HOWTO control E-Paper Display

[TrDA-hab]

0. About E-Paper Display:

• WIKI SPI.
• Tasmota E-Paper support: 1, 2.
• Tasmota commands for controlling displays: 1.
• Tasmota examples for displaying information on the display: 1.
• Tasmota currently (2021-04-21) only supports two E-Ink displays from the Waveshare manufacturer: 2.9inch (black, white) and 4.2inch (black, white): 1, 2.
• Waveshare has produced three versions of the 2.9inch e-Paper display at different times: Rev1.0, Rev2.0, Rev2.1.
• Waveshare 2.9inch e-Paper display Rev1.0.
  • Schematic.
  • User manual.
• Waveshare 2.9inch e-Paper display Rev2.0.
  • Schematic.
  • Datasheet.
  • User manual.
• Waveshare 2.9inch e-Paper display Rev2.1.
  • Schematic.
  • User manual.
  • Specificationl.

Display modification.

• For correct operation of the display, it is necessary to solder the "BS" jumper to the position for working with a 3-wire SPI interface.
  

• For the display to work correctly, you must modify it.

Pin-1	Pin-2
RST	VCC
DC	GND

1. Waveshare 2.9inch e-Paper display (simple configuration).

2. Waveshare 2.9inch e-Paper display (medium configuration).

3. How to use it.

• You must add support for "2.9inch e-Paper display" in my_user_config.h file, or flash our ESP8266 module with tasmota-display.bin file:
  #define USE_SPI
#define USE_DISPLAY
#define USE_DISPLAY_EPAPER29

• If you have done all the necessary settings and connections correctly, then after starting (or restarting) the ESP you will see the found e-Paper display.
  00:00:00.058 SPI: Software using GPIO13(CLK) and GPIO12(MOSI)
00:00:00.024 DSP: E-Paper 2.9

• To check, enter the display command in the console, you should see the response:
  00:00:03.024.863 RSL: stat/tasmota_302886/RESULT = {"Display":{"Model":5,"Width":128,"Height":296,"Mode":0,"Dimmer":1,"Size":1,"Font":2,"Rotate":1,"Refresh":2,"Cols":[16,8],"Rows":2}}

• Run commands in the console to run the "Display Text" mode (you must first configure the GPIO!):
  DisplayMode 0

• Run the command in the console to rotate the display:
  DisplayRotate 1

• Run the command in the console to set the font scale:
  DisplayFont 2

• Run commands in the console for test Display:
  Backlog DisplayText [z]; DisplayText [x20y2t]; DisplayText [x150y2T];
DisplayText [x20y29t]; DisplayText [x150y29T]; DisplayText [x20y54t]; DisplayText [x150y54T];
DisplayText [x20y79t]; DisplayText [x150y79T]; DisplayText [x20y105t]; DisplayText [x150y105T]

• Run commands in the console for test Display:
  Backlog DisplayText [x0y25r296:2]; DisplayText [x0y50r296:2]; DisplayText [x0y75r296:2]; DisplayText [x0y100r296:2]

• And if you did everything correctly, you should see the following result on the screen:

Wemos Pin	GPIO	Component	e-Paper
D5	14	EPaper29 CS	CS
D6	12	SSPI MOSI	DIN
D7	13	SSPI SCLK	CKL
3v3	-	-	RST
GND	-	-	DC

4. Practical use.

Wemos Pin	GPIO	Component	e-Paper
D5	14	EPaper29 CS	CS
D6	12	SSPI MOSI	DIN
D7	13	SSPI SCLK	CKL
D1	5	I2C SCL	-
D2	4	I2C SDA	-

Best regards,
TrDA.

[arendst]

Thx!!

[TrDA-hab]

Thx!!

I just do my job and share information )))

[gck303]

Thank you. I am very, very impressed you got this far. I tried for many hours and gave up.

A couple of questions:

• are the black.white/red and black.white/yellow displays supported?
• your document mentions that there are three waveshare revisions (Rev1.0, Rev2.0, Rev2.1) Are all these supported by Tasmota?

[TrDA-hab]

Thank you. I am very, very impressed you got this far. I tried for many hours and gave up.

A couple of questions:

• are the black.white/red and black.white/yellow displays supported?
• your document mentions that there are three waveshare revisions (Rev1.0, Rev2.0, Rev2.1) Are all these supported by Tasmota?

1. Supported only black / white displays and only from Waveshare (only two models).
2. I only tested two models (Rev2.0, Rev2.1).

[arendst]

Rev 1.0 worked too.

I have to confess I already blew two of them; one gets very hot even when the display is disconnected from it's multi pin socket. The other I broke trying to open the display multi connector and swap displays.

I now have two new ones at Rev 2.1 and they work "out-of-the-box" AFTER the BS jumper change as documented here.

[hfwang2020]

thank you very much ! can you tell me how to draw a picture of this style ?

[TrDA-hab]

Just use MS Visio.

[Eisix]

Hi,

thanks for this guide!

I tried to use https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/1.54inch_e-Paper_Module
it's recognized

00:00:00.001 HDW: ESP8266EX
00:00:00.050 CFG: Loaded from flash at F8, Count 93
00:00:00.055 QPC: Count 2
00:00:00.060 SPI: Software using GPIO13(CLK) and GPIO12(MOSI)
00:00:03.958 DSP: E-Paper 2.9
00:00:03.962 Project tasmota Tasmota Version 9.5.0(TasmoCompiler-esp8266generic)-2_7_4_9(2021-09-30T18:17:06)
20:37:47.892 CMD: Display
20:37:47.898 RSL: RESULT = {"Display":{"Model":5,"Type":0,"Width":128,"Height":296,"Mode":0,"Dimmer":7,"Size":1,"Font":2,"Rotate":0,"Invert":0,"Refresh":2,"Cols":[16,8],"Rows":3}}

but I can't get it to show something. Any idea why not or what I could test?

Regards
Eisix

[TrDA-hab]

It's simple, your display is currently not supported by Tasmota.

[Eisix]

Too bad, according to Waveshare specs they are very similar. So only 2.9 and 4.2 inch are currently supported.
Any idea if there is a plan to support it in the near future?

[TrDA-hab]

If you have questions about Tasmota, visit the Tasmota in Discord chat room for a discussion:
https://discordapp.com/invite/Ks2Kzd4

[J-Paul0815]

Sorry to reactivate this old post, it seemed the most obvious thing to do.
My question probably got lost in the Discord because I didn't get an answer.
First of all, thank you for the good description, which I followed exactly.
BS is on 1 (3-line SPI) RST/VCC and DC/GND are connected, the power supply is OK with a measured 3.29V.
The cabling, the configuration and also the answers in the console are exactly as described here.
Tasmota is compiled with display support. The display shows nothing and reacts to nothing at all.
However, the 2.9 inch ePaper module REV 2.1 has an additional sticker "V2", where the control has probably changed (see link below).
There seems to be quite a few people having this problem.
What would be a good way to get this display working?

Discussion found in the Arduino forum:
https://forum.arduino.cc/t/terrible-trouble-with-an-waveshare-epaper-2-9-display/701670/13

[gemu2015]

as far i can see on the wave share GitHub driver section there a 3 different drivers for epaper 2.9 displays.
you should test with these drivers until you have success and get in contact with wave share if not.

if you have a working driver i may check how to integrate this into tasmota universal display driver.

btw. the newest of these 2.9 drivers uses a completely different chip.

[TrDA-hab]

1. Try to power the nodemcu from the cell phone power supply, not from the computer!
2. Run the tester all the lines between the display and nodemcu.
3. Check all settings in tasmote.

Watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuuOA6qC_PY

[J-Paul0815]

Thanks for the tips and the link for the video. I did it exactly as described:
I am using the same board (ESP8266 LoLin Nodemcu V3), same PINS.
I measured the wiring with a tester, it is exactly as in the video, and the cable colors are the same.
The connections are verified, also there is no short circuit.
BS is on 1 (3-line SPI) RST/VCC and DC/GND are connected.
Was flashed with the same method (Tasmotizer) the same bin (Tasmota display).
Tasmota is configured exactly the same (D6/GPIO12 SSPI SCLK, D7/GPIO13 EPaper29 CS, D5/GPIO14 SSPI MOSI)
I don't have a flare-up when initializing as can be seen in the video.
Nothing can be seen on the display at all.
Yes, of course I also tested it with an external power supply.
And yes, I checked everything more than once.

The difference to my display is this "V2" sticker.
My guess is that Waveshare has changed something crucial, or my display is broken.
Log in console at start:
00:00:00.001 HDW: ESP8266EX 00:00:00.050 CFG: Loaded from flash at F9, Count 11 00:00:00.055 QPC: Count 1 00:00:00.060 SPI: Software using GPIO12(CLK) and GPIO14(MOSI) 00:00:03.958 DSP: E-Paper 2.9 00:00:03.962 Project tasmota - Tasmota Version 12.3.1(display)-2_7_4_9(2022-12-16T10:28:14) 00:00:04.551 WIF: Connecting to AP1 fritz box new Channel 1 BSSId E0:28:6D:79:ED:94 in mode 11n as tasmota-AB9932-6450... 00:00:07.756 WIF: Connected 00:00:08.009 HTP: Web server active on tasmota-AB9932-6450 with IP address 192.168.0.169 15:49:24.042 RSL: INFO1 = {"Info1":{"Module":"Generic","Version":"12.3.1(display)","FallbackTopic":"cmnd/DVES_AB9932_fb/","GroupTopic":"cmnd/tasmotas/"}} 15:49:24.047 RSL: INFO2 = {"Info2":{"WebServerMode":"Admin","Hostname":"tasmota-AB9932-6450","IPAddress":"192.168.0.169"}} 15:49:24.057 RSL: INFO3 = {"Info3":{"RestartReason":"External System","BootCount":5}} 15:49:24.065 RSL: RESULT = {"POWER":"OFF"} 15:49:24.068 RSL: POWER = OFF 15:49:25.493 QPC: Reset 15:49:28.452 RSL: STATE = {"Time":"2022-12-26T15:49:28","Uptime":"0T00:00:11","UptimeSec":11,"Heap":20,"SleepMode":"Dynamic","Sleep":50,"LoadAvg":19,"MqttCount":0,"POWER":"OFF","Wifi":{"AP":1,"SSId":"fritz box new","BSSId":"E0:28:6D:79:ED:94","Channel":1,"Mode":"11n","RSSI":76,"Signal":-62,"LinkCount":1,"Downtime":"0T00:00:05"}} 15:49:43.404 CMD: display 15:49:43.410 RSL: RESULT = {"Display":{"Model":5,"Type":0,"Width":128,"Height":296,"Mode":1,"Dimmer":10,"Size":1,"Font":1,"Rotate":0,"Invert":0,"Refresh":2,"Cols":[16,8],"Rows":2}}

[Eisix]

Hi, I had similar problems and tried different displays. The only way I was getting it to work was by using Arduino IDE and the original drivers.
Kind Regards
Eisix

[J-Paul0815]

@Eisix
It's a great relief that I guess it wasn't my fault.
Could you elaborate on this? Which driver?
Is the compiled result a proprietary firmware or an individual Tasmota?

Update:
I got an answer to my Waveshare e-mail request.
This ends my adventure with an e-paper display.
Please let me know if there is anything I can test or do something within my means.

---

Dec 29, 2022, 11:57 GMT+8
Hello,

I'm sorry that we do not provide 3-wire SPI codes.
The display you have is the V2 version and it looks like the driver of the Tasmota requested is based on the V1 codes.
Please port the initialize codes from our 2in9_V2 codes to the driver and try it again.

---

[m1k3f15h]

Hello Guys,

Is there already a solution for the "V2-Problem"?
Yesterday i spend a few hours with a D1 and a Waveshare 2.9" EPAPER (Rev2.1) but i didn't get it to show anything :(

greetings from austria
m1kef15h

[Eisix]

Compile worked. I assume it's for the 3 wire or is it 4 wire?

[gemu2015]

3 wire exactly as described above

[Eisix]

Works, the driver is available when compiling the Display Version. Configuration as described above.

[Eisix]

[m1k3f15h]

@gemu2015
Thank you for the driver.
it works great :)

m1k3f15h

[m1k3f15h]

Hello @TrDA-hab,

At first I want to say THANK YOU for this great HowTo.
I think there is a little mistake in it:

The identifier for the epaper-support is "USE_DISPLAY_EPAPER_29" not "USE_DISPLAY_EPAPER29"

dears m1k3f15h

[gemu2015]

@Eisix

I have 2.9 & 1.54 here both Rev 2.1 and V2 Sticker on it. If I can help for validation tell me.

there are now new versions of the epaper29 and universal drivers in the last dev.

the universal driver is now much more flexible about epaper drivers. you should try to use this driver for your 2.9 display and later modify the descriptor for your 1.54

[Eisix]

Compiled the new version and it works with the epaper29 setting. Tried with SSPI CS but not working. I'm not sure if you mean this setting with the universal driver.

[gemu2015]

Connect like above but
Use Sspi_cs instead of epaper29_cs and connect reset and busy to iO pins
Define reset to display_rst and busy to sspi_miso
Then define on any io pin option a3
Rename the paper 29 v2 display descriptor to display.ini and copy to file system

[Eisix]

3 line or 4 line SPI mode, it's soldered like the one here in the post on top. Tried also one with 4 line mode but no reaction.
What you mean with "Then define on any io pin option a3
Rename the paper 29 v2 display descriptor to display.ini and copy to file system"?

[gemu2015]

the defines have to be in user_config_override.h when you custom compile your binary!

the file on tasmotas file system must be called "display.ini"
and is the file descriptor for your display. it is found in the "displaydesc" folder of tasmota.
WS_epaper29_v2_display.ini is the file you need to rename display.ini and then copy to the tasmota device

[Eisix]

Works!

[Elektrofix-OL]

with the 8266 I had no success. Display does not move. when I grab disply.rst to GPIO2 the 8266 can't start.

[gemu2015]

you must use the RST line with this V2 display

what script do you use ? you do not need a display reinit ?

for testing i would switch the script off

[Elektrofix-OL]

I use a script that works very well with the OLED.
I only added ->displayreinit.
RST-line is on D4

>D
ssid=""
rssi=0
kWh=0
Meter=""
t:timer1=600  (t:means countdown timer)

>B
->displayreinit
dt [zdO]

; stop timer after expired
if timer1==0
then timer1=-1
endif

>T
; Wifi- / Batterieanzeige und Zeile 1&2
ssid=Wifi#SSID
rssi=Wifi#RSSI
kWh=Total_in
Meter=Meter_number
dt [x24y0f1]%ssid%
dt [x24y12f1]%lip%
if rssi>0
then dt [x0y18R2:4]
endif
if rssi>20
then dt [x4y14R2:8]
endif
if rssi>40
then dt [x8y10R2:12]
endif
if rssi>60
then dt [x12y6R2:16]
endif
if rssi>80
then dt [x16y2R2:20]
endif
dt [x4y29R6:3]
dt [x0y32r14:32]
if adc(7)>888
then dt [x3y35R8:5]
endif
if adc(7)>851
then dt [x3y42R8:5]
endif
if adc(7)>814
then dt [x3y49R8:5]
endif
if adc(7)>777
then dt [x3y56R8:5]
endif

; Text ín Zeile 3-5
dt [x24y28f1]%dvnm%
dt [x24y40f1]%Meter%
dt [x24y52f1]%kWh% kWh

; Display ausschalten
if timer1<2
and timer1>1
then dt [zdo]
endif
if timer1<1
and pwr[1]>0
then timer1=60
endif
#

[cuci90]

Hi all,

first of all, really good tutorial. I followed it and it works as expected.
But what I was wondering about is a warning regarding Power off on Waveshares Website:

Note that the screen cannot be powered on for a long time. When the screen is not refreshed, please set the screen to sleep mode or power off it. Otherwise, the screen will remain in a high voltage state for a long time, which will damage the e-Paper and cannot be repaired!

Is there any option to trigger this Power off or sleep mode? I know there is the Power toggle function in several above screenshots. But even if it is set to "off" the display still can be triggered to change.

[cuci90]

So I flashed it again and now the display refreshes (shows also quickly time and date) in a loop and the ESP actually never connects to the Wify.
Here the log:

[14:37:21]rst:0x10 (RTCWDT_RTC_RESET),boot:0x13 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
[14:37:21]configsip: 0, SPIWP:0xee
[14:37:21]clk_drv:0x00,q_drv:0x00,d_drv:0x00,cs0_drv:0x00,hd_drv:0x00,wp_drv:0x00
[14:37:21]mode:DIO, clock div:2
[14:37:21]load:0x3fff0030,len:1184
[14:37:21]load:0x40078000,len:12784
[14:37:21]load:0x40080400,len:3032
[14:37:21]entry 0x400805e4
[14:37:21]
[14:37:21]00:00:00.003 HDW: ESP32-D0WD-V3
[14:37:21]00:00:00.075 UFS: FlashFS mounted with 300 kB free
[14:37:21]00:00:00.107 CFG: Loaded from File, Count 14
[14:37:21]00:00:00.117 QPC: Count 2
[14:37:22]00:00:00.124 SPI: Software using GPIO13(CLK), GPIO12(MOSI) and GPIO15(MISO)
[14:37:22]00:00:00.271 BRY: Berry initialized, RAM used=3534 bytes
[14:37:22]00:00:00.291 TFS: File '.drvset003' not found
[14:37:22]00:00:00.292 CFG: Energy use defaults as file system not ready or file not found
[14:37:22]Device : E-PAPER-42
[14:37:22]xs : 400
[14:37:22]ys : 300
[14:37:22]bpp: 1
[14:37:22]Nr. : 4
[14:37:22]CS : 14
[14:37:22]CLK : 13
[14:37:22]MOSI: 12
[14:37:22]DC : -1
[14:37:22]BPAN: -1
[14:37:22]RES : 16
[14:37:22]MISO: 15
[14:37:22]SPED: 10000000
[14:37:22]Pixels: 16
[14:37:22]SaMode: 16
[14:37:22]DMA-Mode: 0
[14:37:22]opts: 12,ff,a1
[14:37:22]SetAddr : 10,13,12
[14:37:22]Rot 0: ff,ff - 65535 - 65535
[14:37:22]LUT_SIZE 1: 44
[14:37:22]LUT_SIZE 2: 42
[14:37:22]LUT_SIZE 3: 42
[14:37:22]LUT_SIZE 4: 42
[14:37:22]LUT_SIZE 5: 42
[14:37:22]LUT_CMDS 20-21-22-23-24
[14:37:22]Dsp class init complete
[14:37:22]Dsp Init 1 start
[14:37:22]Dsp busy pin: 15
[14:37:22]start send cmd table
[14:37:22]cmd, args 01, 5 03 00 2b 2b ff
[14:37:22]cmd, args 06, 3 17 17 17
[14:37:22]cmd, args 04, 0
[14:37:22]delay 150 ms
[14:37:22]cmd, args 00, 1 3f
[14:37:22]cmd, args 30, 1 3c
[14:37:22]cmd, args 61, 4 01 90 01 2c
[14:37:22]cmd, args 82, 1 12
[14:37:22]cmd, args 50, 1 97
[14:37:22]end send cmd table
[14:37:28]EPD Clearframe
[14:37:29]Dsp Init 1 complete
[14:37:33]EPD Diplayframe
[14:37:33]Dsp Init 2 complete
[14:37:33]00:00:11.199 DSP: Configured display 'E-PAPER-42'
[14:37:33]00:00:11.216 Project tasmota - Tasmota Version 12.5.0.1(tasmota32)-2_0_7(2023-04-19T11:42:39)
[14:37:34]EPD Diplayframe
[14:37:35]00:00:13.380 WIF: Connecting to AP1 xxxxxx Channel 11 BSSId 50:E6:36:A8:BA:D9 in mode 11n as tasmota-5AA2A4-0676...
[14:37:38]EPD Diplayframe
[14:37:44]EPD Diplayframe
[14:37:49]EPD Diplayframe
[14:37:54]EPD Diplayframe

with each EPD Diplayframe the display refreshes. Any idea?

[gemu2015]

so actually initialization looks good.
i assume you display something with script or rule.
try without rule or script and it will work.

the universal driver does not support partial update for this display while the old driver did.
the reason why this was skipped is that is this mode it is not stable enough. display shows grey regions after some time. this may be recovered and is no burn in. this was actually a hack and is normally not used by waveshare.

this is actually a full update display and has to be handled different. you must disable auto draw at first, then draw all your content, lets say every minute and then draw the whole screen at once with the d command.

if you want to use the old driver with partial update you must "clean" the display regularly by full updates.

[cuci90]

it is actually a complete clean install. I do not have created or activated any stricpt or rule.
In between the complete refreshes it also shows this grey regions you are mentioning. But then it starts looping....
Strange maybe I can buy another chip and try it. Thanks for your help.

[gemu2015]

you should disable Displaymodes 1 to 5. these modes cannot be used for this display

[cuci90]

YEAH your are right. I totally forgot to set the displaymode to 0 after my second flash.
It works perfectly now :)
THANKS A LOT for your help and patience!

[hagenbuch]

I see that Waveshare's smaller ePaper displays are being supported, which is great.

Maybe I overlooked the information, but: Would adapting more displays (eg this one) just be a matter of modifying the display.ini for an ESP32-lvgl?

[FlorianReinartz]

Hello everyone,

I bought the 4.2 inch display from Waveshare and I think I did everything right, but unfortunately the display remains white.
Everything is displayed correctly in the console!
I suspect it's due to revision. The display is Rev.2.2!!!

Should I send it back or is there hope that Rev. 2.2 will be supported soon? ...maybe 3-color support will come too?
Rev. 2.1 doesn't seem to be available anymore...

Thanks and regards
Florian

[gemu2015]

@FlorianReinartz
remark: you MUST provide software SPI with WS_epaper42_display.ini
SSPI_MOSI
SSPI_SCK
SSPI_CS
SSPI_MISO has to be connected to display busy.

[FlorianReinartz]

Moin together,
I think I've tried 100 different things...
Today I followed this video ePaper Display mit Tasmota im SmartHome - YouTube
Even with an ERS32 and the Display.ini I couldn't get it to work.
During my research I stumbled upon a post about the 2.9 inch display.
The manufacturer suddenly sold a device that had a sticker with V2.
I noticed that my display has also a V2 sticker in addition to the Rev. 2.2 Labelling!
I now suspect that I cannot use the existing drivers for the 4.2 inch display.
Where do I get the information to create a WS_epaper42_v2_display.ini file?
Thanks and regards
Florian

[cuci90]

@FlorianReinartz
Did you try to get it working with a different library e.g.: GxEPD2
To see if the display is actually working?

[gemu2015]

@FlorianReinartz
between V1 and V2 of the Waveshare 2,9 there were large differences. see the 2 versions of display.ini.
you definitely need a working driver of V2 to check the init code and modify the display.ini
waveshare usually provides sample drivers for all their displays

[gemu2015]

@FlorianReinartz
when looking at wave shares website i saw this V2 display now has partial refresh and thus will in no way be compatible with the current display.ini. adapting this is a bit of a challenge. i am willing to assist if you find a working sample driver with source code

i meanwhile checked the sources and this display also has 4 gray scales, not only B/W
it is completely different from the 2,9 V1 and V2 and the old 4,2 display.
i fear, adapting this would require to have such a display at hand because it needs a lot of testing

[FlorianReinartz]

Hello everyone,
a little time has passed since then and I was hoping that the display - as if by magic - would be supported by now.
I'm not any further ahead, my knowledge isn't enough either.
I found some additional information on the WaveShare website, but I can't do much with it.

https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/4.2inch_e-Paper_Module_Manual#ESP32.2F8266

https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/4.2inch_e-Paper_Module

@gemu2015
I can send you my display if it helps you get it working.

I would be happy if the necessary information is hidden among the information from Waveshare and I just don't recognize it.

Have a nice evening
Florian

[gemu2015]

as mentioned above, this V2 display is completely different. we currently don't have support for 4 gray level displays. and it would be a significant work to adapt it.

but Tasmota now supports this B/W e-paper display with the same resolution:

https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005007133350270.html