be nice to use Henning's library as the basis for the complete library. CTE have however added a number of quite useful additions as well so I'll have a look but it might be a case of keeping the older one. I'll see what is involved in adding the extra commands to the straight library then adding touch, sd and my GUI.

I've just downloaded it and tried it and I get no output with either:

UTFT myGLCD(SSD1963_800,25,26,27,28);

or

UTFT myGLCD(SSD1963_800ALT,25,26,27,28);

Maybe I need to insert the CTE70 init code again. I gave Henning the code but he wasn't too happy about inserting it as he hadn't tested it

Hmmm....

I might have some interesting news coming shortly :smiley:

Well, I've spoken to CTE about the power issue AND the missing labels from the Schematic which are now history! Version 1.04 of the shield will now include a 5v input switched by the current input so therefore it will be software compatible BUT will not draw too much power from the Due. It really does look like they are wanting to get everything right for their customers.

Cool beans.

@cowasaki
have you find the correct string for the touch?
i have the same tft display with font-ic and same cte shied but with MEGA and the touch not work, the coordinates are 800 or similar in all position.
i have the sd inserted in the slot on tft, i don't have tried without sd.
but the touch not work, the tft and the sd work perfectly.
i use the utouch not modified, if i must use the modification of this i don't know what is the modification.

thanks