Hi @Justin, the reason we ask to re-flash the OS is because the OLED screen is driven by some python libraries and, if someone is customizing the OS a lot, then there is a chance that something can break - the easiest way for a customer support team to diagnose if it’s software or hardware is by using a fresh OS (which is a known baseline).
In terms of the boot-up sequence, the OLED screen is first driven by the pi-top [4]'s internal MCU, once the Pi is on it then hands over control to the Raspberry Pi. From this, we know that the OLED hardware is working properly which leaves two scenarios:
- Software issue on the OS (could be many things)
- A hardware connection issue between the Raspberry Pi SPI interface and the OLED screen
Can you get a new SD card and try booting with a fresh OS? This will keep your system intact and we can then pinpoint the problem before we start recommending opening the case and checking cable connections.
In terms of your “do you know how long it takes to get everything set up” conundrum - that’s a problem many pi users face and I share your pain. I’d recommend looking into Docker containers if your system is particularly complex, then your system can be OS-independent and with a single command, you can have it up and running again exactly as you want it. If the system doesn’t warrant that sort of solution, then using shell scripts and python setup.py files can get you a long way to a faster set-up time.