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Pimoroni HyperPixel 2.1" round 480x480 LCD with touch

What to buy?​

Installation steps​

  • Install the second-latest Raspberry Pi OS (Bullseye), not the old old one (Buster) as written in Pimoroni's docs, and not the new one (Bookworm). Choose either "Raspberry Pi OS (Legacy) Lite" or "Raspberry Pi OS (Legacy, 64-bit) Lite"

  • We're only writing to the framebuffer, and not using the slightly broken GPU acceleration (works in Buster), so despite Pimoroni's docs, the OS version doesn't matter. However I didn't get the latest OS (Bookworm) working yet. Will update when I do.

  • Bullseye comes with Python 3.9, but FrameOS requires 3.11. Do the required upgrade.

  • SSH in and run the following to install the pimoroni software and activate the display:

sudo apt -y update
sudo apt -y install git
git clone https://github.com/pimoroni/hyperpixel2r
cd hyperpixel2r
sudo ./install.sh
# remove 3d acceleration
sudo sed -i '/dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d/s/^/#/' /boot/config.txt
sudo reboot
  • When you reboot, the screen should show a Linux startup screen.
  • Set up the frame in the FrameOS controller. Select the Pimoroni HyperPixel 2.1 Round driver.

3D models​

Brightness control​

To control the brightness from the command line, run

sudo apt install wiringpi
# Set the pin to PWM mode
gpio -g mode 19 pwm
# Set the value/brightness to 60
gpio -g pwm 19 60
# Value Effect
# 0 - 24 Backlight off
# 25 - 90 Various degrees of brightness
# 91 - 1023 Full brightness

Both the hyperpixel and the hyperpixel4 use pin 19 (BCM) (source, inspiration).