Hi all, hope we can find a solution to this because it is driving me crazy.
Setup: Pi Zero W (soldered 40-pin header) → Witty Pi 4 L3V7 (software 4.23, firmware 0x37 rev 0x07) → Pimoroni Inky Impression 13.3" (EL133UF1, Spectra 6, 1600×1200). It’s a battery photo frame: wake on schedule, paint, power off.
Symptom: with Witty Pi powered (battery or USB-C), the panel never refreshes. The driver times out waiting for BUSY, nothing changes on screen, no error. The Pi itself runs normally throughout and vcgencmd get_throttled stays 0x0.
The decisive test: Witty Pi still stacked on the header, but completely unpowered (no battery, no USB-C), Pi fed from its own micro-USB → the panel refreshes correctly, every time. Same two connectors, same GPIO-17 wiring, daemon.sh still pulsing SYS_UP. The only thing removed is Witty Pi supplying the Pi.
With the witty pi plugged in, panel gets no refreshed at all. I thought at first that could be some pin overlapping but I don't think so anymore.
Anybody with same symptoms here?
Thanks
Similar issues involving Witty Pi and Inky Impression displays have been discussed by other users:
Some users have suggested possible causes and reported workarounds. However, UUGear was not involved in these investigations and has not tested or verified any of their findings or proposed solutions.
As explained in the compatibility section of the Witty Pi user manual, we provide information about the GPIO pins and hardware resources used by Witty Pi. Identifying potential conflicts with third-party hardware and testing the compatibility of the complete system are the responsibility of the system integrator.
You may find the discussions above useful as starting points for your own investigation.