Unable to display on P3 RGB Matrix 64×64 Driver / Chip RUC7258D with ESP32

[AniMukherjee]

Hi Team,

I mistakenly bought this RUC7258D P3 board and now not able to use with ESP32 (38 pin dev board). Tried all the options from old QnA, but so far worked. All I could see are some glitches on the RGB board so far. Adding my code.

#include <Arduino.h>
#include <ESP32-HUB75-MatrixPanel-I2S-DMA.h>

#define R1_PIN  25
#define G1_PIN  26
#define B1_PIN  27
#define R2_PIN  14
#define G2_PIN  12
#define B2_PIN  13
#define A_PIN   23
#define B_PIN   19
#define C_PIN    5
#define D_PIN   17
#define E_PIN   32
#define LAT_PIN  4
#define OE_PIN  15
#define CLK_PIN 16

MatrixPanel_I2S_DMA *dma_display = nullptr;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("\n--- STARTING DIAGNOSTIC ---");

  HUB75_I2S_CFG::i2s_pins _pins = {
    R1_PIN, G1_PIN, B1_PIN, 
    R2_PIN, G2_PIN, B2_PIN, 
    A_PIN, B_PIN, C_PIN, D_PIN, E_PIN, 
    LAT_PIN, OE_PIN, CLK_PIN
  };

  HUB75_I2S_CFG mxconfig(64, 64, 1, _pins);

  mxconfig.i2sspeed = HUB75_I2S_CFG::HZ_10M;
  mxconfig.clkphase = false;
  
  // Try standard driver first (most reliable for just getting light)
  mxconfig.driver = HUB75_I2S_CFG::SHIFTREG;

  dma_display = new MatrixPanel_I2S_DMA(mxconfig);
  
  if(!dma_display->begin()) {
    Serial.println("DMA Memory Allocation Failed!");
    while(true); // Stop here if failed
  }

  // Keep brightness low (30 out of 255) to prevent power crashes!
  dma_display->setBrightness8(30); 
  dma_display->clearScreen();
  Serial.println("Screen Cleared.");
}

void loop() {
  Serial.println("Filling RED");
  dma_display->fillScreen(dma_display->color565(255, 0, 0));
  delay(2000);

  Serial.println("Filling GREEN");
  dma_display->fillScreen(dma_display->color565(0, 255, 0));
  delay(2000);

  Serial.println("Filling BLUE");
  dma_display->fillScreen(dma_display->color565(0, 0, 255));
  delay(2000);

  Serial.println("Clearing Screen to Black");
  dma_display->clearScreen();
  delay(2000);
}

Pictures.

[board707]

Hi @AniMukherjee
The RUC7258 chip in the title is not a main driver on your panel.
As I can see on the picture, the main driver is CNS7263GP.
Brief Google search by the index, I have found a page: https://m.isle.org.cn/news/detail/enterprises?lang=zh&id=554, which implies that CNS7153/7253/7263 chips are new-technology drivers, so-called PWM-type drivers.
Unfortunately, panels with such drivers are not supported by this library.

[board707]

They are suggesting to use "HD-D16 Full Color Asynchronous LED Display Controller Card".

...and they also warned you that this panel is not compatible with Arduino libraries.

Is there any other Arduino library that I may use to drive using ESP32?

I'm not know of any libraries that can work with your panel. Support for this type of drivers, sPWM, is just beginning to develop, and there are very few libraries that work with such panels. Moreover, unlike traditional drivers, each sPWM driver has its own initialization algorithm. For someone to add support for your driver to their code, the author must have a similar panel.

[AniMukherjee]

Yes @board707; I made a big mistake buying it. Anyway, I have no way to return also. I'll wait till any new libraries come up.

[mrcodetastic]

The future appears to be shifting toward 'smarter' PWM-style panels that operate more like an LCD panel, rather than arrays LEDs connected in a 'dumb' configuration using shift registers, which were widely available when this library was first developed.

There is little you can do, even if you wanted to write your own software, without the datasheet.

[AniMukherjee]

I bought an HD-D16 controller by Huidu company and the panel worked with it. I used HDPlayer software to set it up.

after that I tried to reverse engineer and look at the Latch and Clock pins on ESP32 serial monitor.

#include <Arduino.h>
#include "driver/pcnt.h"

#define LAT_PIN 4
#define CLK_PIN 16

// Buffer to hold the secret sequence
#define MAX_SEQS 300
volatile int16_t recorded_pulses[MAX_SEQS];
volatile int seq_index = 0;

// Interrupt triggers ONLY when Latch drops to LOW (End of a command)
void IRAM_ATTR lat_isr() {
  int16_t count = 0;
  
  // 1. Instantly pull the hardware count
  pcnt_get_counter_value(PCNT_UNIT_0, &count);
  // 2. Clear the hardware counter for the next latch
  pcnt_counter_clear(PCNT_UNIT_0);

  // 3. Filter out normal row data (1 clock) and huge VSYNC overloads (1000+ clocks)
  if (count > 2 && count < 1000) { 
    if (seq_index < MAX_SEQS) {
      recorded_pulses[seq_index] = count;
      seq_index++;
    }
  }
}

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("\n--- ESP32 HARDWARE (PCNT) WIRETAP ACTIVE ---");
  Serial.println("Waiting for HD-D16 boot sequence...");

  pinMode(LAT_PIN, INPUT_PULLDOWN);
  pinMode(CLK_PIN, INPUT_PULLDOWN);

  // =========================================================
  // ESP32 HARDWARE PULSE COUNTER CONFIGURATION
  // This counts 20MHz signals natively without crashing the CPU
  // =========================================================
  pcnt_config_t pcnt_config = {
    .pulse_gpio_num = CLK_PIN,
    .ctrl_gpio_num = LAT_PIN,
    .lctrl_mode = PCNT_MODE_DISABLE, // Disable counting when LAT is LOW
    .hctrl_mode = PCNT_MODE_KEEP,    // Keep counting when LAT is HIGH
    .pos_mode = PCNT_COUNT_INC,      // Increment on CLK rising edge
    .neg_mode = PCNT_COUNT_DIS,      // Ignore CLK falling edge
    .counter_h_lim = 32767,
    .counter_l_lim = -1,
    .unit = PCNT_UNIT_0,
    .channel = PCNT_CHANNEL_0,
  };
  pcnt_unit_config(&pcnt_config);
  
  pcnt_counter_pause(PCNT_UNIT_0);
  pcnt_counter_clear(PCNT_UNIT_0);
  pcnt_counter_resume(PCNT_UNIT_0);

  // Attach a lightweight interrupt to read the hardware counter when Latch falls
  attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(LAT_PIN), lat_isr, FALLING);
}

// Variables to detect when the burst of commands is finished
int last_seq_index = 0;
uint32_t last_change_time = 0;

void loop() {
  int current_index = seq_index;
  
  if (current_index != last_seq_index) {
    last_seq_index = current_index;
    last_change_time = millis();
  }
  
  // If we collected data and 1 FULL SECOND has passed with no new commands...
  if (current_index > 0 && (millis() - last_change_time > 1000)) {
    noInterrupts(); // Pause briefly to copy data safely
    int count = seq_index;
    int16_t temp_array[MAX_SEQS];
    for(int i = 0; i < count; i++) temp_array[i] = recorded_pulses[i];
    
    // Reset trackers for next time
    seq_index = 0;
    last_seq_index = 0;
    interrupts();

    Serial.println("\n[!] INTERCEPTED CONFIGURATION BURST [!]");
    Serial.print("LAT HIGH + CLK Pulses: ");
    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
      Serial.print(temp_array[i]);
      Serial.print(", ");
    }
    Serial.println("\n-------------------------------------------");
  }
}

this is the sequence I get. not only during booting, but even after that.

12:47:02.441 -> [!] INTERCEPTED CONFIGURATION BURST [!]
12:47:02.441 -> LAT HIGH + CLK Pulses: 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 11, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 12, 9, 30, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 9, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 36, 8, 37, 8, 26, 14, 10, 34, 29, 14, 26, 14, 8, 35, 10, 28, 10, 4, 26, 14, 6, 33, 8, 29, 19, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 13, 10, 26, 14, 4, 39, 6, 29, 15, 26, 14, 10, 36, 4, 29, 10, 29, 9, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 27, 12, 6, 26, 14, 8, 28, 11, 10, 28, 11, 4, 26, 14, 7, 26, 14, 8, 37, 10, 26, 14, 4, 31, 7, 26, 13, 8, 26, 13, 10, 31, 4, 29, 13, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 33, 4, 26, 14, 6, 41, 8, 29, 11, 32, 4, 38, 6, 29, 10, 27, 12, 10, 29, 5, 34, 6, 29, 14, 26, 12, 10, 29, 10, 4, 29, 13, 26, 14, 8, 37, 10, 29, 6, 26, 14, 6, 39, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 12, 4, 26, 14, 6, 29, 10, 28, 10, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 27, 11, 10, 36, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 9, 37, 10, 29, 7, 26, 14, 7, 30, 9, 26, 12, 10, 26, 14, 4, 27, 11, 7, 29, 13, 26, 14, 10, 29, 10, 4, 40, 6, 29, 12, 26, 14, 10, 30, 5, 29, 11, 29, 11, 29, 13, 29, 10, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 29, 9, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 9, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 35, 7, 43, 9, 26, 14, 10, 32, 4, 26, 14, 7, 27, 12, 
12:47:02.542 -> -------------------------------------------
12:47:05.361 -> 
12:47:05.361 -> [!] INTERCEPTED CONFIGURATION BURST [!]
12:47:05.361 -> LAT HIGH + CLK Pulses: 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 30, 9, 29, 15, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 33, 8, 26, 14, 11, 36, 4, 35, 6, 33, 9, 34, 11, 29, 12, 26, 13, 6, 30, 9, 29, 16, 26, 12, 4, 26, 14, 8, 38, 9, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 33, 7, 30, 8, 30, 10, 26, 14, 4, 29, 14, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 29, 11, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 13, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 13, 8, 29, 16, 26, 13, 4, 38, 6, 26, 12, 8, 26, 14, 10, 29, 8, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 29, 10, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 35, 10, 29, 7, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 22, 24, 26, 12, 4, 29, 13, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 12, 4, 26, 14, 7, 26, 14, 8, 26, 13, 10, 29, 13, 29, 11, 26, 14, 8, 29, 16, 26, 14, 4, 37, 6, 29, 11, 29, 14, 26, 14, 4, 33, 6, 29, 15, 26, 14, 10, 39, 4, 38, 6, 26, 14, 8, 34, 10, 29, 11, 30, 6, 35, 8, 29, 19, 26, 12, 4, 26, 14, 6, 27, 12, 8, 29, 15, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 28, 10, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 29, 15, 26, 13, 8, 29, 13, 28, 11, 4, 26, 13, 7, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 12, 4, 33, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 31, 4, 29, 10, 6, 26, 14, 8, 29, 17, 29, 8, 
12:47:05.466 -> -------------------------------------------
12:47:08.276 -> 
12:47:08.276 -> [!] INTERCEPTED CONFIGURATION BURST [!]
12:47:08.276 -> LAT HIGH + CLK Pulses: 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 7, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 29, 10, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 39, 4, 29, 8, 38, 8, 26, 14, 10, 29, 5, 27, 11, 6, 32, 8, 29, 10, 10, 26, 12, 4, 26, 14, 6, 29, 13, 28, 10, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 31, 8, 26, 14, 10, 31, 4, 29, 9, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 29, 8, 27, 11, 7, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 13, 7, 34, 8, 26, 14, 10, 41, 4, 31, 6, 29, 14, 35, 10, 39, 4, 29, 14, 26, 14, 8, 29, 9, 10, 26, 12, 4, 26, 12, 6, 26, 13, 8, 36, 10, 29, 9, 4, 26, 14, 6, 29, 11, 29, 14, 26, 14, 4, 29, 9, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 7, 26, 14, 8, 40, 10, 27, 11, 4, 26, 14, 7, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 43, 4, 26, 14, 7, 29, 15, 29, 17, 28, 10, 4, 29, 9, 7, 29, 15, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 31, 7, 26, 13, 8, 26, 13, 10, 40, 4, 32, 6, 33, 8, 37, 10, 26, 14, 4, 34, 6, 29, 9, 8, 26, 12, 10, 26, 14, 4, 30, 6, 29, 16, 26, 13, 11, 26, 14, 4, 29, 26, 13, 8, 26, 14, 10, 29, 9, 29, 11, 26, 13, 9, 26, 12, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 13, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 34, 7, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 32, 4, 29, 13, 26, 12, 8, 32, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 7, 
12:47:08.346 -> -------------------------------------------
12:47:11.148 -> 
12:47:11.148 -> [!] INTERCEPTED CONFIGURATION BURST [!]
12:47:11.148 -> LAT HIGH + CLK Pulses: 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 12, 26, 14, 8, 29, 18, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 12, 8, 26, 14, 11, 39, 4, 37, 6, 29, 10, 9, 26, 14, 10, 30, 4, 43, 7, 26, 14, 9, 29, 14, 29, 9, 26, 12, 8, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 31, 6, 26, 14, 8, 35, 10, 28, 11, 4, 29, 11, 26, 14, 8, 31, 10, 28, 10, 4, 26, 14, 6, 38, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 29, 14, 32, 10, 33, 4, 29, 12, 26, 14, 8, 28, 11, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 7, 26, 14, 8, 36, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 13, 7, 31, 8, 29, 16, 26, 14, 4, 29, 7, 29, 16, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 31, 10, 26, 14, 4, 36, 6, 29, 12, 29, 17, 26, 14, 4, 29, 13, 29, 16, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 7, 26, 14, 8, 37, 10, 29, 6, 26, 14, 7, 26, 14, 8, 29, 17, 26, 14, 4, 27, 11, 7, 29, 16, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 27, 11, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 29, 8, 26, 14, 8, 26, 13, 10, 29, 10, 26, 14, 6, 32, 8, 29, 15, 29, 9, 26, 13, 6, 41, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 34, 6, 32, 8, 26, 14, 11, 26, 14, 4, 29, 10, 6, 26, 14, 9, 29, 11, 26, 14, 4, 26, 12, 6, 26, 11, 
12:47:11.262 -> -------------------------------------------
12:47:14.075 -> 
12:47:14.075 -> [!] INTERCEPTED CONFIGURATION BURST [!]
12:47:14.075 -> LAT HIGH + CLK Pulses: 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 29, 12, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 32, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 29, 9, 29, 14, 26, 14, 8, 29, 13, 29, 9, 26, 14, 6, 36, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 40, 4, 31, 6, 43, 8, 26, 14, 10, 29, 9, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 29, 14, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 7, 38, 8, 32, 10, 26, 14, 4, 37, 6, 31, 8, 29, 18, 31, 4, 29, 11, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 29, 7, 26, 14, 7, 26, 14, 8, 29, 15, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 29, 14, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 29, 9, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 40, 8, 29, 12, 26, 14, 4, 26, 14, 6, 29, 13, 27, 11, 10, 26, 14, 4, 29, 8, 26, 14, 8, 26, 14, 10, 26, 13, 4, 26,ets Jul 29 2019 12:21:46
12:47:14.725 -> 

Although not prominent, but there is a pattern like
26, 14, 4
26, 14, 6
26, 14, 8
26, 14, 10

[mrcodetastic]

Your ESP32 pulse‑counter “wiretap” approach is genuinely clever — tapping LAT and CLK to reveal the HD‑D16’s command bursts is exactly the kind of low‑level visibility you need when dealing with sPWM‑type drivers like the CNS7263GP mentioned earlier in the thread. The repeating patterns you’re seeing (e.g., the recurring 26, 14, 4 → 26, 14, 6 → 26, 14, 8 → 26, 14, 10 sequences) strongly suggest that the controller is continuously re‑broadcasting configuration frames, not just during boot.

Based on what I’ve learned from the MBI5153 PWM‑driver implementation, the next step is deeper capture:

• You’ll need to record the actual configuration bitstream being clocked into each chain of RGB LEDs. The HD‑D16 isn’t just sending timing pulses — it’s pushing full register‑level configuration data. That data is clocked out in parallel over the R1/G1/B1/R2 etc.. lines, and each PWM driver IC latches its portion of the frame.

• Assuming each PWM driver handles 16 LEDs, the configuration frame will repeat several times across the chain, just like grayscale pixel data does. The HD‑D16 pushes the same serial frame through all driver chips, and each chip shifts in the part meant for it.

• These configuration frames can be sent at any time, and many controllers resend them periodically. This is likely a robustness measure - if a driver’s internal state becomes corrupted, a fresh configuration frame prevents random LED behavior.

Your pulse‑counter logs show that the HD‑D16 is indeed doing continuous configuration refreshes, not just a one‑time initialization. Capturing the actual bitstream on the RGB data lines (not just the LAT/CLK pulse counts) will let you map out the register structure for the CNS7263GP or whichever sPWM driver your panel uses.