Thanks very much! 
haha heliotrope … there’s gotta be some synth related thing or software called that 
Maybe my first bit of software I’ll never make. hehehe
Awesome! Yes I’ve seen the good old Nokia display, I’d LOVE to see if that’s usable! Maybe I should learn some python…
Well I have the SH1106/SSH1106 display 128x64 SPI but can’t get an x server running on it.
I found this:
and this:
The reddit thread refers to these displays already having “names” ? I can’t find where this is shown. All I know is my resolution and driver SH1106 which is included in FBTFT. I’ve tried a few things at the fbtft wiki as well. Always get “no display found” or similar, fail to start x server. Anyone have any advice?
Hopefully can try again tomorrow, 1AM here trying since 10:30PM, better get to bed. 
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Tried luma.oled again with the SH1106 display 128x64 Monochrome via SPI, as that was how they were able to access it on Terminal Tedium. But I was only able to run the python demos in Raspian (so at least I know it’s working and wired correctly, so that’s something). Someone else did get the Terminal to show up using luma.oled but I couldn’t make it work.
And of course, as it’s been pointed out before a few times, FBTFT is part of the kernel, and would be the preferred method for the Zynthian. Sent a message to the reddit link author but I don’t think they’re on reddit anymore.
I feel like this should be really simple. Can’t get it to work, spent probably 15/20 hours trying different methods. I think a very tiny but complete Zynthian would be really great. Oh well, I think I’ll give up on my end unless anyone has any tips. Sorry folks.
It’s not an easy task what you tried to achieve. I also failed my first attempt … but it will be done sooner or later, i’m pretty sure!! 
Next time i will try with the SSD1306 OLED display. I think it’s the best bet …
Regards,
This thread seemed to peter out! I have a 1.8" TFT LCD Color Display Module SPI ST7735S working with Zynthian which has a resolution of 128 x 160. Adjusting the font allows list content to (mostly) be seen okay but rotary parameter graphic does not render well. I would say that such a low resolution undermines the effectiveness of Zynthian. It will work but is a bit irksome. There may be something we can do to optimise for smaller screens but it might not be worth it! (Maybe use a different representation of value of parameters if the resolution is detected to be below a certain threshold.) I am going to purchase a larger screen and am just toying between 3.5", 5" and 7". I quite like the idea of a large capacitive touchscreen for X-Y performance (but not in the cold without special gloves 
) but have read in another thread that it may prove challenging for mounting, connecting, etc. (I bought a Kedei (read crap) screen for this project which was a mistake - I am getting quite a collection of useless screens!) I do have some 128 x 64 OLED screens but wouldn’t think it worth the effort trying to get X server running on these.
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Ohhhh that is awesome though! Thanks for sharing all this. Yeah probably needs a different ui for such low res screens. I was imagining just rising filled rectangles in each corner, like any old level meter I guess. Or stack the parameters a bit and have horizontal rectangles inverse the background and text. Of course, I don’t have the skillset for that, and I imagine it would take a lot time for a basically never-requested feature hehe. That is getting into Organelle/Ornament & Crime/Terminal Tedium territory for jamming a lot into a tiny OLED. Id imagine many folks would prefer a sequencer on the Zynthian with a bigger screen
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Hi @riban !
I’m really interested in making zynthian work in tiny displays like the one you used. Please, could you share the detailed instructions for configuration, etc.?
Also, send some photos!!! I’m really curious of seen your u-zynthian!! 
Thanks a lot!
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…and some audio . . . 
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I’ve got a small 1U rackmount network device. 5V and lots of LEDs. I am interested having low res as well.
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If this chat had audio I’d ask to turn it off
Unfortunately, whilst playing with other displays I seem to have broken the ability to connect to this one (and indeed run Zynthian at all). I am flashing a new image and will retest this but the following are the notes I made when I did it (based on advice from Daniel Müllner):
Enable 1.6" TFT as /dev/fb1 in landscape with pins on left:
| TFT Pin | RPi Pin | RPi Header |
|---|---|---|
| VCC | 3.3V | 17 |
| GND | GND | 25 |
| CS | CE0 | 24 |
| RESET | GPIO25 | 22 |
| A0 | GPIO24 | 18 |
| SDA | MOSI | 19 |
| SCK | SCLK | 23 |
| LED | GPIO12 | 32 |
- /boot/config.txt:
- dtparam=spi=on
- /etc/modules-load.d/raspberrypi.conf:
- spi_bcm2835
- fbtft_device
- /etc/modprobe.d/fbtft.conf:
- options fbtft_device name=sainsmart18 rotate=90
- /etc/rc.local
- gpio -g mode 12 pwm
- gpio -g pwm 12 900
- Web interface: Hardware->Display:
- Display: Custom device
- Config:
- Width: 160
- Height: 128
- Framebuffer: /dev/fb1
- Web interface: Interface->UI Options:
- Font size: 8
- Font Family: Helvetica
- Enable cursor
Note: GPIO 12 is used to drive LED but should configure this using backlight driver. (I haven’t figured that out yet.)
Note: Enable cursor because I don’t have encoders working yet and this is not a touchscreen.
This little colour display is 35mm tall so would fit neatly in a 1U case. When I have it running again I will add some photos.
My Zynthian is currently a load of jumpers and breadboard on my desk so not the uZynth or anything I can play yet (for wyleu’s obligatory rite-of-passage demo).
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Layers:
Note that 8pt font renders poorly but is legible. Smaller fonts are too difficult to read.
Synth control:
Note that parameter name obscures parameter value image. Maybe we could limit (truncate?) parameter names for low resolution screens. This could be an issue for any screen so maybe there should be some form of intelligent adjustment of on screen elements based on screen real estate (resolution).
So it isn’t too bad but could look nicer. As a rough and ready interface it kinda works.
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Maybe different sizes for the different parts.
Intelligence won’t be intelligent enough to cover all options.
There is now an overlay for the SSD1306 OLED display so it should be possible to get one of those working. I don’t have any that aren’t in use so I can’t test this… but I would suggest that these are too low resolution to be of much use. Three 1.8" 160x128 display is tight so a 64 pixel tall display may prove a challenge too far 
. We could design different display and workflow for very low resolution screens and we could equally add features for larger higher resolution screens. I’m not sure either is desirable (yet).
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Looks like an idea! Would need custom widgets which would be a fun side project for someone with time on their hands 
. Where is Google’s Summer of Code when you need it?
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Hmm or maybe just an underline showing approximate value, and using 3 digit number for exact - if we are down to ascii only oled instead of graphical. “If someone would just code my amazing ideas” hahaha dont we all wish.
Hi Rockwater!
Your layout is quite interesting …
The auto-scrolling text is not currently implemented in Zynthian-UI, although it should. In the other hand ,the “bar-level” indicator is already implemented and can be enabled by simply changing 2 lines in the code, in “zyngui/zynthian_gui_controller.py”, line 91, replace:
self.plot_value=self.plot_value_arc
self.erase_value=self.erase_value_arc
by:
self.plot_value=self.plot_value_rectangle
self.erase_value=self.erase_value_rectangle
The text labels are positioned out of the rectangle, so it should be changed too. Anyway, it’s not a complex task, but quite tricky!! Designing a responsible UI is more tricky when display is smaller
Regards,
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Ask Apple and look at the fun they had with a watch…