Thingy53 - Unable to get a SSD1306 OLED display to work with I2C Stemma/Qwiic

[zpm1066]

Hello,

I've been trying to get a SSD1306 128x64 OLED display to work with a Thingy53 using the I2C Stemma/Qwiic connector. I've used the SSD1306 display many times with nRF52840 and numerous other ARM devices under Zephyr RTOS without any issues.

I have read several related devzone issues but cannot see how to get a simple SSD1306 OLED to work with the Thingy53 nRF5340. Exactly the same code works on nRF52840 with its overlay for the SSD1306 display. The only difference seems to be that Thingy53 nRF5340 uses compatible "nordic, nrf-twim" vs. "nordic, nrf-twi".

What am I missing? I would appreciate your assistance to determine why the overlay below isn't working and needs to be connected. Thank you.

I have a thingy53_nrf5340_cpuapp.overlay, as below

I get the following errors:

00> rtt:~$ [00:00:00.051,788] <err> i2c_nrfx_twim: Error 0x0BAE0001 occurred for message 1
00> rtt:~$ [00:00:00.051,788] <err> ssd1306: Failed to initialize device!
00> rtt:~$ *** Booting nRF Connect SDK v2.5.0 ***
00> rtt:~$ rtt:~$ [00:00:05.002,105] <inf> main: main_thread
00> rtt:~$ [00:00:05.002,166] <inf> main: Zephyr RTOS: 3.4.99

00> rtt:~$ Could not finalize framebuffer (err -19)
00> rtt:~$ Could not finalize framebuffer (err -19)
00> rtt:~$ Could not finalize framebuffer (err -19)
00> rtt:~$ Could not finalize framebuffer (err -19)

Best Regards.

[khelmutlord]

Hello,

Try adding this to your i2c definition:

zephyr,concat-buf-size = <1024>;

Per:

https://github.com/hlord2000/nordic_distance_toolbox_demo/blob/main/nordic_distance_toolbox_initiator/boards/thingy53_nrf5340_cpuapp.overlay

Thanks,

Helmut Lord

[zpm1066]

Hi Helmut,

Thank you for looking at the issue. Much appreciated.

Unfortunately, I get the same error below with your suggested change. In fact, I also tried using a buffer size of 4096 previously and it made no difference.

I also tried using "arduino_i2c: &i2c0" to match what the share link has but it made no difference as well.

00> rtt:~$ [00:00:00.047,454] <err> i2c_nrfx_twim: Error 0x0BAE0001 occurred for message 1
00> rtt:~$ [00:00:00.047,454] <err> ssd1306: Failed to initialize device!


All very odd.

[zpm1066]

Hi Helmut,

What version of NCS SDK and toolchain did you use to build the project you linked in above?

I wasn’t able to build “Nordic_distance_toolbox_initiator” using NCS SDK & toolchains 2.5.0.

[khelmutlord]

I am pushing updates now that will allow building with 2.5.0, apologies.

EDIT: this builds successfully with 2.4.2

[khelmutlord]

Oh! I just noticed! Flip your SDA and SCL lines. P0.04 is SCL and P0.05 is SDA.

[zpm1066]

Hi Helmut,

Thank you. Switching the SDA & SCL lined worked! I guess, it had to be a simple error.

Also ended up increasing the buffer size to 4096.

zephyr,concat-buf-size = <4096>;

The Thingy53_UG (page 17)  has an error relating to the I2C Stemma/Qwiic SDL and SC pin assignments..

[zpm1066]

Hi Helmut,

Did you get a chance to push an update on your “Nordic_distance_toolbox_initiator” project? I’ll try building it under NCS 2.5.0 tomorrow. 

Btw - I tried out your distance initiator and reflector using a Thingy53 with a SSD1306 OLED and a nRF5340DK.  Very interesting! Thanks you.