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Setting Up Raspberry Pi With 3 5 Inch Touch Screen Xpt2046

Just documenting how I set up the 3.5” touchscreen (XPT2046) on my Raspberry Pi 4 for future reference. I followed the instructions from LCD Wiki.

🔌 Step 1: Raspberry Pi Setup

  • Download Raspberry Pi Imager: https://www.raspberrypi.com/software
  • Flash Raspberry Pi OS to the SD card

  • Boot up the Pi, connect to the internet, and update:

     sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

📺 Step 2: Connect the Screen

  • Shut down the Pi
  • Plug the screen onto the GPIO header
  • Power it back on (you may see a white screen at this point — that’s normal)

Connecting the screen to Pi

🔧 Step 3: Enable SPI

sudo raspi-config
  • Go to Interface Options → SPI → Enable

  • Reboot:

    sudo reboot

📦 Step 4: Install Driver

git clone https://github.com/goodtft/LCD-show.git
chmod -R 755 LCD-show
cd LCD-show/
sudo ./LCD35-show

The Pi will reboot and the screen should display the desktop.

🖐️ Step 5: Touchscreen Calibration (Optional)

For some reason, the touch input is not accurate and requires calibration. The LCD-show driver has issues with the XPT2046 controller—touch input may be inverted (e.g., touching the top-left registers as bottom-right).

To calibrate:

sudo apt install xinput-calibrator
xinput_calibrator

  • Follow the instructions and tap the calibration points

  • Then run the following:

    sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf

  • Change "SwapAxes" "1" to "SwapAxes" "0"

  • Save by pressing Ctrl + X, then Y, and Enter

  • Reboot the Pi

🔁 Rotate the Display (If Needed)

cd LCD-show/
sudo ./rotate.sh 90

You can change 90 to 0, 180, or 270, representing rotation angles in degrees.

🧠 Notes

  • A white screen at first boot is normal—means the driver hasn’t loaded yet
  • Touch might be inaccurate until calibrated

🔗 References