feat(hal): read display rotation from hardware_config.json

Load the full hardware config up front rather than only the GPIO section,
so display settings can come from the same file. Adds a rotate parameter
that falls back to display.rotate in the config when not passed
explicitly, and logs the resolved value.

Also bumps the dreader-hal submodule to 64c9177 (use partial draw) and
adds a direct IT8951 example that bypasses the HAL, for isolating display
problems to the driver layer.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

examples/test_direct_it8951.py

@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""
+Direct IT8951 test - bypasses the HAL completely.
+Uses IT8951 library directly like the working example.
+"""
+
+from IT8951 import constants
+from IT8951.display import AutoEPDDisplay
+from PIL import Image
+
+
+def main():
+    """Test display with direct IT8951 access."""
+
+    print("=" * 60)
+    print("Direct IT8951 Test - Half Black, Half White")
+    print("=" * 60)
+    print()
+    print("This test bypasses the HAL and uses IT8951 directly.")
+    print("Matches the working code you provided.")
+    print()
+
+    # Display size
+    width, height = 1872, 1404
+    shape = (height, width)  # IT8951 uses (height, width) format
+
+    print(f"Display shape: {shape} (height, width)")
+    print(f"Dimensions: {width}x{height}")
+    print()
+
+    # Create test image
+    print("Creating test image...")
+    print("  Left half: BLACK (0)")
+    print("  Right half: WHITE (255)")
+
+    # Create grayscale image
+    screen = Image.new('L', shape, color=255)  # White background
+
+    # Draw left half black
+    pixels = screen.load()
+    for y in range(height):
+        for x in range(width // 2):
+            pixels[x, y] = 0  # Black
+
+    print(f"✓ Image created: {screen.size} {screen.mode}")
+    print()
+
+    # Save for reference
+    output_file = "direct_test.png"
+    screen.save(output_file)
+    print(f"✓ Saved to: {output_file}")
+    print()
+
+    # Initialize display
+    print("Initializing IT8951 display...")
+    print("  VCOM: -1.7V")
+    print("  Rotation: CW (clockwise)")
+    print("  SPI: 24MHz")
+
+    display = AutoEPDDisplay(
+        vcom=-1.7,
+        rotate="CW",
+        spi_hz=24000000,
+        device=0,
+        bus=0
+    )
+
+    print("✓ Display initialized")
+    print()
+
+    # Display the image
+    print("Displaying image...")
+    print("  Using frame_buf.paste() + draw_full(GC16)")
+
+    display.frame_buf.paste(screen, (0, 0))
+    display.draw_full(constants.DisplayModes.GC16)
+
+    print("✓ Image displayed!")
+    print()
+
+    print("=" * 60)
+    print("CHECK YOUR SCREEN:")
+    print("=" * 60)
+    print()
+    print("You should see:")
+    print("  • LEFT HALF:  BLACK")
+    print("  • RIGHT HALF: WHITE")
+    print()
+    print("If this works, the display hardware is fine!")
+    print("If this doesn't work, there's a hardware/wiring issue.")
+    print()
+
+    # Sleep display
+    input("Press Enter to put display to sleep and exit...")
+
+    epd = display.epd
+    epd.sleep()
+
+    print("Display put to sleep. Done!")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    try:
+        main()
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        print("\n\nTest interrupted")
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"\nERROR: {e}")
+        import traceback
+        traceback.print_exc()