# Will the Unicorn Hat work with Raspberry Pi A+ **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [November 19, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/will-the-unicorn-hat-work-with-raspberry-pi-a/6385 "2017-11-19T21:15:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![datagod](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/datagod/32/3281_2.png) [@datagod](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/datagod)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/will-the-unicorn-hat-work-with-raspberry-pi-a/6385/1 "2017-11-19T21:15:02Z")
I have been trying to get the Unicorn Hat to work on my Raspberry Pi A+'s, but no luck. I keep getting the error saying that the hardware is not supported. Yet on the Unicorn spec sheet, it says it is supported. Anyone out there have this same issue? ---
**Author:** ![gadgetoid](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/gadgetoid/32/13_2.png) [@gadgetoid](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/gadgetoid)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 10:30am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/will-the-unicorn-hat-work-with-raspberry-pi-a/6385/2 "2017-11-20T10:30:34Z")
It’s possible you could have a model of A+ that’s not in the list of supported devices for the rpi\_ws281x library itself. The library deliberately works only with known versions/revisions of the Raspberry Pi to avoid any unexpected results. You need to find your Pi’s revision ID by running: `cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep Revision` If your revision ID isn’t listed here: [https://github.com/jgarff/rpi\_ws281x/blob/master/rpihw.c#L97-L119](https://github.com/jgarff/rpi_ws281x/blob/master/rpihw.c#L97-L119) Then raise an issue against the `rpi_ws281x` repo letting them know, or a PR including it. ---
**Author:** ![alphanumeric](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/alphanumeric/32/2729_2.png) [@alphanumeric](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/alphanumeric)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/will-the-unicorn-hat-work-with-raspberry-pi-a/6385/3 "2017-11-20T15:13:54Z")
There are (at least) two versions of the A+, one with 256 meg of RAM and one with 512 megs of RAM. I have one of each. Both of mine have a Sense Hat on them. They are both also running Raspbian Jessie. Both are running headless and working just fine so I haven’t messed with upgrading them to Stretch. ---
**Author:** ![datagod](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/datagod/32/3281_2.png) [@datagod](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/datagod)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/will-the-unicorn-hat-work-with-raspberry-pi-a/6385/4 "2017-11-20T21:30:46Z")
That definitely seems to be the problem. My A+ is revision 900021 which is not supported (yet). I opened an issue, thank you for the suggestion. > ---
**Author:** ![gadgetoid](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/gadgetoid/32/13_2.png) [@gadgetoid](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/gadgetoid)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 11:55am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/will-the-unicorn-hat-work-with-raspberry-pi-a/6385/5 "2017-11-21T11:55:59Z")
Hopefully that will get merged in soon- then I can trickle it down to my distribution of rpi\_ws281x and thus Unicorn HAT. You can potentially modify the library yourself to get up and running in the interim. The `rpi_2s281x` distribution that Unicorn HAT uses can be found here: > **[pimoroni/rpi\_ws281x-python](https://github.com/pimoroni/rpi_ws281x-python)** > > Python library wrapping for the rpi-ws281x library - pimoroni/rpi\_ws281x-python You’ll need to: ```auto git clone https://github.com/pimoroni/rpi_ws281x-python cd rpi_ws281x-python git submodule update --init ``` Then tweak `library/lib/rpihw.c` ---
**Author:** ![datagod](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/datagod/32/3281_2.png) [@datagod](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/datagod)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/will-the-unicorn-hat-work-with-raspberry-pi-a/6385/6 "2017-11-22T22:30:12Z")
Thank you! Your suggest worked. The A+ format is a perfect size for my project. I’ll update the project area with a video of my progress. You guys are going to be blown away with what I have done. :) ---
**Author:** ![alphanumeric](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/alphanumeric/32/2729_2.png) [@alphanumeric](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/alphanumeric)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 11:03am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/will-the-unicorn-hat-work-with-raspberry-pi-a/6385/7 "2017-11-23T11:03:40Z")
I have an A+ mated to my Sense Hat for the very same reason. Perfect size, its the same outline as the Sense hat. That Pi is running headless and I don’t need all the other ports etc. Looking forward to seeing what your up too. ---
**Author:** ![datagod](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/datagod/32/3281_2.png) [@datagod](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/datagod)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 6:18am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/will-the-unicorn-hat-work-with-raspberry-pi-a/6385/8 "2017-11-24T06:18:57Z")
Here is my demo reel. 6 games so far, still working on a scrolling race game (huge!). Let me know what you think. :) ---
**Author:** ![alphanumeric](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/alphanumeric/32/2729_2.png) [@alphanumeric](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/alphanumeric)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 10:21am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/will-the-unicorn-hat-work-with-raspberry-pi-a/6385/9 "2017-11-24T10:21:21Z")
Very nice. Very nicely done. That’s the 8x8 Unicorn hat right? I have the HD 16x16 on my wish list. My Sense Hat has an 8x8 LED matrix. So far I haven’t done anything other than display messages on it. ---
**Author:** ![datagod](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/datagod/32/3281_2.png) [@datagod](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/datagod)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/will-the-unicorn-hat-work-with-raspberry-pi-a/6385/10 "2017-11-24T14:21:28Z")
Yes, I started my project with the 8x8 Unicorn before I knew of the 16x16 variant. The smaller format is very limiting, but I found that to be part of the fun challenge. How do you show the whole time? Scroll! How do you draw pacman? As a single yellow dot. Imagination fills in the rest. :) ---
**Author:** ![alphanumeric](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/alphanumeric/32/2729_2.png) [@alphanumeric](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/alphanumeric)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/will-the-unicorn-hat-work-with-raspberry-pi-a/6385/11 "2017-11-24T14:47:50Z")
On my Sense Hat I display a scrolling message of day, date , time, temp, humidity, pressure, etc. Started with the text as all one color. Then set it up to change each element based on conditions, The temperature part shows in red for temps above 25c, blue it the temp is below 0c etc. My python file just keeps growing and growing lol. At some point I’m going to replace the Sense hat with the Unicorn HD and a BME680.