Freebox Revolution OLED Clock (Raspberry Pi)

Bring back the iconic Freebox Revolution clock display on modern hardware using a Raspberry Pi and a small 128×64 OLED screen.

This project recreates the legendary Freebox clock:

• Custom Freebox-like font (PNG-based digits)
• Smooth sliding / chasing animations when digits change
• Clean, square and minimalist layout

Originally developed for SSD1306 OLED displays, the project was later migrated to SH1106 displays (more common and reliable today).

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Demo

A short demonstration video is available in this repository.

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Hardware requirements

• Raspberry Pi (Zero / 3 / 4 / etc.)
• OLED display 128×64 (I2C)
  • SH1106 (recommended)
  • SSD1306 (legacy)
• 4 wires: VCC, GND, SDA, SCL

I2C wiring

OLED	Raspberry Pi
VCC	3.3V or 5V (depends on module)
GND	GND
SDA	GPIO2 (SDA)
SCL	GPIO3 (SCL)

Typical I2C address: 0x3C

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Raspberry Pi setup

Enable I2C

sudo raspi-config

• Interface Options → I2C → Enable

• Reboot when prompted

  sudo reboot

Optional check:

sudo apt install -y i2c-tools
i2cdetect -y 1

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Installation

System packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3-pip python3-pil

Python dependencies

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

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Run

SH1106 (recommended)

python3 src/freebox_clock_sh1106.py

SSD1306 (legacy)

python3 src/freebox_clock_ssd1306.py

The custom font images must be located in:

src/freeboxfont_/

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Autostart at boot (systemd)

A systemd service file is provided in the systemd/ directory.

1. Edit paths inside the service file if needed

2. Install the service:

   sudo cp systemd/freebox-clock.service /etc/systemd/system/freebox-clock.service sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable freebox-clock sudo systemctl start freebox-clock

Check status:

systemctl status freebox-clock

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Notes

• If the display stays blank, verify the I2C address (0x3C is common, sometimes 0x3D)
• Make sure your OLED module is I2C (not SPI)
• Contrast / brightness can be adjusted in the code