Jim's Notes
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Monday, May 4, 2026
Raspberry Pi display 7" install
Rotate screen without a desktop
To set the screen orientation on a device that lacks a desktop environment, edit the /boot/firmware/cmdline.txt configuration file to pass an orientation to the system. Add the following line to cmdline.txt:
video=DSI-1:800x480@60,rotate=<rotation-value>Replace the <rotation-value> placeholder with one of the following values, which correspond to the degree of rotation relative to the default on your display:
090180270
For example, a rotation value of 90 rotates the display 90 degrees to the right. 180 rotates the display 180 degrees, or upside-down.
Note | It is not possible to rotate the DSI display separately from the HDMI display with cmdline.txt. When you use DSI and HDMI simultaneously, they share the same rotation value. |
Rotate touch input
Warning | Rotating touch input via device tree can cause conflicts with your input library. Whenever possible, configure touch event rotation in your input library or desktop. |
Rotation of touch input is independent of the orientation of the display itself. To change this you need to manually add a dtoverlay instruction in /boot/firmware/config.txt. Add the following line at the end of config.txt:
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-dsi-7inch,invx,invyThen, disable automatic display detection by removing the following line from config.txt, if it exists:
display_auto_detect=1Touch Display device tree option reference
The vc4-kms-dsi-7inch overlay supports the following options:
| DT parameter | Action |
|---|---|
| Sets X resolution (default 800) |
| Sets Y resolution (default 480) |
| Invert X coordinates |
| Invert Y coordinates |
| Swap X and Y coordinates |
| Disables the touch overlay totally |
To specify these options, add them, separated by commas, to your dtoverlay line in /boot/firmware/config.txt. Boolean values default to true when present, but you can set them to false using the suffix "=0". Integer values require a value, e.g. sizey=240. For instance, to set the X resolution to 400 pixels and invert both X and Y coordinates, use the following line:
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-dsi-7inch,sizex=400,invx,invyInstallation on Compute Module based devices.
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
vnc server install ubuntu
Sunday, April 12, 2026
telnetd installation on linux
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Yahoo / Thunderbird login changes / notes
In addition to enhanced security, this update also allows you to access Yahoo, AOL, and ATT calendars and address books in Thunderbird, which is a major new benefit to users. If you need more information, see OAuth2 Authorization below.
You have only one account
If you have only one account, then no change is needed in Thunderbird for PKCE to work. You just log in ("authenticate") by providing your email account and account password (App passwords do not work with OAuth2), and then confirm that Thunderbird may access data on the provider's servers (AOL, ATT, Yahoo, etc). This is a normal and safe process. If you have difficulty, please see Detailed Troubleshooting Steps below.