Epaper displays correctly only when connected to computer

[rsheldiii]

I'm using the epaper2in9.py file to write to a waveshare 2.9inch V1 epaper module via a NodeMCU. I'm using pymakr in vscode to connect to the device. When I'm connected to the terminal, the screen refreshes correctly. If I am powered in any other way (or if the terminal is not connected) the device behaves unexpectedly - displays prior frame, shows static, displays greyer version of prior frame, anything but actually displaying the correct content.

This may be related to #17 . I found a similar issue here which references another thread, but the solution doesn't work for me, neither does wait_until_idle or reset or combinations of the two at the start of the init function. The init function also looks fine, it's line-for-line from the raspberry pi examples on Waveshare's website.

I would appreciate any help with this.