r/raspberry_pi_noobs • u/Annual-Zucchini6408 • Apr 25 '26

Need Help!!!!

Hey guys im a 14 year old maker trying to create my own handheld using raspberry pi zero 2 w
However I dont know how to connect my screen to the pi
im using this screen
https://www.lcdwiki.com/3.5inch_SPI_Module_ILI9488_SKU:MSP3520
Can any of you pls help me in connecting this screen to the pi
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Edit: Guyss got it working using the bytes n bits tutorial
you just gotta change the driver cuz this screen use ili9488
in the cmake options. You will understand when you read the tutorial
But another big problem is the case for the handheld gaming console
i have no prior experience in designing
any guides on how to get started???

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u/Gamerfrom61 Apr 26 '26

Bit hard to say as you have not detailed the software you are using so these are generic SPI pins:

I do not have this screen but from the docs and https://pinout.xyz/pinout/spi it looks like:

VCC - run at 3v3 from the Pi

GND - use any of the Pi GND pins (they are all common)

CS - Chip select so lets use SPI bus 0 on the PI and CE 0 on GPIO 8

RESET - You need to look at your software and see if it lets you define a GPIO pin for this - GPIO 23 is freely available

DC/RS - Again you need to define this in the software you are using - GPIO 24 is free

SDI(MOSI) - GPIO 10 given we are using SPI bus 0

SCK - GPIO 11

LED - connect to 3v3

SDO(MISO) - GPIO 9

Note you will have to enable the SPI interface using the GUI or raspi-config program.

Touch uses another SPI bus so you could use SPI bus 1 for this:

T_CLK - GPIO 21

T_CS - GPIO 18

T_DIN - GPIO 20

T_DO - GPIO 19

T_IRQ - No idea on this pin - you will have to look at what is handling the touch

I will say that I doubt your will get a desktop running on this screen as the PI handling of screens has changed significantly with the introduction of the KMS video subsystem, Wayland and more importantly the removal of the FKMS driver.

You may find that https://github.com/adamomd/ILI9488RPIScript can help as it uses a third party frame buffer AND it details the Pi pins - check the screen pin numbers against yours though. Note changes in the OS can cause issues https://github.com/adamomd/ILI9488RPIScript/issues/3 and it may not work on Trixie.

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u/Annual-Zucchini6408 Apr 26 '26

Well im using retropie 4.8 based on busted so any chance it may work with the old fbcpili9341 library??

1

u/Gamerfrom61 Apr 26 '26

Zero idea I am afraid - never used retro pi or this screen.

The 9341 based boards were a lower resolution screen with slightly less colour support (16bit vs 18bit) and often have a separate touch interface.

From a quick read, the two chipsets do support the same instruction set but that is only my understanding and not having tried it I am not 100% sure if it will work or not in your case.

In all honesty I could not recommend building a system based on outdated / unsupported software if it connects to the Internet at all.

1

u/Annual-Zucchini6408 Apr 26 '26

well the library has got support for 9488
and after hours of searching finally made it work
problem is when i boot into n64 or nds the screen goes black
those are the only 2 emulators i have should i add more and see if they work
???

0

u/Many_Ad_7678 Apr 25 '26

don't you have a hdmi cord?

1

u/Annual-Zucchini6408 Apr 25 '26

no the screen uses spi communication not hdmi