RGB always white after initial install

General
1

Hello,
I’m having trouble using Pironman v2 with retropie.

I have cloned the v2.0 as per the installation instructions (“pironman-v2.rtfd.io”) my kit is V2.
I had 2 problems.

  1. The install script failed to install the systemd as the location was incorrect for my retropie installtion.
    the script had /usr/lib/systemd where mine was located /etc/systemd.

I fixed this an the installation passed to completion.
I initially saw that the RGB was blue and breathing.
However after the reboot the RGB is always white and none of the RGB settings in pironman work.
Note: the LED screen, power button and fan are working without issue.

I left the RGB set ti SPI (10) as per the default.



     .***.     Saturday, 23 March 2024, 07:55:53 AM
     *****     Linux 5.10.103-v7l+ armv7l GNU/Linux
     `***'
      |*|      Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
      |*|      /dev/root       940G  853G   57G  94% /
    ..|*|..    Uptime.............: 0 days, 00h01m01s
  .*** * ***.  Memory.............: 7233908kB (Free) / 8099460kB (Total)
  *******@@**  Running Processes..: 152
  `*****@@**'  IP Address.........: 192.168.200.55
   `*******'   Temperature........: CPU: 48°C/118°F GPU: 48°C/118°F
     `"""'     The RetroPie Project, https://retropie.org.uk

pi@retropie:~/pironman/pironman $ sudo python3 main.py

------------------------24/03/23 08:05:08------------------------
pironman version: 2.2.7
username: pi
config_file: /opt/pironman/config.txt

Kernel Version:
Linux retropie 5.10.103-v7l+ #1529 SMP Tue Mar 8 12:24:00 GMT 2022 armv7l GNU/Linux

OS Version:
No LSB modules are available.
Description: Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)

PCB info:
Revision : d03115
Model : Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.5

24/03/23 08:05:08,241 [DEBUG] power_key_pin : 16
24/03/23 08:05:08,241 [DEBUG] fan_pin : 6
24/03/23 08:05:08,242 [DEBUG] update_frequency : 0.5
24/03/23 08:05:08,242 [DEBUG] temp_unit : C
24/03/23 08:05:08,242 [DEBUG] fan_temp : 50.0
24/03/23 08:05:08,242 [DEBUG] screen_always_on : False
24/03/23 08:05:08,242 [DEBUG] screen_off_time : 60
24/03/23 08:05:08,243 [DEBUG] rgb_enable : True
24/03/23 08:05:08,243 [DEBUG] rgb_style : breath
24/03/23 08:05:08,243 [DEBUG] rgb_color : ff8a40
24/03/23 08:05:08,243 [DEBUG] rgb_blink_speed : 50
24/03/23 08:05:08,243 [DEBUG] rgb_pwm_freq : 1000
24/03/23 08:05:08,243 [DEBUG] rgb_pin : 10

24/03/23 08:05:08,255 [DEBUG] rgb_strip init success
24/03/23 08:05:08,309 [DEBUG] oled init success
24/03/23 08:05:08,322 [DEBUG] rgb_show
24/03/23 08:05:08,323 [DEBUG] rgb_show: breath
24/03/23 08:05:08,356 [DEBUG] Get IP: 192.168.200.55

pi@retropie:~/pironman/pironman $ sudo cat /boot/config.txt

# For more options and information see
# http://rpf.io/configtxt
# Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details

# uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
#hdmi_safe=1

# Disable rainbow image at boot
disable_splash=1

# uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
# and your display can output without overscan
disable_overscan=1

# uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
# goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
#overscan_left=16
#overscan_right=16
#overscan_top=16
#overscan_bottom=16

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720

# uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output
#hdmi_force_hotplug=1

# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16

# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
#hdmi_drive=2

# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4

# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
arm_freq=2000
gpu_freq=600
over_voltage=6

# Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
dtparam=i2c_arm=on
#dtparam=i2s=on
dtparam=spi=on

# Uncomment this to enable infrared communication.
dtoverlay=gpio-ir,gpio_pin=13
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir-tx,gpio_pin=18

# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on

[pi4]
# Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver on top of the dispmanx display stack
dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
max_framebuffers=2

[all]
#dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
overscan_scale=1
enable_uart=1

dtparam=sd_poll_once
gpu_mem=64

[all]
core_freq=500
[all]
core_freq_min=500
[all]
dtoverlay=gpio-poweroff,gpio_pin=26,active_low=0

I’ve tried moving the RGB to 12 PMW audio, however this seems to make the RGB work, However, causes the retropie boot to play up, video buffers or stalls.
Also I want to use the 3.5 and/or HDMI audio.

Please help

2

Please provide us with a picture of your motherboard.
If you are currently using the pironman V2 kit, the default pin used for RGB is SPI (IO10) and the shorting tab is also connected to the IO10 pin on the motherboard.
If you modify the software code to connect the PWM (IO12) pin, then you can use RGB to work, and the shorting tab you didn’t move, it means that the shorting tab of the motherboard at that time was connected to the PWM (IO12) pin, and didn’t connect to the default SPI (IO10), so it led to the fact that the RGB didn’t get to work when you installed the pironman V2 software.
So please make sure the motherboard’s shorting tabs are in the same position as the software’s pin IO.
Because we follow your retropie system to install pironman V2 software to verify the RGB work, all are working correctly. So you can rule out a software problem.

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3

Hello,

I can confirm that the jumper is set to the default SPI (IO10).

Thanks
Peter

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20240326_085113.jpg3000×4000 1.33 MB

4

Suggest you use a Raspberry Pi system to install the pironman software and see if the RGB appears white as well.
It is also recommended that you provide us with a video of the process.

5

Hello,
OK. I installed the pironman v2 on a fresh Raspberry OS and it works. So, I’m confident that the hardware is not the issue.

However, now I would like to know what could be impacting the SPI which is preventing it from running correctly on my retropie implementation.
Are you able to point me in the right direction?
I really would like to avoid having to reinstall the 1TB of games and supporting configurations.
Kind Regards
Peter

6
  1. right. We also installed the pironman software on the Retropie and it also works fine. So we think the software is also working properly.
    So the problem you are having is quite strange and at the moment we can’t reproduce the problem you are having at the moment.
    We suggest that you reinstall Retropie and then install the tutorial to try the pironman software.
    If you still encounter the situation, we recommend that you run sudo pironman start, restart the service and see how it works.
  2. We recommend that you run:
    sudo python3 /opt/pironman/ws2812_RGB.py
    and let us know the results of the run. A video would be great.