Drivers for Waveshare 2.13inch E-Ink display

[matto]

Hi guys! This is my first post here

I have a PyBoard 1.1, and I've found an E-Ink display that perfectly fits my needs:
http://www.waveshare.com/2.13inch-e-paper-hat.htm

I'm new to MicroPython and Python in general. My project will use 2 of those, but I don't want to buy them until I'm sure there are drivers for them to work with my PyBoard.
I've been searching and I found some drivers for 4.3 and 2.9 inch screens, but not for this specific one.

Is there a specific driver for this display, or maybe one of the existing drivers will work?
Thanks a lot!

[torwag]

Hi,

afaik, there is no driver yet. I placed an order for a display a few days ago, hence, if I find enough time there might be something in the future but I can't promise anything.
If money is no problem, it helps a lot to send one of the displays as a present to some of the more active developers

Greetings

[matto]

Thanks for your reply!

That is good news, I hope you can find the time for this.
Sadly, at this moment money is limited, that's why I want to make sure I buy the correct display , but I agree giving one to the active developers would be very nice. If someone else is interested we could share the costs.

[pythoncoder]

As the author of the 2.7" driver https://github.com/peterhinch/micropython-epaper.git I made an attempt to follow this up. I located a datasheet for the device, which had good details of the hardware but fell a long way short of the programming detail required to write a driver. I then went looking for the sourcecode for the Pi driver and drew a blank; the website is pretty poor in my opinion. If you guys can locate the source feel free to post a link and I'll take a look.

If it's anything like the 2.7" units, drivers are decidedly nontrivial. However there may be commonality which could be exploited. I'm unlikely to spend much time on this beyond offering advice for the following reasons. Developing the 2.7" driver took a good deal of time. The 2.7" units are widely available, seem better supported, and are similar in size.

[matto]

[quote="pythoncoder"]As the author of the 2.7" driver [url]https://github.com/peterhinch/micropython-epaper.git[/url] I made an attempt to follow this up. I located a datasheet for the device, which had good details of the hardware but fell a long way short of the programming detail required to write a driver. I then went looking for the sourcecode for the Pi driver and drew a blank; the website is pretty poor in my opinion. If you guys can locate the source feel free to post a link and I'll take a look.

If it's anything like the 2.7" units, drivers are decidedly nontrivial. However there may be commonality which could be exploited. I'm unlikely to spend much time on this beyond offering advice for the following reasons. Developing the 2.7" driver took a good deal of time. The 2.7" units are widely available, seem better supported, and are similar in size.[/quote]

Thanks a lot and kudos for your work!
I'll consider using those instead, but they are almost double in price. The fact that your driver exists makes it a very good option though.

[torwag]

Hi,
I found a example code written for STM using HAL.
This contains a driver as well. Might be a good starting point.
However, same as Peter, I miss a programming documentation.

Best

[dhallgb]

I wrote a small library for the 4.3inch Waveshare e-ink displays.
https://github.com/dhallgb/eInk-micropython

A lot larger display but easy to program.
I used the WiPy, it may work on the Pyboard.

[pythoncoder]

I'd expect that to work on any MicroPython platform as the interface is a UART. It should even be possible to make this work on the ESP8266. It's a lot easier to drive than the Pervasive Displays/Adafruit modules but I did spot this in the spec:

Ultra low power consumption, sleeping current lower than 5mA

This contrasts with effectively zero for the above modules. 5mA is much too high for some applications.

[mnelsoneorm]

I know this is a little bit of an old thread - but maybe take a look at the Pimoroni inky phat as a reference (for this size and python library)? It appears to be a "Good Display" GDEW0213Z16. They can be purchased at smart-prototyping.com and I think Aliexpress has them too but you'd still need a driver board....or just hook up to the correct pins on the pimoroni board.

THANK YOU dhallgb!!! I had been messing around with the waveshare 4.3 on arduino for a while but found it difficult to work with (types converting to strings....pain). Much easier to do in python. Making a web updatable "presence" indicator for my office so that I can send a message to it from my phone to let anyone stopping by know where I am or what I'm doing (at my choosing of course). Sending data via adafruit io. Just need to put it in a frame and work out how I want to power it (wall wart or battery).

[mcauser]

My 2.9" Waveshare e-paper module arrived today. I'm a little late to the party.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2-9inch ... 12396.html
Looking forward to making it work with my Pyboard + ESPs.

I went with the black/white version with a 2s refresh rate.
There is a black/white/red version but it has a 15s refresh rate. 15s?! Ain't nobody got time fo' that!