Retrostone screen

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Brandon
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun 19 Aug 2018 15:49

Re: Retrostone screen

Post by Brandon »

I understand what must be done. Once I have my Retrostones I will have a better idea as to the best options. I will update everyone.
Flastrom
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue 28 Aug 2018 05:02

Re: Retrostone screen

Post by Flastrom »

Pierre,
Brian Re here. I have tried all of the options you gave me. I flashed the Slim to the provided card. I used a new card. I formatted both cards and tried again. Nothings seems to work. I am at a loss as to what to do next. If you can replace the unit with one that we knows works that would be great.

Pierre-Louis BoyerCreator
4 DAYS AGO
Hi Brian,

You formatted with diskpart right? Selected the retrostone pi image of retrorangepi ? Can you try booting with a HDMI screen connected? Battery full?

Do you have by chance another SD card you could try to use so we can find out if it's the SD that is faulty?

Better would be to post a topic on the forum summing up history because here in the comments I can't see the history of our discussion so it's more difficult to support
User avatar
Admin
Administrateur du site
Posts: 505
Joined: Sat 10 Dec 2016 13:12

Re: Retrostone screen

Post by Admin »

Hi Brian,

Can you remind me what was the problem you'r having? Your unit never booted (always 1/3 blue 2/3 white) or booted sometime and crashes ?

I think it should be fixed with the full version of retrorangepi. We'r betatesting it and it solve most kernel panics and boot errors.
It should be release in the coming days.

Can you please bear with me until the release of full version and test if it solve your issue? Of course if it does not solve your problem I'll send you a replacement.
Flastrom
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue 28 Aug 2018 05:02

Re: Retrostone screen

Post by Flastrom »

Yes that was my issue. Sounds good. I'll wait it out and try the full version. I'm very excited to get this to work, just ran out of ideas.
Thanks!
brian1226
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed 29 Aug 2018 03:20

Re: Retrostone screen

Post by brian1226 »

I will also wait it out.
bedfellow
Posts: 38
Joined: Wed 15 Aug 2018 21:22

Re: Retrostone screen

Post by bedfellow »

Admin wrote: Mon 20 Aug 2018 09:21 Hey guys,
Have you tried to change the theme to GBZ35?
We'r working to improve the theme to the LCD as most flickering comes from emulation station resizing and settings.
The Pixel TFT theme is a good (better) option for this resolution screen.
Nismo14
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed 5 Sep 2018 14:42

Re: Retrostone screen

Post by Nismo14 »

Brandon wrote: Tue 21 Aug 2018 00:01 Hi all,

I have not gotten my Retrostones yet. But I have already been looking in to possible replacements for the screen.
The Retrostone uses the LQ035NC11. 3.5in, 320x240, 4:3 aspect, 54pin.
The LCD can be fed an RGB24bit signal, but the RetroStone is taking an analog composite signal and converting it using an AMT630 Video Display Controller IC (I think).

From the videos I've seen, I think the poor quality is mostly from the analog composite feed and only partly from the 320x240 screen.
Trying to feed the LQ035NC11 the HDMI singnal would be tricky because of the 54pin connector.

It is not easy to find a 3.5in, 4:3 LCD screen. I have a few ideas, please let me know what you all think.

It may be easiest to replace the LQ035NC11 with a better screen and feed it the HDMI feed. I was looking at this LCD:
40 pin Transflective IPS, 3.5 inch, 640x480 lcd, 4:3 aspect.
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... 37097.html

And I was thinking of using an HDMI to 40pin converter to feed it. Like this one:
TFP401 HDMI/DVI Decoder to 40-Pin TTL Breakout
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2218

Adafruit also makes some very small HDMI right angle adapters and 40pin extension ribbon cables.

So I was thinking of taking the HDMI port of the Retrostone and feeding the new 40pin LCD. (no more external HDMI)
This will be tricky with the limited room. I am not sure the new display will fit. Once I have mine I will be able to measure better.

LQ035NC11 dimensions: 76.9(W)x63.9(H)
New LCD dimensions: 85(W)x68(H)

Anyone think this is doable?

Thanks,
Brandon
good idea but if you check the data sheet for the screen vs the adafruit they don't match to much work will be involve to rewire
Brandon
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun 19 Aug 2018 15:49

Re: Retrostone screen

Post by Brandon »

Hi Nismo,

I am still looking for a data sheet for the PV035000SB40C.

Did you find one?


I am also looking a a few other displays.
Nismo14
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed 5 Sep 2018 14:42

Re: Retrostone screen

Post by Nismo14 »

Brandon wrote: Fri 7 Sep 2018 00:54 Hi Nismo,

I am still looking for a data sheet for the PV035000SB40C.

Did you find one?


I am also looking a a few other displays.
i'm not sure how to attach a PDF file in here, i simply ask the manufactured a copy of it
rogerp
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu 13 Sep 2018 22:46

Re: Retrostone screen

Post by rogerp »

Hi all,

Got the retrostone, it has its flaws, some i can live with... some not: The screen.

It is terrible, low light, flickering (ok maybe due to software), blurry, low definition... i am starting to think of it as a stone without the retro.

I would really like a solution for this, as it is there is nothing we can do to improve it, no screen adjustment controls. I have tried the pixel tft theme, but still no real improvement (and buggy).

To the point:

— Is there any chance of changing the screen?
— If we cannot change the screen, at least to be able to control light/contrast/color...

Come on, the idea and execution is great. Just the screen is too important to be so bad. @Pierre
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