Raspberry Pi

Hardware Connection

Insert the LAFVIN 2.9 inch E-paper Module directly into the Raspberry Pi 40-pin GPIO header, and make sure all pins are aligned correctly before powering on.

Raspberry Pi Pin Correspondence Table

E-paper module pin	Raspberry Pi signal	Physical pin
VCC	3.3V	Pin 1
GND	GND	Pin 6
DIN / MOSI	GPIO10	Pin 19
CLK / SCK	GPIO11	Pin 23
CS	GPIO8	Pin 24
DC	GPIO25	Pin 22
RST	GPIO17	Pin 11
BUSY	GPIO24	Pin 18

Enable SPI Interface

Open the Raspberry Pi terminal and run the following command:

sudo raspi-config
# Select Interfacing Options -> SPI -> Yes to enable the SPI interface

Then restart your Raspberry Pi:

sudo reboot now

Check /boot/config.txt or /boot/firmware/config.txt to confirm that SPI is enabled:

sudo cat /boot/config.txt
# Or for newer systems
sudo cat /boot/firmware/config.txt

Download Demo Code

If you have already downloaded the code, you can skip this step.

git clone https://github.com/lafvintech/LAFVIN-2.9inch-ePaper-HAT.git
cd LAFVIN-2.9inch-ePaper-HAT/RPI

ZIP Download (Alternative)

If you prefer downloading a ZIP file, use the commands below. Rename the extracted folder to match the Git clone folder name, so all remaining commands are the same for both download methods.

wget -O main.zip https://github.com/lafvintech/LAFVIN-2.9inch-ePaper-HAT/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
unzip main.zip
mv -T LAFVIN-2.9inch-ePaper-HAT-main LAFVIN-2.9inch-ePaper-HAT
cd LAFVIN-2.9inch-ePaper-HAT/RPI

Choose a demo language:

• C Language

• Python

C Language

Note

On the latest Raspberry Pi OS, the tested C demo only requires the lg library. The other GPIO libraries below are optional; install them only if your demo configuration requires them.

Install lg Library (Required)

Open the Raspberry Pi terminal and run the following commands:

wget https://github.com/joan2937/lg/archive/master.zip
unzip master.zip
cd lg-master
make
sudo make install
cd ..

For more details, refer to the source code: https://github.com/gpiozero/lg

Optional GPIO Libraries

Skip these installations for the tested lg demo on the latest Raspberry Pi OS. Expand a section only if your demo configuration requires that library.

Install gpiod Library (Optional)

Open the Raspberry Pi terminal and run the following commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install gpiod libgpiod-dev

Install BCM2835 (Optional)

Open the Raspberry Pi terminal and run the following commands:

wget http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/bcm2835/bcm2835-1.71.tar.gz
tar zxvf bcm2835-1.71.tar.gz
cd bcm2835-1.71/
sudo ./configure && sudo make && sudo make check && sudo make install

For more information, refer to the official website: http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/bcm2835/

Install WiringPi (Optional)

Open the Raspberry Pi terminal and run the following command:

sudo apt-get install wiringpi

For Raspberry Pi systems released after May 2019, you may need to upgrade WiringPi. Earlier systems may not require this step.

wget https://project-downloads.drogon.net/wiringpi-latest.deb
sudo dpkg -i wiringpi-latest.deb
gpio -v

Running gpio -v should display version 2.52. If it does not, the installation was not successful.

For Bullseye systems, use the following commands instead:

git clone https://github.com/WiringPi/WiringPi
cd WiringPi
./build
gpio -v

Running gpio -v should display version 2.60. If it does not, the installation was not successful.

Compile the Demo Program

Note

On the latest Raspberry Pi OS, install only the lg library before compiling the tested C demo. The other GPIO libraries are optional and are needed only if your demo is configured to use them. -j4 uses 4 threads for compilation, and you can adjust the number as needed.

cd c
sudo make clean
sudo make -j4

Run the Demo Program

sudo ./epd

Python

Use Python 3

This example requires Python 3 (3.8 or later). Use the system python3 interpreter to run it.

Note

In our tested Raspberry Pi OS setup, the Python demo runs without any additional library installation. Pillow and the Python lgpio module are already available. Try running the demo first; use the collapsed installation instructions below only if a missing-library error appears.

Download Demo Code

If you have already downloaded the code, you can skip this step and open RPI/python/examples in the extracted project folder.

git clone https://github.com/lafvintech/LAFVIN-2.9inch-ePaper-HAT.git
cd LAFVIN-2.9inch-ePaper-HAT/RPI/python/examples

Run the Demo Program

sudo python3 epd_2in9g_test.py

The example loads the project driver directly from RPI/python/lib; installing the project as a Python package is not required.

Install Missing Libraries

Pillow handles images, drawing, and fonts. The Python lgpio module handles GPIO and SPI. Install only the library reported as missing, then run the demo command above again.

Install Pillow If Missing

If the demo reports ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PIL', install Pillow for the system Python 3 interpreter:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-pil

Confirm that Pillow can be imported:

sudo python3 -c "from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont; print('Pillow is available')"

Install Python lgpio If Missing

If the demo reports Cannot import lgpio or ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'lgpio', install the Python binding:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-lgpio

Confirm that lgpio can be imported:

sudo python3 -c "import lgpio; print('lgpio is available')"