Contents - Raspberry PI Community Projects

Composite displays no image
The output display will default to HDMI if a HDMI display is connected, and composite
if not. Make sure there isn't a HDMI cable connected when you want to use composite
output.
Also, check that your TV is set to the correct input, normally marked "AV". If your TV
has multiple AV inputs, try all of the inputs, normally by pressing a button marked "AV"
or "Input" or "Source" or "->O" on the remote control.
Composite displays only black and white image
The composite display defaults to NTSC (American) output. Most TVs will show an
image with that, but older PAL (European) televisions may display only back and white
or no image. To fix this:
Edit the configuration file, see the instructions at R-Pi_ConfigurationFile.
Add the following line to the configuration file
sdtv_mode=2
(You can try other values: 0 is NTSC, 1 is Japanese NTSC, 2 is PAL, 3 is Brazilian PAL)
GPIO
Remember that the GPIO pins are 3.3V logic level only, and are NOT 5V tolerant.
If you momentarily shorted the two end GPIO pins together (+3.3V and +5V), or a
supply pin to ground, and the Pi appears to be dead, don't panic. The input polyfuse may
have tripped. It is self-resetting after it cools down and the polymer re-crystallizes, which
can take several hours. Set the Pi aside and try again later.
The GPIO pins connect directly into the core of the ARM processer, and are staticsensitive,
so you should avoid touching the pins wherever possible. If you are carrying a
static charge, for example by taking off an acrylic pullover, or walking across a nylon
carpet, touching the GPIO pins could destroy your R-Pi, so always earth yourself before
touching the pins or anything connected to them.