4D systems GEN4-4DCAPE-43T-CLB Parts list manual

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gen4-4DCAPE-XXT/CT-CLB - GETTING STARTED MANUAL | 2
CONTENTS
03 Introduction
System Requirements
•Hardware Requirements
•Software Requirements
05 How to use the gen4-LCD-CAPE
•Connecting the gen4-LCD-CAPE
•gen4-4DCAPE Troubleshooting
09 Getting Started with a Simple Project
12 Reference Documents
14 Glossary
WHAT’S IN THE BOX
gen4-4DCAPE
Adaptor
gen4-4DCAPE-
XXT/CT-CLB
30-way Flat Flex
Cable (FFC)
Supporting documents, datasheet, CAD step models and application notes are
available on the 4D Systems website.

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INTRODUCTION
This Getting Started Manual is an introduction to becoming familiar with
the gen4-4DCAPE-XXT/CT-CLB. This manual should be treated only as a
useful starting point and not as a comprehensive reference document.
In this Getting Started Manual, we will briefly focus on the following topics:
•Hardware Requirements
•Image Flashing
•Getting Started with Simple Projects
•Reference Documents
The gen4-4DCAPE-XXT and gen4-4DCAPE-XXCT-CLB are part of the gen4
series of display capes designed and manufactured by 4D Systems for
BeagleBone boards. These capes feature a 4.3”, 5.0” and 7.0” colour LCD
display powered through a BeagleBone board and come in resistive and
capacitive touch variants—gen4-4DCAPE-XXT and gen4-4DCAPE-XXCT-
CLB, respectively.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
The following subsections discuss the hardware and software requirements
for this manual.
1Hardware
1.1 Beaglebone Black Board
One of the most important requirements is the BeagleBone Board that
will control the Cape. It should be loaded with a system image with
desktop for the Cape to start functioning.
1.2 gen4-4DCAPE-XXT/CT-CLB
The gen4-4DCAPE-XXT/CT-CLB and its accessories should be included
in the box delivered to you after your purchase from our website or
through one of our distributors. Please refer to the section “What’s in the
box” for images of the display module and its accessories.

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1.3 gen4-4DCAPE Adaptor
The adaptor included is needed to connect the BeagleBone board and the
gen4-4DCAPE. It is a module stacked into the BeagleBone board.
1.4 30-way Flat Flex Cable (FFC)
The Flat Flex cable is connected to the gen4-4DCAPE Adaptor to
connect it to the gen4-4DCAPE Display.
1.5 5V DC Supply
To know the specifications needed for the power supply, please refer to
the gen4-4DCAPE Datasheet.
CONNECTING THE DISPLAY MODULE TO THE PC
The gen4-LCD-CAPE is designed to work with the Debian Operating System
supplied for the BeagleBone Black. It could however be adapted to work on
other distributions by the user.
Hardware Software
gen4-4DCAPE
Display
gen4-4DCAPE
Adapter
Latest BBB Image
30-way Flat Flex
Cable (FFC)
BeagleBone Black
(BBB)
With suitable
distribution loaded
5V DC Supply
Suitable for the
BeagleBone Black
(using DC Jack),
recommended 2A
@5V
Stylus
Recommended for
accurate touch,
however is not
required

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HOW TO USE THE GEN4 LCD CAPE
Connecting the gen4-LCD-CAPE
1. Connect the gen4-4DCAPE Adaptor to the BeagleBone Black while the
BeagleBone Black isnot powered.
2. Connect the 30-way FFC cable to the gen4-4DCAPE Adaptor, and to
the gen4-4DCAPE Display.The 30-way FFC connectors are ‘Upper
Contact’ meaning the blue stiffener on the FFC cable should be against
the PCB, with the metal pads on the cable facing upward.

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3. If using with other capes on your BBB, ensure the gen4-4DCAPE is not
conflicting pin wise to any other cape installed (Pins reserved for the
gen4-4DCAPE is indicated by the white dash beside the header pins)
4. Ensure the EEPROM ID switch on the gen4-4DCAPE Display is set to a
different EEPROM ID to anyother capes.
5. Ensure your BeagleBone Black is loaded with a suitable Linux
distribution which is compatible with 4D Systems’ gen4-4DCAPEs.
Debian is the distribution shipping with current BBB boards now, and
can be installed onto older BBB’s. If the distribution you wish to use is
not supporting 4D Systems’ gen4-4DCAPEs by default, the supplied
source files can be used, please refer to our Product Page.
6. Connect a 5V Supply to the DC Jack of the BeagleBone Black. It is
recommended to use a 2A supply to ensure sufficient supply. By default,
the gen4-4DCAPE requires power via the DC Jack, as the on-board
power management of the BBB may not be able to supply the required
power. So, the USB jack will not supply power to the gen4-4DCAPE
unless the Solder Bridge jumper on the top of the gen4-4DCAPE
Adaptor board, is cut and resoldered. (Discussed further in the gen4-
4DCAPE Datasheet.)

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7. Once power is connected, something should be displayed on the gen4-
4DCAPE a few moments after it has started to boot. Each distribution
will behave differently and might require different input from the User
(It is recommended to have a keyboard attached while setting the
system up, as login details etc. may be required). Some distributions may
prompt for LCD calibration during the first boot, while others may
prompt for Username/Password.
gen4-4DCAPE Troubleshooting
For older versions of the BeagleBone Boards, the eMMCs of these boards
might have an outdated version of the U-boot which will not load with the
gen4-4DCAPE properly.
To know the bootloader version and if it is applicable to be used with the
gen4-4DCAPE, run the following code:
$ sudo /opt/scripts/tools/version.sh | grep bootloader
Check the versions of “microSD” and “eMMC”. To work properly, the
“microSD” version must be older than the “eMMC” version and it must be
greater than 2018.03.
To fix this, remove the version of U-boot from the eMMC. An example is
clearing the 10Mb of the drive:
$ sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk1 bs=1M count=10

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Changing the Screen Orientation
The Screen Orientation of the display can be changed. To implement this,
there are two things that need to be changed:
1. Rotate Screen Orientation
Run the command: sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Find the “Device Section” with "Builtin Default fbdev Device 0"
identifier as below and add the text in red in the section.
Section "Device"
Identifier "Builtin Default fbdev Device 0"
Driver "fbdev"
Option "Rotate" "CCW"
EndSection
2. Rotate and set the touch coordinates
Run the command: sudo nano /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/40-libinput.conf
Find the “InputClass” section with "libinput touchscreen catchall" identifier as
below and add the text in red in the section.
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "libinput touchscreen catchall"
MatchIsTouchscreen "on"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Driver "libinput"
Option "TransformationMatrix" "0 -1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1"
EndSection
Save the files and reboot. The screen should already be in portrait mode after
rebooting.

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GETTING STARTED WITH A SIMPLE PROJECT
After connecting the display and flashing the image, you can now start doing
projects. This project simply shows a message box on the gen4-4DCAPE that
says “Hello World”.
Part 1: Scripting
Step 1: Update the Python version
This project uses Python 3.5.3. To know the version of your python3, you can use
$ python3 ––version
You can update your python3 version by using the command
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install python3
Step 2: Install PyQt
PyQt is one of the most popular Python bindings. This project uses the PyQt
binding for displaying the output.
To install PyQt, run the following command:
$ sudo apt-get install python3-pyqt4
Step 3: Connect to SSH
You can operate your BeagleBone device from a remote terminal using many
means. This example shows how to do it using SSH.
1. Login using your SSH. This appnote uses MobaXterm tool to connect through
SSH.

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2. Go to Desktop and create a new file “HelloWorld.py”.
3. Open using Sublime Text or any other editor you have installed in you computer.
4. Paste the script below and Save:
import sys
from PyQt4 import QtGui
def window():
app =QtGui.QApplication(sys.argv)
widget =QtGui.QWidget()
label =QtGui.QLabel(widget)
label.setText("Hello World!")
widget.setWindowTitle("PyQt")
widget.show()
sys.exit(app.exec_())
if __name__ == '__main__':
window()

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Part 2: Running the Project
Option 1: Run the Python Script Using the BeagleBone Terminal
To run the python script using the gen4-4DCAPE Display, navigate to where the
python script is saved then run the command:
$ python3 HelloWorld.py
Option 2: Run the Python Script Using SSH
Navigate to the script’s directory (in this case, Desktop).
This is optional but you can test your script in your remote terminal by running,
$ python3 HelloWorld.py
To run the script from a remote terminal and display it on the gen4-4DCape,
$ DISPLAY=:0.0 python3 HelloWorld.py
The gen4-4DCAPE should now look like this:

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REFERENCE DOCUMENTS
The “HelloWorld” project is one of the most common and basic projects to be
made in almost every language and that includes Python. The following is a list
of the sites and documents that may help the user to further enhance GUI
programming and to know more about gen4-4DCAPE:
gen4-4DCAPE Datasheet
This document contains the essential information related to the gen4-4DCAPE.
BeagleBone Website
A good place to start for information and support regarding the BBB and various
distributions available
BeagleBone Latest Images
This website details the latest firmware images for the BBB.
BeagleBone Configuration
This website details how to get started with the BBB.
Note: For support regarding the gen4-4DCAPE hardware itself, please go to the 4D Systems
website and either contact Support directly via a Ticket, or use the 4D Systems Forum.

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NOTES

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Visit our website at: www.4dsystems.com.au
Technical Support: www.4dsystems.com.au/support
Sales Support: [email protected]
Copyright © 4D Systems, 2019, All Rights Reserved
GLOSSARY
1. Cape – Plug-in boards to the popular BeagleBone computer that allows
hobbyists, makers and developers to quickly and easily augment
BeagleBone's capabilities with LCD screens, motor control and battery
power as well as the ability to create their own circuits.
2. Debian – A free operating system (OS) for BeagleBone. It provides more
than a pure OS: it comes with over 51000 packages, precompiled software
bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your machine.
3. eMMc - Embedded Multi-Media Controller. Refers to a package consisting
of both flash memory and a flash memory controller integrated on the same
silicon die.
4. Flashing - is a process for updating the eMMc software chip, done through
chip erasure and SD Card update.
5. Image - is a serialized copy of the entire state of a computer system stored in
some non-volatile form.
6. LCD - Liquid Crystal Display. Technology used for displays in notebook and
other smaller computers. Like light-emitting diode (LED) and gas-plasma
technologies, LCDs allow displays to be much thinner than cathode ray tube
(CRT) technology.
7. Linux Distribution - often abbreviated as “distro”. An operating system made
from a software collection, which is based upon the Linux kernel and, often,
a package management system. The software is usually adapted to the
distribution and then packaged into software packages by the distribution's
maintainers.
8. Python - is a high-level programming language designed to be easy to read
and simple to implement.
9. PyQt - PyQt is one of the most popular Python bindings for the Qt cross-
platform C++ framework.
10. SSH- Secure Shell or Secure Socket Shell, is a network protocol that gives
users, particularly system administrators, a secure way to access a computer
over an unsecured network.