Volumio 2.8+ and Adafruit PiPlate/Face.

5

June 29, 2021 by aubreykloppers

I wrote in 2014 and 2018 (this is recycled) how to get the ADAFRUIT BLUE&WHITE 16X2 LCD+KEYPAD KIT FOR RASPBERRY PI working on Volumio.  Well, these instructions are no longer valid and the following instructions works with Volumio 2.882, as of this writing.

DO NOT DO AN “APT UPGRADE” – it will break your Volumio release…

NOTE 1: See pictures of progress of the display at the end of this post.
NOTE 2: Once installed use "/etc/init.d/start_lcdSongInfo.sh restart"

• Download the latest Volumio and create a bootable SD card.
• Logon and enable SSH (https://volumio.github.io/docs/User_Manual/SSH.html):

# touch /boot/ssh

• Update your system and add some libraries:

# apt-get update
# apt-get install git python-smbus i2c-tools python-dev python-rpi.gpio unzip vim

• Add support in modules by adding the following to lines at the end – ignore if exists:

# vi /etc/modules
i2c-bcm2708
i2c-dev

• Create directories and add LCD Code:

# mkdir /home/pi
# cd /home/pi
# git clone -b legacy https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-Raspberry-Pi-Python-Code.git
# wget https://www.dropbox.com/s/iqoyy5lm2tik1my/LCD%20Python%20Script.zip
# unzip LCD%20Python%20Script.zip
# mv lcdSongInfo.py /home/pi/Adafruit-Raspberry-Pi-Python-Code/Adafruit_CharLCDPlate/
# mv start_lcdSongInfo.sh /etc/init.d/
# chmod 755 /home/pi/Adafruit-Raspberry-Pi-Python-Code/Adafruit_CharLCDPlate/lcdSongInfo.py
# chmod 755 /etc/init.d/start_lcdSongInfo.sh

• Execute the INIT SCRIPT and check if OK:

# /etc/init.d/start_lcdSongInfo.sh

NOTE: If you get:

bash: /etc/init.d/start_lcdSongInfo.sh: /bin/sh^M: bad interpreter: No such file or directory

you need to fix the file format with:

# vi /etc/init.d/start_lcdSongInfo.sh
:set fileformat=unix
:wq!

Else it should show you:

Usage: /etc/init.d/lcdSongInfo {start|stop|restart|status}

• Enable the LCD Deamon:

# update-rc.d start_lcdSongInfo.sh defaults

• Reboot and test.

Picture 1: Initial boot – Only blocks displaying.

Picture 2: Reboot after libraries installed Completely blank once past initial boot.

Picture 3: Reboot after scripts installed showing system active.

Picture 4: Playing media:

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