TABLE OF CONTENTS


IMPORTANT NEWS:


The Wall Display Touch 22 is now available for purchase. This is our first all-in-one Wall Display with a touchscreen. Production on these models is still in the early stages so we may run out on occasion. You can visit our Shop Page, click on the Display or CPU you want when it is out of stock, and then click the Notify Me When Available button to be added to our restock notification lists. We hope to have more Touch Displays in the near future.


Touchscreen and DAKboard OS:


DAKboard OS versions 3.41 (Raspberry Pi) and 103.41 (Orange Pi) CPUs and above have now been configured to work with Touchscreen Monitors. Our DAKboard v2 Plus, Wall Display 27", and Mirror Display are not Touchscreen at this time. If you have a CPU and want to have it work with a Touchscreen, you can upgrade your DAKboard OS to the latest versions from our articles below:


Orange Pi - Download and Install DAKboard OS
Raspberry Pi - Download and Install the DAKboard OS


Any Touchscreen Monitor or TV that is capable of working with Linux OS and has a that has its touchscreen controls through a USB connection should work with your CPUs running on these OSs. Both the HDMI and USB connections must be made to the DAKboard CPU to get the touchscreen monitor to work. Make sure the screen you want to purchase says it works with Linux before you buy it. See our article How to Connect a Touchscreen to DAKboard OS for more details.


When creating your Custom Screen, be aware of the placement of your Blocks. Any Block placed behind another will not be able to be touched by you on your screen and therefore cannot be interacted with. We suggest you place Blocks that you don't need to interact with toward the bottom of your Block Layer. Check out our article Block Layers and How to Use Them to better understand how to do this.


The most exciting part of the new Touchscreen OS is that we have now added a simpler way to access your Displays Settings page for the initial setup and if you lose access to the internet. Now at the bottom of your Touchscreen, you will see the following:



This can be accessed by Touching it or, if you don't have a Touchscreen, by connecting a USB mouse and/or Keyboard to the Display. No longer will you have to connect to the Hotspot to access the settings page. Instead, you can just click this and your Display will show you the settings page. There is also an On-Screen Keyboard for making edits to your Settings. See below:


You can even create a Button Block on your Custom Screens with the URL http://localhost to be able to tap and jump to this settings page whenever you want.


NOTE: The Custom Screen Button Blocks set up this way will bypass your enabled SSL security when it is on the display. We suggest disabling the Button Block until you need it to keep others from accessing your settings page. This is useful in case you forget your Custom Password if you enable SSL and need to reset it. The Block can be enabled and disabled from the Block Layer section of your Custom Screen Editor.


DAKboard Blocks That Work With Touchscreens:


Though Touchscreen capabilities have already been in place with DAKboard, we only have a limited number of things you can do at this time. Below is a list of all of our DAKboard Blocks that have capabilities that you can take advantage of with Touchscreens: 


Available at Release:


NOTE: Though external links can be accessed from your DAKboard using Touchscreen or Mouse Clicks, external links may not provide a method to navigate back to your screen URL. Should this be the case, you can get back to your Screen by rebooting the DAKboard OS device.


  • ToDo List: All ToDo lists can be scrolled through by touch or mouse scroll wheel. 
  • Completed Tasks on ToDo List: As an Option, for Google Tasks, ToDoists Task, and DAKboard To-dos ONLY, you can set it so you can complete your tasks from a touchscreen. This option is not available for other to-do services and must be enabled in the To-Do block on your Custom Screen.
  • Calendars: All Multi-Month Calendars can be scrolled through by touch or mouse scroll wheel
  • Weekly Calendar Type: When events cover each other you can touch or click with a mouse to pull events in the background forward.
  • Button Blocks: These can be interacted with by touch or mouse click. (See our Blog article QR Codes, Buttons and More! for details on this)
  • Countdown/Count Up timer Block: The reset button can be pressed by touch or mouse click


New Additions:

  • Photo Blocks: (12/05/2023) You can now enable as an option the ability to advance the photo when touched or clicked by a mouse. This will use the Photo Block sources method of image rotation. For eternal sources this will be switching to a random image, for the Media Library (available with Plus and Pro plans) this will be the method of rotation you define.
  • Support for Home Assistant & SmartThings: (01/09/2024) Control your smart home appliances with the tap of your finger. Home Assistant and SmartThings users can use their touchscreen DAKboard to flip lights and switches on and off remotely.
  • DAKboard To-Do: (02/14/2024)  DAKboard now has a To-Do list you can access and edit right from your Account and Display. This To-Do list option can be fully accessed from your Display using your Touchscreen or connected Mouse. Add, complete, and reopen your tasks right from your Display. See our article DAKboard To-Do on DAKboard for more details
  • Enable/Disable External Links: (04/01/2024) Added to the RSS feed block, you can now enable or disable links to external sources to prevent or allow navigation away from your Custom Screen. This has to be done from the RSS Block Editor.
  • Whiteboard Block: (08/05/2024) This new block allows you to set up a Whiteboard on your screen that can be interacted with by a mouse or Touchscreen. This allows you to write notes or draw pictures on the individual display that the screen is connected to. See our article How to Use the Whiteboard Block for more details.
  • Predefined Screen Limited Touch Functionality: (09/09/2024) With this update, users of the Predefined Screens can now use Touchscreens and IR Overlays. This functionality is limited to Scrolling through your Calendars and To-Do lists when these lists are too long to view on your Display as a whole. 


Make sure to check back as we will be adding more items and improving the existing ones with more advanced features in the coming months.


Touchscreens That Have Been Tested: 

As stated before, any Touchscreen that has USB connections for its touch controller and is confirmed to work with Linux-based computers should work with the DAKboard OS. Make sure you use the USB cable that came with your Touchscreen monitor to connect to the Touch Controller. It will most likely be a USB-A to USB-B cable. Below is a list of the Displays we have tested and know work.


  • View Sonic:
    • Model TD2465
    • Model TD2760
  • Waveshare
    • Waveshare 21.5" Capacitive Touch Display
  • DeYoWo: 
    • Interactive 10 Points Infrared IR Touch Screen Overlay Frame - This frame can be added to any 24-inch monitor (including the AOC, V2, and V2 Plus Wall Displays) and turn the display into a Touchscreen. They are also available in 27-inch sizes and can be used on our new Wall Display 27e.

NOTE: With the release of version 3.53 the Infrared (IR) overlays are having an issue when you first boot up the device where the touch matrix allows you to move the pointer on the Display, but you cannot interact with the touch points. This has been corrected in version 4.03 of our OS for the Raspberry Pi CPUs.


Block Layers are Important:


With touchscreens, Block Layers on top will be accessible, but Block Layers toward the bottom may not. You will need to know how to layer your display to get the maximum benefit. Check out the article Block Layers and How to Use Them to learn more about this.


Known Issues:

With so many customers adopting the new Touchscreen technology we are adding this section to cover known issues:


  • Chromium ID is not populating until after the CPU is running - An issue has been found with some touchscreens and IR Overlays. This issue makes it so that when you first start your DAKboard OS device it will only track your finger position but will not allow you to interact with the Display. Unplugging the USB while the CPU is running and plugging it back in will correct the issue. See our bug case https://github.com/dakboard/Hardware-OS/issues/173 for more details.


Frequently Asked Questions:


Here are some of the most Frequently Asked Questions about touchscreens and what to do about them.


What touchscreen do I need?

Any touchscreen that can be used with a Linux Computer, and has both an HDMI Input and a USB touch controller should work with our OS. Above we have a selection of touchscreens and infrared overlays we have tested and know work with our systems.


Currently, the DAKboard OS device does not have a means to return you to your screen without a reboot. The quickest method would be to unplug the power to your Display and Plug it back in. This includes if you navigate to our Support Site or DAKboard.com from your Displays.


Can I add a Calendar Event Through my Touchscreen?

Currently, the DAKboard OS cannot add events to your Calendar through your Displays or Screens. This is something we hope to add in the future and we will announce it here in this article, on all our Social Media platforms, and our Blog once we have added this functionality.