Missing keypad<-->display ribbon cable... does it matter?

Picade
1

Argh! (or should that be Arrrrr?!)

My son and I are 99% the way through our epic Picade build. We have been enjoying Matt’s video (well done, Matt) but now, at the final moment, disaster has struck. We’ve looked high, we’ve looked low, but we cannot find the ribbon cable that connects the keypad to the display driver board. It’s quite possible the dog ate it.

Logic dicates (sigh) that we order a new one. But before I do the order, I thought I’d ask a really silly question: is this part actually necessary? What is the role of the keypad? Won’t I be using a USB keyboard to do the software config, etc? Many thanks for your kind assistance. This is our first Picade and our first Pi project.

2

Just ask (email) support nicely for a new one, I’m sure we’ll be able to post one out! There’s no telling for sure that it was ever in the kit, so I’d wager we’ll extend the benefit of the doubt.

The keypad is used for turning the screen on/off and possibly configuring some other things which I can never remember! It’s not completely essential, but it’s nice for you to have a complete setup!

3

I would imagine its very similar to what’s on your PC LED monitor. Access to the menus for setting the contrast, brightness etc.

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