Issues Using the DFRobot DFR0499 64x64 LED Matrix

Hello,

I am having issues using the DFRobot DFR0499 64x64 LED Matrix in the “Live Spotify Album Art Display” tutorial posted by Sparkfun on DigiKey (Live Spotify Album Art Display). I am seeking support in getting this panel working.

It has recently come to my attention that the LED matrix Sparkfun published on DigiKey is not the same as the LED Matrix posted on the Sparkfun website (the former is made by DFRobot, and the Latter by iPixel LED Light Co). I completed the aforementioned tutorial with no errors, but my LED panel is not lighting up; I am concerned this is because I have the wrong LED panel. I am curious if there are any troubleshooting options as a result.

Salient details about my work thus far:

  • I wired the cables to the panel/ESP32 ports by name. I followed the connections described in the tutorial, and later by the PxMatrix library listed in the tutorial for ESP32 interfacing with the panel. Both were ineffective.
  • When I run the Spotify code in the tutorial, there is no light from the panel at all. When I run examples from the PxMatrix library, there is incoherent light (mixes of blues/greens/reds in lines that change when you power cycle the panel)
  • I tried loading the DFRobot_RGBMatrix library, but it seems to demand AVR resources (expecting strictly Atmel microcontrollers I think). The outputs referenced in the library are not found, and I get a long string of errors through pretty much every file. This makes me think the DFRobot panel is not compatible with ESP32’s. Other libraries like the Adafruit_GFX, others for ESP32 haven’t had any luck.
  • I am powering the panel at 5V that can source up to the recommended 5 amps.
  • I used the Arduino IDE Boards manager to add the ESP32 boards: https://dl.espressif.com/dl/package_esp32_index.json (ESP32 Core)

I would appreciate any ideas on how to get this panel working! Many thanks in advance. Cheers.

Hi Welcome to Tech Forum. I have sent your request over to our product manager to see if he has any insight in why it would not be working. We will post an update once we hear back. Glenda

1 Like

I am sorry we would not know what is causing that issue. It was mentioned to check if the panel is actually working and not having issues with the panel itself. You might want to check out the Wiki link below. To see if it will help in any way. Glenda

https://wiki.dfrobot.com/64x64_RGB_LED_Matrix_-_3mm_pitch_SKU_DFR0499

I see; thanks kindly for your response & help. I emailed the manufacturers about this and it seems there is no documentation on interfacing this specific 64x64 LED Matrix panel with an ESP32 microcontroller. I might suggest an edit be made to the original DigiKey tutorial, as it appears there is an incompatibility with the listed software and hardware. I am currently not sure of my options to get this project working beyond buying a new panel.