general-chat

[raw jasper]

They could just..... hire a Mexican chef to judge it
(and organize it)

[tardy badger]

Weeee

This order was literally $11 🫣

[raw jasper]

What's inside?

[tardy badger]

SAMD11D14 ICs

[static flare]

enjoy

[patent hemlock]

🥳

[raw jasper]

Enjoy!

[tardy badger]

It’s for this board

[raw jasper]

Stock for the shop, or under dev?

[tardy badger]

Should have them by the end of the month I think

Under dev

I am exploring using it for USB to SPI/I2C/JTAG programming of FPGA

It’s just small enough to do it. Basically thinking about setting programming mode with a switch, and whatnot. This is mostly to get used to working with it and loading a boot loader

I do apologize for making you uncomfortable. I can remove the message if that would help.

[raw jasper]

Looking to replace the FTDI chips?

[tardy badger]

I want a more flexible, deterministic approach

The FT232H is nice, and I’ll probably keep it on the IcyBlue and other boards, but I want to explore a few other programming options like an RP2040, samd11/21, and some other M0 chips

Maybe some risc-v

I’ve also considered a soft core on a smaller, cheaper FPGA for programming and configuration of larger ones.

Lots of cool options that I’d like to learn about and develop

[raw jasper]

There are some Chinese cheap RISC-V ICs, but you may run into availability and/or sourcing issues in the USA

[tardy badger]

Yeah

There are some fairly cheap lattice FPGA that should be big enough to host a USB programming interface

[raw jasper]

(And there's the problem of you installing questionable Chinese IDEs if they aren't supported by open-source toolchains, which, given your background, probably isn't a wise thing to do)

[tardy badger]

Something around or just under 1k cells that would be nice candidates at $2 a piece in quantity

[static flare]

nah, it was non-serious, i could just hear it and i just know the person saying it has no clue what they're saying

[tardy badger]

Ah yeah, it was bad to hear people not even try..

[rapid geode]

are you suggesting the bake off is culturally insensitive?

im shocked. shocked i tell you

:x

[tardy badger]

Lol

[rapid geode]

I looked it up. from last year.

not much to add. haha. its pretty bad. even by "brit humour" standards

on that note, im going to make classic japanese cuisine tonight. california sushi rolls.

wait, what?

[blissful roost]

Are you suggesting the Great British Empire could be culturally insensitive?!?

😏

[rapid geode]

exterminate!!!

food is funny though, cause we call everything italian, or french, or mexican, japanese etc. as if those foods are A: anything like what they have, and B: some sort of national dish. meanwhile actual japanese people are sitting in pizza hut and mcdonalds 😛

i went to a "mexican" restaurant once in burbank and they gave me a microwaved pilsbury pizza and a biut of ice berg lettuce as a "ceasar salad"

[rapid geode]

I think that is called the "great british empiring show" over here

[blissful roost]

Lel

[rapid geode]

ratings are down though, we might cancel it

[blissful roost]

I'm grateful that restaurants are pretty authentic here.
At least to a reasonable degree.

[rapid geode]

There isnt really such a thing as authentic though, this is really the root of all this. There is only varying shades of charicature

[blissful roost]

Eeeehhhhhhhhh

[rapid geode]

ha

the only true authentic experience is a multinational chain. same in every country

😛

[blissful roost]

Lmao

I enjoyed Paris, where we visited a Lebanese restaurant.. lol

[rapid geode]

exactly

i can only imagine what "canadian food" is like in other places.

a box of KD?

[raw jasper]

I wish I had a dalek emote to give you

[raw jasper]

https://tenor.com/view/dalek-you-would-make-a-good-dalek-doctor-who-taken-aback-disappointed-gif-23781707

[raw jasper]

I love how they (do Daleks have genders? I haven't watched enough doctor who to even know :P) just slip down The Hole[TM]

[blissful roost]

Only the Brits would make a baddy that can't handle stairs and carpets. 😅

... or random holes in the floor.

[rapid geode]

ha

daleks are the apple of super villains

[blissful roost]

Defeated by the EU and forced to go USB-C... ?

[raw jasper]

This reminds me of a certain Big Clive video

(That I probably cannot link here because of #code-of-conduct )

[rapid geode]

daleks use firewire and memory stick

ha

someone should 3d print a dalek cover for a spot robot

[raw jasper]

DALEK VAIO

[tardy badger]

Found out about an interesting company today that makes the smallest GPS module available

Inertial Sense

The module costs $200

[raw jasper]

TBH, inertial sense makes me thing more of dead reckoning than GPS

:P

[tardy badger]

It’s an IMU GPS module

[raw jasper]

O_O IMUs have been miniaturized?

[tardy badger]

IMU as is inertial Measurement Units

[raw jasper]

I know the acronym, but I thought they were the huge things they have in aviation museums

[tardy badger]

https://inertialsense.com/product/pre-calibrated-imu-5-sensor-module-only/

It can be yours for an export controlled $200 🙂

Looks like it accepts GNSS signal

[raw jasper]

Yeah, that's about expected for a GPS module

[tardy badger]

Kind of fascinating

I learned about the company the way probably most people learn about them, through a recruiter

[raw jasper]

Judging from the page title, I think I can guess who the target audience is

[tardy badger]

Definitely not defense contractors

[raw jasper]

Yup, definitely not

[tardy badger]

It’s for jimmy down the street and his air soft squad

[raw jasper]

LOL

[raw jasper]

I guess working for one defense contractor makes it more likely for others to attempt to poach you? :P

[tardy badger]

Not sure

I suppose it generally means you can pass a background check

[raw jasper]

I wouldn't know

I'm not in that industry

[tardy badger]

Anyway, seemed like an interesting role. C++ embedded, sensor fusion kind of stuff

Throwing my hat in the ring and seeing what happens

[raw jasper]

Wishing you the best of luck!

[blissful roost]

I need to find a new role. :/

[tardy badger]

It would shorten my commute by 6 miles each way, 12+ miles each day

Which during evening traffic can mean the difference of half an hour commute or a hour long commute

[raw jasper]

Yeah, that's some time and energy you ain't getting back

[blissful roost]

My commute is around 1.5-2 hours each way.

[tardy badger]

Yikes

[blissful roost]

Really great on top of a 11.5 hours shift.. /s

[raw jasper]

Oh, you really need a new role

[tardy badger]

I spend about that as well in traffic

[blissful roost]

Problem being; Good money and job security.

I suppose I'd be better served working on a promotion and waiting until I'm ready to move to the US.

[tardy badger]

I also make stupidly good money. But it’s a soul suck dealing with the traffic in my area

[blissful roost]

I've got an extra £400 in my pay this month, for 2 overtime shifts.

[raw jasper]

how about rest of Europe?

[blissful roost]

So, can't complain about that.

[tardy badger]

One part of my drive takes me 15-20 minutes to got not even a mile..

[blissful roost]

Pass.

My wife doesn't live in Europe. 😛

[raw jasper]

Ah, yeah, you've gone and done brexit. It would be the same effort. I sometimes forget completely irrelevant

[blissful roost]

hahahaa

I could say many things about that farce, but..... I just did. 😛

[tardy badger]

Well, coming to the US anymore isn’t a walk in the park. It used to be easier for people with highly technical skills like those used in IT

It’s a mess really

[blissful roost]

Let's be real.... I'm worth double the pay, just for the English accent. 😛

[tardy badger]

2x the pay to hear “blimmy” at least once an hour

I could see it

[raw jasper]

*blimey

[tardy badger]

Spelled it how it sounds in my head 😛

Blimmy I guess would be like jimmy

[blissful roost]

No... I'm somewhat more.. colourful. lol

[tardy badger]

Attempting to be less colorful for the sake of the chat lol

[blissful roost]

😉

[rapid geode]

colour is overrateds

as are accents

[raw jasper]

says the person w/ the gray avatar

[rapid geode]

ha

i need to bake a chocolate cake tomorrow. mmmm

[blissful roost]

My accent can rate anywhere between chav and middle-class, so I'm ok. 😛

[rapid geode]

glaswegian?

[blissful roost]

No.

West London.

[fervent turtle]

I think adafruit sent me a pi zero instead of my pi zero 2….

[rapid geode]

O-o

pic?

[patent hemlock]

they "fixed" that - to a somewhat terrifying degree, i might add

[raw jasper]

https://www.adafruit.com/support

[blissful roost]

https://tenor.com/view/star-wars-finn-poe-dameron-they-fly-now-fly-gif-25032438

[fervent turtle]

Ugh

[rapid geode]

sure looks like a pic zero v1

[tardy badger]

What symbol is on the main IC?

[fervent turtle]

On the back?

[rapid geode]

and of course i assume you checked the order than you didnt accidentally pick the wrong one

[tardy badger]

No, the black square

That CPU chip

If it’s a Raspberry Pi logo, it’s the 2W

If it’s the Broadcom wave, it’s a Pi Zero W

[blissful roost]

My Pi Zero 2W has a heatsink on it, so... I'm not pulling that off just for a pic. 😛

[fervent turtle]

They’re both an M with a circle

I had a Zero from a while ago

[rapid geode]

they look like pi zero w's to me

[fervent turtle]

Yeah I reached out to adafruit

[rapid geode]

the zero w 2 has a second metal covered square

and the regular zero has less stuff

[fierce prawn]

Where can I salvage a push button
The big one

[fierce prawn]

NVM

@late fulcrum is this good?

[late fulcrum]

Yeah, that's a basic switch right there

[fierce prawn]

So when the flap is push down
It let's both of the contact touch together
And because the contact holder is plastic
It retracts back
So this works just fine until the plastic desides to not bend back

[acoustic pawn]

That's a momentary electron flow control device

[wanton thistle]

I have to back up (well transfer) my photos + videos on my phone thats on an microSD card to a bigger one due to the lack of space. Is copy/paste the best way or does anyone recommend an app to do it?

[grizzled raptor]

It's absolutely beautiful! I love the ingenuity. When you need a momentary push button, and don't have one, you use what's on hand. You? Yous A true bodger.

[feral raft]

Hi all, does anyone know where I can get these kind of roadmaps for Embedded Systems, IoT, VLSI design, etc?

[thick wind]

A quick google search for “embedded systems roadmap” gets a couple of good hits. IoT and VLSI are a tad more specialized, and especially in the IoT side there are a lot more recent emerging standards and technologies, so can’t speak as much for those.

[feral raft]

Okay

[raw jasper]

If you want to begin learning VLSI design, you can't go wrong with "CMOS VLSI design" by Weste and Harris and the web supplements at https://pages.hmc.edu/harris/cmosvlsi/4e/

TBF, though, it makes more sense to learn how to work with FPGAs and later pivot to VLSI design if you have the need. In both cases, you will first have to learn digital design. See discussion starting from #fpga message

If you're interested in analog design, well, I can't be of much help

[feral raft]

I am electronics & communication engineering student and I know some basics of FPGA..

I am in 3rd year of Engineering.

[raw jasper]

Well then, there are certainly classes you can take at your place of study relating to VLSI/ASIC design!

That is always a good point to start :)

Then, you can do your thesis supervised by a professor specializing in the field

[feral raft]

But our academics lecturers teach us in exam point of view.

[raw jasper]

Ah, you learn to the test :\

[feral raft]

Yes..we learn topics for exams..our academic is like that..🥺

[tardy badger]

Digital VLSI Design with Verilog: A Textbook from Silicon Valley Polytechnic Institute https://a.co/d/1gBbrGh

Advanced HDL Synthesis and SOC Prototyping: RTL Design Using Verilog https://a.co/d/9kD3z9m

These two have come highly recommended to me in the past

[raw jasper]

Since you're an uni student, you may be able to access these for free via springer link

[feral raft]

How about taking some course on coursera?

[tardy badger]

You could for sure

[raw jasper]

For some reason, this one did not resonate with me

It felt very specific to a uni lab environment, and fairly dry outside that

Which... makes sense, but, yeah

No idea about the second one

Also, obligatory openlane link:

https://github.com/The-OpenROAD-Project/OpenLane

[tardy badger]

Well, you’d be surprised that the ways you design in a university lab is very on par with how it’s done in real labs that synthesize million logic cell modem designs

[raw jasper]

Haha, no I meant, it felt very much like university lab courses

[tardy badger]

The fundamental design flow is important to learn which is why I recommend it

I know

I still very much recommend it because it’s about building a mindset

Lab experiments seem redundant, but they teach a very important concept outside of the material itself.

And that’s creating repeatable processes

[raw jasper]

Yeah, it's hard to disagree with that

Just a note, the book assumes a synopsys environment, and you'll have to do some work yourself to adapt it to whatever tools you may or may not have access to (eg. openlane)

[tardy badger]

Yeah

If you have edaplayground access, there is a synopsys on there

I think you need a university email though

[raw jasper]

My personal preference still is traditional textbooks with easily available solutions to their problem sections than lab manuals

(from the perspective of needing to learn something outside a formal course)

[dusty citrus]

am I missing something or is the cost of odrive 3.4 diy done from the github repos, way less than a finished product? like around 30/40 usd vs 100 usd of the finished product?

[crystal ore]

That's not atypical. The bill of materials for an iPhone is also much less than the retail price.

[dusty citrus]

right, but weirdly clones seem to keep the official odrive pricing

[raw jasper]

Even before applying the profit margin, there are costs beyond the raw bill of material: Manufacturing costs, transport costs, packaging costs, insurance (for workers + corp), cost of running a business, etc

[patent hemlock]

50% "markup" is typical for retail

[dusty citrus]

then I can only guess that's not a so in demand product maybe? like official arduinos have a quite pricing, while you can find knock offs for few dollars

[patent hemlock]

knock-off products don't have the same amount of overhead due to other factors, mostly because there's zero research and development ripping off someone else

[late fulcrum]

Also, returns, customer support, etc. is surprisingly expensive

[patent hemlock]

💯 i got laid off from a small company so they could hire a support person instead - turned out they hired an acquaintance 🙄

[rapid geode]

Thats probably illegal in some way.

[crystal ore]

Generally not in America, anyway. "At will" employment...

[rapid geode]

you guys need to get your country sorted out.

🙂

move forward into the 19th century

todays job is to try and make this cake again. I fear last time it turned out good by accident. haha.

[raw jasper]

It looks lovely!

[rapid geode]

thanks

it tasted good too. 2 lindt chocolate bars in it

haha

[raw jasper]

I can imagine it

[tardy badger]

Today in “what even is programming?” I’m working to understand why in a UART example I can blink the LED on my board, but the BLE blink example doesn’t

Brought to you by Nordic Semi

[rapid geode]

thats cause blue is blink resistant.

[raw jasper]

Interrupts?

I mean, that'd be my best guess 🤷

[tardy badger]

I’m honestly not sure. It doesn’t seem to register the button being pressed

[raw jasper]

That board doesn't need programming, it needs an old priest and a young priest

[tardy badger]

Lol

I probably just need to download the latest Nordic SDK package

Hilariously, I get okay blue performance on the antenna with 2 layers and my chip antenna

Not amazing performance, but surprisingly good for 2 layers and an un-optimized matching network

This is upstairs, about 5 meters away

Right next to it, I get about 45-39dBm

[raw jasper]

Which IC is it again?

[tardy badger]

nRF52811

[raw jasper]

RF SoC....

Does it use standard gcc/clang?

[tardy badger]

It does

It can be compiled in command line, Segger embedded studio, zephyr, arms ide

[raw jasper]

That's cool. One of the reasons I hope yosys matures enough to become an industry standard is that I am not really a fan of vendor-specific IDEs/environments

[tardy badger]

Yeah, I get that

[late fulcrum]

Especially bloated brittle ones that only support partial functionality in some environments (which may well be all of them)

[tardy badger]

I’m not so concerned about specific IDEs but rather locking people to one operating system.

[raw jasper]

..or architecture!

Good luck running $FPGA_VENDOR tools on ARM or Power

[tardy badger]

Ah yeah

[late fulcrum]

Soon there won't be any other choices

Unless a new ISA comes out and gets wide adoption

[raw jasper]

ARM is kind of getting a foothold in the desktop space

My current machine is an ARM (apple M1)

[late fulcrum]

X86 is on the way out

[raw jasper]

It's terribly energy-inefficient!

[tardy badger]

I’d guess we have a solid 10 more years of x86 dominance

[raw jasper]

Yeah, I'd add another 5 just to be safe :P

[urban arrow]

In VSCode, with the CP plugin, it's working great for me. I recently got a Feather RP2040 RFM69 board, and it's not in the list to select as a board - this only applies to using the Serial Monitor. Trying to select a board and its COM port, it's not there (the COM port is, but wrong board). Any idea how to add this board? I have Adafruit Feather RP2040 selected, but this does not work. Thanks. P.S. I switch to MU to use REPL...

[raw jasper]

I also "predict" weird accelerator cards will come back

[blissful roost]

What if.. Intel go with ARM or RISC-V to handle the majority of system tasks, with their own 64-bit CISC to run more complex things?

So, that takes place of the "E-cores"?

[tardy badger]

Either accelerator cards or arm companion cards for cross platform apps

[raw jasper]

It appears ARM as-is is at least as or more performant than current x86 CPUs

[tardy badger]

A72s are definitely capable

[blissful roost]

I'd call it a no-brainer.. saves them development budget, I'd guess.

We know both can do 64-bit.

[acoustic pawn]

I think it's that most software is already built for x86 that it would take a lot to redo a lot of it. A translation layer would work, but it would slow heavily optimized programs down.

[fickle ridge]

Bit of a general ecosystem question.

I'm new to microcontrollers, haven't really done much with them until very recently.
I've been working my way thru a pile of modules for a project figuring out how they work, AHT10 temp/humdidity sensors, ST7735 display, DS1307 RTC, PCA9685 servo controller, NRF24L01 wifi board, stuff like that.
I am wondering about the general state of ecosystem?
I started out at first on an arduino nano writing C, but i found C a bit slow so i switched to a pico using circuitpython, which is much quicker to write code in.
On the ST7735 display i noticed the circuitpython libary seems quite a bit slower than what people do on the slower arduino nano with apparently more optimized libaries.
I bought an ILI9488 display (before i really knew where i was going) and i noticed now there are no circuitpython drivers, but there are some micropython ones and arduino ones.
My search for NRF24L01 code examples for circuitpython produced one result, and again the example code already doesn't work.

Is circuitpython the right choice or is it too new and i should maybe consider micropython or using C?

[tardy badger]

Circuitpython is very stable and well supported

It’s as good of a choice as MicroPython. It will likely be much easier than C if you don’t have a background with C or C++

Circuitpython will be slow though

[fickle ridge]

I think the most speed critical part for me was drawing display updates and i already solved that to a degree i'm happy with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz_dt_ljQ7E

[tardy badger]

So you might not necessarily get the performance you want with circuitpython

[fickle ridge]

That being said i used multithreading in python recently and i wish i could use the 2nd core since i already came up with a division of labor that would make sense and i think there are no big sync/concurrency issues.

[tardy badger]

SPI displays in general are going to be slow, especially on devices where RAM is constrained

[fickle ridge]

currently i struggle to get basic example code "does this piece of hardware work" to run.

or there is no libary at all (ILI9488) for circuitpython

[tardy badger]

Okay, that’s a good starting place.

Have you looked at how it’s done for Arduino?

[fickle ridge]

i took a quick look at an arduino ILI9488 driver, yes

[tardy badger]

Do you remember which one?

[fickle ridge]

no i just googled ILI9488 arduino github

I'm currently re-considering choice of ecosystem for project before committing to trying to write a display driver

[tardy badger]

https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI/blob/master/TFT_Drivers/ILI9488_Defines.h

Take a look here if you haven’t yet

TFT_eSPI is a pretty thorough

[fickle ridge]

that's all C based tho, so i would have to write my project code in C, or would it be possible to access the libary from circuitpython somehow?

[tardy badger]

No, I’m not saying write it in C, I’m suggesting that you follow the init structure in the other ILI9488 file

[fickle ridge]

to write a display driver for circuitpython?

[tardy badger]

Yeah

https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_ILI9341/blob/main/adafruit_ili9341.py

Base it off the ILI9341

Actually, let me put something together and I’ll share it here

[tardy badger]

https://github.com/skerr92/ILI9488_CiruitPython

drag the ili9488.py to the lib folder

set up like the ili9341 circuitpython library

it should work

I don't have an ili9488 display to try this on so I have no way to test

but do let me know

[fickle ridge]

Thankyou! I'll need some time to set up a breadboard to test it.

[fickle ridge]

import ili9488                                                     # https://github.com/skerr92/ILI9488_CiruitPython

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "/lib/ili9488.py", line 13
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

[tardy badger]

weird.. not sure why it's throwing that

[raw jasper]

perhaps because of the \xx3F? It's in another line, but it's an invalid escape code

[tardy badger]

oh yeah, I wasn't looking far enough

[raw jasper]

Prolly the micropython parser is merging everything into one line and doing "dumb" error reporting to save on RAM

[tardy badger]

okay, that's pushed up

[tardy badger]

pull down the repo again and update the file

[fickle ridge]

Is the syntax highlight here highlighting the next issue?

[raw jasper]

Does it not work?

[fickle ridge]

good so far

[raw jasper]

Alright, hopefully it works all the way through!

[tardy badger]

I can get it to run through setup.

spi = busio.SPI(board.D2,board.D3,board.D4)
tft_dc = board.D0
tft_cs = board.D1
display_bus = displayio.FourWire(
    spi, command=tft_dc, chip_select=tft_cs, reset=board.D5
)
display = ili9488.ILI9488(display_bus, width=320, height=240)```

this is on a custom RP2040 board

fingers crossed it works

if it does I'll finish setup on the repo and submit it to the community bundle

that way you can get the smaller mpy

[fickle ridge]

I went by this pinout:

http://lcdwiki.com/3.5inch_SPI_Module_ILI9488_SKU:MSP3520

Which matches the print on my display

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 18, in <module>
RuntimeError: No pull up found on SDA or SCL; check your wiring

I double-checked the wireing with my multimeter, not sure what's the issue.

[tardy badger]

SCL/SDA are I2C not SPI

[fickle ridge]

oh my.

[tardy badger]

some displays use SCL/SDA to describe one way SPI

SCL is SPI Clock, SDA is MOSI

[fickle ridge]

The arduino demo mentions SPI specifically here: http://www.lcdwiki.com/Run_Arduino_Demo_in_spi_model

[tardy badger]

so you'll just set up a busio.SPI(board.GP2,board.GP3, miso=None) and pass that spi object into the ili9488 object

GP2 is GPIO2, GP3 is GPIO3 on the RP2040

okay you're doing that.

i'd comment out your sensors if you don't have them hooked up

[tardy badger]

does the display have an I2C touch controller?

[fickle ridge]

i don't think so

i'm gutting the code, not having the sensors on for sure threw some errors

[tardy badger]

yeah

[fickle ridge]

This is the simple example code i started out with on the smaller ST7735 display i was using so far. All i get is a white display and no errors.

[tardy badger]

hmm..

I pushed up a slightly modified version to my repo.

I just removed the display reset command.

[fickle ridge]

still just a white display

[tardy badger]

hmm..

I'll look deeper into it. I need to get a display so I can appropriately debug things

[hasty wedge]

Homebrew melody IC, this is a PIC clone flash MCU that costs like 4 cents, not a 8051

[late fulcrum]

I did not know there were any PIC clones

Onboard RC oscillator?

[hasty wedge]

Oh boy there are a lot of PIC clones

Yeah, built-in RC

[late fulcrum]

I thought Microchip was very possessive about the PIC design. I asked them once how my transistors were on a PIC12C509 and they said it was proprietary information (although I could just count them through the UV window, I suppose).

[wanton thistle]

https://tenor.com/view/richard-ayoade-it-crowd-popcord-go-on-watching-gif-7666781

I use pic lol

[hasty wedge]

Well, no matter how possessive Microchip are, if a Taiwanese/Chinese chip maker wants to clone it, they're gonna clone it

[wanton thistle]

What part number did you use?

[hasty wedge]

They have like capacitive touch and ADC integrated in a 20 pins package that sells for like 30 cents

[hasty wedge]

FT60F121 by Fremont Micro Devices

They make very good EEPROMs

[wanton thistle]

Gonna look into that. Is it compatible with the PICKIT 3?

[raw jasper]

How many architectures have you ported your melody program to at this point? :P

[hasty wedge]

No, you need their own ICE and IDE

[hasty wedge]

I have no idea

[wanton thistle]

ahh crap.

[hasty wedge]

8051(original), PIC, M0, RP2040, AVR

If something is cheap and have two timers, I am gonna port it

I think the reason why FMD can make their PIC clone so cheap is because they developed their own EEPROM IP

By not using others IP they can make the cost very low

[wanton thistle]

Thats right, theres even STM32 "clones" (GD32) out there. Some people have said it works sort of OK with STM's software

[late fulcrum]

I used to use PIC, but Microchip drove me away from it

[hasty wedge]

Same

PIC are so expensive and you need to pay their toolchain

[wanton thistle]

no you dont lol

MPLAB, and the compliers are free

I mean yea if you want optimization, you do. But...most of the time for hobby use, you dont have to use optimization

[hasty wedge]

Like the Pro XC8

[late fulcrum]

PICs were originally appealing because they were cheap. But after a while I hankered for documented protocols, and an easier architecture to program for

[hasty wedge]

FMD's IDE comes with optimization all enabled out of the box

Without optimization there's no way I can squeeze my melody program in

[late fulcrum]

Optimization was not an issue for me, as I programmed in assembler (the only free option there was at the time)

[hasty wedge]

Both size and speed wise

[late fulcrum]

And realistically, with something like 32B of RAM, hand-optimization was the only realistic approach

[hasty wedge]

True

[raw jasper]

Is FMD's IDE original?

[hasty wedge]

Yeah, they developed their own IDE

[wanton thistle]

bet. 128B Ram? At what speed? 16Mhz? (Im taking this as a personal challenge btw, nothing against you-if it works for you thats great 🙂 -I just like the challenge of trying to find something lol)

[hasty wedge]

And the compiler is secretly a cracked XC8

Bruh

That's why you can't download their IDE on their website

You have to ask a reseller

[wanton thistle]

! I found on reddit how to do certain things to XC8 to get it to do optimizations 👀

[hasty wedge]

2K 128B 16Mhz 2T(so 8Mhz)

[wanton thistle]

You know immediately I thought of the PIC12F1840. 4K program, 256B RAM, 32Mhz clock. This is an old chip though and they came out with better ones.

[hasty wedge]

It uses XC8 to generate the assembly file from the C files, then the IDE uses it's built-in assembler to generate executable

[late fulcrum]

Looking around at the newer cheap chip offerings. The CH32V003 looks appealing.

[hasty wedge]

It doesn't use XC8 to link the firmware

[late fulcrum]

OH, the PY23F002A looks even better

[hasty wedge]

Yeah, I have an improved melody firmware on PY32F003

That can do two tones melody and one channel sample playback at the same time

[raw jasper]

I mean, yeah, developing the IDE was the easy part 😝

These ICs will be more interesting if they ever develop their own compiler

[hasty wedge]

They have their own assembler tho

They only use XC8 to generate the assembly file, after that it's the IDE's work

[raw jasper]

I mean, yeah, but it's not like you can tell your boss to, well, allow some questionable cracked executables within the company network

[hasty wedge]

True

[late fulcrum]

I'm guessing the IDE only runs on DOS

[hasty wedge]

It runs in Windows

[hasty wedge]

Oh, it also supports SDCC

Which is an alternative option to compile

But you need to hack the SDCC compiler for it to work

[hasty wedge]

Windows 10

It supports hi-dpi

Better than KEIL

KEIL's high DPI is garbage

[raw jasper]

Well, they should distribute a version with SDCC, and allow the system to link with licensed xc8 if the user has it

[hasty wedge]

True

But yeah, typical Chinese manufacturer decision making

[raw jasper]

Yeah, these kinds of things make me wary to use Chinese parts that use custom IDEs

[hasty wedge]

Also, I mean

[late fulcrum]

DPI? Dots per inch?

[hasty wedge]

If you're gonna develop low budget unmarked chips

[raw jasper]

LOL yeah

IP would be your least concern

[hasty wedge]

Why bother

[raw jasper]

Well, it'd be a route to maturity

Your corpo can clearly do vlsi design

You could take the off-ramp and start selling, say, custom risc-v

With IP-clean IDEs

[hasty wedge]

FMD do have ARM parts

And these ARM parts are licensed with official KEIL listing in their repository

[raw jasper]

I'm surprised :P

It's like 2 different corpos

[hasty wedge]

Yeah lol

[raw jasper]

Have you seen gowin FPGAs?

[hasty wedge]

Yeah

[raw jasper]

They seem to be fully Chinese-made solutions?

[hasty wedge]

I still prefer Lattice

They have the best open source community

[raw jasper]

Gowin seem to give more DSP blocks for the price though

But yeah, lattice has the best yosys support

(probably)

[late fulcrum]

Still wondering why compilers are rated in dots per inch

[raw jasper]

I think they said the IDE can scale up to high-DPI displays

[hasty wedge]

Yeah their IDE

[raw jasper]

Which.... yeah, I'd not really expect from a software made by a fly-by-night operator who bundles... medicated microchip products

[late fulcrum]

Oh right, DOS-only programs don't tend to have much display flexibility

[raw jasper]

They said it runs under win10, so I presume it's not 16bit

[late fulcrum]

Still, modern operating systems support stuff like that for you, so it's not a problem with them

[raw jasper]

I think microsoft has dropped ntvdm

Can't remember if they did it in 10 or in 11

[hasty wedge]

Medicated microchip products lol

[slender orbit]

hello

[raw jasper]

It's the compiler, with extra medicine to make it work! :P

[hasty wedge]

Yeah

[rapid geode]

cake!

[hasty wedge]

Pretty!

[patent hemlock]

the cake is NOT a lie!

[burnt tendon]

Looks berry good

[crystal ore]

Yeah, it really takes the... nah, too easy...

[rapid geode]

hahah

[true swift]

Hi ! I have a beginner question about adafruit.

[rapid geode]

eyes suspiscios attachment

[true swift]

Here is from the manual

I wonder....some things: - +5V DC power supply, can I use 3 AAA batteries, giving 4.5 V or wouldn't that work?

[rapid geode]

depends on the strip. some are tolerant of lower voltages

[true swift]

• I have a "multi-transformer" which could power the arduino in addition to the power given from the usb, would that help any?

[true swift]

OK...so just test?

[rapid geode]

you can use the same power supply for both. the main reason you usually separate them is because the arduino can only supply 500 or 800 ma. and lights can be several amps.

[true swift]

But If I use the marked power supply port, can I get more amps? Oh I will check the specs for my transfornmator...what is the amp ususally for the usb?

[true swift]

Ok thanks! Will look into it more

[rapid geode]

no. that ports allows a wider voltage range (up to 12v). but you still are limited for amps and should use a separate power supply for the leds

[wanton thistle]

At most you might get a half an amp (500mA) before the regulator (the black IC to the south of the connector) starts heating up a lot. It will give you enough current for your strip though.

[true swift]

Ok, so are you are saying is that no matter what amp I put in, let's say 1500 mA the regulatator will damp it down to 500mA?

[true swift]

my transformator gives 1500mA btw but according to this: (https://docs.arduino.cc/learn/electronics/power-pins), my board, which is a Arduino one V3 is 1 A - but I'm not sure is that max or min? sorry for my beginner questions

[wanton thistle]

correct. Your circuit will only consume as much as is provided. But if you go over that amount, the regulator "stops" itself by heating up and going into over temp mode and reduces your output or shuts it off completely

[wanton thistle]

That just means your transformer is able to supply 1500mA max. That doesnt mean the arduino will be able to supply it. Now if you were using a transistor, and using the arduino to turn it on and off, then yes, you'll be able to use the 1.5A max but this is a different scenario than what you are proposing.

opps

So if you are only lighting up an LED, an LED takes 20mA at most. That means youve used 20mA from your 1500mA power budget. You wont get 1500mA through an LED. You can though but, with constant current circuitry

The external power supply is a suggestion to be able to handle everything the board has (so worst case, you have motors and a display) . We can look closer and see whats going on

This is the schematic for the power coming in, where that black barrel connector is. The NCP1117ST50T3G is rated for 1A max output, BUT, and this is a big butt, it has to be heat sinked properly for this to happen. This also depends on your input voltage. If you are running a 12V wall wart or power supply, it has to drop 12V-5V or 7V. At 1A of current, it will be dissipating 7W (P = I * V) of heat. Thats a fair amount of heat for a small package!

Now, I wont get into the heat calcs because I still have a somewhat beginners understanding of them, unless you want to

[true swift]

That was nicely explained with the heat and effect equation! No you don't have to go into that at the moment, if you don't want to.

[true swift]

OK, but if I conclude from what you both written is that no matter how I do it I cannot get more than 500mA into the arduino to drive external devices, such as the ardafruit - due to heat.

[late fulcrum]

Right. If you want more power, you'll need to get it from somewhere else. Note that the limit is for the 5V regulated power, you could get a little more unregulated power from the Vin pin.

[true swift]

I found the correct barrel connector for my transformator, so I can try to use it - I can set the voltage between 1.5 to 12V. But 1.5V I guess will not make the arduino happy. If I just want to try it I can set it to something between 5 to 12, but the prefferably to 5-ish since otherwise the heat becomes a problem sooner or later.

[wanton thistle]

Correct. You can tap into the unregulated power side for motors and what not but you will be limited on the 5V side as Madbodger says

[true swift]

But is there any advantage of using the barrel connector instead of the power from usb? and now I'm just talking about powering the board not any peripherals

[wanton thistle]

You need something a tad greater than 5V as the regulator has a "drop out" or minimum voltage before it regulates, so 12V is probably the best.

[wanton thistle]

For general experimenting? no, not really. USB is easy and its right there most of the time. You will get more power from the external connector as I think USB is limited to 500mA anyway.

[true swift]

OK I need to read about "unregulated power" I'm not sure what it means here

[late fulcrum]

It means that whatever voltage you put into the barrel jack (often 7-9V) with any ripple it may contain, goes directly to the Vin pin, so you won't be getting 5V there. For somethings (like the aforementioned motors), this is fine. For LEDs, it's not good, you'd need an external regulator. One approach I often take is to power the Arduino from USB power, then set my power supply to 5V and have it power the LEDs directly, tying the 0V pin on the Arduino, the negative side of the power supply, and the 0V pin on the LEDs together, so the LEDs will see the 5V from its 0V pin to its power supply pin (coming straight from the power supply with whatever current capability the power supply offers), and the correct signal between its 0V pin and its data input pin (which comes from the Arduino).

I scribbled this diagram in case that wasn't clear

[true swift]

OK, I might come back with more questions about that later. But I'm thinking about the external power supply - that I can get a female barrel jack with wires attached so I can connect it to the LED and arduino...?

or a male connector probably

[static flare]

https://www.adafruit.com/product/368
https://www.adafruit.com/product/369

[true swift]

Thanks!

[spice moss]

axiom space ax-2 mission time

[ebon dew]

I have so many of those barrel jacks. They're really handy. If you're working with long LED strips they're almost mandatory for use with microcontrollers.

[dusty citrus]

Someone has suggestions about where to get sbc in Europe?
Everything that I get on, ends up having a really expensive shipping.
Le potato, 25 eur shipping, hardkernel 30,

Requirements: 50 euro including shipping, emmc and wifi on board, ideally 3 uart

[tardy badger]

Pimoroni had some Pi 4 kits last I looked

They have some Pi 4 4GB in stock

[fickle ridge]

using C code, display works fine

[raw jasper]

aliexpress is an option too, if you don't mind.... well, aliexpress being as aliexpress is

Also, mouser has free shipping for orders > EUR50

[tardy badger]

I figured it would. I’m going to get a display with that driver so I can work out the issues.

[fickle ridge]

I might just bite the bullet and go the C route

[tardy badger]

All good 😊 I still plan on getting it sorted so other people can use it with circuitpython if they want

[fickle ridge]

I also failed to make NRF24l01 work in circuitpython

there is a libary and i found a tutorial but once again the example code doesnt seem to work

[fickle ridge]

jeez that's fast.

[raw jasper]

Well, it's C code

[tardy badger]

Today, learning to parse UART inputs

[wanton thistle]

I did that for my coffee roaster project. Basically looks for a format and spits out a number from ascii characters. strncmp came in handy a lot, as did atoi

[tardy badger]

I’m trying to capture the string “on” and “off” to toggle an LED lol

So I’m essentially loading each letter that is typed into a position into a 3 character array and seeing if 0-2 is “o,f,f” or “o,n,X”

X being a don’t care

[wanton thistle]

I have code Ive built, give me a moment. It works for this case

[tardy badger]

Eh, don’t worry

I will learn it better if I bloody my head first

[wanton thistle]

it basically reads a USART buffer, then uses "strncmp" to look for characters

and then I test a var to see if its 0

[tardy badger]

It’s a little bit weird on the Nordic UART. But I’ll give it a go later

[raw jasper]

Tell us more about your coffee roaster project!

[urban arrow]

Do ya'll know why the new board Adafruit Feather RP2040 RFM69 does not appear as a board to select in VSCode?

[wanton thistle]

First function:

void EUSART_Read_Text(char *Output, unsigned int length)
{
    unsigned int j;
    for(j=0;j<length;j++)
    Output[j] = EUSART1_Read();
}```

This basically reads USART. Arguments: an array buffer and length

Use:
```c
EUSART_Read_Text(buf,4);```
where buffer is an ```char``` with a size of 4

Search function:
```c
        Rot_ON = strncmp(buf, "XRON",4);
        if (Rot_ON==0){
            PWM6EN=1;
            printf("Rotation ON\n");
            memset(buf,0,8);//clear buffer after           
        }

What this does is look for the words "XRON" in Ascii. If ROT_ON tests to be 0 (not 1), the function is true and it does the following code. Now memset writes all 0's to the buffer to insure its clear after the function is done.

[wanton thistle]

I get this. But its also nice to have a blueprint to get in your head too, and modify. Plus maybe others can use it 🙂

[wanton thistle]

TLDR: Basically took a "dead" air fryer and made a coffee roaster out of it. It uses PID and a PIC but you can really use anything. Coffee roasters are expensive and I couldnt justify spending $500 or more on something Im sure I could build and..I didnt know if it would be worthwhile to roast my own coffee (the answer is a resounding YES-fresh coffee is like another tier in life) . I also wanted a "long term" project that would test pretty much everything I can do.

I think I may have posted it in #show-and-tell . I can def tell you its on reddit too though. I am working on a github for it, but thats kind of the last thing. Currently, Im almost in the end phases of getting the display and main board to talk over USART (theres reasons for this and its because my NEXTION display didnt work when RX was connected. It was a strange issue). They both work separately, but soon I have to make sure they talk to each other.

[raw jasper]

I had no idea you could reuse an air fryer to roast coffee with. Good job!

[wanton thistle]

by default, no. They only go up to 400F. I did accidentally let it go up much higher (like uh 500) and Im sure it could go A LOT higher with proper insulation. Problem is some of the components are plastic. I also specifically got one that had a rotisserie basket but I had to modify it anyway. In testing though, it can achieve proper roasting temps (460F MAX) quite easily. Im sure if I insulated it, it would be much better.

[late fulcrum]

I tend to do stuff like that with a state machine

[raw jasper]

You can even use software (or a piece of paper and a pen) to convert any regex to its equivalent FSM and implement that

(I am sure you know that, just mentioning it for the benefit of everyone here, in case somebody hasn't heard of that possibility)

[raw jasper]

So, the main idea is to make a temperature controller to keep it stable?

[terse hearth]

Hi all. Just wanted to confirm, there’s no Jobs channel on this server, correct?

[tardy badger]

You are correct

Are you looking for a job or wanting to post a job?

[terse hearth]

I want to hire a tutor to teach me intermediate electronics 😁

[tardy badger]

Ah okay, you’re welcome to post once here or in the #help-with-projects channel, usually we’d push people to the Adafruit jobs board but it’s currently being revamped.

[terse hearth]

Ack. Thanks!

[bright grove]

Has anyone used a feather s3 to build a flight controller for a drone

[glad ruin]

Hi, for some reason I forgot Adafruit has a Discord server.

Brief intro: I'm an electronics engineer working on automotive video SERDES chip characterization. In my spare time, I do a lot of 3d printing, game playing, and electronics projects (when I have time).

[tardy badger]

Welcome! You’re hobbies will fit right in 🙂

Also super cool about the automotive video SERDES chip work

[glad ruin]

Yeah basically we shove about 12Gbps worth of video and control data through coax and 187Mbps in the opposite direction... in the same cable.

[tardy badger]

That sounds like a fun challenge 🙂

And also like a challenge that keeps you up at night

[glad ruin]

https://tenor.com/view/ironman-youre-not-wrong-gif-10796726

[tardy badger]

My work is more obscure

In that I can’t really talk about it lol

It runs along the lines of this job description: https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=18aea5bca15ad0c9

[glad ruin]

I used to do something similar at Intel... let's just say it was a bit of a mess.

[tardy badger]

Oh Intel neat

There’s a guy in my lab that used to work at intel

FPGA guy. Super chill dude

[glad ruin]

Let me put it this way: the fact that he's a chill dude is likely the reason he is no longer at Intel.

[tardy badger]

Talked about how for the most part, unless you choose to move around you basically specialize in one specific thing there

Very siloed skill sets

[glad ruin]

Yeah that checks out.

[tardy badger]

Kind of made me rethink my perception of intel being a “cool company”

[glad ruin]

Yep.

Probably shouldn't expound much more on that here though.

[tardy badger]

That job posting above is for L3Harris, not too bad of a company all things considered

They even pay engineers overtime

[glad ruin]

That's... surprising. Usually engineers are salaried unless they are hired under contract, which is a totally different can or worms.

[tardy badger]

We are “salaried” but we can put in extended effort requests that pay straight time for every 1/10th of an hour you work over 40

Benefits aren’t too bad either

160hrs of PTO, 40hr+ of sick leave, 10 paid holidays, schedule flexibility.

Depending on work load, you can be hybrid or even mostly remote.

Definitely not stuff you really expect from a defense contractor. But it certainly isn’t bad.

[night crescent]

The Desk of Ladyada - Yaaar Matey, a Circuit Pyrate Prototype! https://youtu.be/LDqtfSKkbf8

[wanton thistle]

correct. Theres no other way to do it technically. Keeping it on all the time would ruin the roast. The controller also controls the drum and fan speed as well.

[wanton thistle]

Basically: https://library.sweetmarias.com/using-sight-to-determine-degree-of-roast/

[raw jasper]

Are you also going to have some sort of computer vision thing to judge how roasted the beans are?

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65667746

Without going into silicon politics, I'm surprised a DRAM / flash memory manufacturer was targeted for national security concerns. Like, how could a RAM stick be backdoored?

(To clarify, this is a genuine question, not bait)

[wanton thistle]

Nah, its by sight and sound. I dont think this part can be automated, but it does exist. It seems to listen for "POPS" when the coffee hits first and then 2nd crack. Basically thats how Ive figured out how to judge it. Plus the chamber is slightly dark, so I cant see too well. I do start the timer past first crack and thats how you judge your coffee

[raw jasper]

Ooh I see! I've never roasted fresh coffee, but it sounds like it'd be delicious

[wanton thistle]

It is! You get more flavor, but it only lasts maybe a week before tapering off.

Its nothing like store bought. I drink store bought during the week but Im looking to transition to home made. I

[raw jasper]

Bringing a thermos with coffee you made yourself to work is a fairly good idea even if making store bought, because you have control over the quality, strength and flavor

[wanton thistle]

total roast time takes MAYBE 7 minutes per 250g

[wanton thistle]

Thats why I use a french press. But generally I drink it before work and it serves me ok. They have not so good coffee at work lol. But also, I have a system down so I dont ruin my teeth as coffee is acidic.

[raw jasper]

Yeeeah, "not good coffee at work" is (seems to be) a worldwide thing :P

[wanton thistle]

I havent tried larger than 250g yet, I wanted to focus on getting everything packed in and running, and then I'll go for big batches. There should be enough heat, its a 1800W heater. But like I said, I think if I insulated it, Id get better heat retention

[raw jasper]

Just make sure to have a fire extinguisher handy 😅 You are literally overclocking an ex-airfryer

[wanton thistle]

I did it inside the first few times and I had to open all the windows and it smelled like...coffee for a few days. Now that the weather is warmer, I will move ops outside

Also, speaking of work-yeap, gtg :/ Service call. Gotta put in parameters to a VFD \

[raw jasper]

Take care!

[tardy badger]

Well, there could be malicious chips on the memory bus that could inject code. Incredibly unlikely but always a possibility

It seems that it’s more retaliation for stuff going on with the US and Taiwan.

But also, it could be seen as a move to bolster its own DRAM manufacturers.

[restive imp]

doesn't a ram chip loose all the data on it when it looses power?

[tardy badger]

I was thinking more of a microcontroller or FPGA

On the ram stick

[restive imp]

so basically a memory controller chip on the ram stick itself. rather than the ram chip

[tardy badger]

No, it would be a side actor on the ram stick. The ram would act normally until the fpga detected a particular data stream from the CPU. Then it would hijack the ram bus and do whatever injection it was programmed to do

It’s a very advanced, very involved exploit. You’d essentially have to have a way of scanning computers with this RAM stick for it to work at all.

Sort of like the claims that China was adding hidden chips into US server hardware

Whatever made up reason it is, that’s what’s being used to justify retaliation for clear political reasons.

[raw jasper]

That sounds like something that'd be trivially detectable by a nation-state, or sufficiently high-profile actor whose threat model would include this kind of thing. In any case, the "shadow" management cores or the UEFI binary blobs would be where I'd hide this kind of thing if it were me :P

(which is probably why China is pushing to develop their own desktop / server processor amd64 cores)

[tardy badger]

Yeah

[tardy badger]

It’s really comes down to “insert dubious claim here” as justification for increasing nationalism and domestic fear about X.

And unfortunately that just seems to be where the world is at. Cold War 2.0

But I will leave the conversation at that

Don’t want to be political

[raw jasper]

It's off-topic anyway, so I'm not continuing the discussion further either

[sick adder]

is there some adafruit board that's the same form factor as "arduino nano"? I'd need an mcu board to go in this ... https://www.tindie.com/products/gindiamond/at28c16-eeprom-programmer/

[fair summit]

Metro Mini is similar but does NOT have same pinout. I think you really need a Nano or Nano clone

[median viper]

I have been studying cybersecurity (Just starting) @tardy badger are what you referring to is a hardware based rootkit?

[sick adder]

yeah I didn't find anything either. but I found a different product on tindie that goes on a grand central form factor, that should be dandy.

[tardy badger]

There were some claims a few years ago about Chinese manufacturers putting hidden chips into US data center hardware.

Oh turns out it was true: https://amp.thehackernews.com/thn/2018/10/china-spying-server-chips.html

[median viper]

I can confirm that the Chinese government bricked an Iphone 13 in a US NSA employee out in Kansas in his personal phone (not company phone), regarding journalists being banned and such by foreign countries.

I don't know if motorola has spyware chips in them, or the current security profile of Android OS. But at least it's made in Texas I have a Motorola 5G ACE

[raw jasper]

Hardware backdoors and the detection and mitigation thereof are a pretty old topic, it's one of the most "reflections on trusting trust" things in modern computer architecture

With everything having a microcontroller, it's not too hard for something to slip by

[raw jasper]

I think that's just a rehashing of the original bloomberg report?

Or at least that's how it seems to me from a skim I did :P

[median viper]

Yea I see the issue with device security right now, most devices that the major providers use are not very secure

[glad ruin]

But they are very cheap, which is where a sizeable chunk of the issue comes from.

[raw jasper]

Well, one could make the argument that many consumer devices are more secure than they've ever been, at least, when your threat model is "evil maid(gender neutral)"

TPM chips, measured boot, disk / RAM encryption (depending on platform)

[glad ruin]

I've seen the implementation issues with... all of those.

TPM: not useful against any kind of physical attack. Limited utility against remote attacks. Keys are locked to a specific motherboard (unless you want to desolder and risk damaging it).

Measured boot: depends on the TPM. You do not want to see the code behind it (and no, it is not better/more secure on servers).

RAM encryption: would work if they could find a good and unpredictable way to generate keys.

[raw jasper]

Would you mind elaborating on the TPM not being useful against physical attacks?

[tardy badger]

I don’t have a Bloomberg subscription lol

[glad ruin]

All communication with the TPM happens in the open, usually on a 30MHz SPI bus.

[raw jasper]

Neither do I! But it might have been proven false?
https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/08/apple-rebuff-bloomberg-letter-congress
https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/07/homeland-security-denies-bloomberg-spy-chip-report

[glad ruin]

Then there's the TPMs themselves. What makes you assume that they are secure? They have their own firmware and hardware issues. I've had to alter code in order to work around issues faulty TPMs that prevented boot before.

Basically my experience has been that the entire notion of 'trusted computing' assumes that you actually trust every vendor involved to implement their piece correctly. That is extremely difficult to verify, and impossible to guarantee.

[raw jasper]

I wonder how, if at all, different the situation is with "closed" ecosystems, such as apple's

[glad ruin]

Two issues:
1️⃣ A "closed" platform usually implies security through obscurity. Which has been proven time and time again to be ineffective.
2️⃣ The notion of x86 being an "open" platform is laughable. It's a word that has been plastered everywhere for marketing purposes, and has thus become meaningless. The only "open" part about x86 is the fact that they will happily sell it to anyone willing to pay for it.

Anyways, I have to get back to work.

[raw jasper]

Discord has started popping up random sticker proposals on my message bar while typing.

Any suggestions on how to make it go away?

nvm, found it, the 'X' button in the popup has a tooltip that says "don't show again"

Hopefully, discord is going to honor this

[umbral phoenix]

should the Adafruit Contact Us https://www.adafruit.com/contact_us page give a confirmation after submitting, or just go back to where you can submit a new one?

[tardy badger]

Huh, this is what I thought and now I’m not sure

[raw jasper]

In any case, it's not a game for us little folk. In other news, how's your day been? ☕

(Everyone else's too! Mine's been mostly work)

[tardy badger]

Mine has also been mostly work

[raw jasper]

Oh, I also received the used copy I ordered online for cheap of https://www.amazon.com/Principles-CMOS-VLSI-design-perspective/dp/0201082225 (that was recommended to me on another server as a supplement to the new edition)

[fair summit]

You can submit that suggestion via "Contact Us" 🙂 The contact form just sends an email to [e-mail].

[umbral phoenix]

i just wondered if it was working right since i didn’t get a confirmation page , just the original page back again after “Submit”

[fair summit]

did you get a confirmation page in the past? I can let the web folks know

[umbral phoenix]

I don’t recall or even if I’ve use that form before … try it again on my phone, same thing… Maybe there just is no confirmation page

TCP would leave me feeling more confident than UDP 😉

[ebon dew]

i think there's usually a strip at the top for confirmations.

[umbral phoenix]

I didn't see that, so I don't have much confidence that my submission went through

[ebon dew]

Just submitted something to the blog.

Apparently June 13th Microsoft will be forcibly upgrading Win 10 users to Win 11... the no take backs kind.

Might be a good idea for everyone to do a full backup prior to that date just in case...

Last time they did that it hosed a lot of PC's who were holding out for good reasons.

[umbral phoenix]

thanks, I definitely didn't see that

[late fulcrum]

A bunch of W10 machines can't run W11, those users may find themselves suddenly finding BSD or Linux appealing

[glad ruin]

I don't think that's very likely, as much as I would like it to be.

[static flare]

what

[ebon dew]

https://pcper.com/2023/05/your-windows-10-21h2-install-will-be-forcibly-upgraded/

[static flare]

W11 has some design choices I hate so I've been putting off upgrading, and I don't even have a TPM module

[late fulcrum]

Presumably a non internet connected installation (a good idea for windows anyway) would be safe.

[static flare]

Mine is unfortunately internet connected because it's my main PC with all my stuff on it

[glad ruin]

I could see SteamOS getting a sizeable user increase if Valve plays their cards right.

[late fulcrum]

That would serve the "windows as gameloader" segment, which is sizeable

[ebon dew]

same, and they have advertising built in even more than windows 10 that will force me to immediately whip out regedit.

[static flare]

After doing some research: It's not as big as I originally thought

[glad ruin]

Of course the die hard MLGPOGGIGACHADPCMASTERRACE☣️ Gamers™️ will stick with Windows even under extreme torture. Not that we necessarily want them to migrate.

[static flare]

I mean, I'm exclusively a Windows user, and I'll keep a Windows installation for some gaming and some other software that only runs on Windows, but I have been looking to slowly get into Linux.

[ebon dew]

might be the right time to go native ubuntu instead of using WSL who knows

[static flare]

The forced upgrade is for update 21H2, while the latest major update is 22H2, so if you're up to date, you won't be affected

[glad ruin]

I switch to Windows only when I'm desperate. And even then it usually means that I really don't want to spend time reverse engineering something.

[static flare]

That's fair

[ebon dew]

"If you have disabled TPM you should be safe from Windows 11" so just disable TPM, problem solved.

[glad ruin]

You'd probably have to physically remove it and also use a platform that doesn't implement a firmware TPM.

[ebon dew]

✅ Marked Safe from Windows 11

nah just disable TPM in the bios.. TPM is optional for most motherboards.

[glad ruin]

Depending on the motherboard Windows might actually be able to enable it. That's one of the 'features' of UEFI: it gives an OS the ability to change at least some BIOS settings.

[ebon dew]

Now here's the problem. Would a user rather disable TPM than run Windows 11? Yes, the answer is yes.

[glad ruin]

Outside of Microsoft using it TPMs are not really used much. Some DRM systems might use it, and it can technically be used for things like SSH keys. I've never seen anyone actually do that though.

[ebon dew]

Windows themselves use it but it's already been cracked so it's pointless. Yes another DRM hardware scheme.

Motherboard vendors are finding ways around it too.

[glad ruin]

It wasn't originally intended exclusively for that purpose, but that's the only thing it's actually used for.

[brave copper]

Are they're any 5.25v apdaters I can buy for the pi 3b+? Adafruit is out of stock for that usb a one which I plan to get the usb to barrel jack and barrel jack to micro USB

[raw jasper]

Out of curiosity, what has made you interested in linux?

[blissful roost]

You could use VirtualBox to test different distros.. find one you like without messing around too much with the Windows install.

[static flare]

a lot of people i know use it, especially my partners

[raw jasper]

This is good advice

[unkempt badge]

Good mornign I saw this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMb11cgVa5I on youtube and I would use those components for my university final project. I don't know if i'm writing in the right place for this but I would buy them. Do you know if they can manage the shipment in Turkey?

[glad ruin]

🚨 A I _ A L E R T 🚨 Uhhh... I want to know how that x axis moves.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/745716635280736406/1110574546781745172/Screenshot_20230523-072521.png

Correction: it's probably real. If so it's a fire hazard.

[patent hemlock]

i don't understand why you'd say that - there's probably a stop on the right-hand side before it gets to the tie-wrap (some early home-built 3D printers looked like this iirc)

[glad ruin]

Yeah they apparently did. Also it appears that the entire bed moves in x and y.

Someone pointed out the fact that the ribbon cable is translucent though.

[blissful roost]

All I know is.. Little Johnny is missing 3 fingers..

[eternal salmon]

Man I want to get a $15 sensor but the shipping fee is $20

[glad ruin]

Alright, someone seems to have identified it: Velleman K8200

[fair summit]

The headline for that article is wrong. The actual quote is

Servicing and support for the Windows 10 21H1 Home, Pro, Pro Education, and Pro Workstation editions ends June 13, with the June 2023 security update – due out that same day – being the last one for those editions.
Note the 21H1. There are versions of Windows 10 that are later than that. Nothing in that sentence says you will be upgraded to Windows 11.

[reef tinsel]

Hmm.. https://www.adafruitdaily.com/2023/05/23/python-on-microcontrollers-newsletter-circuitpython-8-1-0-rc0-is-out-lego-minecraft-blocks-with-python-more-circuitpython-python-micropython-thepsf-raspberry_pi/ LILYGo T-Display RP2040 was added 5/15 but not included in the 5/16 newsletter (which I get, day before it probably was already done) but also not included in today's 5/23. Where's the love?! 😵‍💫 lol

[ebon dew]

Yes I realized my error shortly after submission. Didn't notice the distinction only affected an older version. In hindsight that article seems very clickbaity. :/

Glad I posted it though and got it cleared up. I had a lot of anxiety for about 10 minutes before figuring it out. It was also a test to help anecdata figure out if there was a problem with the Adafruit website.

[ebon dew]

I'm live streaming a 3V CR2032 coin cell battery test powering noods. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G-y7x6B3pA

The question comes up sometimes of how long a coin cell will power noods. So I'm conducting a test, for science, to have a definitive answer.

I realize you can calculate an approximation using ohms law. Also wanted to test my live stream capabilities for future weather live streams (hurricanes).

[fair summit]

I'd do some measurements with an ammeter

[ebon dew]

I'm not sure if my multimeter will stay on for that long. Did think about it. Also unsure if that would skew the results at all.

[glad ruin]

Oh boy I've been doing current measurements for work for the last several weeks, although I've ended up using four SMUs.

[glad ruin]

There's usually a way to disable the auto shutoff.

You'll also want to force a single range so that it doesn't try to disconnect your load.

[patent hemlock]

so you've got 2 noods on the 6v and one on 3v?

[raw jasper]

noods 🍜 😅

[ebon dew]

yes, should be the same battery life i know but people do ask "but what about in series" so this should just cover that too.

Maybe i'll run another test just with the ammeter on. I don't normally use my camera much or live stream just an excuse to try out a multi-hour live stream.

[glad ruin]

Series will increase the voltage, but you'll also have to contend with the combined series resistance of the entire stack. If anything your battery life will be reduced slightly.

[ebon dew]

I honestly thought they'd only last a few hours... here I am still live streaming 14 hours later 🤦‍♂️

i have no idea what the load characteristics are, didn't want to waste the battery life running load test. wanted fresh batteries in the holders.

that would have been a smart thing to do but i am not a smart person.

[fair summit]

You don't need to leave the multimeter on. Just measure the current consumption of a nood, and find out the mAh capacity of the battery. Divide to get hours.

e.g. nood takes 20mA, battery is 100 mAh, so 5 hours, more or less

[ebon dew]

so why am i on hour 15 :/

[fair summit]

i made up those numbers

[ebon dew]

oh lol yes yes i have more to measure with

[fair summit]

what is the current draw of a nood with a fresh battery?

[ebon dew]

i was about to find that out

[fair summit]

looks like a CR2032 is about 240mAh

[glad ruin]

That would only be true if the voltage stayed constant.

[fair summit]

yeah, it's just a ballpark measurement, but the drop-off is sharper than some other kinds of batteries: [this is a much lower draw than the noods]

[ebon dew]

fresh cr2032 is 3.20v pulling 30ma

this is much much lower than i expected, that's why it's taking much longer

that's the power equivalent to 1 neopixel, i could add waaaay more noods to a project than i thought.

i wonder what the voltage floor for noods are

according to digikeys battery calculator these cr2032's must have a mah capacity of 500mah... something isn't adding up here lol.

It's a CR2032-4BW which isn't a normal coin cell apparently.

2.4v @ 3.60mA so should begin dropping off here shortly hopefully. Shortly after this time frame could be an hour or two though.

I think the answer to this question will have a high degree of variability depending on what kind of coin cell someone uses.

[raw jasper]

I think some coin cells come with datasheets

[ebon dew]

The 4 in 4BW just means it came in a 4 pack. The type is (BW), lithium organic carbon monoflouride & high drain. No clue where to find the datasheet on it.

Panasonic CR2032-BW

[raw jasper]

https://industrial.panasonic.com/cdbs/www-data/pdf2/AAA4000/AAA4000C321.pdf
https://industrial.panasonic.com/cdbs/www-data/pdf2/AAA4000/AAA4000C361.pdf
?

Not an exact match, but who knows

[ebon dew]

It's because it's getting dimmer as time goes on so the load is decreasing. I can measure the load but judging from brightness alone looks like about 10ma compared to 30ma fresh.

and at that load the battery life times are matching up to digikeys calculator.

could be looking at about a 24 hour run time. :/

[tardy badger]

Discord is really popping today

[raw jasper]

It seems to be working for me?

[tardy badger]

Popping, meaning busy

[raw jasper]

Sorry! It's been a long day

[wanton thistle]

sometimes it do be like that

[glad ruin]

Load: 15kΩ

How much can one of those noods draw?

[frozen spruce]

Hey hey. Really fast because I’m here at the store. Is 70% isopropyl or 91% better to get for cleaning flux off solders?

[glad ruin]

90%

[frozen spruce]

Okay thank you!

[glad ruin]

It also evaporates much faster.

[frozen spruce]

Yes, I figured but I didn’t know if it being more, that it wouldn’t clean as good.

[ebon dew]

It doesn't really change how well it cleans only how fast it dries and well it all evaporates. You could clean it with water just as well but water doesn't evaporate as fast or as cleanly as alcohol.

[ebon dew]

Looks like it starts at 3.2V @ 30mA. If 2.0V is the cutoff then it'll continue dropping from 30mA to 0mA between that time frame. Can plot a curve from there.

[fiery quarry]

This is riveting watching 🙂

[ebon dew]

like watching paint dry i know

[fiery quarry]

A bit more exciting then that cause there isn;t really a cut off from wet to dry for paint where as these will assumably blink out completely at somepoint

[ebon dew]

I think it'll be a slow fade to black as the load decreases to 0ma. It's currently at 2.6ma which is far from the starting point of 30ma.

Now I understand why the 6 noods in my dragon mask lasted more than a week with a 10000mah battery. This is really good info for costuming.

[patent delta]

hello friends, beginners here. does anyone have instructions for installing circuitpython on imxrt1060 evk board? find firmware here but don't know how to install https://circuitpython.org/board/imxrt1060_evk/

[tranquil swallow]

All of life's problems would be so much easier if macs had hotswappable storage

[brave copper]

https://a.co/d/a3t21ET is this good enough for the pi 3B+? would it use 2.5A if this one is 3A?

[late fulcrum]

Yes, 3 amps here means the supply is capable of delivering up to 3 amps at the specified voltage.

[glad ruin]

I've said this before in other servers, so I guess I'll say it here: RPF really needs to rethink their power management scheme. Needing an out of spec USB supply to power it defeats the purpose of using a USB supply in the first place.

[late fulcrum]

That always seemed strange to me, as I thought it was just regulated down to 3.3V anyway for the most part (although it is propagated as the supply to some GPIO pins, the USB ports, etc.)

[glad ruin]

What they should do is either implement USB-PD correctly or take a 7.5-15V barrel jack and regulate it down on board.

[late fulcrum]

Then again, they goofed this detail too https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/07/raspberry-pi-4-uses-incorrect-usb-c-design-wont-work-with-some-chargers/

[glad ruin]

That has supposedly been fixed, but the Pi 4 still uses 5V.

[thick wind]

To be fair, usb-C is hard. They’re not the only ones with a non compliant device with a type c port selling millions of devices worldwide.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/87vmud/the_switch_is_not_usbc_compliant_and_overdraws/

[late fulcrum]

Heh, yeah, that one's famous too

And yes, USB-C is hard, and USB PD is even moar hard

[thick wind]

They went from “5V, 500mA” to “we need a whole freaking schematic and pages of tables and figures just to demonstrate the proper configuration of the CC lines.”

[glad ruin]

That plus most USB supplies/cables will have enough voltage drop to cause a brownout. An SBC is a highly dynamic load that can go from drawing a few hundred mA to multiple amps very quickly. If I were designing it I wouldn't have even considered powering the board at 5V without feedback from the supply.

[thick wind]

If you’ve never sat down with a nice copy of the USB3.0 spec, it’s a terrific way to sink a couple of hours haha

[ebon dew]

Found out the hard way recently if you try pull too much current via PC USB port that Windows will shut off access to your USB device and not allow it back into the system. Watch out for that too.

[glad ruin]

There are ICs that can handle it quite well. Also even the original Pi draws close to 700mA.

[glad ruin]

Windows hotplugging anything is sketchy. But even then it's better than the alternative the Pi overdrawing a port and actually causing damage.

[ebon dew]

No idea if the Pi does that. I'd hope so but also wouldn't want to test that theory.

[glad ruin]

It depends on the PC motherboard.

[ebon dew]

that would make sense

[glad ruin]

The Pi will try to draw what it needs. A lot of cheaper motherboards have little to no protection on the USB ports, so they will happily try to supply 5V at whatever current the Pi needs until something burns.

[thick wind]

You know what’s sketchier? Hotplugging barrel jacks. For safety reasons, the outer contact is usually ground, but most barrel jacks make contact with the inside tip before the outer ground contact connects.

If you have an Arduino Mega connected to your pc while you plug the barrel jack in, very bad things can happen.

[glad ruin]

Hmm haven't encountered that but I could definitely see it being an issue.

[thick wind]

There is no such thing as a perfect solution, anyways. In 10 years we’ll come up with usb 6 and nobody will know what that even means.

[ebon dew]

yeah it's becoming harder to find people who know how to use TTL because now we have native drivers everywhere.

i like the usb-c connector, no more flipping a usb plug upside down 3 times trying to plug it in.

[glad ruin]

I have, sadly, lost faith in RPF. Glaring power issues plus an organization dedicated to introducing low cost computers for hobbyists and education shafting the hobby and education communities in favor of supplying businesses who have integrated it into their products doesn't sit well with me.

[late fulcrum]

TTL? Transistor-Transistor-Logic?

Time-To-Live?

[ebon dew]

FTD sorry

[late fulcrum]

Florists Transworld Delivery? TLAs confuse me.

[tardy badger]

Touch Tone Logic?

[ebon dew]

Florida Transdimensional Driver

[late fulcrum]

Hey! That's me!

[tardy badger]

Francis Theodore Dunning

[static flare]

FrontoTemporal Degeneration

[late fulcrum]

That is probably also me.

[tardy badger]

Flotillas Tactical Demise

[late fulcrum]

Ah, I miss playing Acrophobia on Jackbox

[tardy badger]

Ferrous Titanium Deuterium

[ebon dew]

i stopped the stream after 22 hours, didn't realize youtube had a 12 hour limit. learned a lot there. so for hurricane related streams i'll have to restart every 12 hours.

[tardy badger]

Focally Tensed Droplets

[late fulcrum]

Still wondering what the connection is between TTL and device drivers. I've never written a driver for a 7400, although I have written drivers for devices implemented with TTL.

[tardy badger]

I’m running out of combinations that potentially make sense

[ebon dew]

Fractal Tea Destruction

[late fulcrum]

Like I wrote a driver for this, and found a weird bug/quirk in the hardware in the process

[ebon dew]

oops, i cannot alphabet lol

what in the world is that, before my time

[late fulcrum]

That's a GPIB/IEEE-488 interface card for a VME bus

[ebon dew]

oh of course how could i have missed that

[late fulcrum]

Unfortunately, required one particular optional signal to be available to work properly.

[ebon dew]

i am being sarcastic of course, i've never seen anything like it.

looks like a specialized driver board?

I've never heard of GPIB or VME bus.

[late fulcrum]

My best guess from context as that when you mentioned TTL, you meant asynchronous serial communication, and when you said FTD, you mean FTDI

[ebon dew]

yes that thing that i've only used like twice in my life

i cannot brain today

[late fulcrum]

VME was a backplane popular with computer systems in the 1980s. GPIB was basically a standardized version of (of all things), the Commodore PET bus, later codified as IEEE-488. 8-bit parallel bus, still in use today, mostly to control laboratory equipment and automated test equipment (voltmeters and the like)

[ebon dew]

way over my head. looks interesting

that's a lot of chips. they've probably already shrunk everything it does into 1 chip. though since i've never heard of it seems like they just deprecated the entire technology?

[late fulcrum]

These days, you can get USB-GPIB adapters that are indeed scarcely more than a single chip.

[brave copper]

I know the pi 3B+ only usez 2.5A

[fierce prawn]

I finally finished wifi support for my project
thanks https://github.com/dotpointer/circuitpython-wifimanager/tree/main for providing the base (I modded the code a little to move resetting to my own code
and allowed it to accept symbols in the wifi password

[half sun]

Anyone know how to make a QMK keyboard using arduino micro?

[late fulcrum]

Maybe that's a question for #keyboards ?

[ebon dew]

woke up this morning and it's still going at 32 hours...

and because i went over the 12 hour mark in the live stream the video is not available. 😠

[sand frigate]

Does anyone know what type of button this is called? I think they are mainly used for some mouse clickers but I really like them but can't find them by just searching what they look like.

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/56973/kensington-trackball-button oh wow, I posted this and thought of another thing to search and found it. I guess it's called an E-Switch?

[cunning frost]

It vaguely looks like a 2-pin microswitch used for mice so you should be fine substituting it with any of those, provided it's tall enough... Or if it isn't you can make it a bit taller with some headers because the pitch should match. XD

Like these, though I just image searched it and the link to Aliexpress is broken
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fae01.alicdn.com%2Fkf%2FHTB1p40qaJfvK1RjSspfq6zzXFXar%2F5Pcs-Original-Mouse-Square-Micro-Switch-Button-EVQP0E07K-Baolei-Shark-IE4-0-Black-Spots-6x6x7-45.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=efaf5ae684b51bf182a653b7a828ae51ed08780303c4adb774ba62379a990acc&ipo=images

Best you can do is measure the height and look for replacements that way since they're kind of everywhere with slight differences in height to fit various mice.

[sand frigate]

Thank you! These look exactly the same.

[violet parcel]

so I dreamed I ran a facility in a theme park / fair which would be space-themed but actually teleportal peoples to the moon and to europa throught a fantasy/sci-fi style portal door (donning a space combination first) and I'd tell them it's just make-believe and they are still in the ride facility and the "gravity" effects they feel is just like maglev like trains on the metal floor and the boots. When I woke up though I think I'd be easily busted if someone try to use their cell phones into their suit / vehicle ?

[lunar trench]

what if electricity didn't need a ground wire to complete the circuit but only a live wire and thats it

would it make things more complicated or more simple

[patent hemlock]

electricity works with electron flow so that implies directionality, which requires a start and an end, so the single wire would have to handle bi-directional flow, which isn't physically possible

[lunar trench]

yeah but what if it is physically possible, or like it's something else like electricity that only requires start (live and no ground), i know that this isn't possible but just a thought

[raw jasper]

What if magic?

[lunar trench]

the whole world will blow up

[tardy badger]

If not magic, why make dead

[violet parcel]

yeah pretty much

if what you said is possible then objects would have unlimited potential energy as well

[late fulcrum]

import physics
from future import itsdangerous

[raw jasper]

fun fact: googling this returns "necromancy" as the first result

[violet parcel]

youd touch a golf ball and starts a nuclear explosion with the mushroom cloud etc as it unload its unlimited potential energy

[tardy badger]

from physics import DoubleSlitExperiement

[raw jasper]

(I googled this because it sounded like a quote from something)

[violet parcel]

also what is even the definition of a live wire ? a continuous wire connected to the + and - or a battery except you dont connect one side ?

Is it still a live wire if you cut it to add resistors, caps, chips etc ?

[raw jasper]

from physics.Schrödinger import cat

[violet parcel]

for me voltage is pretty much potential energy that falls from one side to the other of the power source

[raw jasper]

https://tenor.com/view/gif-gif-19493542

[late fulcrum]

That import sometimes fails, I'm not sure why

[violet parcel]

also what about my cellphone on another planet/moon ? Wouldnt the signal eventually get to it kinda like when my cell phone is trying to use wifi 0.1 miles from my home and I get 1 bar out of 5 ?

[late fulcrum]

There was a Doctor Who episode where the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver on a cell phone, which was then able to receive a signal anywhere in the galaxy

[raw jasper]

Spooky Action At A Distance Phone!

[violet parcel]

so Id have no plausibl deniability that they are actually on another planet/moon 😦

also for SDFT question doesn't sometimes voltage and current flows in the same direction with negative voltage and that stuff like when using a motor?

A couple of fun what-if questions 1) Is it legal to possess a micro black-hole 2) How far could someone dig down in their backyard a 10 inches or so radius hole on a budget without anyone noticing (so no machinery etc), possibly using a drill drone with a spool of couple miles copper wire to guide it kinda like the old missiles

I guess 1) is the same type of problem as is it legal to steal an item for less than the time of human conscience / refresh speed of human eyes (ie: around 10ms)

[ebon dew]

anyone else seeing all the new channel icons today? discord decided to roll out a new feature. this is not an adafruit discord thing this is a discord wide change.

[violet parcel]

looks the same as before for me on windows client

[ebon dew]

it just magically appeared today for me

[violet parcel]

relogged and still dont see it

[lunar trench]

this must indicate something

[ebon dew]

Seems this was a weird fluke thing but I'm not the only person that noticed it. Logging out and back in fixes it.

[umbral phoenix]

got the CAN FeatherWing (on RP2040) and the CAN transceiver (on ESP32-S3) talking 🙂 ...step N of a larger project

[raw jasper]

I'm looking for an RPG videogame with a PC port that has a "cozy" feel to it and a workable "post-game" (or, at least, towns/locations that make sense to revisit during the game, and don't simply serve as a set piece for whichever part of the plot you're in). Essentially pokémon but with a bit more substance to it. Any suggestions?

While we're at it, there's a construction site near where I live and I'd appreciate hearing protection suggestions to lessen the droning noise.

(preferably earmuffs, because, even though I understand the fundamental limitations of that approach, I don't really feel like sticking stuff into my ears)

[blissful roost]

Triple glazing

[raw jasper]

Rented apartment.....

(And moving would not be very convenient atm)

[blissful roost]

Indeed

I'm fortunate to already have triple glazing, as my apartment is above a train station.

[raw jasper]

Yeah, you're very fortunate (or the landlord is, depending on the perspective --- Can't imagine many renters would stay for very long if they hadn't installed them :P)

[blissful roost]

Well, it's a stopping station, so we don't get many express trains rattling through. Lol

[patent hemlock]

noise-cancelling, over-ear headphones - depending on where you are and particular situations, there are usually lots of optoins from cheap to Bang-and-Olafson 👀

[violet parcel]

Is a bottle of water enough to defend myself if some of my appliance have AI and go crazy ?

should it be salty water or just normal to disrupt their power source ?

[raw jasper]

For any misbehaving appliance, the central circuit breaker should be sufficient means to turn it off.

However, if you are genuinely concerned about skynet, you may want to consult an expert about said fears (and/or limit doom scrolling).

[raw jasper]

What would be the difference vs a passive solution?

[violet parcel]

I mostly meant small appliances that have mobility and a lipo battery that lasts for hour. And may have an hidden red eyes mode / attack mode like in that netflix documentary

[umbral phoenix]

@raw jasper you may be able to find traditional noise-blocking passive headset (safety gear), but noise-canceling headphones are great if you also want to be listening to something like music, computer, etc

[patent hemlock]

noise-cancelling use electronic circuitry to either reduce or eliminate background noises based on microphone inputs - there's options for "hear thru" which will amazingly let through reasonable vocal sounds but cuts background noises (it's kinda weird, tbh)

[umbral phoenix]

although "hear thru" mode lets through a lot of airplane noise (for example), whereas noise-canceling does a good job of cutting it down to where you can enjoy the A/V

[raw jasper]

Yeah, I doubt the active stuff could do something against noise that would be 60-80dB

(simply because it would have to produce the opposite wave of the same amplitude to destructively interfere, which would probably not be feasible, and could have destructive effects on hearing?)

[umbral phoenix]

I don't know the details, but it works well

[raw jasper]

I should probably look into it. Last time I was in that situation, I used acoustic PPE

But it's probably expired (and crusty!) by now

[wanton thistle]

stardew valley

theres tons of mod available for the game and you can usually get it on sale

[raw jasper]

Isn't that a tamagotchi-like game? (needs daily logins/check-ins to keep the world 'running')

If that's the case, sadly, it wouldn't work for me

[wanton thistle]

Oh no. Its all local.

Its not multiplayer

Time doesnt tick when you are not in game.

[raw jasper]

Oh, I thought it was like tamagotchi/animal crossing, in that your "village"(?) withers if you don't check into it all too often

[radiant coral]

Cult of the Lamb? 🤣

[wanton thistle]

Nah. I mean there is daily stuff you can do when you log in but you technically dont have to do it

[cunning frost]

You're probably thinking of Animal Crossing with the tamagotchi analogy. This is more harvest moon.

[wanton thistle]

TBH, for this game you can get away with watching some review videos or look around on the subreddit if thats your thing to see if it fits

BUT, dont let the min/max people bug you. I dislike that.

[radiant coral]

I kickstarted a game. It's not out yet but they crank the cozy level to like 12 or so: https://fluffnest.games/

[cunning frost]

Funnily enough, I was going to suggest Stardew Valley as well. It's just that it does encourage min/maxing if you let it. XD

[wanton thistle]

yea, if you let it. I chose not to do that because the game is supposed to be easy going. If I wanted to min/max stuff, Id play Factario or the other one

[raw jasper]

Or I could just buy and play Shenzhen I/O or TIS-100 and introduce work to my leisure time! :>

(For the --reasonably-- worried, this was sarcasm)

[wanton thistle]

OH you just reminded me. There was a game where you literally programmed an arduino lol

Im not sure if its still on Steam but it was like that

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2125820/Shortcuit/

This might be it?

Steam

Shortcuit

Note: To compile Arduino scripts, you will need to download and select the Arduino CLI exe file location in the settings menu.Shortcuit is an educational sandbox game to learn electronics and Arduino programming (C++). The game simulates electronics and the Arduino microcontroller which allow you to create your own projects virtually. Electronic...

Release Date

Coming soon

▶ Play video

[radiant coral]

I love the Zachtronics stuff

[raw jasper]

I think there was a game that essentially tricked you into writing VHDL

I can't find it now to link it here though

[night crescent]

WE ARE LIVE! ASK AN ENGINEER! https://youtu.be/2HsPxk8SBGs

[radiant coral]

Hmm (browsing my Steam library). What about the Disgaea series? Those are pretty deep RPGs (mechanics wise) that are cute and fun and there's PC ports for most of them?

[wanton thistle]

woah. Cool logo.

[raw jasper]

I found it!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/576030/MHRD/

Steam

MHRD

Welcome to Microhard- Become a hardware engineer- Join the hardware startup Microhard- Immerse yourself in the technology of the 80's- Disrupt the tech industryBuild your own CPU- Design hardware circuits with the integrated hardware development environment- Write your designs in the MHRD hardware design language- Create hardware designs based o...

Price

$9.99

Recommendations

363

▶ Play video

[wanton thistle]

"game". Looks like nethack I think it was. There was a game where you basically had to build servers to try and hack things...and eventually you got to a point where your PC was off world.

[raw jasper]

tbh, if you reach that point, perhaps it's time to grab your favorite editor and write some real HDL instead, following a book or something. I'm sure you can find some lattice FPGA board on aliexpress for ~10-20EUR

[radiant coral]

If you want the Ultimate rabbit hole, where you have a good chance to lose your career, family, and friends, there's always Dwarf Fortress

[wanton thistle]

At least the community with Stardew valley is very nice.

[raw jasper]

Yeeeah, I've been warned about that before :P

[wanton thistle]

The only Drama you get is against Pierre. 👀

[raw jasper]

I don't really engage with fandoms/videogame communities

[radiant coral]

I wouldn't say I'm "hardcore" in any of the communities I engage in but I do enjoy being around people who are very passionate about things. It's kinda inspiring

[violet parcel]

Is there some chip that could help prevent me falling into coma each night ?

[radiant coral]

Though admittedly it can certainly have negative side effects too

[raw jasper]

Like dealing w/. pointless drama

[radiant coral]

If you find one please let me know 😫

[glad ruin]

I don't think any chip can truly solve a health issue.

[radiant coral]

I think I've just gotten too old and tired to get involved in drama

[violet parcel]

Im lucky that I have this bed things and fall into coma into it instead of directly on the floor 😦

[radiant coral]

I suspect my chip would be something like model number "Not Waking Up At 5:30am"

[raw jasper]

I mean, yeah, but I feel even receiving such messages is not worth one's time in and of itself :)

[radiant coral]

Seems like a very Zen approach, I can understand that 😁

[violet parcel]

Id like something that would simulate sleep so I could get that waste time back

[raw jasper]

hmmm... How about neurostimulator implants for treatment-resistant forms of epilepsy? I mean, from what I understand, the current iterations are far from perfect, but perhaps in the future?

(Or, for something "simpler", pacemakers!)

[glad ruin]

Those treat the symptoms

[raw jasper]

I mean, yeah. That's fair.

[violet parcel]

wasting time to sleeping is an health issue ?

[radiant coral]

I wish I could get sleep time back for creative projects too (it would be so quiet and uninterrupted!) But on the flip side, if you could do that, probably everybody would have more expectations of you too 😞

[wanton thistle]

dont give them any ideas

They already dont like us WFH lol.

[raw jasper]

If something like that existed, it'd just be used to increase work time

[radiant coral]

I mean really the ultimate lifehack I think is learning to set boundaries

[glad ruin]

That's just it, sleeping is not a waste of time. Your central nervous system does a lot while you are asleep, and multiple other bodily systems go into "regeneration" mode.

[radiant coral]

Which has always been a challenge

[crystal ore]

Yup. As soon as women COULD work, they soon HAD to work to support a family. If there was a way to eliminate sleep, we'll all just get paid half as much so we have to work 16 hours a day.

[violet parcel]

Wish I had holographic body doubles that works 30 jobs while I dont have the live the pain of all of these jobs and I just collect the cash

[glad ruin]

Drugs exist that can prevent sleep, and there's a reason they are heavily, heavily restricted.

[violet parcel]

• sleep gives me unwanted thoughts (dreams) without my consent

[raw jasper]

Jokes aside, there is no shame in consulting a therapist if something troubles you

[violet parcel]

nah I was mostly joking. I tell the coma thing to my doctor everytime I see him and he still takes it seriously...

One day Ill make him laugh

[radiant coral]

Speaking of sleep, summer starts tomorrow. I'll take a win where I can get one.

[tardy badger]

looks at 4:45am M-Th alarm that doesn’t change with the seasons

[radiant coral]

Yeah I know some people definitely have it rougher

Do you also pass out at like 10 or are you a cold, inhuman machine bent on human destruction?

[tardy badger]

Mine is my own choice. I like starting work at 6:30am, I have to commute to the office now so I have to be up earlier to start work when my brain is used to.

I go to bed between 10-10:30pm

[fiery quarry]

Smart insulin pumps come close

[tardy badger]

My mother on the other hand is one of those people who can operate on a cool 4hrs of sleep

[patent hemlock]

well, i currently don't have to "rise and shine" but mumble-mumble years of getting up at the same time is a habit that i can't seem to break

[radiant coral]

I have to get a kid on a bus that arrives at 6:45 for some ungodly reason and I cannot get said child ready unless I have like 20 minutes or so to actually be functional myself

[tardy badger]

My kids luckily start school at 9am currently

Though Friday starts summer vacation for them so twoish months of heathen heaven

[radiant coral]

Someone in their infinite wisdom decided the elementary school starts an hour earlier than the others

[tardy badger]

It’s actually makes sense for elementary school to start early because most kids that age are early risers.

[radiant coral]

And then I come back inside, get a coffee and figure since I'm already up I may as well start work around 7-7:30

[tardy badger]

Middle school onwards should definitely start later as teenagers are generally not early risers, and are more likely to be night owls

[radiant coral]

I guess that's fair, but I don't have to like it

[tardy badger]

Sure, I 100% get it

I’d like to be able to get up and enjoy coffee on the weekends with my wife but my kids are generally up by 7am

[radiant coral]

Mmhmm

My father's day request is actually just going to be "please let me sleep in" 😆

[tardy badger]

Lol, I struggle with sleeping in. I’m usually naturally awake by 6-6:30

[radiant coral]

I mean once it's light in the room I have trouble sleeping too, but "sleeping in" is more about not having to get up and go do something

I may just lay there with my Steam Deck or a book for once

Anyway I have probably overused my old man -> clouds allotment for this evening 😁

[tardy badger]

Lol

Just gotta recharge it for about 5 minutes lol

[static flare]

They are, however, insanely expensive

[burnt tendon]

Cardiac pacemakers / defibrillators are pretty darn great too.

[static flare]

Absolutely!

[late fulcrum]

When I think of it as an "artificial pancreas", the expense somehow seems more reasonable.

[rapid geode]

i read that as artificial pancakes

[raw jasper]

All pancakes are artificial

(Or so I'd hope)