How to Set Up Your Raspberry Pi Touch Screen

The Raspberry Pi comes with a host of useful extras, from handy cases and the popular Pi Cam module. about hats, expansion boards of great extensions which connect to the Pi’s GPIO pins. But the 7-inch Raspberry Pi touch display kit has proven to be especially popular.

While a variety of displays are available for the Pi, few are as versatile and flexible as this official Raspberry Pi product. But if you ordered one, you might not know how to proceed. How to connect a Raspberry Pi touch screen to a Raspberry Pi computer?

What’s in your pi?

Before proceeding (preferably before buying!), you should take a look at your Raspberry Pi device. Despite being compatible with all standard boards, you will find it difficult to set up a Raspberry Pi touchscreen with the Pi Zero. because the device does not have all the necessary connectors.

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However, if you have a standard Raspberry Pi model B, B+, 2, or 3, you can use the Raspberry Pi touch screen with this device.

But… there is one more caveat. Only Revised Raspberry Pi 2 PCB Design and Raspberry Pi 3 compatible with the mounting screws on the back of the touch display. This means you will need to take other steps to securely attach (or otherwise) the old Pi board.

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We will now continue learning how to attach a 7″ Raspberry Pi touch display to a Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 board.

Leave the protective film in place!

One thing you shouldn’t do until your Pi and your touchscreen display is properly wired and connected is to remove the protective film that’s already applied to the display. It might look unsightly, but it doesn’t matter at this stage — the important thing is that you can protect your new touchscreen device from any scratches and scratches that may occur during the connection process.

So do yourself a favor and leave the protective film in place for a little longer!

Update your pi

You need to make sure your Raspberry Pi is properly configured to use the touchscreen before connecting devices. To do this, boot up your Raspberry Pi and enter the following commands in the terminal, waiting for each to complete before typing the following:

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt-get dist-upgrade sudo apt-get install raspberrypi-ui-mods sudo apt-get install raspberrypi-net-mods

This will ensure that all the correct drivers and interface software applications are installed before connecting the touch screen display.

With these updates installed, we can get to work. Time to get out your toolkit!

Connect display board to touch display

Take extra precautions before connecting your Pi to a touch screen. You must either leave the display in the box, but face down so that the touchscreen rests on the foam wrap, or lay it face down on a towel on a table.

Then check if the display board is connected to the orange ribbon cable and the display. In older boxes, you will have to do this manually; our new box, with these components already linked.

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The orange ribbon cable connects at two locations on the display board; the narrow end connects to the Panel 1 connector, which has a small clip that will need to be undone before the tape can be inserted and tightened again. The wider tape connects to the other side, to the connector labeled Panel 2, in the same way. Use four spacers to attach the display board to the back of the display and you’re good to go.

Connecting Your Raspberry Pi to a Touch Display

The next step is to connect the Pi to the touch screen.

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To do this, first connect four cables to the 5V, Ground, SCL, and SDA connectors on the display board. Although it doesn’t really matter, we recommend that you follow the convention and use red for 5V and black for Ground.

Then insert the white ribbon cable; the end you insert now should have the blue side facing the display (the other end will have the blue tab up). Lock it in place by securing the retainer.

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Then place the Raspberry Pi on top of the risers and secure it with screws. Note that if you buy a photo frame style display for this, you may find that everything is more compact if you mount the Pi with the GPIO on the bottom. For now, however, the GPIO should be available, so leave it face up.

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Connect four jumper cables to the GPIO, corresponding to 5V — 5V, ground, etc. Check the GPIO array for your Raspberry Pi model to make sure the cables are connected correctly; on Raspberry Pi 3, the cables will be connected as above.

As you might guess, these cables control the power delivery from the Pi to the display, but also relay touch information to earlier Pi models — on newer models, the green and yellow I2C connection is built into the ribbon cable, so they don’t really need to.

You don’t have to connect them like this though; for example, you cannot put a hat on top. You may prefer to use a Y-splitter from a standard Raspberry Pi power supply, or use a second power supply. If you’re using a portable battery for this project, you’ll be able to keep the display and Pi running from the same power source.

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Next, connect the ribbon cable to your Raspberry Pi by first unplugging the latch and pushing it into place without twisting. Press the latch when the tape is fully inserted to secure it. After all that, it’s time to connect the power cable to the Pi and boot up Raspbian.

Touch screen setup

In some cases, especially if you are using a display with a stand, you can rotate the display to keep it in the correct position. Do it over SSH using

 sudo nano /boot/config.txt

At the top of the file, enter a new line:

 lcd_rotate=2

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It is recommended to leave a commented note so you know what this (and any) amendment includes.

Use Ctrl + X to exit the nano text editor, select Y, to accept the changes, then press Enter.