Built in Display Upgrade - drexjj/sbitx GitHub Wiki

Upgrading to the Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2

Raspberry Pi has released an upgraded version of the 7-inch Touch Display, named Touch Display 2. You can find more details here: [Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2](https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/touch-display-2/).

This new display offers several improvements over the original, including a higher resolution of 720 × 1280, which makes third-party applications such as WSJT-X and JTDX much clearer and easier to use.

This document doesn't cover the physical screen removal as that is self-explanatory.

However, there are some challenges that we have addressed:

Differences & Solutions

🛑 Not a Drop-in Replacement

  • The new display does not fit the existing housing or mounting points as it is taller and narrower than the original.
  • Solution: The development team has designed a new 3D-printable display bezel to accommodate the display. STL files are available on our Discord server.

🎯 Higher Resolution

  • The increased resolution makes the touch interface more precise, which affects icon and text sizes.
  • Solution: Adjust the desktop interface settings to increase font size for better usability.

🔄 Software & System Updates

  • The Pi 4/Pi 5 requires software updates to support the new overlay.
  • Solution: We’ve identified the correct settings to allow both the old and new display to work. Instructions are below.

☀️ Brightness Control App Compatibility

  • The existing screen brightness app does not work with the new display.
  • Solution: A new brightness control app is now available on the 64-bit ELF image.

🔌 Power Connector Modification

  • The new display has a different power connector.
  • Solution: You must cut and solder the power wires. Be careful with polarity:
    • Black = Ground
    • Brown = Positive

🚀 Note:

  • All preconfigured 64-bit sBitx Pi images from v3.1 BTS onward will include most of these changes automatically.
  • The existing display cable can be reused.
    • Ensure the shiny side (pins exposed) is facing up when inserting the cable.

Installation & Configuration Steps

Step 1 - Update the Raspberry Pi

Run the following commands to ensure your system is up to date:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt dist-upgrade -y
sudo rpi-update
sudo reboot

Step 2 - Update the Configuration File

Edit the config.txt file:

sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt

Find this line and change fkms to kms:

# Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver
dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d,noaudio
max_framebuffers=2

Modify it as follows:

# Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d,noaudio
max_framebuffers=2

Then, add the following lines below it:

# 7-Inch Touch Display 2
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-dsi-ili9881-7inch,rotation=270,swapxy,invy

Save the file and reboot your system:

sudo reboot

Step 3 - Adjust Touchscreen Orientation

  1. Open the Screen Configuration application from the Preferences menu.
  2. Set DSI-1 orientation to LEFT.
  3. Click Touchscreen and select 10-005d Goodix Capacitive Touchscreen.
  4. Click Apply.

✅ Your Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2 is now fully configured! 🎉