SPI

class bibliopixel.drivers.SPI.SPI

SPI() is for controlling anything that can utilize the SPI interface available on devices like the Raspberry Pi. See SPI Setup for more details on connecting SPI hardware.

Note: SPI devices typically require root access in order to write to the SPI port. Any scripts using this class should be run with sudo.

Unlike the SPI drivers in BiblioPixel 2, there is a single SPI driver for all LED types.

__init__(ledtype, num, dev='/dev/spidev0.0', interface='FILE', spi_speed=1, c_order = ChannelOrder.RGB, gamma=gamma.DEFAULT)

• ledtype - Type of LEDs connected. See LED Types.
• num - Number of pixels to be controlled.
• dev - The SPI device path to use. See SPI Setup for more details.
• interface - SPI interface handler to use. See SPI Interfaces below for more details.
• spi_speed - The SPI speed, in MHz, to use when communicating with the strip. WS2801 requires 1Mhz and WS2812X requires 3.2MHz, do not change for these types.
• c_order - Optional: Channel order used by the attached display. Can be any of the six options in the ChannelOrder class. See Channel Order for more details.
• gamma - Optional: Set Gamma Correction for the output. The correct default gamma will automatically be chosen for each LED type if this value is not passed. Only use to override.

SPI interfaces

There are three different ways that BiblioPixel can communicate with SPI.

• FILE - This is the default interface: it accesses the SPI port as a Unix-style file. This mechanism requires no external dependencies, so it's suitable for any machine - but you cannot set the SPI speed, and you cannot control WS281X at all strips as a result.

• PERIPHERY - Uses the python-periphery pure python library to access the SPI port via low level system calls. This interface has greater support for non-Pi devices like the BeagleBone or Orange Pi.

• PYDEV - Uses the python-spidev library to access the SPI port. This is the official Raspberry Pi driver but is now old and not recommended unless you can't use any of the others.

Notes

• All three interfaces drivers use the same mechanism under the hood to speak to SPI: a Unix-style file handle at /dev/spidevX.Y.
• WS281X: WS281X only works with PERIPHERY and PYDEV and is limited to 455 pixels max. If you need more pixels than that and are using a Raspberry Pi, use the PiWS281X driver. Otherwise, we recommend the AllPixel.
• WS2801 only works at 1MHz SPI speed.