Problem with 8-bit mode TFT LCD.

Other Hardware Displays
1

I recently acquired a 3.2" TFT LCD (The SainSmart one) with the SSD1289 driver.
I cannot get it to work in 8-bit mode, and I need the extra pins for the touchscreen and the SD reader. The driver is capable of 8-bit operation and this particular board, link below, is said to have 8-bit support on SainSmart's webpage (in Chinglish, though).

I am using Henning Karlsen's UTFT library, link below.

Also, I am quite sure that I wired it right, since I did it according to the UTFT_Requirements.pdf in the library folder (with DB0 to DB7 tied to GND).
Now, I did some sniffing in the SSD1289 datasheet, link below, and found out that it requires, for 8-bit mode, a certain combination of pins PS3, PS2 and PS1 (eg. if PS3 = 1, PS2 = 0, PS1 = 1, PS0 = 0 than it is in 6080 8-bit mode). However, these pins are not on the breakout of the LCD.

SainSmart webpage for the LCD:
http://www.sainsmart.com/sainsmart-3-2-tft-lcd-display-touch-panel-pcb-adapter-sd-slot-for-arduino-2560.html

Henning Karlsen's UTFT library:
http://henningkarlsen.com/electronics/library.php?id=52

SSD1289 datasheet:

2

Hello,

You cannot change this setting, as you said, the pins are not available, you would need to be able to access the pins of the ssd1289, but forget it, it's too small for human eyes/hands...

If you need more pins, you could buy an Arduino Mega and the TFT shield that normally goes with this display from sainsmart (so touchscreen and sd are already wired)

Or you could connect the 16 data pins of the display to the outputs of two 74HC595 shift registers, this will be slower and will require modification of the UTFT library

3

Well, that's a shame, since it specifically states on SainSmart webpage that it supports 8--bit mode. I'd kill for those 8 pins.