general-tech

[west fractal]

thanks to the pio module, i2s takes almost no CPU power

one other problem might be the lack of DSP

[delicate quarry]

Ohhhh, that.

Yeah, RP2040 also lacks native floating point math IIRC.

[west fractal]

but it should be fine if the software dedicate one entire CPU core to soft process the signal

[delicate quarry]

I'd be surprised if there isn't a port for M4-based boards somewhere though...

Oh yeah, with the M4 Trellis in this guide: https://learn.adafruit.com/synthesizer-design-tool/audio-system-design-tool

[hollow rover]

Dual core 133MHz M4 which can do a lot

[west fractal]

RP2040 is M0+

[hollow rover]

Oh nice

Would not be surprised if someone could get a Linux kernel running on it

[delicate quarry]

On an M0+? I would be.

Even on Teensy 4.x, the main limitation preventing it from running a modern build of UNIX is its lack of memory management functionality.

[hollow rover]

ah, makes sense (I have not looked into the ARM arches themselves as much yet)

[hearty karma]

Even a modern Arduino uses an ATmega16U4 as a USB to serial interface to the ATmega328, which is a bit silly, as the two are nearly equivalent in processing power.

[icy moth]

Someone put uLinux on the RP2040

Okay it’s not like real microlinux

But it is Unix like https://hackaday.com/2021/02/19/the-raspberry-pi-pico-cant-run-linux-but-it-can-run-fuzix/

[delicate quarry]

I mean, they use a 16u2, so it is more resource-restrained despite being able to almost directly match it in pure computational power. It might also explain why Arduinos tend to be fairly pricey boards compared to something like an ESP32 board with a much cheaper CP2102 dedicated USB-UART bridge chip.

[young ice]

i wish there was a fona lte :(

especially now that 2g is gone and 3g is going too

[inner linden]

Yeah, a 2g fona would be a hard cell.

[obtuse onyx]

Master Punner

[eager bramble]

Anyone know what's up with FreeDesktop.org and Sway and Mesa3D.org? Can't even find wlroots on FreeDesktop any longer, only got a stale archive at GitHub...

I can find it in the wayback machine archive... https://web.archive.org/web/20211115174642/http://docs.mesa3d.org/download.html

Looks like their entire GitLab instance is down.

Getting 502s from the site now. Some yahoo doing server maintenance in the middle of the day.

Oh, they're back up.

I was like... why did 75% of the software libraries that I need to compile right now just magically disappear?

[outer brook]

someone probably had a rough few hours

[proper escarp]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/34083ebe9516099e98aad1cdaf86fa41/tumblr_inline_mnliypjaU11qz4rgp.gif

[hollow rover]

Best to try to find ways to not rely on other people's computers

[junior pivot]

Try telling that to management who think the "cloud" (great marketing! not: "server farm") saves them money and buys them resilience. I think it's that they don't believe they need to manage that software/hardware cluster and need fewer employees. In my experience if anything it's not a savings at all, especially as hardware costs continually go down. Unless one needs a highly-scaleable stack I agree with you entirely.

[junior pivot]

Looks like a young Jeff Bezos... 🤔

[random cypress]

a very SaaSy retort indeed

I am totally with you on disliking the insidious terminology. There is clearly a critical element of pulling the wool over the eyes of financial decision makers

fwiw, scaling compute is a genuinely hard problem in many application, and would require a lot of managerial overhead in small orgs if there were not services like AWS

[junior pivot]

It's entirely clever marketing. They're just selling space on a server on a farm somewhere where the labour and electricity rates are lower.

[random cypress]

that is not just marketing, i.m.o. It's genuine business

division of labor

[hollow rover]

It is also important for data security and privacy, better knowing where your confidential data is instead of having someone else store it.

[random cypress]

though intuitive, I think this might be very inaccurate in the majority of cases. In general I'd trust AWS to be much safer under most threat models than some random IT guy hired by a small company

details do matter on that calculation though

[hollow rover]

or, in cases where companies can do their own IT which is rare outside of companies that are in the IT field

[random cypress]

yeah. I'm not very knowledgeable about how companies typically handle this but that sounds right

[junior pivot]

I would contest that. Sure they need fewer employees but the cost of cloud services is actually very high. You also need to hire a different set of programmers with expensive skills

[random cypress]

that definitely applies in some/many cases. On the other hand, some companies are structured on the premise that every project they cook up will have a painful scaling path

[junior pivot]

...and I've long had the feeling that AWS would likely be the highest value exploit target in the world, and knowing that Bezos really doesn't care so much for due diligence than due cash-in-hand, the idea of trusting sensitive data to AWS just (to me) seems pretty foolhardy. I.e., if the Russian and Chinese criminal gangs (government-sponsored or not) haven't cracked AWS I'd be pretty surprised.

[random cypress]

if you're worried about national governments hacking into your stuff, I'm not aware of any good protections but security by obscurity does seem up there

unless they're specifically interested in your thing, of course

[hollow rover]

Also Amazon could sell the data to marketers?

[junior pivot]

Security by obscurity used to work, but nowadays just try putting up a honey pot and see how long that obscurity lasts. Minutes.

[random cypress]

I don't think this would be anywhere close to in their interest. If anyone found out (including internal whistleblowers), it would cost them a lot, both in immediate money and in reputation

[hollow rover]

Remember that (Security by Obscurity) being an argument about proprietary software

[junior pivot]

On Open Source, they don't want your software, they want to own your computer systems.

[hollow rover]

exactly

[eager bramble]

it's not like the data is any safer if you know where it is...

[hearty karma]

There are mPCIe modules out there like https://techship.com/products/simcom-sim7600na-h-mpcie/ which is realize is not quite the same thing, but I picked up one to play with.

[hearty karma]

Remember when they realized they could spam their entire customer list with ads?

[eager bramble]

Oh man, that's a gut buster... I've had a few conversations with people that advocated for "Security by Obscurity" and every single time I ended up laughing in their face. It's like talking to a flat-earther. There's just certain basic facts of reality that they have chosen to ignore.

[hearty karma]

I wrote an xkcd style password generator and someone asked "what happens if someone gets access to your word lists?" I assume from the get-go that people have access to my word lists, so the number of combinations I use to calculate is the size of the word list to the power of the number of words. Sure, things are better if they have to try every word that exists, but I refuse to depend on that.

[eager bramble]

Kind of like that time I implemented a url shortener service as part of a Python coding challenge from a friend (I was applying for Python-related jobs at the time) and I remembered to add in a fuzzy bad words checker to make sure the short links didn't spell out four letter words, with or without numbers.

Because. The internet.

[hearty karma]

Good thinking. That's a different threat model than a chat program I wrote in high school, and the school asked me to filter out bad words. I refused on the grounds that the users would take it as a challenge and they (in the aggregate) are more creative than I am.

[random cypress]

Years ago I wrote a simple screenshot hosting website, and configured it to, upon each image view with some small probability, redirect to a Rickroll instead of showing the image. Definitely had the element of surprise on my side.

[random cypress]

I don't have a thorough understanding of this, but I think the centralization of email (whole other big topic) had big consequences for this, as email marketers now have to keep a good reputation for the spam filters. In theory there is CAN-SPAM, but I imagine the immediate hit to the wallet from getting a bad reputation with Gmail's spam filter is much scarier to most companies.

[hearty karma]

There was an immediate outcry from amazon's customers at this abuse, and amazon backed off from that particular practice.

[eager bramble]

Or... you just send the emails from servers outside of the United States?

[random cypress]

yes, but then there is a PR hit for being sketchy

(and your new IPs will also soon get a bad reputation)

[eager bramble]

I just meant more like if you want to get around being liable for CAN-SPAM

[random cypress]

oh, sure

[eager bramble]

but yeah, your rep is going to take a hit, and you'll probably end up on spam/blacklists anyway.

[random cypress]

yeah, actual revenue losses from spam filter reputation is more effective in pretty much every way, for a multinational corporation

[random cypress]

What exactly was the abuse? Sending marketing email to existing customers with no way to opt out except leaving the service?

[hearty karma]

Sending their own marketing email would have been bad enough, but they sent someone else's marketing email to their customers too.

[outer brook]

I'm trying to extricate myself from amazon but it's hard since they own audible and I drive so much

and impossible because of AWS

I sure wouldn't mind someone running for president on a platform of "break up amazon"

[hearty karma]

I've easily avoided Audible (since I'm hard of hearing it is of little value to me). Most of my cloud computing is on GCP or Bluemix. The bane of my existence is amazon gift cards. I can either try to trade them for money on sketchy exchange sites or try to do crafty shopping (last time, I found a $350 "titanium spectral lamp" for $40 and bought it, only to find out it was mislisted and was actually a $800 thallium spectral lamp)

[random cypress]

The degree of Amazon monopoly is too d*** high

[jade dirge]

I'd prefer the tactic of dealing with abuses individually rather than just outright punishing them for being successful.

[random cypress]

Is it not easy to sell an Amazon gift card at slightly below its nominal value pretty much anywhere?

[hearty karma]

It's possible to sell them above their nominal value, but all such transactions are risky. I also considered just buying 4000 1-cent USB chargers with free shipping.

[random cypress]

above? I'm talking about selling for $4 a gift card that is redeemable as $5 toward an Amazon purchase

that's what I generally did with iTunes gift cards until my relatives stopped assuming everyone wants iTunes gift cards

[hearty karma]

You can reportedly get 110% of the gift card value selling it on eBay.

[random cypress]

is there any rhyme or reason to that?

[jade dirge]

Money laundering

[random cypress]

ah right...

sigh

[random cypress]

not to be glib, but why?

[jade dirge]

What is the incentive to grow a successful company if you get arbitrarily punished just because you're successful?

[random cypress]

still being successful?

[hearty karma]

I'm not out to punish them for being successful. I want to punish them for abusing their customers, vendors, and employees, unfair business practices, outright lying, etc.

[random cypress]

I am interpreting your statement as: "I don't like the tactic of regulating once shortcomings of the existing system become obvious due to being exploited by a huge corporation"

[jade dirge]

hence deal with those things individually.

[random cypress]

I think making regulations in the public interest that take into account the not-yet-technically-illegal stuff Amazon is doing, and having those regulations then apply to Amazon, is very much fair game

and oftentimes have absolutely no negative effect on struggling small businesses

[jade dirge]

Running a political campaign on a "I will break up Amazon just because" doesn't sound like that though.

[random cypress]

yep I agree, and also think we can't afford to have that be the sole platform of a relevant political party, for many reasons.

[hearty karma]

"deal with those things individually" is a facile but pointless statement. I deal with all of those abuses the same way, by punishing the company that's doing the abusing. Again, I'm not advocating punishing them for being successful, I'm advocating punishing them for being abusive.

[jade dirge]

The message needs to be "Amazon is doing dodgy things X/Y/Z and if elected I will deal with them in this way..."

[random cypress]

"...and also I believe in global warming"

[hearty karma]

If elected, I will modify the Common Carrier Act to apply equally to internet, phone, and cable companies, and give all of them the ability to refuse connectivity to networks that violate their terms of service.

BAM, net neutrality fixed. Telemarketing scams fixed.

[jade dirge]

That's kind of a dangerous path.

[hearty karma]

Only to wrongdoers.

[random cypress]

there are wrongdoers

[hearty karma]

Yes. The network will quickly fracture into two networks, one containing all the scammers and one containing the legitimate users.

[random cypress]

I somehow doubt it would be that simple

[jade dirge]

Refusing carrier to carrier interconnects for made-up reasons which are actually rooted in economics isn't a good thing.

[random cypress]

for example, lawsuits, lobbying and propaganda are not mentioned

[hearty karma]

I've seen it in action. There would be a couple of weeks of innocent people getting disconnected and guilty people complaining, but when companies are faced with IDP for connecting to bad actors, they're suddenly motivated to vet their customers.

Lobbying is, of course, why we have the current broken situation.

Laws are not passed for the benefit of the majority, they're passed for the benefit of the ultra-rich.

Which is why none of us would actually get elected

[outer brook]

Does anyone know of a site where you can input an angular speed and see something spinning at that speed? I really lack the ability to visualize speeds

[jade dirge]

Our version of the CCA here is thankfully ensconced in the baseline of the primary law covering the telco business. To avoid the duopoly of NTT and KDDI freezing everyone out.

[cold pebble]

how fast does it have to go? You could code one up

😉

[random cypress]

googled "animated parametric graphing". Got: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/gbkeho85sx

[outer brook]

I could but I figured why not ask first lol.

I could probably get a few brain cogs back into alignment and do it in MATLAB if I had a license.

[outer brook]

Thanks I couldn't come up with the language

I'll check that out

[random cypress]

for example, something like this curve (though the sky is the limit) https://www.desmos.com/calculator/gi32i8rxms

[outer brook]

I'm looking more for like a rod rotating about an axis

[random cypress]

that's the second result https://christopherchudzicki.github.io/MathBox-Demos/parametric_curves_3D.html

[random cypress]

ah hm, if you're looking to emulate the visual effect of something more complicated than just tracking a fixed reference point on the rod, then that seems like there would have to be some optics (and a more precise problem statement) involved

[outer brook]

That second link is exactly what I need.

I could do this in fusion360 too.

oh wait this not really what I want after all. It's fine, I can come back to it. Thanks for looking.

What I'm after is simulation of really basic motion. Say a slender rod spinning about its centroid

[random cypress]

how would you expect that to be visible to the eye?

[outer brook]

I think we're miscommunicating. Let me see if I can get a good example.

slender rod may have been the wrong terminology to illustrate what I want.

[random cypress]

I think we need to be talking about rotating around an axis, not a point

[outer brook]

This centroidal axis

I thought what I meant was obvious, but I'm not the best at communicating.

[random cypress]

ah yeah, I had in mind a cylinder rotating around the axis that runs along its length, not an axis perpendicular to its length, which is what you depicted.

the thing I had in mind would not actually be visible if the cylinder was perfectly symmetrical, of uniform material etc.

[outer brook]

yeah I agree. It was vague wording on my partt

[random cypress]

at this point I am very confident that I do not know a good way to do it. However, I do know how to create a sequence of PNGs and stitch them together with ffmpeg at a specified frame rate.

[outer brook]

haha I think I'll just dust off my linkage making skills in F360 and animate that way

[hearty karma]

Heh, I'd probably just put a cardboard disc on a motor and vary the speed

[haughty flare]

so, im taking a robotics and automation class next semester and the course discription doesnt give what ill be working with. the only clues are robot, rover, and python. any ideas what micro ill probably be using?

[outer brook]

Some flavor of STM32 isn't out of the question

[hearty karma]

Possibly a Micro:Bit

[slate ivy]

give all of them the ability to refuse connectivity to networks that violate their terms of service.
Not all ToS violations are severe

And the company has control of their own terms of service

And at the same time, virtually no one thoroughly reads them

[random cypress]

I hope this is not true: I hope telecoms are severely regulated as to what they are allowed to say in their terms of service

[slate ivy]

At that point, why do they need to choose their own terms?

[random cypress]

as someone who doesn't know much about this, I don't know of a reason

[slate ivy]

And what if the ToS regulations and the "I don't need to let people connect if they broke the ToS" regulations are in separate laws...

[random cypress]

but that's how it is with e.g. insurance companies. Plan terms are heavily regulated.

[slate ivy]

...and one is amended?

Then you have, uh, a "broken dependency"

[random cypress]

compared to how complicated these kinds of laws tend to get, that's an easy case

this stuff gets extremely complicated

[slate ivy]

Yeah, let's go with that.

[random cypress]

I recently had the, uh, experience of self-advocating in a 401(k) dispute with my employer. That was the most hands-on experience I have had of trying to understand how law enforcement works on something as heavily regulated as benefits plans

it seems that behind many companies there is a secret second company that only gets woken up if you credibly(ish) threaten to sue

[eager bramble]

That's a real thing, for sure.

but, those guys probably sit down the hall from the CEO, you just never paid attention to them 😉

Some golf-playing chads with boring outfits, boring lives, and boring work. Until you wake them up. Then they will rain hellfire down upon you and whatever you thought you were worth, monetarily, and as a human being with "rights."

They usually hang out by the copy machine or printer a lot. Doing paper things.

[slate ivy]

Was it, uh, successful?

[random cypress]

luckily, the Department of Labor has an plan participant assistance line. I'll tell you something, the person nominally in charge of benefits administration was a very prolific trash talker, and removed themself from the dispute (!) once things went above their head

[eager bramble]

Every startup I've worked at have had legal staff with quite the clout. I'd go home, and just imagine these guys sitting in the office in the evening, drinking whiskey and putting golf. Like an episode out of Mad Men.

[random cypress]

yep: after a few months of back and forth and much headache to all, I got a so-called Qualified Non-Elective Contribution to make up for the plan administration error.

[slate ivy]

Wow

I just Googled 401k, still have no idea what it is

[random cypress]

in my case it was a temp agency. A temp agency held together with duct tape.

[eager bramble]

I once had to sue an employer because they refused to pay my final wages after I had resigned two weeks earlier. They stopped paying everyone. Lawyer we got drew up terms, decent split of the funds, and he absolutely crushed these guys in court. He knew he had a solid win because refusing to pay someone their exit check is a huge no-no in NC (and probably elsewhere as well).

[lean finch]

NC?

[eager bramble]

North Carolina. US.

[lean finch]

Oh

[eager bramble]

The other guys were just along for the ride and got back pay and damages on top. I think they owed me something like $3k or something, and I got $9k after it was done. Just in time for my Swedish trip. I kind of went slightly nuts at the Viking market in Visby during medieval week.

[lean finch]

I don't know much about US geography

[eager bramble]

NC is sorta in the middle, east coast, the little bump that sticks out there, that's the border between NC and SC.

Still the south. I think in the old days everything below the Mason Dixie line was considered "the south." So that included Virginia, West Virginia, DC, and Maryland.

[lean finch]

Oh just saw it on maps

[eager bramble]

where are you at on the spinny ball?

[lean finch]

It is South of Virginia

Well sir I am from India

Just started learning robotics and microelectronics

[lean finch]

Approx. 13k kilometers away from NC

[eager bramble]

So it's like 9:30am there now?

(got a bunch of Indians on my team)

[lean finch]

More like 10:30

Am

[eager bramble]

ooh, yeah, I was off by one hour

[lean finch]

That's great sir

[eager bramble]

and drop the sir, I work for a living

[lean finch]

Can teens join your team?

I am 16 and I want to know more about electronics

[eager bramble]

I work for a large corporate consulting entity and part of our team is offshore in India.

[lean finch]

Oh so a corporate team and not like a student team

I get it now

[eager bramble]

Yeah.

[slate ivy]

Mason-Dixie line, that's a Civil War thing

[eager bramble]

yep

people down here still use it sometimes, well, mainly older folk

[slate ivy]

Older folk?

How old?

[outer brook]

Mason-Dixon I believe

[slate ivy]

Yes

That's it

[eager bramble]

It's Mason-Dixon

[slate ivy]

But not everyone memorizes the names of cartographers well

[random cypress]

an endearing nickname, I assumed

[eager bramble]

I wish.

[slate ivy]

What is?

[eager bramble]

Dixie

[slate ivy]

Seeing we're talking about Civil War stuff, I thought you were referring to Native Americans for a moment lol

[eager bramble]

Nah, it was just me, being my usual uneducated fool self.

[slate ivy]

:P

You seem awfully educated for an uneducated person

[eager bramble]

They're called Native Americans, or First Nation.

And I would never refer to them as Indians. Because that's racist.

[slate ivy]

Not sure what percentage of students know what the Mason-Dixon line is

[outer brook]

My native godmother uses the term

I don't because I see it as dicey, but many native folks do use it

[slate ivy]

You can probably find it in some decade-old textbooks

[eager bramble]

Yeah, in a self-deprecating way, I think. Just like Black people use the N word.

[slate ivy]

"American Indians"

Getting #general-chat

[eager bramble]

¯_(ツ)_/¯

It's still not a word you should use when speaking about someone that's from a First Nation.

[slate ivy]

I don't use it either

[eager bramble]

OK, I am tired and my brain hurts. HALP. I am trying to compile GTK+3, and I had to recompile some other dependencies from the ground up, so now I have to recompile everything. I have gdk-pixbuf-2.38.2 installed, but, for some reason the ./configure and make inside of gtk+3 doesn't actually pick it up, and reports this:

Couldn't find include 'GdkPixbuf-2.0.gir' (search path: '['../gdk', 'gir-1.0', '/usr/share/gir-1.0', '/usr/share/gir-1.0', '/usr/share/gir-1.0']')

How do I provide it with the /usr/local/share path?

Do I use --sharedstatedir=/usr/local/share?

[slate ivy]

Ctrl+F in the Makefile

For that string?

See the variables used for the search path?

Or look at ./configure --help?

[eager bramble]

yeah, that's the route I went, we'll see if this helps

Also, I got one of them little USB power meters, and it's neat. Just tried it on the Pi Zero 2 W, and it's a hungry little beast.

it consumed 184mAh in 1 hour and 41 minutes, just idling in the desktop.

[jade dirge]

Would be nice to be able to lay hands on a 2W, I don't think japanese retailers got any of the first batch.

[eager bramble]

oh hi dave!

[slate ivy]

Why does it need a desktop?

Or a good one anyway?

[random cypress]

I don't think it's that analogous. I think it's complicated to try to evolve the language to be more sensitive and respectful, partly because not everyone in the identity you're trying to respect uses the same terms. Reminds me of Latinx vs. Hispanic (there exist people who refer to themselves as each of these, to the exclusion of the other)

[eager bramble]

it doesn't, it was just an SD card I had laying around from the SD card discussion we had a while ago... where I promised to test all these cards

I was going to make a video of it, but there's so much footage and I am le-tired

[eager bramble]

true

[eager bramble]

I'm compiling the desktop for the Pi 400.

[jade dirge]

I got the two Lexar cards set up, but haven't had time to do the head to head, though I did decide on methodology.

[slate ivy]

The Pi...what?

[eager bramble]

best computer on the planet https://www.adafruit.com/product/4795

no fans... the entire plate under the keyboard also functions as a heat sink. It runs surprisingly cool.

[jade dirge]

Ah, apparently the reason that no Zero 2W boards got sent to Japan was they didn't apply for the compliance certification in time.

(for the wifi/bluetooth radio stuff)

[eager bramble]

aaah

[eager bramble]

I basically just used the same device to write to the drives with, used the same Pi 400 to run, and then I did the disk speed test, the install of the OS, and a few other things.

[jade dirge]

What were you using, iozone random read/write test?

[eager bramble]

no the Raspberry Pi Diagnostics tool.

[slate ivy]

Ah

[jade dirge]

I haven't run on the Lexar cards yet, but iozone 4k random read/write on the Sandisk Ultra A1 was 8.5/2.5 mbyte/sec.

On Pi 4B

[eager bramble]

The A2 cards were obviously faster during write of image, though they had the same startup speed as the other cards... and then the speed tests were slightly different, but not that vast. I found this to be a bit surprising. However, they did run a full apt upgrade on bullseye approximately 25-30% faster.

So, they were faster with smaller file writes. It definitely shows if you're using an A1 and you're compiling, it still writes and reads files slightly slower, and it builds up over time.

[jade dirge]

Hopefully I can get to the full testing on the weekend.

[timber field]

Hi! Everyone!!!
WIZnet, famous for Arduino Ethernet, has a good news about design contest with WIZnet Ethernet Hat or W5100S-EVB-Pico.

What can you archive if RP2040 had access to Ethernet? : If you interested in WIZnet Design-Contest", Register your project , plz. For more details, Refer to here.

https://maker.wiznet.io/wiznet-ethernet-hat-contest/

[outer brook]

The picture makes it clear so it's nbd, but I don't think you meant archive. Cool contest!

[timber field]

@outer brook Thank you for interesting in the contest. What do you think a word instead of 'archieve'

[outer brook]

Just achieve works great :)

[timber field]

@outer brook Oh good. Thank you. Can you join the contest?

[outer brook]

I don't have a lot of internet experience so I'll have to just watch and see what others accomplish.

[timber field]

Don't worry about that. If you have joined in the contest. I will help u. And There are many idea refered content in maker.wiznet.io. Thank you.

[prime adder]

the picture makes it clear, does it? looks like two very tiny people trying to plug an ethernet cable directly into a chip!

what is this?!

🙂

[eager bramble]

¯_(ツ)_/¯ I guess it's an Ethernet connector for the RP2040.

[pearl heart]

Yeah just plug it right in of course

With the hat I suppose you really can though 😂

[cold pebble]

CircuitPython support for the embedded W5100S in in PR stage, but working fine. Here's a Feather ESP32-S2, with an Airlift FeatherWing, and a W5500 FeatherWing, and a Pico adapter-to-WIZnet-Ethernet-Hat quad-network CircuitPython contraption: https://gist.github.com/anecdata/8152eba03eefd0a587747e551c683543#gistcomment-3982278

[outer brook]

super neat

[cold pebble]

thanks, I didn't have an application for it, it was just one of those things that had to be done 😉

[karmic obsidian]

ASK AN ENGINEER 12/15/2021 LIVE! https://youtu.be/dcAxSV3hbcg

[timber field]

• For Circuit Python Reference of WIZnet Ethernet HAT & W5100S-EVB-Pico
  https://github.com/Wiznet/RP2040-HAT-CircuitPython
• For Micro Python Reference
  Coming soon. (https://github.com/Wiznet-OpenHardware/RP2040-HAT-MicroPython, It is not released yet)
• For C/C++ SDK Reference
  • Standard : https://github.com/Wiznet/RP2040-HAT-C
  • AWS-Cloud : https://github.com/Wiznet/RP2040-HAT-AWS-C
  • AZURE-Cloud : https://github.com/Wiznet/RP2040-HAT-AZURE-C

I hope this library is helpful to join the 2022 Design contest.

[random cypress]

@timber field I don't think this is the right place to post the above

[timber field]

@fathom rapids Sorry! Where can i post?

[random cypress]

Is this an advertisement? Is Wiznet your employer?

[timber field]

@fathom rapids Just Information. I'm a maker of W5100S developer, So I just notify the good news of wiznet design contest. No advertizement. Sorry.

[random cypress]

No problem. I do think at least your second batch of links is essentially an advertisement. I bet Adafruit has some kind of forum for that - maybe <@&327289013561982976> can advise?

[slim ingot]

I'm not going to give a definitive answer (mostly because I'm down a hand and typing with one and that's... slow, but also ebcause I'm not 100% sure), but we would request that you make those links the non-previewing type so the chat isn't flooded with the previews. This can be done by doing <http://www.adafruit.com> instead of http://www.adafruit.com.

[timber field]

@Adon Ok, Thank you so much. I will modify.

I apologize to everyone for any inconvenience. I'll be more careful next time.

[wicked matrix]

I think this is OK, except as noted the link previews were a bit disruptive [which is just how Discord is...]. There's context, it's relevant and appropriate to the community, and it's (as far as I see) posted just once. That hits the main bullet points of the advertising policy as set out in the welcome channel notes. Thanks @random cypress for inquiring about it. [Also speaking as a moderator but not definitively]

[random cypress]

Thanks mods for chiming in, and @timber field for taking the feedback well

[timber field]

I'm so sorry again.

[random cypress]

No worries at all!

[pearl heart]

Where exactly do circuitpython programs go when they're put onto a raspberry pi pico?

[lost lily]

Like, the .py file? They go to the flash chip on the Pico

[pearl heart]

Right okay. So the programs we write go on the QSPI flash chip. And circuitpython goes on the permanent uf2 bootloader rom. So the 264kb of ram is free use for any running program?

[lost lily]

Actually the entire filesystem including CircuitPython itself goes to the Pico's flash chip.

The UF2 bootloader is on a permanent ROM, which is read-only so you can't change that out

[pearl heart]

Oh okay. So I probably misinterpreted what that part was

[lost lily]

The bootloader of the Pico just starts executing some code in the flash which is the CircuitPython interpreter which then reads from the flash to interpret your .py files

[pearl heart]

That makes sense

[lost lily]

Also the 264KB is free for any program, but CircuitPython itself is a program so it will use some for itself, and use more if the py file wants more

[pearl heart]

The sizes of NES games vary from 8 KB (Galaxian) to 1 MB (Metal Slader Glory), but 128 to 384 KB is the most common.

So I could fit a whole NES game into the flash pretty easily then

[vast garden]

Hey this is definitely a long shot but i'm in dire need of a nordic PPK2. Does anyone have one they can sell me that they aren't using? Can pay full price

Sold out everywhere 😦

Thanks

[lament quiver]

hi who can help me with my homework

int[] list = {0, 5, 10, 15, 20};
int j;

for (j = 1; j <= 5; j++)
System.out.print(list[j] + " ");
System.out.println();

[lost lily]

What's the problem?

Are you getting OutOfBoundsException?

[limber grotto]

arrays start at zero in java

[lost lily]

Yea ^^ start at 0 and check for less then 5

Arrays start at zero in almost every language, and Java isn't one of those exceptions

Also next time when posting code, please use the code block formatting (using ``` and stuff - check #welcome's last message)

[eager bramble]

Next up in #general-tech: how to solve that pesky FizzBuzz using brain****.

That's an actual language, by the way. It's brutal. Worse than Vogon poetry.

[haughty flare]

Out of curiosity, does anyone else enclose their batteries seperately from everything else

[eager bramble]

I mean. We should. But, I figure, if it's going to burn, it better burn bright and smell nasty.

I'm the kind of tinkerer that just double-tape sticks the batteries to the back of whatever PCB I am working with (as long as the back isn't exposed).

There are exceptions. If I am using something like a 6600mAh battery pack consisting of 3 18650 batteries with some bms and such, yeah, they're in a separate compartment from the rest of the hardware.

If it's a 500mAh lipo (or lower, or even up to 1200 or more) from Adafruit, it's already sealed and well protected, I have no objections to sticking that behind a PCB.

If you're powering your gadgets with AA/AAA batteries, yeah, they definitely need to be in a separate compartment from your electronics, and you should make sure that even if they leak, they can't melt the plastic around them.

[haughty flare]

i place my battery on a protoboard and add 2 header pins. then into an altoid container it goes. i did this because the jst cable broke off the battery. so the protoboard adds stability

[haughty flare]

so i am designing a board and the trace width calculator im using asks for current. where do i find that info? i think i found it under Maximum Continuous
Discharging Current but am not sure

[proper escarp]

it depends on what do you intend to power using the battery. Of you are only powering a dev board like Feather, the current will be under 100 mA. If you are powering a servo, it can be much higher

[haughty flare]

just power from the battery to the breadboard

[lethal acorn]

Do you know the circuit resistance? Resistance and voltage can get you amperage from Ohm's Law

[haughty flare]

since im making the board i do not. im trying to find the current in the batteries data sheet

@lethal acorn

[lethal acorn]

I'd be using the circuit over the supply for load planning myself

[haughty flare]

im trying to make the circuit but dont know how wide to make the traces on it

[verbal aspen]

The batteries will likely have a maximum supported current, but the thing that they are powering will determine the current draw, since it'll only take as much power as it needs to run.

[lethal acorn]

you can shrink traces later

Harder to expand them

[haughty flare]

im using it with a standard breadboard. most likely my projects wont go beyond 5v since that seems to be as high as adafruit and sparkfun typically go

[verbal aspen]

That doesn't narrow things down very much, unfortunately. You could have a 1000-Neopixel strand at 5V drawing hundreds of watts, or a real-time clock running at 5V drawing microwatts.

[haughty flare]

this is what i currently have. the traces are .684mm

[pale quartz]

Hey all I used to use jumper wire to fix up boards but I’ve forgotten the gauge….

I think I used tin wire that needed to be stripped

[delicate quarry]

Well, that would depend on what kind of board we're talking. From my personal observations, 22-24 is pretty common for through-hole applications, while 28 is used for finer SMT bodge wires. There really isn't any rule saying you can't use other gauge wires, though, so some more context might help with wire selection (if that's what you're looking for)

[delicate quarry]

Wire isn't usually tin, but tinned (tin-plated) copper is pretty standard for many wires these days.

[pale quartz]

This is what I bought. I’ll share some details of the project but if it’s TMI LMK

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HF8PR22/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_a_F0TFNE8DG9X0ZMF3KTR8

So I picked up this FPGA board on ebay. Its a prototype from Fusion IO Heres some photos

That’s a Virtex 7 415T

and the JTAG is exposed in that connector so I’m just going to botch connect with wire and silicon to my fly leads

[vagrant gyro]

what are you going to connect to the JTAG connector?

[pale quartz]

and I found a light heatsink and full pci bracket for it too

DLC10

[vagrant gyro]

is that a programmer?

[pale quartz]

yes thats the standard overpriced xilinx platform cable programmer

[vagrant gyro]

that JTAG header on the FPGA looks like it might be a fairly standard 0.05"/1.27mm pitch?

[pale quartz]

It’s really a shame Xilinx can’t just provide a large fabric FPGA with some memory so everyone could try architecture design. and those crazy priced license. I have become quite good at salvaging boards. This is the smallest. I also do Stratix 10GX boards. Can you suggest a connector for that board?

[vagrant gyro]

i'm think just using a 2x7 0.05" pitch male header and solder to that to make a little breakout cable

i'm not super familiar with all the JTAG connector variant out there, could also be something that'll just plug in?

something like these maybe?
https://www.digikey.com/short/4mzhm1d0

and same idea if connector is 0.1" pitch

[pale quartz]

Let me get out calipers a but later let’s see thx for the help. I’ll follow up

its pretty small

[vagrant gyro]

if you had to use 30 gauge wire, then it's likely 0.05" pitch

[delicate quarry]

Oh, I have one of those. They have a 1-1 connection so an IDC cable works like a charm

Hold on, let me see if there's a part number

[pale quartz]

Fantastic! Any tips Hem?

[delicate quarry]

The male header on the DLC10 is pretty straightforward, and if the other board has the same pitch, I believe it's just a matter of getting a ribbon extension cable

Not as familiar with the connector on your board, but DLC10 should be easy

[pale quartz]

Oh you have a DLC not this PCB? The DLC10 I bought a breakout cable in ebay that splits to labelled breakout flyleads

so I need to link the flyleads to the header with this jumperwire and some silicon

I just hope that the wire is thick enough. I suppose I could fold it if not

Is anyone here into FPGAs?

[delicate quarry]

Can't say I develop for them, but I do work with them enough to kinda know the process.

Flying leads? Are they just bare wire ends or something like a Dupont connector?

[pale quartz]

I really hate being priced out of technology. A flying lead is just a labelled wire you plug another wire into or plug into a pin on a PCB

[vagrant gyro]

https://www.xilinx.com/content/xilinx/en/products/boards-and-kits/hw-usb-ii-g/_jcr_content/root/fullParsys/xilinxflexibleslab_713751303/xilinxflexibleslab-parsys/xilinxtabs2_copy/childParsys-inside/xilinximage_708e.img.jpg

02 in that image?

[delicate quarry]

Oh, so they're pluggable. I've seen the term used differently in so many contexts so I have to check sometimes. Are they male pins or female sockets?

[vagrant gyro]

^^ DLC10 to that

[pale quartz]

right 02 exactly

Right whats the 1v8 about I wonder

[delicate quarry]

1.8V supply

Yeah, you should be able to just stick a male header into those pins and attach the flying leads to that.

Saves you any extra soldering work in the short term, and you might be able to insert those flying lead ends into a rectangular housing in the long term...

[vagrant gyro]

is it really 2mmpitch on the DLC10?

[delicate quarry]

Yup

Personally measured just now.

Maybe try something like https://www.pololu.com/product/1115 and just stick the long end into the PCB header.

If it doesn't expose enough pin, you might be able to work one of the little plastic pieces down some.

Not sure if those crimps on the end of that cable insert into https://www.pololu.com/product/1915 but that's probably cheap enough to just try out.

Once you confirm the pinout you might be able to take that breakout and crimp some proper male pins on it instead.

[vagrant gyro]

pitch on the FPGA connector is unknown, but if it's 2mm also, could use 2x7 male header as gender changer

but the pinouts look different too

[delicate quarry]

If that caliper is properly zeroed, it's looking like a 1.27mm (0.05") pitch.

That's a lot more annoying...

[vagrant gyro]

^^ yep

so dealing with mixed pitch and different pin outs

[pale quartz]

thats 1.5mm

0.06inch

[vagrant gyro]

do you know what size wire fits into the DLC10 flying wire adapter ends?

[pale quartz]

I mean if i hook up tck,tms,tdi,tdo, where to connect vref (1V8) and TRST?

I don’t know I’m going to botch attack it

[vagrant gyro]

could get a 2x7 whatever-pitch male header to plug into FPGA, solder some short solid core wire (whatever fits into flying leads) to that, and then individually connect flying leads to those

[pale quartz]

Thats the plan then. I don’t much care if the leads survive.

I mean why use a connector at all if I just poke a wire into the pin socket and secure with silicone

[delicate quarry]

30 is going to be wayy finer than those guys. I would guess something more in the 22-24 range myself, but I wouldn't get anything that tight fitting if the plan is to solder it in.

[worn mural]

when I use 30 it's kynar wire for bodges.

[pale quartz]

maybe I can plug the flyleads direct into the pins of the connector. Anyway Thanks for all the help!

[delicate quarry]

If you stick a male header in there, sure. The one I linked isn't going to work due to the pitch, but if you can find a similar header with the right pitch, it might be able to plug directly to the pins.

Those ends are designed to connect directly to header pins, anyways. Not sure what size pins, exactly, but worth a try.

[young maple]

Hey

[magic mantle]

just wondering - does the site have a 'board selector'? Something you can say show me all the boards with wifi? Arduino only? partial CircuitPython? full CircuitPython? Or even a comparison chart? I'd think that would be useful.....

[vagrant gyro]

https://circuitpython.org/downloads
has a Filters button that can do some of that

but are you asking about the adafruit main site?

[magic mantle]

yes...the products site

[delicate quarry]

The site, unfortunately, does not, to my knowledge. Is there a particular type of board you're looking for? Most of us are used to making recommendations for projects of all sorts.

[bronze solstice]

I was looking at this tutorial: https://learn.adafruit.com/power-glove-bluetooth-midi-controller and wanted to know if there would be any issue using a Pax Power Glove made in Japan vs the American Mattel version?

[magic mantle]

I've got a project where (I Think) I just need a single digital sense pin and wifi access for logging. So a feather huzzah or huzzah32 is overkill in that situation, although I have them on hand. I have the sketch prototyped.....but would be nice to see what other minimal board might fill the requirement....

[delicate quarry]

There aren't really a whole lot of good options for minimal wifi boards...yet. There is, if I recall correctly, an ESP32-S2 based QtPy in the works, but until that's made available the HUZZAH is pretty close to the smallest.

TinyS2 is a bit smaller, but no LiPo connector and it's a bit more expensive.

[vapid totem]

I'm just about done with the silkscreen on my new numpad PCB... What do you guys think? Am I missing anything? hehehe

Here's the front

[outer brook]

the common barrel jack size (apologies, I've asked this before) is 2.1mm ID x 5.5mm OD? or is it 2.5mm ID x 5.5 OD?

Like the kind you'd find on an arduino or on the back of a DVD player or similar

[hearty karma]

Looks like the 2.1mm is the common one, based on the offerings in the AdaFruit catalogue

[outer brook]

neat thanks. Should have thought to look there. Digikey has so many options my eyes blurred!

[hearty karma]

Then there's this oddity: https://www.adafruit.com/product/2897

[random cypress]

I think a lot of the receptacles have a spring inside such that they can accept either 2.1 or 2.5

maybe "a lot" is the wrong term. I have come across a nonzero number of them, maybe even multiple IIRC.

[young ice]

just saw the adafruit nft

i need this

[delicate quarry]

Don't think you emphasized the serious part enough LOL

Speaking of funny business, solemnly is missing an L.

[gloomy mango]

Seriously?!? 🧐

[vapid totem]

Thanks. I actually noticed and fixed it after I posted the screenshot. Wish kicad had a spell check.

[gloomy mango]

@delicate quarry The correct answer would be "Yes, and don't call me 'Shirley'".

[analog bolt]

I'm building a Raspberry Pi Hat for production, and I've included a stemma qt connector on it. A decision to make is what power supply to provide as Vout: 3.3V or 5V. I've seen most adafruit stemma qt boards have a linear regulator, so I could choose either. Sparkfun's qwiic uses 3.3v AFAIK.

Any reason to not choose 3.3V? What might I not be considering?

[main hemlock]

3.3v is a good idea. The PyPortal had a (big) STEMMA connector defaulted to 5v, and that was a mistake because it caused I2C pullups to have 5V, which upset the SAMD51 a lot

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pyportal/pinouts#i2c-connector-3020489-20

and 5v pullups might fry the RPI pins

[analog bolt]

cool cool! thanks for the advice

[delicate quarry]

I can't think of a single stemmaQT device that needs the 5V. 5V is more common for servos, neopixels, and other devices that require higher power or come from an older generation of electronics. Most, if not all, of the typical I2C devices today, on the other hand, lean very heavily towards 3.3V logic.

[analog bolt]

right - that's the impression I was getting, too. Nice to hear it confirmed!

[jade dirge]

Well, if you're also aiming for qwiic compliance you are limited to 3.3v.

[torpid wadi]

?serverinfo

[worldly shale]

adafruit

Owner

adafruit#3230

Category Channels

8

Text Channels

61

Voice Channels

6

Members

Roles

36

ID: 327254708534116352 | Server Created · Jun 22, 2017, 1:13 AM

[icy moth]

So many members we broke it

[uneven warren]

Anyone know why the Adafruit twitter is randomly blocking people who have never had any interaction with them on twitter?

I've been a customer for years, I have never interacted with the brand on twitter, but when I just went to visit the page, I was informed I was blocked.

I have a few friends on another server that went to look and saw they were blocked as well.

This is concerning to me, and very bad social media policy imo.

If any of the mods have contacts with other Adafruit social managers, maybe we could get an answer?

I have also used the contact us form, but figured I'd reach out here in case any of you have a line to the social manager.

[proper escarp]

I know some websites are blocking visitors from certain countries as part of protection from DDoS and other attacks. But I don't think it could possibly be the reason for Twitter block

[outer brook]

There have been 1 or 2 unusual decisions made lately. Yours is weird too.

[tall flower]

I know some people have scripts that autoblock problematic people but sometime also their followers or people who like/rt some of their tweets.(i.e. you might have been added to a blocklist)

[uneven warren]

I'm told on another server that anyone who follows a certain account that spoke out against Adafruit and some NFT stuff were added to their blocklist. (@foone)

I don't see how just following someone who they don't like makes me worthy of their ire, but if their team doesn't reverse this curiosity posthaste, I'll just sever any future desire to do business with them and move on with my life.

That is some serious highschool drama nonsense.

[proper escarp]

i just hope it is not like that...

[uneven warren]

I am unblocked now after speaking to the social team, but still not sure why it was done in the firstplace.

They claim it wasn't related to foone though, so I don't know lol

It was all just very odd.

[novel ridge]

Was about to say, I follow both foone and adafruit

[outer brook]

What did foone say? I saw, and approved of, adafruits anti-NFT stance, but I don't use Twitter and don't want to.

[novel ridge]

I'm puzzled about this too 🤔 Foone also seems to share an anti-NFT stance...I don't remember any bad blood but maybe I missed it

[outer brook]

Weird.

Hopefully cooler heads prevail

[icy moth]

Wasn’t the foone thing related to the AI image generator using peoples tweets?

Nope nvm

Thinking of something different

[shy yew]

good evening

[crystal shale]

Not sure if I’m asking this correctly but… what’s the best way to split/switch signals between two devices?

Example an SD card that can be toggled between to two PCs. Would need to be toggled via a switch sort of like a kvm switch.

[old totem]

something like a usb sd card reader and a usb kvm
https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Selector-Computers-Peripheral-One-Button/dp/B01MXXQKGM/

[crystal shale]

Right something like that but the SD card was just an example. I’m just looking for the concept or type of component that would allow this type of switching for a variety of devices (not usb)

[shy yew]

But you mean only select?

In case of a SD you could like create a very short circuit with it, ahn... only to select, but it would take some hours.

you could use an SD module.

and use a push button to select the two ways.

[crystal shale]

Something like that is what I’m looking to do. Do you know of an example circuit like this somewhere?

[shy yew]

sure... I can search for you now.

You can use digital gates to do it, you can use 4 push buttons to separate the 4 SD outputs...

you can also use and Arduino and program the output...

there are infinite different ways to do it.

you just need to find the easier.

I am finding your circuit now.

[crystal shale]

Thanks so much!

[shy yew]

ok

I think nobody thought of this.

I think you must have a great entrepreneur mind.

and you should sell it.

[shy yew]

if you do it sell me it, I promise that I buy.

And I pay the shipping to Brazil

I do not think it is possible to an American refuse a good opportunity to win money, specially with engineering.

[cold pebble]

@crystal shale another way would be to use a set of multiplexers https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13906

[crystal shale]

Thanks that's helpful too

[thick prawn]

Welp got a 97 on my precalculus final exam today

He showed me my mistake. I was asked for the domain of a rational with a square root underneath. And I included 0 instead of excluding it. So close. So very close

Silly mistake

[hearty karma]

You'll be less likely to make that mistake again. Stuff like that sticks in my mind (like the time I mixed up the atomic symbols for gold and silver and missed my chance to be on Jeopardy!)

[eager bramble]

Anybody here that's familiar with NixOS?

[haughty flare]

I dont think ive ever ordered so much before. I spent the same on other stuff, but never got so many pieces

Cat tax included

[uncut summit]

wow looks like my shopping cart from Adafruit

[eager bramble]

That's an amazing haul!

[haughty flare]

200+ usd worth of gear

[eager bramble]

I just ruined the only thing that made me happy. I dropped my Pi 400 like 2 feet, basically with the bottom straight down, but however it landed made the front of the Pimoroni HyperPixel 4.0 Square lose the front of the screen. It's still intact, but, the dang flat cable got ripped.

[uncut summit]

I fixed my broken clue, found the screen on Aliexpress

[haughty flare]

i wanted to build an inventory so i can just grab what i need and build. still have a few more things i am missing but its a start

[eager bramble]

If I would have known it wasn't attached any better than that I would have printed a little bezel or something for it. 😦

[uncut summit]

I built a spreadsheet with all my stuff

[eager bramble]

I need to inventory all my stuff.

I found sensors the other day that are like $40-50 each.

[uncut summit]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18CQ89Su9wRs66xywHOdFoiflSllzFAxunbVACi49KLU/edit?usp=sharing

[eager bramble]

Ben, it worked.

[random cypress]

question: does this work?

[haughty flare]

sorry that happened to you

[uncut summit]

yes

[random cypress]

@eager bramble in before I fixed the metadata

[eager bramble]

it's OK... just made me really, really sad

[haughty flare]

only if you keep up on updating it

[random cypress]

even then, what good does the spreadsheet do?

[uncut summit]

yes when I get new stuff I update the spreadsheet

[haughty flare]

quick view of what you have without having to dig

[eager bramble]

next up: bar code printer and scanner

or maybe NFC tag everything

[random cypress]

how much stuff do you have to have for that to save time?

[eager bramble]

build little lorawan stations that mesh with each other about all the components we have

[uncut summit]

I got a surplus zebra label printer and I have a symbol hand scanner

[haughty flare]

id love a few of the stor front type items

[eager bramble]

those are bit pricey, like $300-400, right?

But, you can probably build one cheaper these days with just components I imagine.

maybe rock it with a little RP2040 or something

[haughty flare]

some have alot, some have very little. it all depends on how deep you are into something on whether or not you need it

[uncut summit]

the scanner was not cheap but I got the zebra cheap, used to be a printer used by UPS, just needed their drivers to talk to it

[eager bramble]

that's a pretty sweet list, @uncut summit

[random cypress]

I use little plastic bags and a label maker, and shudder at the thought of trying to keep a spreadsheet consistent with reality

[eager bramble]

I have a decent label printer, a Brother QL 700.

I would definitely not have the fortitude to keep that spreadsheet up to date.

[uncut summit]

I got this in ebay

[eager bramble]

What am I going to do guys? I don't have my pretty screen any more.

[random cypress]

knowing my personal tendencies, I think an inventory spreadsheet would have good best-case behavior and very poor average-case behavior

[eager bramble]

I wonder if Pimoroni can repair it?

Even if I ordered another one (if I could afford it, thanks Christmas) it still wouldn't get here until next year.

It was such an awesome screen. When I got it to run on Manjaro ARM Sway I was blown away. So crisp.

The touch stuff was a little wonky, but i didn't use it much. I prefer a mouse anyway.

[uncut summit]

did you see that pop os has come out for rasberry pi

[haughty flare]

lets see it

[eager bramble]

That was before The Sadness™️.

[uncut summit]

lol picked the wrong one

[eager bramble]

Like, everywhere I looked there was documentation that you just couldn't install the Pimoroni drivers on Arch/Manjaro (and a few others), but, I am a stubborn old fool, and I did it. Through sheer determination.

[uncut summit]

I don't listen to instructions like that, if you can build the driver it can be installed on any distro

[eager bramble]

So what you see here is a Pim HP4 Sq on top of a Pim HAT HACKER HAT on top of an Adafruit CYBERDECK, connected to a Raspberry Pi 400.

So, yeah. The trick to get it to work: install Raspberry Pi OS (I don't remember if I used Bullseye) and then you compile the driver there. Copy it off of the overlays folder of the RPi OS SD Card to the SD Card of the Manjaro ARM Sway, and copy over the settings to /boot/config.txt and you're rocking and rolling.

Use the same Raspberry Pi, obviously. Not even sure if that has any impact, but, that's how I did it.

It was so rudimentary that I gasped when the dang thing flickered on and showed me a login screen.

[uncut summit]

Raspberry pi os now is bullseye

[eager bramble]

yeah, but I am not sure if I downloaded a Buster on purpose, because the Pimoroni drivers are iffy with how Bullseye handles some of the bitmap stuff.

That's its current state.

It's not like, mechanically broken, I don't think, the flat cable just tore

[uncut summit]

yeah that looks bad

replacing a cable like that is not easy

[eager bramble]

yeah

I wish I would have printed a bezel/case for it

Hindsight.

[uncut summit]

I had a broken clue with a bad screen, I just fixed by replacing the screen

[eager bramble]

It just looked so awesome with the circuit boards stacked behind it...

What's a Clue?

[uncut summit]

this item on aliexpress looks like that screen

[eager bramble]

is it a 720x720 px 60Hz screen?

4x4"

[uncut summit]

no it says 480x480 but not what the speed is

[eager bramble]

yeah that's too small

[uncut summit]

I just saw the ribben cable looks exactly the same as yours

[eager bramble]

720x720 already jacks up some apps and Sway still isn't big and strong enough to enforce window sizes, even though it's supposed to.

[haughty flare]

i just realized i have alot of labeling to do if i want to get rid of the baggies

@eager bramble i wish i could help more. all i have to offer is printing and it seems you already have that

[uncut summit]

make sure you put the adafruit product number in the label like I did with the spreadsheet

[haughty flare]

i do have some carbon fiber filament i could print something in if that will add more strength to whatever enclosure you want

[haughty flare]

i typically put the values on a piece of tape,but yeah. if i want to reorder, ill need the numbers huh

[uncut summit]

I use the numbers to quickly find it on the adafruit site

[eager bramble]

Thanks. I just don't have any other small screens that I can use with my RPi 400 now. I hopped on the Pimoroni Discord to see if there's anything they can do.

[haughty flare]

eim using a large tackle box so im also adding location into

@uncut summit

[haughty flare]

hopefully they can

[eager bramble]

I found these things on Amazon, they cost like $40, which is expensive but they mount really well to walls, and they store components really well. I prefer the bigger drawers. The smaller drawers will only fit Feathers and the like. It's for whatever reason gone from the store now: https://smile.amazon.com/Black-44-drawer-Plastic-Storage-Cabinet/dp/B00R92HEJW/

but, they're nice

[haughty flare]

This is what i have

If i get a more professional storage device, i may use this for travel, packing in a few essential items

[eager bramble]

oh, those are nice though

easy to move

we can't all have Voidstar Labs drawers.

ok, that animated mouse emoji sticker was annoying ALL. DAY. I almost had an episode.

Alright my friends, I am going to dip for a while. Go watch a movie with the cats. The wife is out of town, so I am slowly going feral.

👋

[uncut summit]

I combine bins and drawers, I use envelopes for caps/resistors

That is only a fraction of the bins

[young ice]

i'm thinking about how weird the arduino yun is

you have a really weak atmega32u4 and a very capable linux system + wifi on the same board

just seems like a weird design decision

[upper coyote]

You asked this late last night and I wasn't sure if you were seriously asking, but nobody answered, so here it is: The Clue is Adafruit product https://www.adafruit.com/product/4500 a useful general purpose system. "Get a clue"

[uncut summit]

@upper coyote I have 2 clues the first was broken on arrival got it replaced, I fixed the broken one by replacing the screen

[upper coyote]

Oh, wait, that quoted the wrong message. It was supposed to be a reply to a simple "What's a Clue?" question you posted. Oh well, doesn't really matter.

[uncut summit]

@upper coyote no problem

[pulsar shale]

Just realized that my 'computer' is a feather tripler with OLED display. To run different applications I plug in different feathers. I have the battery monitor application and the environmental sensor application.
We had cartridges for the old game consoles. Now the cartridge includes the main CPU!

[pulsar shale]

Blinka is cool, I should use it more.

[mental mica]

I'm tempted to make a PID-based arduino thermostat for my room's oil heater

It seems like it'd be a huge challenge to get "right" though, since those heaters have a massive thermal mass & the "response" is about 30 minutes

[quaint wharf]

What benefit are you looking for from PID control? Or are you just looking for a fun project to do? 😉

[pale quartz]

Hey guys I want to power and control a ring of WS2812B LEDs. Should I get a Pi or arduino? Are there other options? What software do I use? I hear adafruit has a library?

[icy moth]

Microcontroller dev boards (circuitpython, Arduino, etc..) will be easier than to use a raspberry pi

In my opinion at least

There’s a massive guide Adafruit has on setting up and using aRGB LEDs

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide

[pale quartz]

Thx!

what is the model of the ‘dotstar’ brand LEDs?

[icy moth]

APA something

I think apa121 but don’t quote me on that

APA102

They are a generic SPI controlled aRGB that Adafruit sells under the trademark DotStar

[steady gulch]

and SK9922 something

[icy moth]

Ah yeah, those too

Then there is the ws28xx and sk68xx which are similar but in my opinion the sk68xx are better because they handle the constant current controller you would typically add to a ws28xx setup

[broken vessel]

I love my kb2040s haha

very new to microcontrollers and coding and just love these things

wish I had taken more electrical courses in school

[hearty karma]

Never too late to learn if you want to.

[frosty junco]

https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x2953399124f0cbb46d2cbacd8a89cf0599974963/5060750135300600004475696170364909030302600678059834890489815820069173723137/

[cold pebble]

@frosty junco please read the Advertising Policy in the #welcome channel

[pale quartz]

whats the programmable LED type with the highest refresh rate? Are there any that go high output or high temperature K ?

[uncut summit]

That varies based on the controller used. LED strips also varies on temperature color have a look at this guys explanation of various strip types
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnvircC22hU

[uncut summit]

Here is a bunch of happy NeoPixels

very hypnotic

this is only on a brightness of 0.1 all running from a pink feather, who says pink makes faster electrons 🙂

[topaz roost]

I’m wondering if there’s anything similar to Bluefruit EZ-Link that can reprogram an Arduino wirelessly. I know with this product, you can wire a cap between the Bluefruit DTR and Arduino Reset pin. Unfortunately, it’s discontinued. Is there another product that can do this? Alternately, does anyone have a spare one they are willing to sell?

[karmic obsidian]

This week! Desk of Ladyada will be shifted a day .... Monday Dec. 20th, see ya then! Probably around hacker-o-clock, which is after 8pm-ish 🙂

[delicate quarry]

https://www.adafruit.com/product/5325

[jade dirge]

Even an esp-01 module would probably be sufficient for that task.

That's what I use for my temperature sensors

[delicate quarry]

A standalone module would be a very cost-efficient way to get a single wifi conenction, but developing on such a module for a one-off project is hardly a simple task. Unless you already have a programmer setup for it, it's not something I would recommend for everyone.

[cold pebble]

you can also use any of the Airlift add-on boards as minimal microcontrollers, but that doesn't save all that much footprint or cost (e.g., the Airlift breakout is 1.3" square and... oh, it's down to $9.95). But the Coming Soon QT Py ESP32-S2 looks to be awesome for tiny wifi stuff

(there's a LOLIN miniS2, I think about $5, small-ish, lots of pins, long ship times)

[jade dirge]

Ship time isn't that long, I get mine in less than 2 weeks.

Its not exactly breadboard friendly. You need to give up a lot of pins if you want to plug it into a breadboard.

[cold pebble]

or access the other half from headers on the top, or something

[jade dirge]

Its an OK board, but its honestly hard to really screw up a design using the ESP32-S2FN4R2.

[cold pebble]

I found the layout odd... I get that it's easier to run sequential pins alternating between the two rows, but makes it hard to use sequential pins (from the top or bottom)

for the cost and size, hard to beat

[jade dirge]

I don't think anyone can really compete with them on price, especially not outside China.

[cold pebble]

yeah

I'm refreshing often on the QT Py... can't wait

[jade dirge]

Wish that Lolin/Wemos didn't have yet another incompatible i2c connector pinout.

Though I think it might have predated qwiic

[cold pebble]

I never got involved with that ecosystem, just got the miniS2 b/c it was the smallest I could find

[jade dirge]

The Pico is a nice little board, but it tries too hard to look like a feather but not be.

[cold pebble]

that's the one with the TFT? yeah it looks decent

[jade dirge]

Yeah

I need to do a PR to freeze in the 1306 library for CP on that.

I'd like to do initialization of display in board.c, but there's absolutely no examples of another board with i2c display onboard to use as reference.

[cold pebble]

TTGO? not sure if that's baked in. I picked up a couple of those when they were new, but the inconvenience of some of the hardware features makes me less motivated to pick it up over other choices. Feather S2 with TFT coming soon 🙂

[jade dirge]

TTGO is SPI I think

[cold pebble]

ah, right, yeah TFT

I don't do too much with oled anymore b/c I like always-on display

[jade dirge]

There's like one other very obscure board with an onboard I2C display and they don't do in-port initialization.

[cold pebble]

ScoutMakes Azul?

[jade dirge]

No a different one, which I think was later removed.

Or the PR never got committed

I was planning on using the Pico for my 4x5 keypad design but turns out it was still too big to fit on free Eagle limitations.

I had it in my head that the limit on free Eagle was 100x100mm not 80x100

[verbal aspen]

I think it's a square-cm limit, so you have some freedom to choose the board shape.

[jade dirge]

Yeah, I'd still need to not use a dev board though, 4x4 would be the largest matrix I could manage even with my own layout.

Just the keys for a 4x5 would consume 76x95mm and they're through-hole devices so can't make effective use of the rear of the board.

The pico is 23mm wide so it would be a very tight/impossible fit to add to a 4x4

s2 pico that is, raspi pico is 19mm

[hearty karma]

An Electric Imp might do.

[outer brook]

for SPI, what does the n in nSS stand for?

[cold pebble]

negative/negated

(active-low)

[outer brook]

that's what I guessed. OK what's the difference between a CS/SS and nSS?

you just give the opposite waveform?

oh you said active low

ok

[cold pebble]

i think it's just different names for the same thing, selects which SPI device gets to use the bus

[outer brook]

kool. I'm reviewing a friend's board and hadn't seen that before

[cold pebble]

NSS just being explicit that a zero is the active state

"selected"

[young ice]

i'm using PA24 and PA25 for usb

can i use PA22 and PA23 for i2c?

or would enabling SERCOM3 interfere with usb (which uses PAD[2] and PAD[3])

the datasheet says that it should support it, but i just want to double check

[outer brook]

I would think so

[pine igloo]

On the Feather M4 Express it looks like you'd use SERCOM3 for the one and SERCOM5 for the other.

https://start.atmel.com/ is a good tool to use to explore these questions in detail.

Once you get the clocks right, it's not so bad to work with. ;)

[magic mantle]

this: my answer, good to see it at digikey:
https://media.digikey.com/Resources/Maker/the-original-guide-to-boards-2021.pdf

[wintry flint]

Hi

I seem to be runniing into problems with my trusty Metro M0 Express all of a sudden - wonder if someone can help me?

Was working fine a few days ago - i had a MAX7219 8x8 Led display hooked up to it via SPI. It had been working fine for weeks when all of a sudden the code that i had been using ( a slight variation of the example code ) would either result in ALL the led being lit at once on the display or more usually an error message in thonny ....

>>> 
NB! Thonny could not execute 'get_globals'.


SCRIPT:
__thonny_helper.print_mgmt_value({name : (__thonny_helper.repr(value), __thonny_helper.builtins.id(value)) for (name, value) in __thonny_helper.builtins.globals().items() if not name.startswith('__')})

STDOUT:


STDERR:
MemoryError: memory allocation failed, allocating 64 bytes


You may need to reconnect, Stop/Restart or hard-reset your device.```

unplugging & re-plugging the board would sometimes clear the error but only about 30% of the time!

Initially i thought the display were faulty but i have been able to confirm that my code runs on another Metro M0 with the same display.

Is it possible that the memory on the Metro has become faulty or damaged in some way ?

I can run very simple code on the Metro with no problems but as soon as i start importing more than a couple of libraies i get this error.

I am guessing it is time to retire my trusty M0 & replace it with a newer model - would you recommend a Metro M4 express or some other board with Arduino compatible pinout?? 

My technical requirements are quite low - my projects are usually extremely simple

[main hemlock]

Does your program write to flash? You could erase and reformat CIRCUITPY and put the code back, and see what happens. Were there any changes made whatsoever, or was this running code that stopped owrking?

import storage
storage.erase_filesystem()

[wintry flint]

Hi very grateful for your quick reply...
No changes to my code had been made in over a week - was working fine the day before...

# set all 64 pixels BEFOR calling matrix Display
import time
from board import TX, RX, A1
import busio
import digitalio
from adafruit_max7219 import matrices
from random import randint


mosi = TX
clk = RX
cs = digitalio.DigitalInOut(A1)

spi = busio.SPI(clk, MOSI=mosi)

matrix = matrices.Matrix8x8(spi, cs)

matrix.brightness(1)


matrix.fill(True)
matrix.show()


while True:
    for x in range (8):
       for y in range (8):
           matrix.pixel(y, x, randint(0, 1))
    time.sleep(0.04)
    matrix.show()
  
    time.sleep(0.04)```

[main hemlock]

it could be a hw failure, though that's unusual. Try the reformat of CIRCUITPY. Could be damage by static electricity if you handled iot or overvoltage, though that would also be unusual.

I might expect to see the memory allocation error if you had upgraded CircuitPython or something like that, but no change, that's very odd.

[wintry flint]

Odd indeed Sir!!!

I will reformat flash again tomorrow & let you know if i get any different result .

I even tried downgrading CircuitPython to a couple of previous versions, with the same results.

I suspect HW failure / damage so will probably order an M4 Express board after the holiday season is over - i have several other CircuitPython boards to keep me company - i like the Arduino format boards as its easy to reuse some of the shields & sensors from the Arduino environment...

My Gratitude to You Sir

[main hemlock]

m4 board would be good, yes. Also the RP2040 boards (no Metro size available) are good for CircuitPython: plenty of RAM

[wintry flint]

I currently have 6 different RP2040 boards - wish someone would make an Metro shaped version!!

[main hemlock]

Feel free to send a new product suggestion via https://www.adafruit.com/contact_us

[wintry flint]

Done!

sure it is already on Adafruit's TO-DO list though!

Happy Holidays to You & The rest of the Adafruit Team!

[heady plover]

Can anyone help me? What's the device used for redirecting power draw of a PWM output to a power source. Yeah I know my explanation is bad but basically I want to use Arduino to control a high draw electronics. How do i do that?

[toxic forum]

Transistor

[heady plover]

I was considering making my own with transistors but I feel like I'm gonna do something wrong

I was just asking if there's already a module for it

[toxic forum]

They are easy to use

You can also use relays

[heady plover]

Can relays do pwm?

Or analog

[toxic forum]

Really depends on what the current draw will be.

A relay is just an electronically controlled mechanical switch

[heady plover]

So is transistors the only thing I can use then?

[toxic forum]

So pwm or analog doesn't matter.

If it is a low current circuit you can use transistors

[heady plover]

So is there a pre made module of that? I really don't want to tinker with low level stuff. I feel like that's a point of failure..

[toxic forum]

Hold on

I'll look for an Amazon link

[heady plover]

Oohh

Cool

[toxic forum]

HiLetgo 2pcs 5V One Channel Relay Module Relay Switch with OPTO Isolation High Low Level Trigger https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LW15A4W/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_KPA7Z4SQA9T4JT9E03RS

That's your relay

[outer brook]

You can get solid state relays capable of passing 3A AC that you can drive like an LED, because they are basically an LED and a pair of FETs

3A @ 120V AC

for about 11 bucks a piece

[toxic forum]

There are different voltage types

[heady plover]

Wait but doesn't relay only do on and off?

[outer brook]

I wouldn't PWM a mechanical relay btw

[heady plover]

I was gonna pass a analog output

[toxic forum]

Then the solid state relay can work too

[heady plover]

Wait lol I just found out that my device is 12v too.

So what should I do?🥺

[outer brook]

how much of what kind of current are you planning to pass?

AC? DC?

at what voltage?

[heady plover]

DC like 12v@5A where the controller is 5V@0.5A max

[toxic forum]

WMYCONGCONG 10 PCS MOSFET Driver Module MOSFET Button Driver Module for IRF520 Arduino https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F7SV84V/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_YK2QZB5D70WXEX9403SX?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[outer brook]

That's not inconsiderable. The relay I had in mind is really for AC loads but I bet you can find an SSR for DC. But you might be better off with a power mosfet

that said power mosfets can be tough to find right now

[heady plover]

Oohhh

This is what I need... A MOSFET driver

I just don't know the name

[outer brook]

the IRF520 is a nice chip

just make sure you can provide enough voltage to trigger it.

[heady plover]

Ngl I was gonna use a DC motor controller for this just because idk what to look for

[junior pivot]

One of the considerations between a relay and anything else is whether not the high-power device should be (or can be, or is desired to be) electrically isolated from the control circuitry. A relay provides 100% isolation at the expense of perhaps a bit more power draw to pull the relay's solenoid. Even for toggle relays this is more power than the control pin of a transistor, MOSFET, etc. If everything is on the same power supply this won't matter so much.

[outer brook]

SSRs provide best of both worlds, at increased cost

[junior pivot]

And relays are really simple.

[primal wave]

Hey Everyone. I am new to this discord server. I am using an adafruit 16-channel PWM hat for a Pi. Anytime I stop my script the hat is still broadcasting the signal to the servos. I am lost on changing the pwm to (0,0) for the servos. I keep getting the error "AttributeError: 'ServoKit' object has no attribute 'set_PWM'
". Using adafruit_servokit library.
I tried looking through documentation and couldn't find the right function. Could anyone point me in the right direction?

[eager bramble]

Anybody on here have any experience with NixOS?

[hearty karma]

I don't see a set_PWM method, but there is a duty_cycle() one. There's also reset(), which might do what you want (stop sending servo signals). The deinit() method also calls reset().

[primal wave]

@hearty karma Thanks for your reply. the servo_kit object didn't have those methods, reset() and deinit(). At the end of my script I made a PCA9685 object using the same I2C address, 0x40, and called those methods. Error persisted. I'll make a post on the adafruit forums.

I'll try the duty_cycle() later this week.

[hearty karma]

Those methods are part of the underlying pca9685 library that servokit uses. https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_PCA9685/blob/main/adafruit_pca9685.py

[karmic obsidian]

Desk of Ladyada - Post-Family Visit Desk Check! https://youtu.be/b5iFQAp56M8

[ornate turret]

This may be a stupid question but can it be a generic ESP 12k

[outer brook]

It's possible the pinouts are different. In the morning more people will be up (I work weird hours so I'm awake but about to go to bed) and can help you determine if you need to do a custom build of CP

It's not super duper hard but it is a little involved

[ornate turret]

I just wanted to order one to come before christmas but I wanted to make sure its compatabile with CP

https://www.amazon.ca/Bzocio-Esp-12K-Esp8266-Development-Mcu-32-S2/dp/B09CTBWG4H/ref=sr_1_5?crid=R8JVN4B16YFF&keywords=NodeMCU+ESP-12K&qid=1640071909&s=electronics&sprefix=nodemcu+esp-12k%2Celectronics%2C41&sr=1-5 I was thinking about getting this one

[outer brook]

Ah. Hm. There's a list somewhere of what you need for CP but I don't have it handy

I suspect it's ok but I can't say with a lot of confidence

[ornate turret]

Ok thank you

[torpid mica]

Hey there! Anyone knows if it’s possible to get that pink feather rp2040 outside of USA?!

Really love the pcb mask color

[tall flower]

yes, you just need to order more than $99 of things (and pay the taxes and the shipping fees)

[sand tiger]

Are there any smaller OLED/LCD/TFT displays on the market than this one? (Full color)

I can only find some AMOLED displays for cameras but they cost like 250-400 USD each

[delicate quarry]

I think commercially, that's about as small as they go. You may have to go custom for anything smaller, though you probably could get something close to that size in different aspect ratios.

[delicate quarry]

The core module is correct, so it definitely can be done, but because it's not a board officially supported, you may have to put in the extra effort to determine which pins are connected to what. Appearance-wise, it does appear to be a NodeMCU clone, as their designs are constantly being copied by random Chinese manufacturers. However, we cannot guarantee drag-and-drop compatibility, so you would bear most (if not all) of the responsibility of finding any differences between the two boards.

Do bear in mind that assuming it's pretty much equivalent to the NodeMCU, you would still need some form of USB breakout cable to D19/D20, as the microUSB goes to a serial converter, not the native USB pins on the module.

[ornate turret]

What are the USB puins?

pins*

[ornate turret]

Is it all of them?

Or is the usb i breakout ntended to give out data back to the pc?
@delicate quarry

[delicate quarry]

D19/D20?

[ornate turret]

Sorry, what is their purpose?

[delicate quarry]

Ah. You need to go through D19/D20 to access the CIRCUITPY drive. The USB port onboard is only for serial communications, which you can use to program and debug with, but it won't do the whole flash drive thing once you install CircuitPython.

[ornate turret]

Oh so I need it to install circut python?

[delicate quarry]

There is a way to program it without it, but you'll need it to use CircuitPython, and I think you'll need it to access the uf2 bootloader as well.

[ornate turret]

Ok, so I need it to use circuit python and the other port is for serial communication

[ornate turret]

Arduino Nano 33 IOT is it the same with this board?

I dont think so right.

[delicate quarry]

Don't think so.

[ornate turret]

https://www.canadarobotix.com/products/2594 Is this compatabile with CP?

[vagrant gyro]

https://circuitpython.org/downloads
lists all compatible boards

that one looks like ESP32? so probably not due to lack of native USB, same general reason as ESP8266:
https://learn.adafruit.com/welcome-to-circuitpython/circuitpython-for-esp8266#why-are-we-dropping-support-for-esp8266-3020677-2

[karmic obsidian]

The Pi Cast: Adafruit Talks KB2040 Board for Custom Keyboards - JOIN US!
https://youtu.be/jnxAq6czefY

[outer brook]

trying to find an adafruit board I forgot to bookmark. It's a constant current LED driver but it's not a PWM one. I think it has 16 channels? It varies the current being sunk into the chip to provide dimming.

I found it, it's this one https://www.adafruit.com/product/4886

[icy moth]

Is anyone having issues with newer versions of ESP tool?

i have a working USB C cable that i can read and write to the REPL on circuitpython but if I try to use ESP tool to flash a different version of circuitpython, it fails with

line 401, in _reconfigure_port
    raise SerialException("Could not configure port: {}".format(msg))
serial.serialutil.SerialException: Could not configure port: (6, 'Device not configured')```

[glossy osprey]

which is the cheapest fpga board ?////for begginers

[outer brook]

Beginners to FPGA or beginners in general?

[glossy osprey]

in genral

[outer brook]

Because "beginner" and "FPGA" don't usually go together

[glossy osprey]

i mean i just know what fpga is

[outer brook]

I was a little sarcastic, sorry. But if you're just getting in to programming you'll have a much easier time with arduino or circuitpython or even rust

[glossy osprey]

i had used arduino

[junior pivot]

I'd have to agree with @outer brook as an FPGA is not a technology for a beginner programmer. I've been programming for decades and I wouldn't tackle one. That said, one of the cheaper ones is probably the TinyFPGA board for about US40. Pimoroni sells the line: https://shop.pimoroni.com/?q=fpga

If you're into pain, FPGA is your tool. 😝

[outer brook]

What kind of projects did you have in mind @glossy osprey ? Perhaps we can steer you somewhere

[junior pivot]

Probably a more productive (and much cheaper) "weird technology" is the PIO on the RP2040. That's accessible since it's part of the RP2040 but still provides an alternative environment for doing weird stuff you wouldn't tackle on an MCU proper. Though I don't equate an FPGA and the PIO if you're looking for something different the PIO is a good investment of your time.

[glossy osprey]

i guess an way too beginner in it i just learned digital system digine subject in clg
and have seen logic gates implementations in fpga board

[glossy osprey]

yeah sure i get it

[junior pivot]

Well, a Raspberry Pi Pico is US$4 so you can't lose really, and the PIO is actually pretty cool technology. And if you give up on the PIO you've still got a C/C++/CircuitPython/MicroPython board to play with. If you give up on the FPGA you've got a bit of useless PC board.

[glossy osprey]

ohh ok

have to see what pio is

[glossy osprey]

ohk

[outer brook]

Just note that arduino is not supported as of yet on the rp2040

I assume it's coming but it doesn't exist yet. You can still write C/C++ as @junior pivot said though.

[junior pivot]

If you're interested in learning one of the three languages the Pico is a good start.
https://datasheets.raspberrypi.org/pico/sdk/pico_c_sdk.pdf
https://datasheets.raspberrypi.org/pico/sdk/pico_python_sdk.pdf

I personally really like the Itsy Bitsy RP2040 flashed with MicroPython. Great board, great language.

[glossy osprey]

so raspbery pi pico is for basic level projects thats great for me

[junior pivot]

Actually, I thought the Arduino Nano RP2040 was already available. It's been announced at least.

[outer brook]

Ah I haven't followed it super close

[junior pivot]

The RP2040 is the microcontroller chip, and it's available in a lot of different form factors (board sizes). The Pico is just the one released by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. You can get that same RP2040 chip on an Itsy Bitsy, a Feather, an QT Py, a SparkFun MicroMod, and many others.

[outer brook]

Pi pico is nice. If you want to do "serious" micropython or circuitpython projects you might consider a feather/itsy bitsy M4 board.

[junior pivot]

It's currently sold out but here's a link: https://store-usa.arduino.cc/products/arduino-nano-rp2040-connect-with-headers

[outer brook]

The m4 boards use a SAMD51J19, which is much roomier for uPy/circuitpy

[junior pivot]

Personally I'd prefer an Itsy Bitsy RP2040.

[junior pivot]

But that would no longer be an RP2040 board, right?

[outer brook]

No sorry I was on a different train of thought, replying to this msg

You'd lose the PIO of course

But as you can see, @glossy osprey, there's a ton of choices out there. Welcome to the server and to microcontrollers!

[glossy osprey]

yeah i see

lot of controllers

[glossy osprey]

ty

ty for suggestingthough @junior pivot@outer brook

[outer brook]

Any time!

[junior pivot]

You're welcome, have fun learning something new!

[glossy osprey]

i have a arduino uno and nodemcu

at my side this device are popualr i say

adafruist controllers alt to them

are not well known]

thats why i have it

or else i should go for ckt py

[junior pivot]

Well, learning that particular flavour of C/C++ isn't the same as learning "real" C/C++ but it's a good start. C and/or C++ is used heavily in industry for writing pretty much all the connections between hardware and software, and most programming languages are actually written in C or C++ (e.g., Python and Java).

Are you more interested in the hardware or the software side of things, or maybe 50-50?

[glossy osprey]

i am a student of electronics engineering in my course cur. basically 70% is hardware

i am into both of that

so 50-50

i have learned python ,c language

basic

[junior pivot]

Ah, so that connection between hardware and software (e.g., device drivers) means learning C/C++ is great to have in your toolkit.

[glossy osprey]

yeah

hm

do you have more community related to electronics stuff .can u share some

[junior pivot]

Hmm, not off the top of my head. My hardware interests are mostly in music and robotics. But if you're studying to be an EEE I'd actually say an FPGA is probably an excellent (though very challenging) tool to learn how to use. But I certainly wouldn't tackle it in the beginning. Maybe even learn a bit of assembly language before you hit the FPGA...

[glossy osprey]

yeah sure

[hearty karma]

Boards aside, for beginners to FPGA, I'd suggest IceStudio, which lets you program them graphically. There's also https://8bitworkshop.com/ where you can play with simulated FPGAs (and various CPUs and other video game hardware) for quick feedback on your design process.

[glossy osprey]

i never seen this before

this seems\ very helpful

ty sir

[steady gulch]

Digikey has a currently ongoing series on youtube "Introduction to FPGA" with Shawn Hymel

[torpid mica]

Anyone know a place to get footprints for the Adafruit development boards like qtpy (for eagle or kicad)

[main hemlock]

Each board has its own GitHub repo: https://github.com/adafruit/?q=PCB&type=all&language=&sort=

Also here are 3d models: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CAD_Parts

[torpid mica]

Thnx that’s useful. Unfortunately there is no symbol/footprint

[main hemlock]

you want a footprint for the whole board, right? Can you make one in Eagle or kicad by importing the board?

[torpid mica]

I guess I’ll do it like that 🙂

[main hemlock]

maybe someone in #help-with-hw-design would have a suggestion for how to do it

[torpid mica]

Yep. I’ll give it myself a go . If it turns out to be difficult I’ll ask for some help 🙂

[pine igloo]

can the Adafruit USB C Breakout Board (https://www.adafruit.com/product/4090) give out 5V at 3A, if an ESP32 and WS2812B are connected to it and WLED (running on the ESP32) controls the LEDs?

[fresh ore]

Anyone know what that yellow thing is for?

[delicate quarry]

It looks like a giant capacitor, 2.2uF. Capacitor things, like voltage stabilizing, noise decoupling, or something else depending on what it's connected to?

[fresh ore]

its a wifi switch with no neutral wire

it says i need to connect that yellow capacitor somwehere

I have 5 LED lights i want to control with this

but would not this short the cable ?

[random cypress]

What do the multiple voltages mean?

[fresh ore]

it seem to work when i connected it both to live and neutral

without it, the switch would only turn on and not off

[haughty flare]

so i need a bluetooth for my feather. what is a good one that can handle connecting to a bluetooth keyboard and is easy to intigrate with any microcontroller or micro computer

[random cypress]

Interested as well. I've seen lots of tutorials for making gadgets that act as peripherals themselves, but don't recall seeing one that explains how to make a gadget that acts as the host for a peripheral.

[karmic obsidian]

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[karmic obsidian]

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[pine igloo]

what’s the cheapest way I could digitally identify distinct pods. Swear I’m not building a vape lol, but as an example, imagine if you wanted some vape pen you were making to determine what flavor of cartridge you inserted. How could that be done?

best I can think is to have a row of pins on each capsule and a corresponding slots on the device itself. Then you could remove certain pins to create a unique key.

O • O O •

Like that ^

Pretty custom system tho

[outer brook]

You might be able to by resistance but only if they weren't used. The coils will have unique resistances fresh out of the factory

may have rather, it depends on how tight the manufacturing tolerances are. Tough task to tackle

[jade dirge]

A sequence of pads, shorted or not, that meet up with contacts on the receiver?

Would require no actual components on the pods other than the metallic pads.

[pine igloo]

ok so basically the same thing but with pads? Good idea

[pine igloo]

resistance in the contact points?

I wonder if RFID would be better🤔

[outer brook]

Resistance across the two terminals that lead to the coil. Are you designing a new pod or looking for ways to ID existing pods? I assumed the latter

[pine igloo]

Former actually

[outer brook]

ah ok

Then you have a lot of wiggle room

RFID isn't a bad idea

possibly expensive though. Why do you need to ID individual pods?

[jade dirge]

Perhaps to adjust the operating voltage?

[pine igloo]

so a companion app can recognize which pod type is inserted. Kinda like how Disney Infinity works

speaking of which, I wonder how their system does it

[outer brook]

RFID would probably be a good way to do it

[pine igloo]

yea I’m gonna look into that

[jade dirge]

Iqos does send statistics over bluetooth, but they don't monitor exactly what you smoke.

But the bluetooth is disabled on japanese market product

[pine igloo]

yea for me it’s a 2 step process. I need to firstly identify the pod and then send that data to the device

[outer brook]

If a cable can take 4A @12 VDC, can it also take 8A @6VDC or does it not work that way? E.g. a barrel jack connector

[verbal aspen]

Doesn't work that way. Typically it's a current limit rather than a power limit.

[outer brook]

ahh ok

[verbal aspen]

(The way to think about it is that the cable is a small resistance, so only the voltage difference matters for how much power the cable dissipates. At 12V it will be 11.9V on the other end, and at 6V, it will be 5.9V on the other end, etc.)

[outer brook]

ahh ok thanks!

[random cypress]

How's that? Consider a circuit consisting of that wire + a resistor + an ideal voltage source. If we double source voltage, not only does the current through the circuit double, but also the small potential across the wire (viewed as a small resistor) doubles. So the power dissipated from the wire should quadruple, no?

[verbal aspen]

I think we're saying the same thing. With the same amount of current, the wire would dissipate the same power, regardless of the absolute voltage. So the current rating is what really matters. But you're right, if you have a resistive load, running at a higher voltage would create a higher current, which you'd want to take into account versus the cable's current rating.

[carmine peak]

Hello! i am new here, so i might not know how everything works

[delicate quarry]

Welcome!

[haughty flare]

so i need a bluetooth for my feather. what is a good one that can handle connecting to a bluetooth keyboard and is easy to intigrate with any microcontroller or micro computer

[pine igloo]

i'm thinking the bluefruit

and then you should be able to use the GATT commands to parse the keyboard commands.

but i'm guessing here maybe someone else knows better

[lost lily]

new server icon? 😄

[humble thunder]

oof, first time playing with pnp transistors, always used npn but i ran out of those (!) and needed to make a board to control the blinkenlights on a tiny desk tree for Christmas...

i assumed it would just act exactly like an npn except switch the high side of the load instead of going on the low side, but no... it being backwards from an npn makes it much different to use lol, though getting it set up on the bench makes it seem like i might be able to do a workaround and just drive the lights on the tree with the 5v rail instead of the 3.3v one, which gives the required negative voltage at the base in respect to the emitter voltage

no idea if that's going to hurt the microcontroller doing that but ehh, it only needs to last a few days so if it kills the mcu, it was cheap anyways lol

[pine igloo]

hey

there seems to be a problem with adafruit's website

https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/product-files/2343/APA102C.pdf

i get a really strange error when i'm trying to go there

thats the datasheet link on https://www.adafruit.com/product/2477

[gloomy mango]

Yarp.. that's broken.

[pine igloo]

is there a proper channel i put this in?

[vagrant gyro]

@pine igloo yah. looks broken. thanks. i'll pass that info on.

[proper escarp]

is it just me or is it normal that thingiverse website is so incredibly slow when you are trying to upload a "thing"?
I hit the "publish" button 15 minutes ago, and I am still seeing this:

ok, it finally worked...

[dreamy crypt]

is there a channel where someone could guide me about adafruit and arduino all together

i just need some advice - 0 experience w/ both of them

[proper escarp]

this channel would be best

do you have some specific question?

[dreamy crypt]

yes, so i have a garage door that is controlled with a bluetooth remote controller

so i had this, idea.. if i can sniff the bluetooth packets when it is sent to the door and use it in a server, i can control the door wirelessly

so i searched about sniffing tools, and i found a adafruit Bluefruit LE Sniffer

now i have no idea where to start, like what to buy and how is it different from arduino

all in all, my goal is to control my bluetooth controlled door with an app i create

[proper escarp]

I am not familiar with that particular board, but here are some basics

[dreamy crypt]

yes basics, w'd help me find inspirations

[proper escarp]

Arduino is a company that started producing user-friendly programmable microcontroller boards - allowing for interaction with real world things such as lEDs and motors

in particular, they produced iconic Arduino UNO board

they also produced "Arduino IDE" - computer program giveing an easy to use environment for programming such boards

all of it is open source

many other companies, inspired by Arduino, started building and selling similar boards. Two of the more popular companies are Adafruit and Sparkfun

most of these boards can be programmed in the same Arduino IDE (just install new file with board details)

sometimes all such board are (incorrectly) called "Arduinos". Better name is developmnet board, or MCU development board.

this was history - you probably know most of it already

now, as where to start

Adafruit not only produces and sells boards

it also supplies very detailed docs for each of them

so I would start by reading https://learn.adafruit.com/introducing-the-adafruit-bluefruit-le-sniffer

but I do not know nearly enough about Bluetooth to answer about packet sniffing - maybe other people can add

[dreamy crypt]

thanks, one more question

can i use arduino boards w/ adafruit addons

or use rassbery pi w/them

[proper escarp]

usually yes

to be more specific: some sensors and other add-ons use analog signal, some digital, some, other communication protocols (common one is I2C) to communicate with the microcontroller

any development board, as well as raspberry pi, can use any of the methods above

the only thing to wathc for is voltage level

most modern boards use 3.3v logic level voltage, but some older boards and sensors use 5v

if you need to make them talk to each other, you will need to add "level shifter"

[vagrant gyro]

@pine igloo link fixed. thanks again for reporting it.

[dreamy crypt]

hmm i see

[dreamy crypt]

haha, out of stock

gon search the web for it

@proper escarp thanks for the info, i really appreciate it

[random cypress]

you're not crazy, I agree with you that it's normal 😛

Sorry, couldn't resist

[pine igloo]

thanks for fixing it

[desert cipher]

I would suggest maybe think about moving on. Even if upload is a success, "download all files" is broken

[wicked lion]

Anyone know some fun api's to mess around with?

[eager bramble]

You played with the Adafruit IO stuff yet?

[wicked lion]

Not yet no what kind of stuff can be done with that?

[eager bramble]

If you have, then there's a few directions to go from there. There's Google's vast array of APIs. The calendar stuff is cool.

[outer brook]

lots

[wicked lion]

I've used google, spotify, last.fm, weather and a dnd api so far

and done some mid to big sized projects with each

Been trying to find something else to lead to a project/idea for one

[eager bramble]

then after that you've got AWS IoT with Greengrass. That's a big beast to learn, but it's fun.

[eager bramble]

Check out the Adafruit IO and its APIs.

It's super cool and lets you create dashboards from your collected data.

[wicked lion]

I'll check that one out thanks

[karmic obsidian]

ok! getting back to posting leeks 🙂

Metro RP2040 with ESP32 AirLift

We are noodling through some old designs we did not finish routing. There's still some ground plane work to do here, but all the pins are routed and assigned...somehow our designs always use all available GPIO, nothing left over! The ESP32 adds WiFi and BLE through an SPI interface, with TLS 1.2 and all so IoT projects are possible. Only thing that is a bit odd is that D0 and D1 are swapped so that the UART direction is 'correct' with the pinmux. or at least, we think so? UARTs are always tricky to wire up... #comingsoon

MOAR SOONZ

[sharp hamlet]

Hi Everyone, I invite you to the IEEE Consultants’ Network of Northern New Jersey meeting with a presentation on Arduino PRO for Telecommunications, Internet of Things (IoT), and Industry 4.0 on Thursday, January 13, 2022 at 6:30 PM EST. Our speaker, Massimo Sacchi, is the Corporate Partnerships Manager at Arduino Pro. Please register to receive a link to the meeting.
https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/295292

[cloud estuary]

Can I change i2c device by using a switch to switch the sda line to different i2c device, while just connect the all sck to the mcu sck?

[calm bridge]

i've got a problem with adafruit-nrfutil on linux. Probably python version related. Where am i likely to find help ?

[hearty karma]

Kinda, but you might have to do something special with the non-connected SDA to keep from putting devices in weird states. An I2C multiplexor might be easier.

[cloud estuary]

I see. Thanks