general-chat

[hollow flint]

There's a good chance that her instructions will no longer work, vs how it did back then.

[valid glen]

Oh

Figured since her video is over a year old.

So most likely the 10.0.3 will be the most current version.

[hollow flint]

There's also a chance that it'll work just fine, but you implied that you don't have the time to find out, and then possibly try to troubleshoot it.

[valid glen]

Well Katsu is in about 2 months I just need the right equipment first and as I said before I'll draw a diagram for my plan if that makes sense.

This way I can get the right hardware.

It's the hardware that I need first.

[hollow flint]

BTW, many of Adafruit's distributors often have faster and/or lower cost shipping, particularly to locations outside of the United States.

[valid glen]

Thank you.

[sly pebble]

I have watched the new product video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC6HWrcceh4 "JP’s Product Pick of the Week 12/9/25"

experts, can some help me with this question

what is the board that feather, feather wing, and adalogger are sitting/stacked on?

[hollow flint]

Maybe https://www.adafruit.com/product/3417 🤷

[sly pebble]

Thanks for the quick response

I have a feather v2 and feather wing, instead of stacking them, can I buy this FeatherWing Tripler Mini Kit?

[hollow flint]

FYI, the "v2" in the phrase "feather v2" refers to it literally being the second version of whatever product it actually is. There are many different models of Feathers and FeatherWings in existence: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-feather

To attempt to answer your question, if you have one Feather board, and either one or two FeatherWing boards, then those two or three boards should easily slot into the FeatherWing Tripler Mini Kit, and be as if they were stacked vertically.

[summer basalt]

I'm trying to use VIAL with the macropad. I've downloaded the adafruit/macropad files that include a keyboard folder for VIAL, select that as my keyboard when building and flashing. It seems to flash OK, and my pad acts pretty much like a keypad, plus the knob controls my PC volume. But VIAL on my PC doesn't find the keypad, and VIAL Web lists Macropad RP2040 and says "paired," but when I select it and select "connect" it says starting and then comes back with no devices selected. HELP!

UPDATE: Never mind! Figured it out. First, I hadn't downloaded the full the vial-qmk repository, and second, I hadn't pointed qmk at that download. Now Vial sees the macropad!

[fair summit]

had to look up what this is. for anyone interested, it's here: https://get.vial.today/

[sick apex]

l

oops

man i stg, this FPGA is driving me nuts

i can't get the JTAG thing working

it shows up with the right drivers, it looks right

but it just doesn't work in quartus

[soft hound]

@stray wind I bought a VEML7700 breakout from some random seller on Amazon and when I opened up the package just now, I noticed the back side of it has your name etched out of the solder mask, is that a design of yours that got counterfeited?

[soft hound]

(Follow-up question if the answer to that is "yes": Do you have some way for me to send you like $5 as a thanks for designing it so you still get something from that?)

[hollow flint]

The PCB design itself has a "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported" license.
The full details are contained throughout each of the links at https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-veml7700/downloads

[hollow flint]

Well, that assumes that the aforementioned silkscreen and PCB dimensions are a direct copycat of this:

[soft hound]

That's the strange thing, it's completely different but they kept the Kattni signature!

[ornate kernel]

It's part of the PCB design, likely copied as Open source.
I have another board she designed, it's rad.

[hollow flint]

That's an older revision, before Stemma QT connectors for I2C were commonplace.

[soft hound]

Ahh, that makes more sense!

[ornate kernel]

I remember she mentioned she added perhaps as SVG to copper

[hollow flint]

The top side is pictured at the bottom of this webpage: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-veml7700/overview

[soft hound]

Looks like they did remote the Adafruit logo from the silkscreen though 😢

Probably on purpose for trademark/copyright I'd guess, but still

[hollow flint]

If you're still within Amazon's return window, you could consider trying to return it. Then you'd be able to purchase (a newer revision of) it from either Adafruit directly, or one of their distributors. A list of distributors that carry any given Adafruit product is listed at the bottom of its adafruit.com product page.

[midnight willow]

Happy New Year, all!

[fair summit]

Could you give a link to the Amazon product?

[soft hound]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQNDC2P4 Going back and looking at it more, I do see that they show it on the back too. I was just looking for the physically-smallest breakout for that light sensor I could spot since I'm planning on stuffing it into an existing product to make it a little smarter.

[stray wind]

That version of it is the first board I ever designed. @ornate kernel is close; it was a bitmap added to the silk library to be used on the other handful of boards I designed.

[fierce coral]

What do you guys think? So many weeks of trial an error special thanks for danh for helping me through it

[fair summit]

Thanks - definitely a clone, but we do make open-source designs.

[hollow flint]

IANAL, but I thought that all creative commons licenses (except maybe CC0) require all derivative works to attribute it to the original creator(s). 🤷

[brave harbor]

Somehow I was able to brick my 1tb SSD

External ssd

Like how

I was uploading the Ubuntu iso on it and somehow it bricked it

[dusty citrus]

In which way? Is it read only?

[brave harbor]

Nope won't even mount

[dusty citrus]

On what are on Linux on windows? Can you see it with diskpart?

[brave harbor]

PC says hardware issues

[brave harbor]

It says unable to mount hardware issues

Oh well it's fine cuz I can buy another SSD for 100 USD xd

After that I'm switching to sd cards

[lapis anchor]

What do you see in DISKPART for the drive?

in my experience SD cards have a much higher failure rate than SSDs 😄

[dusty citrus]

Yeah, although there are some who claim like 5-10 years warranty but they often don't deliver

[valid glen]

Okay guys I have what I want for my athena project can you guys help me with the products I need?

Please I really need to make a purchase this weekend.

[dusty citrus]

Give full details, don't ask to ask, if anyone can help will do

[valid glen]

It's in projects I just want lights I can cut and I want to see if I can plug switches and batteries in and out as if I'm charging a computer.

[hollow flint]

If it was a counterfeit product, and thus had a smaller true data capacity than what was originally advertised, then trying to store above a certain amount of GBs could have a nonzero chance of bricking the external SSD.

[dusty citrus]

I didn't understand the computer part, but you can get led strips, with an adequate power source/concerter/step down and switch

[valid glen]

The computer was just an example of how I want to plug the lights in and out of the battery and switches without it breaking.

[dusty citrus]

Almost any switch is fine
Get the led strip that you like most, then select the battery

[valid glen]

You know like plugging in a charger.

[dusty citrus]

Or power source, then see the difference in v and select whatever you wanna use, if a resistor, transformers or more complex circuit

[valid glen]

What?

[hollow flint]

Desktop computers, which is what the word "computer" most often refers to, doesn't having charging capabilities on its own. All-in-one computers are another type of computer that lacks charging capabilities.

[valid glen]

Look here's what I mean, I can plug it into the power source and it works when I turn it on. I can unplug it from the power source to take it off but I can plug it back in whenever I want to.

[dusty citrus]

I know that there are dedicated ics that can do it for usb, but honestly I don't know much else, I don't have experience with them. I'll leave the answer to otjers

[valid glen]

I don't want a usb the plug was just an example of plug in power on, unplug power off. I just want to make sure I can plug it in and unplug it without it breaking.

[hollow flint]

From my experience, most types of DIY electronics should be in working condition after being unplugged unexpectedly. There are a few exceptions to that, such as single-board computers, and in some situations, CircuitPython.

[valid glen]

Yes that

is all I needed to know and I just wanted some product recommendations on what the right equipment for these lights should be. One second.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2536

[hollow flint]

For all NeoPixels, including that product in particular, this webpage has some information about how to safely (dis)connect power to them: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide/powering-neopixels

[valid glen]

Or this

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2495

Can you cut these?

[valid glen]

good good.

[hollow flint]

The answer to that question is contained within the link you just sent in the previous message.

[valid glen]

thank you I'll send the links in a bit

[brave harbor]

Impossible I ordered it from door dash

[hollow flint]

More likely than not, you should be able to get answers to further questions just by reading their descriptions and/or learn guide links.

[valid glen]

Well I only found this so far.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/771

But where are the switches that go with it?

Where are the plugs and wires?

I just want the right products to go with it. Why are there no straight answers? 😭 😭

[hollow flint]

For that product, or another 12V single-color LED strip, this guide contains one example of every electronic component that's necessary to power it: https://learn.adafruit.com/led-bicycle-handlebars

[valid glen]

Here's what I have so far in my cart BTW.

[hollow flint]

The first two products can be replaced with this less expensive alternative: https://www.adafruit.com/product/5768

[valid glen]

Where are they? I'm having a rorona Zoro moment.

[hollow flint]

For your use-case, product ID 5768 should be equivalent to the combination of product IDs 3857 and 4145. The latter is what's currently in your cart.

[valid glen]

https://www.adafruit.com/product/4884

this one?

Oops wrong ID.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/3857 This one?

Oh wait wrong one I'm having a total zoro moment sorry

Oh wait the first one I did paste was the alternative.

I hate having zoro moments.

[hollow flint]

https://www.adafruit.com/product/5768 ⇔ https://www.adafruit.com/product/3857 & https://www.adafruit.com/product/4145

[valid glen]

But those are the chips I already have.

I'm getting confused!

You said there was a cheaper alternative.

I'm sorry but my brain is getting lost and scattered.

[hollow flint]

The cheaper alternative is at the left of the ⇔ symbol. You currently added everything to the right of the ⇔ symbol to your cart.

[valid glen]

But there are no chips just speakers.

[hollow flint]

Those are the list of add-on products for whatever product was pictured above the screenshot.

[valid glen]

That's why I asked about product 4884

Because it was in the picture along with the propmaker chip

[hollow flint]

For some products, it might be necessary to skip the first few pictures, to see precisely what's included.

[valid glen]

Supermath please be specific about the chips because I'm getting super confused to clarify i'm autistic so I need super specific instructions.

So if I don't get specific prop recommendations I go in circles.

[hollow flint]

https://www.adafruit.com/product/5768 is just that product, but with the addition of https://www.adafruit.com/product/4145 "shoved" onto the empty space along the board.

[valid glen]

But propmaker is what I have in my cart already.

[hollow flint]

You currently have a "Prop-Maker" and a CircuitPython-compatible board as two separate products. https://www.adafruit.com/product/5768 is the result of merging them into a single product.

[valid glen]

Supermath I don't understand why you're sending me this I don't need these products I said before I'm autistic I need super specific instructions.

I don't understand at all.

There are no chips in this bundle.

I'm so confused 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭

[hollow flint]

Anyways, whether or not you choose the cheaper pairing of products, you'll want to add https://www.adafruit.com/product/5888 to be able to individually control the power of three different single-color LED strips at once.

[valid glen]

Supermath I already showed you the other chip I'm so confused! 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭

Oh wait the link is the chip HITS HEAD

I hate being liter.

Literal

[hollow flint]

I apologize for the earlier cost-saving tangent. What I've just linked would be one of a few products necessary to be able to power non-NeoPixel LED strips with what you've already decided upon.

[valid glen]

No I apologize i thought that it wasn't the chip you sent me I thought it was the set I sent a screenshot of without the chip at all.

The video left me consfused that's why!

My bad I'm an idiot.

Updated.

[hollow flint]

I also don't have the best teaching skills myself.

[valid glen]

okay but how's the updated cart so far?

Don't fret I'll get the battery packs soon.

the silicone neon strip is for my shield prop an easy no programming prop.

[hollow flint]

The topmost item is redundant. Otherwise, that's a good initial list, but with a few components still missing.

[valid glen]

you mean the propmaker chip? How?

[hollow flint]

Yes. The bottom-most product has a copy of nearly all of it, but alongside the rest of the Feather board.

[valid glen]

Sorry? your wording is a bit confusing.

[hollow flint]

The right half of the picture below contains the "Prop-Maker" functionality, and the left half contains the Feather board, with CircuitPython compatibility.

[valid glen]

Oh it's a two in one.

[hollow flint]

Yep.

[valid glen]

I guess I will only need one so far for a photoshoot, I'm planning to use the silicone LED strip for my back and sheild. I can save this rec for later when I want to replace the lights.

After all Athena's back is pretty big and I can hide the silicone lights underneath.

[hollow flint]

Taking inspiration from the parts list of https://learn.adafruit.com/no-solder-faux-neon-bike-lights, you'll also need https://www.adafruit.com/product/875 and https://www.adafruit.com/product/368, to provide the 12V power to the overall assembly. Also some solid copper wires to connect everything together.

[valid glen]

Updated cart

I like to carry spares just in case.

Let me know what I'm missing.

[hollow flint]

Although most hardware stores should also have these two products available to purchase, https://www.adafruit.com/product/147 is a hand tool that you'll need to use, alongside solid copper wire, such as https://www.adafruit.com/product/1311, to connect the screw terminal blocks on each component, in the proper configuration.

[hollow flint]

The screw terminal blocks are the green colored things on some of the products.

[valid glen]

I can get a wire cutter somewhere else.

Also one second kamui mentioned this.

[hollow flint]

It's primarily a wire stripper, with wire cutting being an additional feature.

[valid glen]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0793NGKL9?asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.1MVE9YE8S6W31&th=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=wwwkamuicospl-20&linkId=6427afd098df1c2da50eacf30748175b&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Will this work for wire?

Then again the products you showed me were the same price anyway.

Okay I'll talk to you later in the morning I think I almost got everything.

[celest mango]

hiii
I'm getting error 500 - is it temporary? 🤔

[fair summit]

What is the URL that's give you 500?

[valid glen]

Morning everyone. I managed to get what I was recommended in my cart, what do you all think?

[valid glen]

Guys?

[valid glen]

@hollow flint ?

[celest mango]

https://accounts.adafruit.com/users/sign_in

[valid glen]

It must be your computer on your end mine is fine.

[celest mango]

how to debug reason... i have that not only on computer - but also on phone

[valid glen]

Oof

[celest mango]

I'm located in Ukraine, may it be reason of the bug?

i did try 3 different networks, also vpn

ChatGPT suggest try to clean cache or so... Is that good idea, what do you think?

[golden igloo]

clearing browser cache when having issues with pages loading is rarely a bad idea

[valid glen]

don't ask ai dude, it uses a ton of water.

[fair summit]

yes, clear the cache, and also try an incognito window, in case it's a cookie issue. I don't see that issue in the US. I would say it's a security block for some reason. The VPN out IPs may also be blocked.

You can write to [e-mail] for help.

[valid glen]

BTW Danh is Ada fruit located in brooklyn?

Just curious

[celest mango]

thanks for your help 🥰

[fair summit]

the factory and mail-order business is in brooklyn

[valid glen]

Thanks I guess the delivery will be quicker than most orders I live in NYS for context.

[fair summit]

I am in the boston area and get UPS ground orders next day. Order by 11am

[valid glen]

I just hope the screenshots I shared can make my Athena project work another member recommended them.

See

If I can

If I can't make it all for Katsucon I can at least do the shield of Athena.

It's more important to make it exist than it is to make it perfect on the first try.

Then again I am on a bit of a tighter budget this month so I'll just save most of this stuff for later.

I had to give it some thoughts when I went to bed.

But the wishlist will be helpful in the end.

@fair summit just here to say you guys are great.

And BTW @hollow flint Thanks for your help I will purchase your recommendations later the problem is after going to bed I realized that I'll be buying more fabric for my cosplay and I need the money for the fabric.

[fair summit]

Lady Tora product requirements

[celest mango]

i did try all those steps

so did write to support

thanks

[edgy apex]

I used chatgpt to help me update/upgrade/security update my Cape Cod Bridge Traffic server. All went well and I enabled a ssh key instead of a super long password. I want to be ready for summer so that means working on it when no one needs to use it, I get stressed working in live systems that are in use lol

[valid glen]

That's not cool dude, you used a program that steals from us cosplayers and uses so much water.

Many of my friends are artists and I follow them online as well. Several have been losing income because of Chat GPT generated images.

Not to mention there are plans for data center buildings in drought prone areas such as Nevada and Arizona which isn't good for the people living there.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but as a fellow artist (cosplayer) I highly discourage the use of AI.

[edgy apex]

images?

im not generating images withgpt

i use it for coding mostly

[valid glen]

Either way one 100 word promt can also use up an entire liter of water.

[edgy apex]

am i taking jobs from programmers?

[valid glen]

Well many companies looking at the normalization of AI are.

One of my friends is a software engineer and I fear for her job because AI could take it.

Many artists and coders are getting laid off because of AI.

[edgy apex]

well then she should go on her own and do what she wants

[valid glen]

Please don't tell my friend to not protect the job she studied for.

[edgy apex]

I have no job

i used to volunteer

[valid glen]

I was talking about HER JOB.

[edgy apex]

well thats between her and her employer?

[valid glen]

Normalizing AI encourages employers to do it, and more demand for AI harms the environment as well.

[edgy apex]

I use AI for fun

[valid glen]

Even harmless "fun" made by AI is bad for the environment.

Behold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN6BEUA4jNU

[edgy apex]

so cypto and ai are the biggest problems, but most people dont understand how to use ai collaboratively to do things much faster than by myself, they just expect the solution

[golden igloo]

I have a couple of friends who are programmers and software engineers and all of them hate AI. They either don’t use it at all at work, or spend 3x longer fixing code their boss wrote with genAI that it would have taken them to write the code themselves from scratch.
Despite what the tech bros claim, ai isn’t replacing software engineers long term any time soon, it doesn’t work.

[edgy apex]

it wont replace but it could make them worth more as in more effective work

[valid glen]

That's fortunate, trust me when I say that things made by humans is always better and more eco friendly as well. Why else do you think sewists are encouraging thrifting?

[valid glen]

AI needs to go the way of NFTS IMHO so many of my friends who are teachers are tired of students using it to do their homework.

[edgy apex]

I also use local ai on my m1 macbook

[golden igloo]

Ai will, eventually. It’s economically unsustainable. The infrastructure costs far more to install and maintain than all the tech on earth has generated in profits for the entirety of human existence. If it isn’t generating enough money to cover its costs, the bubble will burst

[edgy apex]

AI as it is currently designed and available is meant to break people's will to think

[valid glen]

Exactly, and the people who got laid off during the growth of the AI bubble will suffer the most while the billionaires get bailed out, DISGUSTING!

All while Data centers pollute the air, water, and send electricity bills through the roof.

[edgy apex]

yea and heres the kicker, half of the investment in AI is not going to produce a return and then we get into problems.

[valid glen]

We're already getting problems, people are losing art jobs because of AI.

Along with other jobs.

Along with the pollution.

Every data center worldwide used the same amount of drinkable water as the water bottle industry, imagine how many lives could've been saved with all of that water.

[edgy apex]

so how do we hasten our own demise?

[valid glen]

What?

[edgy apex]

imagine 0 jobs except the ones chosen by an individual so basically everyone would be a volunteer. Volunteers typically are extremely good at what they do or they burn out or quit.

[valid glen]

That is the most senseless paragraph I've ever read in my life.

[golden igloo]

Closing all data centres isn’t the solution. No data centres, no internet

[edgy apex]

Sorry

[valid glen]

Just AI data centers not ones for the internet.

[golden igloo]

They’re all the same. The ai stuff is inside the internet data centres

[valid glen]

What I essentially mean Steaky is for the internet to go back to the pre AI era.

Like 2022.

[golden igloo]

And the tech is getting more efficient, the cooling is getting more efficient

[valid glen]

You get the idea.

[edgy apex]

would you do your work for free if money was not a concern?
@valid glen

[valid glen]

NO!

Money is a concern for me.

[edgy apex]

ok, you are the senseless one lol

[valid glen]

People deserve to be paid.

[edgy apex]

For what?

[valid glen]

Their labor. Why do you believe labor should be free?

[edgy apex]

It depends on if resources are free

[valid glen]

There's no such thign as free resources these days.

[edgy apex]

Well you may want to think in a longer timescale than these days.

[valid glen]

I do, and people deserve to be paid for labor.

I've happily paid photographers and artists before and I'm okay with paying a portion of their salaries.

[edgy apex]

No one pays me and I keep chugging. I'm disabled, on disability but that doesn't stop me from chasing my dreams

[valid glen]

Because you don't work that's why.

[edgy apex]

Lol sure whatever you say

Would you rather I sarcastically agree with you?

[valid glen]

I'd rather you be quiet.

[edgy apex]

Pick up the next issue of 2600 and read my hacker perspective and then decide

[hard estuary]

Ok, let’s wrap up this discussion please

[edgy apex]

Done

[valid glen]

thank you mod team

[edgy apex]

On a more positive note I got my first interested party for a e-ink traffic sign. I hit up all the chambers of commerce, all the visitor centers and a few hotels/motels. Hopefully the orders start rolling in and I can get them all done before the tourist season.

[edgy apex]

Since I finished all my winter projects in 2-3 weeks due to a little mania, I have now chosen a couple more new projects to work on while I am all alone.

1. A real-time anomaly detector for familiar public systems (traffic, transit, weather, outages, crowding)
2. A small AI / automation system that talks about its own decisions as it runs.
3. A project that politely contradicts common assumptions using real data.

[edgy apex]

I'll be doing a fundraiser for the food pantry I used to volunteer at for 17 years with my hacker perspective/hope talk to local groups, etc, I'm hoping for a lot but expecting nothing because no one knows who I am or what I've done locally. Work is supposed to be meaningful otherwise it's just a paycheck.

[next iron]

Hi all!

I'm just curious if the Adafruit Matrix Portal S3 is always sold out? Or am I just wanting them at a bad time? I've only been able to get 1 in the past month or so

[fair summit]

it is not always sold out, but sometimes there is some stumbling block to getting something re-made or stocked. I don't know if that's the case here, or there's just a manufacturing backlog. It's a popular board, it will be back in stock when it can be in stock.

[next iron]

Makes sense, thanks 🙂

[hollow flint]

Wow, even Pimoroni's RP2350/RM2 equivalent of that product is also sold out from them: https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/interstate-75-w?variant=54977948713339
Is it something about HUB75 controllers themselves that makes them difficult to keep in stock in recent times?

[fair summit]

I think they are just popular. There's little to no parts overlap between the two boards.

[bitter iris]

Hey all, not sure where I should mention it but the learn.adafruid.com/adabox022 has a minor mistake on the page, under the "who is this for" section. It says that it's for anyone interested in learning to build a digital camera (which I believe is from the last adabox), as opposed to something Fruitjam related.

Only reason I mention it is because I was looking for the Fruitjam content, and thought I somehow stumbled onto the old guide when I got to that part. I had to doubletake and check the sidebar to realize that it was probably just copy and pasted from the camera adabox, and that the other pages are the new content.

Like i said, super minor, but probably also an easy fix.

[hard estuary]

You can submit feedback and corrections directly by clicking on the "Feedback? Corrections?" link in the left hand sidebar

[rare pivot]

how do i tell if an HDMI "portable monitor" will work with the Fruit Jam? The first one I got (this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPX4CWK3) didn't work - screen says "not supported" when I turn the jam on.

[golden igloo]

What size/gauge solder should I buy for soldering things like header pins and through hole components onto perfboard?

[somber spindle]

That depends on how much voltage/current you expect to flow through the device, but generally speaking, for hobby projects 22 AWG is a good middle-of-the-road option to keep on hand

[fair summit]

It's hard to tell. There is discussion here: https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/10534. If the monitor has a TV-style display chip, it tends to do better.

[rare pivot]

Thanks!

[golden igloo]

That's what I was looking at, but a couple of the raspberry pi retailers near me stock 1.0mm/20AWG in 10-12g coils. Which costs almost as much as 100g coil of 0.7mm/22AWG

[fair summit]

@analog belfry see above re mini monitors. What was the link for the little monitor that you got that worked well with FJ? (if I am remembering right)

[rare pivot]

I guess it's possible that the monitor just doesn't want to support anything but HD. Fruit jam is still running Doom. I'll do some experimenting with CP resolutions.

[fair summit]

I would say it doesn't matter that much, as long as the diameter is smaller than the pad. Using a proper-size soldering tip and the right temperature makes as much or more difference.

[rare pivot]

I wish I hadn't cleaned out my old monitor stash a couple years ago...

@fair summit there needs to be a fruit jam channel on here... 🙂

[golden igloo]

I'm looking at getting a soldering station later in the year, with variable temp. But my cheap fixed temp is working well enough for small jobs, for now. What wattage would you (or anyone else) recommend?

[rare pivot]

I wouldn't trade in my Pinecil iron for anything. Cheap and very reliable.

[fair summit]

I have a Hakko FX-888 (old analog knob version). The FX-888DX is very nice. The FX-888D (no "X") (model in between) has a terrible UI (easy to miscalibrate).

[rare pivot]

And doesn't take up desk space.

[somber spindle]

I wouldn't worry too much about a specific number. For starting out, the USB-C powered ones are great, I used a pinecil for a couple years and was much happier with that than a very old fixed-temp one.

There are a ton in that family now, and I can't keep track of them all

I know you can find youtube comparison videos, but buying the official pinecil is still a pretty good choice, even if there might be better options out there.

[rare pivot]

Agreed

I even have a second one with a hest insert tip on it 🙂

[golden igloo]

I was looking at this one. I just don't know much about them or what temperatures to use https://pro.maplin.co.uk/products/50w-digital-adjustable-temperature-soldering-station-160-c-to-480-c

My current one is something similar to this one, that I've had maybe a decade now https://pro.maplin.co.uk/products/4-piece-soldering-iron-tool-kit-30w

[rare pivot]

50 W seems a little low. Pinecil is 65 W, and only had trouble with one rather large connection

[somber spindle]

If you're only doing low volume hobby wiring at 20/22 AWG, 50w is probably still fine, and a nice step up from your older one. FWIW, my starter iron was very similar to your current one, and the pinecil was a HUGE upgrade

I "upgraded" to a hakko when the pinecil died after ~3 years, and I'm not sure it was a worthwhile upgrade

[golden igloo]

I don't envisage me using the iron for extended periods of time, or that often. I was thinking the 50W is a reasonable price, better than what I have, but cheap enough that I won't be bothered too much if I need to go upto 80W or even 100W 6 months down the line

[rare pivot]

Pinecil is currently 39.95 us$ on Amazon - less than the one you posted.

[fair summit]

wattage is more for temperature recovery and whether you can solder a larger chunk of metal and have the tip maintain temperature. For ordinary electronic soldering, the wattage is not such a big deal.

[rare pivot]

True

[fair summit]

I would look at the reviews for reliability considerations, and whether you can get quality tips. There are counterfeit tips out there (e.g. counterfeit Hakko tips), and they don't tin well, don't work well, etc.

[rare pivot]

I've not had any issues with cheap tips (at least for the Pinecil), but that's always something to remember.

[fair summit]

I bought my analog Hakko from ebay, used. The base is fine, but the supplied plug-in irons needed their heaters replaced. I was able to buy replacement parts from Hakko.

[golden igloo]

I might get one of the analogue ATTEN ones, it's only a little more for an 80W one than the one I shared above and they have a decent selection of tips for those (as do a few other stores)

[fair summit]

I think the ATTEN in the Adafruit shop is also used in our factory. We tend to stock what we use. ATTEN can use Hakko tips.

[golden igloo]

That's handy to know. However, 110V isn't suitable for me, I'm in the UK.

[fair summit]

i just mean the brand has been vetted, or at least models like that

[golden igloo]

I've seen a few blogs recommend Hakka and Weller before, but they're not as common in the UK, so tend to cost quite a bit more than others like ATTEN. Hearing that they can cope with the demands of a company like Adafruit is quite a recommendation

[hollow flint]

Although #general-chat and #general-tech seem to have this feature disabled, you could create separate Discord threads for specific topics.

[fair summit]

I have enabled threads in these channels. I think we were being careful when threads were first added, but I don't see a good reason right now for not allowing threads. If things get out of hand in some way, we'll revisit.

[burnt tendon]

In other words, y'all decided to ... thread carefully.

[teal kettle]

Hey guys, do you know any embedded systems forums where I can share an open-source project and get contributors?

[bleak fox]

Can a Feather M0 Express ATWINC1500 power a TowerPro MG995 servo through its USB pin? The servos voltage is 6V.

The servo seems to jolt all the way into one direction and doesn't budge. Maybe using a separate power supply works? I saw 4xAA battery pack can provide enough current.

[balmy snow]

Are there any maker faire like event in NYC in 2026? I am planning my events this year showing off some open source special needs devices I've built and am building. I also have a daughter in college in NYC and have never been so I'd love to find something. Thanks.
PS - Prototype Device made from Adafruit parts and devices run circuitpython.

[fair summit]

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1142 says it should work fine at 5v. But the current capacity has more to do with the 5V supply you are using. Is it a computer USB port or something else? That servo can draw up to 2.5A when stalled, and most USB ports can't deliver that.

The slamming to one side sounds like a programming problem. Or, if you are driving the control line at 3.3V, that may not work so well, though it can.

[bleak fox]

Yes it is powered through the PCs USB port for programming. What do you suggest I use?

I am using the Feathers USB pin, the site says its directly from the micro USB jack which is 5V if I'm not wrong?

I forgot to mention that I modified the servo to have analog feedback, here's my code:

#include <SPI.h>
#include <Servo.h>

#define FEEDBACK_SERVO_PIN   A0
#define PWM_SERVO_PIN        12

// servo
Servo servo;
int servoPos;
int feedbackPos;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);   
  servo.attach(PWM_SERVO_PIN);
}

void loop() 
{
    feedbackPos = analogRead(FEEDBACK_SERVO_PIN);
    Serial.print("Servo Feedback:");
    Serial.println(feedbackPos);  
}

[fallen heath]

If you’re looking for someone who understands both models and systems, that’s my lane.
I’ve built Chatbots, Virtual Assistants, and Conversational Agents used by real users at scale.
My experience spans TensorFlow, Scikit-Learn, XGBoost, LightGBM, and CatBoost for classic ML.
For generative work, I handle Story Generation, Poetry Generation, and AI Composer pipelines.
I’ve deployed models via Core ML, TFLite, and NVIDIA AI Enterprise when edge performance mattered.
MLOps is a big focus for me, using Airflow, MLflow, and Weights & Biases.
I’ve also worked with Salesforce Einstein, SAP AI Core, and Oracle AI Cloud in enterprise settings.
I don’t oversell hype-I design what fits the business goal. If you want honest technical guidance, I’m around.
Let’s build something useful.

[fair summit]

How much load is being put on the servo? What is it moving? The power consumption depends on how much load is being placed on it.
Since you didn't set a position for the servo, its startup movement could be abrupt?

[bleak fox]

I'm just testing the servo without any load. At first I was experimenting with HX711 and the amount of weight would drive the servo to assist.

I switched to a 5V 3A power supply for the servo and whenever I connect to it. The voltage seems to drop significantly. I'm sharing a common GND to the servo and Feathers GND pin.

[fair summit]

you mean the servo 5V-3A is dropping?

what kind of power supply is that?

(e.g. product link)

[bleak fox]

Oh yeah sorry it's just a 5V 3A wall adapter with a USB connector. I stripped those down and connected them with alligator clips.

[fair summit]

An Adafruit person has successfully used this monitor with Fruit Jam: http://amazon.com/dp/B0CYKXCM8J

[hollow flint]

With the background context of skyrocketing computer memory prices, that seems somewhat similar to what The Onion would publish.

[jovial rock]

Well dang, here I was hoping the rp2350 could bitbang the bus. ;)

[hollow flint]

AFAIK, this is the highest bitrate "bus" that the RP2350 supports: https://github.com/steve-m/hsdaoh-rp2350

[hollow flint]

Well, specifically for buses that are beyond the furthest distance between two points, on an average PCB containing a RP2350.

[hollow flint]

When ignoring the requirement of signal integrity, QSPI might beat its bitrate. 🤷

[dim agate]

Is there a library for CircuitPython or Arduino that can interface with USB touchscreens like http://amazon.com/dp/B0CYKXCM8J

[rare pivot]

I can confirm that the display I have (linked earlier) works OK, at least in the default 640x480, using the code in https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-fruit-jam/hstx-dvi-output. How does one change the resolution? Not that I foresee needing 32 bit color, but as I understand it you can only do 32-bit in 320x240. I'd also like to make a version of the above code that will cycle through the available settings on the display. Although, I guess it'll just run out of memory and fail if you run it any bigger than 640x480?

it just doesn't want to run Doom 🙁

now that i think for 5 more seconds, I guess 320x240 isn't going to work anyway, as it's not on the supported list from the display. Forget that I asked that. 🙂

[dim agate]

I had this same issue on the Commodore 64 emulator for the Fruit Jam. It just didn’t display anything

[rare pivot]

mine gave a "not supported" message on the screen while doom was running.

what you get when unsupported probably depends on the display.

[rare pivot]

i wonder if the touchscreen acts as an HID device... have you tried just plugging one into the jam like it was a mouse?

[dim agate]

No, I don’t know if the Elecrow screen uses HID. Do Raspberry Pi displays usually use HID?

[rare pivot]

i have no idea. was just a thought. i don't know how else they'd drive a Pi. might be that there's a linux driver that handles each different type of HID? single-touch vs multi-touch, for example

looks like that might be the way... from ai: The standard for touchscreens over USB relies on the Human Interface Device (HID) profile

so if we have a library that handles HID input, it might "just work" 🙂

[dim agate]

The display I have has 5-point capacitive touch. When I asked ChatGPT it said that my display might use HID

[sweet wadi]

Welcome to Adafruit!

[junior solar]

Hi, everyone!

I recently purchased an Adafruit ESP32-S3 Feather (with 4MB Flash 2MB PSRAM and STEMMA QT) (https://www.adafruit.com/product/5477).

I don’t have an SPDT slide switch (https://www.adafruit.com/product/805).

As far as I understand, there’s no way to disable the 3.3 V regulator programmatically — only by physically tying the EN and GND pins together. Is that correct?

Could you please point me to (share a link to) a CircuitPython (not Arduino C/C++) code sample for how to activate Deep (not Light) Sleep mode on the Adafruit ESP32-S3 Feather? I can’t seem to find one…

Thanks in advance!

[umbral phoenix]

@junior solar to turn off the 3.3v regulator, yes a physical connection is needed. There is a pin you can use programmatically to turn off power to I2C. Here's a guide on deep sleep: https://learn.adafruit.com/deep-sleep-with-circuitpython

[broken bronze]

Hey! I'm trying to see if there's interest in an interactive Robot Butterfly performance. It would be super helpful if anyone here could complete this survey, it should only take 3 minutes! Thank you 🙏 https://forms.gle/8CKTG8PDAbhoyq9e6

[solar kindle]

I remember watching "Total Recall" 35 years ago, and there was just this quick shot of someone applying digital nail polish. Well... https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-0Zzlc1mveM

[hollow flint]

https://youtu.be/CgNPOyuI-Gg must've been the justification for adding the emoji.
/s

[hollow flint]

JK, the actual reason is described here: https://www.adafruit.com/buyfromdigikey

[hushed hornet]

hi all,
anyone had any success doing device erase on silicon labs series 2 without jlink probe? maybe even without simplicity commander? i am struggling win an bricked zigbee adapter with efr32mg21

[bitter badge]

If there are any DVI over RP2350 HSTX experts here (or even just anyone who understands how it works fairly well), I need some help learning how it works. I've started a topic for this in the forum, in hopes that any advice, information, and discussion will be useful to others as well: https://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?t=222013.

(On a side note, I see that there's a "help with" channel for audio but not for video. I don't know how much help people need with video related stuff, but in searching for information about the above, I found rather a lot of people asking questions and not a ton of answers.)

[bitter badge]

This reminds me, the Fruit Jam guide suggests not fully tightening one of the screws, to avoid damaging the speaker wires. I don't like this solution, because loose screws tend to work their way out. So I solved this by getting a package of tiny washers from the hardware store and stacking enough on each standoff to raise the faceplate by around 1.5 to 2mm, and that provided the necessary clearance while also allowing me to tighten the screws securely. I used metal washers small enough to not touch any nearby traces or components, but nylon washers might be a better choice if you can get ones that are the right size. (They tend to be thicker, and of course they are non-conductive as well.) Anyhow, I find this to be a better solution to the speaker wire problem than leaving one screw loose!

[hollow flint]

Do you think Adafruit should include those kinds of washers in the same bag within the box as the screws? 🤔

[rigid whale]

The standoffs used on the fruit jam are the 6mm ones I think. Instead of washers just swap them out with 8mm ones.

I went with https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FKSFHDNT Only takes one per standoff and they fit perfectly.

[humble python]

hello, does anyone knows what is the thickness of the thermal pad that the raspberry pi use? especially the pi 500+

[fair summit]

Have you looked at https://github.com/Wren6991/PicoDVI

we use that as a submodule

[bitter badge]

Actually, yes. That's a really good idea! Adafruit can almost certainly get bulk washers for far cheaper than most people could get small packages, and maybe they could even get single washers of the right thickness.

Yes, using taller standoffs is also a good solution, but I suspect it would be more expensive. I've priced out bulk stuff like that in the past, and there tend to be common sizes that are a lot cheaper than other sizes that are very close. Maybe they used 6mm ones because the price difference between that and 8mm was quite significant and the time they didn't realize there was a problem with those wires. If that's the case, just adding washers to each pack could be a much cheaper option that doesn't need to affect the price.

But yeah, including correctly sized washers would be awesome. I ended up using 3 metal washers for each standoff, because I couldn't find any better option at the hardware store, and it was really hard to get them on (they kept falling out as I tried to insert the screws). Single thicker nylon or rubber washers would be perfect, and I'm sure Adafruit could find those for an acceptable price.

[bitter badge]

I had not come across that one. I'll take a look! Thanks.

[hollow flint]

Did you already contact [e-mail] with that idea, or should I?

[bitter badge]

Go right ahead! I haven't done it, and now I'm waist deep in reading the information on DVI in the link @fair summit dropped for me.

[bitter badge]

Ok, this does help somewhat. It's certainly better commented. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to use HSTX anywhere at all. (It's all PIO or bitbangged.) So while it does help me understand some parts of DVI better, it doesn't help with things like integrating LUTs into the process.

Anyhow, thanks! This is definitely a step forward. I'll spend some more time going over this to see if I can get a better understanding of the command region of the signal.

[fair summit]

Did you say you had seen this already? https://github.com/raspberrypi/pico-examples/blob/master/hstx/dvi_out_hstx_encoder/dvi_out_hstx_encoder.c. That is what is used in ports/raspberrypi/common-hal/picodvi/FrameBuffer_RP2350.c

that link is no good. Let me track it down.

fixed

[bitter badge]

Yes, I've seen that already. It's not the same as the CircuitPython one you mentioned. The pico-examples one is RGB332 exclusively. The CP one (https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/blob/main/ports/raspberrypi/common-hal/picodvi/Framebuffer_RP2350.c) supports 32 bit, 16 bit, 8 bit, 4 bit, and some kind of grayscale (or at least it has an if series for configuring HSTX for each of those). Neither explains why the differences are different though, in a way that I can figure out how it works.

If I didn't care about understanding, I could probably take the CP one and combine it with the other that isn't the pico-examples one to get most of the modes I want, but I also need to understand the pixel doubling stuff well enough to scale that too as well as how to do lower color depths with LUTs.

[dusty citrus]

Ah idk I need an advice.
My life feels dull... But I've found out that when I risk my life over really dangerous stuff I feel alive. Things like controlled adrenaline/settings like through lunaparks, don't really work for me.
But the more I risk it, the more it's likely that I die.

Meds and akin just no, I dunno if I should just jump or not

[fair summit]

I think you should talk to your therapist or psychiatrist about your feelings. It is against #code-of-conduct for us to discuss life-threatening stuff here.

[dusty citrus]

Ah sorry

[fair summit]

but really, I think you should talk to your professional

[dusty citrus]

I don't have any, nor I plan to go, thanks anyway

[sick apex]

got curious and threw an ARGB LED on my microscope

they look cool asf

[bitter badge]

@sullen portal Hey, I'm having some difficulty learning how DVI over HSTX works on the RP2350, and everywhere I look, you seem to pop up as the most knowledgeable person on the topic. If you have the time and are willing to help, I'd really appreciate it. I've started a thread on the Adafruit forum on the topic, in hopes that maybe the discussion can help others in the future as well. (Things get lost very quickly on Discord and don't show up in web searches.)

Anyhow, here's the thread: https://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?p=1078020

If you don't have the time or energy to help, I totally understand, but I'd be grateful if you would. Thanks!

[sullen portal]

I'll take a peak later this evening when I'm off work, yeah, glad to assist! I haven't had a chance to tinker much in the last few months but yeah I'm happy to help where I can!

[bitter badge]

Sounds good. Thanks so much!

[sullen portal]

I actually had a chance to look and I think I was able to explain a bit more how the hardware works that may help, I'll check again on the forum when I'm off work!

[bitter badge]

Thanks! I'll take a look.

[urban arrow]

Hi all, FWIW, I got a new Qt Py ESP32-S2 4MB (replacing one that quit working, probly my fault...) and tried over an over to load the CPY firmware with Web ESPTool using the guide, but even though it should have been in boot mode, when trying the connection to the serial port, it always said cannot connect.
I finally gave up and went the the command-line esptool routine in the guide. After a few tries (where I goofed up), it did work and load perfectly. Now have CIRCUITPY drive.
I don't recall having this trouble with any of the other ESP32's I have. Anyway, thank Adafruit for giving us the third option, somewhat complicated not for a beginner, but works OK. 👍

[ancient rivet]

might be this known issue:
https://github.com/espressif/esptool-js/issues/227

[hazy tulip]

Just read the Teensy news. And you immediately jumped into making the Freensy?

[sick apex]

my new PC monitors require 12V 4A, does anyone know where i can find a plug / cable thing that i can use to have one plug and 2 DC jack outputs that would fit that, so 12V 8A total with 12V 4A to each DC plug

very weird question ik haha

[fair summit]

are these 2.1mm jacks and plugs? What do they look like?

got a picture or a link?

do you have the 12V 8A supply already?

[sick apex]

i have the plug for the monitor and they work but i'd prefer to use one plug lemme snap a pic and i'll measure the diameter of the jack wt my calipers

[fair summit]

2.1mm is inside diameter. Outside diameter is 5.5mm

[sick apex]

5.5mm outer diameter, 2.1 internal diameter

yes

those

[fair summit]

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1352

"splitter" is the word you are looking for

[sick apex]

oh nice

and i'll just buy a 12V 8A jack and that should be fine

hopefully

[fair summit]

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1351

but what power supply are you using for that?

@sick apex ☝️

[sick apex]

no clue yet, gotta buy one haha

[unkempt kindle]

Just a thought, Since you are starting over, how about adding features to Freensy to make it really useful. 1. SD drive, 2. battery backed RTC and 3 WiFi/BLE. I have considered Teensy for new product development, but settled on the Bee Data Logger due to its high level of integration of the stuff I need.

[hollow flint]

According to some of the datasheets of power supplies by MEAN WELL USA, the 2.1mm barrel jack connector variants have a maximum amperage rating of 7.5A.

[whole gust]

Be aware that as you go higher amerage in one supply you're more liable to find fakes that don't actually put out that much juice.

[hollow flint]

Thus, although they do manufacture 12V power supplies that can output more than 7.5 amps, they don't offer any of those with a 2.1mm barrel jack connector.

[whole gust]

I don't know why you'd want that cost on every board? If you need it, add it or spin the board? Maybe adding unpopulated pads for some of those makes sense, but only if it doesn't make the PCB bigger.

And that board already looks pretty packed.

[sick apex]

ah, maybe i'll just find some USB C to dual barrel jack converter thing

[hollow flint]

Unless such a hypothetical adapter cable has an inline DC to DC power supply, it'll be limited to a total of 5 amps, regardless of the exact combination of products chosen.

[burnt tendon]

I dono, like ... spilled tea aside, it has made me a bit nervous that I've got some boards that are designed around the Teensy 4.1 and that is dependent solely on the health of PJRC + SparkFun ... although for me, they are designed around the Teensy because of the iMXRT1062 processor with gobs of RAM and all and so the RP2350 isn't really it.

[sick apex]

well if it was some kind of board that converts it, it's limited to the latest USB PD spec which is 240Watts

you can just buck the input voltage from the USB PD down to 12V

and then current limit each output

[fair summit]

the point of this is so you don't have two power supplies on a power strip? Did the displays come with power supplies?

[sick apex]

they did, i just went to the store and bought a power brick to turn one plug into 3

it'll do for now

[drifting mica]

Well, with the latest news, I will unfortunately be leaving this server. I'll miss the community here, but I can't support the company any longer.
I'll still be available on other servers (KiCad, CadQuery, RMK, fingerpunch) and on Mastodon (ohai.social/@Lynx); maybe I'll see you there. Farewell.

[weary fiber]

I saw sparkfun’s announcement, but it’s super vague

[terse lava]

You can't support Adafruit who was told by Sparkfun that Adafruit wouldn't be getting anymore Sparkfun products to sell???

[weary fiber]

This has more context but apparently it’s only the tip of the iceberg https://forum.pjrc.com/index.php?threads/open-source-teensy-compatible-what-features-do-you-want.77584/page-2#post-364465

TL;DR apparently sparkfun leadership has a history of difficult to deal w/, and haven’t acted on reports of employees harassing Adafruit leadership. Pair that with stuff like scraping adafruit sites, or making random sparkfun products closed source while not updating their marketing material to reflect that, and it seems like the two have had a lot of beef we’ll never fully learn about

[terse lava]

Ah, so lots of drama. Well since it appears to be a lot of "he said -she said" and we can't possibly know the truth, I will withhold judgement for or against either company. Apparently whitelynx already picked a side. Wonder what he thinks he knows? 🙄

[weary fiber]

there’s also this statement but it’s nothing new info-wise https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46616488

yaleman

SparkFun Officially Dropping AdaFruit due to CoC Violation

Hacker News · Jan 14, 2026, 2:34 PM

[somber spindle]

It sucks, but also I don't think there are more than a handful of people who have enough info to make sense of this.

[terse lava]

I've never used a Teensy so when I first saw the statement of no longer selling them, it had zero affect on myself. And the drama is like watching a reality show, except this one isn't scripted, where I can simply stop paying attention when I get bored with it. In the meantime, I am happy to noodle with my ESP32-S2/S3 and RP2040/2350 boards with circuitpython and do projects that have no need for faster microcontrollers. Ah, ignorance is bliss! 😉

[golden igloo]

Glad it’s not just me who feels like this

[rare zinc]

Then how is it remotely helpful for you to characterise either side of that without actually knowing what's gone on? You've made unwarranted and unsubstantiated claims and passed judgment against one of the parties involved without any such knowledge, in a public forum. And given you have (apparently) no ties to either company it does neither of them any good for you to be airing their beef in public, which is one of the things SparkFun claimed in their public announcement as one of the reasons why they broke off the relationship.

It might help to understand that PJRC is a company of two people.

So TL;DR, if you don't actually have any additional facts it might be nice not to make the situation worse by repeating the behaviour that was cited as part of the cause of this.

As for myself I'm now evaluating whether I will remain on this server.

[rigid whale]

Isn't open source agnostic to brand loyalty?

[rare zinc]

My understanding of "brand loyalty" is the idea that people will be loyal to a company brand, like Apple, or Nike.

Those two things are only tangentially related. It might help to note that "open source" does not mean public domain (though it can). When someone creates a work, most countries in the world legally recognise them as the owner of that work, as their intellectual property or IP. They are then free to release their IP without license (de facto public domain but dangerous for anyone to use unless it is explicitly stated as public domain), or determine the distribution of their IP to various parties under one or more different licenses (open and/or closed source). This has nothing to do with branding, so in that sense, yes, agnostic.

So I could create some IP and sell it to a commercial vendor under a closed source license (and contract) for them to commercialise, and also release it under an open source license that permitted people to use it under certain conditions, like not removing my name, not redistributing it, forking or altering it, not using it for commercial purposes (so that it doesn't compete with my contract with the commercial vendor), etc. It's my IP and I can choose how I license and distribute it.

Some companies fly the flag of "open source" as a way to generate brand loyalty. In that sense brand loyalty and open source are not at all agnostic to each other but tightly bound.

So I guess the answer really requires more of an explanation of what you mean by your question.

[terse lava]

"As for myself I'm now evaluating whether I will remain on this server."

Why is that?

[somber spindle]

"My involvement on this discord server does not mean I agree with everyone on it"

[bitter badge]

Drama drama drama.

I've used an early Teensy (bought directly from PRJC), and it's a nice platform. I like Adafruit's more recent stuff better though.

I'm sure Adafruit can produce something like the Teensy that's just as good or even better, if there's demand for something that close.

I don't like when people advertise something as open source when it's not (and if even one element is not open source, the whole thing is not open source), but I won't freak out over it. I just avoid giving those people my money.

I can't say I know who did wrong or right, but Adafruit has been very honest for as long as I've been a customer, so I have a hard time believing they are in the wrong (especially since they've been the only ones (or at least first ones) to be upfront about things here). Overall though, I hope justice prevails against any bad actors in this.

The one thing that really irks me in all of this is that PJRC gave SparkFun an exclusive contract. There are plenty of companies that would have been willing to manufacture and sell Teensys under an inclusive license, and as much respect as I have for PJRC, I think this was a pretty poor business decision. I hope they learn from this mistake, and maybe if they are lucky they'll find a way out of this bad contract.

[hollow flint]

https://www.zdnet.com/article/best-raspberry-pi-alternative/ is very outdated:

Latest news in the SBC space

• Adafruit is working on a new SBC, dubbed Fruit Jam, which is around the size of a credit card. A launch date is yet to be announced.

[weary fiber]

I don’t think it’s that serious lmao

It’s just some drama fiends airing out their drama in public, irdc who’s “right” because clearly neither party is gonna air what’s actually going on

I’m just gonna keep buying cool dev boards from whoever has them

I hope adafruit’s teensy clone efforts go well though

[bitter badge]

Is working on? Launch date is yet to be announced? Lol! I've already got three, and I had them before 2026 even started! I guess this is what you get when you write an article claiming to know what is going to be best many months in the future. So much changed before 2026 (like the Fruit Jam launch) that the article was wrong before the date even arrived!

That said, the Fruit Jam is a very good Pi alternative candidate, if you want something that fits the original intent of the Pi. It's basically what Raspberry Pi wanted to be. It's actually easier to use than the Pi. The hardware is simpler and thus much more accessible to non-experts. The only thing I don't like is the price, but honestly, I think it's actually cheaper than the original Pi, once you adjust for inflation. I'd love to see it get cheaper, but even if it doesn't, it's worth the price. (I guess it's important to keep in mind that the Raspberry Pi Foundation is a non-profit while Adafruit is for-profit, so I can't reasonably expect Adafruit to be able to match the Foundations pricing. Regardless, the Fruit Jam is pretty awesome and reasonably well priced!)

[flint heath]

Lets all switch to attiny85 and be happy

[hollow flint]

My educated guess is that the "2026" value is algorithmically set to the current year, going by what the "Updated on:" line says.

[bitter badge]

Very possible. I noticed it was updated, supposedly, in August of 2025, which if I recall is right before the Fruit Jam was released. Maybe the year is dynamically generated to be the current year and it was intended that the article should be updated regularly but someone screwed up for this year. That would be mildly amusing but ironically unsurprising.

[burnt tendon]

Yah, a lot of sites are doing that.

[dusty citrus]

There's hacker boardwebsitea, although often is down, and the database is, as well, not so updated.

[sinful stratus]

is it practical to use a firmware other than adafruit airlift for the esp32 coprocessor on a pyportal?

[weary fiber]

super off topic, but I'm making my first schematic for a university class! kinda rough, but feels good to actually be learning stuff more formally

Kinda my first swing at this, trying random stuff & guessing at what looks decent

[weary fiber]

(forgor a thing)

[coarse iron]

I've been working on my BS EE the last 4.5 years; only 2 semesters to go now and going to be starting the senior project soon. I definitely agree formal classes is nice after just tinkering before that. I got a lot out of using parts from Adafruit around 2011 to get me back into things.

[acoustic remnant]

i think i may have found what was dropping my usb host keyboard, gamepad, mouse devices on the fruitjam, i had debug usb host code doing serial.printfs but when a gamepad is connected it seems to keep polling it so it was doing lots of lots of debug printfs over serial while my baud was set at 115200. I have disabled the Serial.printf's using a define and made sure nothing else was constantly spamming serial.printf's every frame and my usbhost is still stable and has not disconnected anything yet

it's something i was not aware of

[acoustic remnant]

ah darn it disconnected again but after a much longer time than before

[acoustic remnant]

does anyone have the adafruit snes controller and the adafruit fruitjam ? i'm looking for someone to do a quick test to see if i implemented the snes controller controls correctly (the arduino code is here https://github.com/joyrider3774/fruitjam_experiments)

[dusty citrus]

I was looking to buy a cheap drone off amazon.it (300 euros, because I got coupons).
I wanted to add some functions, but looking at ardupilot/alike stuff, there's not enough components to buy off, or stuff is just too expensive
so I'm stuck at buying some more consumer like product as dji or potesonic stuff
maybe I could hack in some extra stuff, but looking online at the few docs avaible doesn't look so manageable
I just wanted a few gpio, to add some extra stuff in it

[bitter badge]

I do, but I can't test it quickly. I'm in the middle of a complicated project where I'll eventually be using the controller with the Fruit Jam, but I can't just wipe the Fruit Jam at this particular stage.

Maybe in a few days, depending on how much progress I can make on the current step in the next couple of days. Any chance you could ping me on Wednesday? I'll do my best to finish what I'm currently trying to do by then and take a quick break to test it. I am going to need to write a driver for the thing eventually (I'm working in C with Pico-SDK), and maybe testing your Arduino code will help me a little bit once I get to that stage.

[acoustic remnant]

thanks that would be fine, there is no rush to test it. I just like to verify it before i release a port of the crisp game lib portable where i'll be using the same code. I'm guessing most people will have that snes controller and any other controllers i need to add configs for (i only have a config for the snes controller, which is untested atm and my ps1 controller which works)

[twin blaze]

Hey! I'm new to hardware/software and am excited to build small projects!

[terse lava]

Welcome! It is a lot of fun. Sometimes a bit frustrating, but once you get things to work like you wanted, a nice sense of accomplishment, especially when learing new things. Have fun!

[dusty citrus]

I can't understand ai hype. doesn't get anything right, it's pretty much a search engine with extra steps, can't reason, pushes out slop.
now the CES stands for customer eat s**t . not mentioning how it's pretty much used for bad things.

[bitter badge]

AI is very much overhyped. It's a useful tool, if you understand it's limitations and know how to work around them/within them. If you don't though, it will feed you all sorts of misinformation and do its best to make you look like a fool.

As far as being used for bad things, sure, but every new tech is used for bad things. It's also used for a lot of good things though. Judge the people and the way they use it, not the technology.

(Full disclosure: I don't like a lot of the ways AI used now days, and I don't like how it is advertised. The focus for my Master's degree was AI, and I can tell you that it is not remotely intelligent. Neural networks are literally just complex math equations that use complex algorithms to fit them to a higher dimensional curve. Most Americans have done basic curve fitting math in highschool algebra in 2D space. Modern neural networks are literally the same thing in higher dimensions. There's no magic to them. It's just simple math applied to more complex problems.)

[worldly oak]

Hey! I've been an avid adafruit fan and user for a few years and realized I wasn't in the discord, figured I'd pop in and check out some channels, thanks for hosting!

[dusty citrus]

I still hope it to fail, tbh.
Can't get cheap hardware, stuff is increasingly being monopolized, and being used for bad things, wouldn't mind to get back at like in the 1600 and do like an Amish life

[hazy tulip]

I think a lot of us have gone past "the peak of inflated expectations", and are trying to find the "plateau of productivity" (Gartner Hype Cycle). Unfortunately, a lot of money has been pumped into this so there's this very loud rhetoric from tech and finance people that it's going to absolutely upend society and somehow for the better.

But we all have eyes, and empirical evidence is always better than hearsay.

[bitter badge]

I suspect we are eventually going to see the bubble burst, and when that happens, all of the speculation going into increased hardware manufacturing and such will probably lead to a crash in prices. Certain industries (RAM especially) seem to be gearing up for an explosion in demand for their products, when there's no evidence that there's going to be enough demand for the end product (the AI datacenters) to sell all of the surplus hardware. That could end up with a crash in RAM prices followed by a change in CPU and motherboard architectures to take advantage of all of the cheap memory.

That said, if it does happen, there will be significant costs as well. A lot of people are starting to invest in this, and if the bubble bursts, it will do economic damage. It won't take us back to the 1600s, but might make lower RAM prices seem not worth all of the costs.

I just hope it doesn't crash too hard. I don't think there's any real question that the bubble is going to eventually burst though.

[urban arrow]

A general comment. I got a powered 4-USB 5V hub (with wall wart) to plug multiple boards into with push buttons on/off. Neato. However, "some" of the boards that have an attached TFT on top, they DO power up and work fine, BUT the PC does not show a port/CIRCUITPY drive, UNLESS I plug it directly into the PC usb. Go figure. Kinda defeats the whole purpose.☹️

[bitter badge]

Just ones with a TFT? That's a bit odd. I wonder... What is the current output per port? There's a possibility (a very small one) that if the current output isn't enough to power the microcontroller and the TFT, it could be struggling, causing the USB connection to fail. This seems unlikely though, as powered hubs generally provide more power than the PC port, not less.

[urban arrow]

Yes, just a plain board (like Picos) are fine.
Thanks - it's from Amazon, Ada did not have any. I will see about testing the output, not sure how from a usb port.

[bitter badge]

I have seen a few on Amazon with poor power output. Testing typically requires a USB multimeter device. It may say on the hub what it's output current or wattage is per port though.

[hazy tulip]

Does it work when it's the only board plugged into the hub? Just wondering if it's an overall power draw thing, or a per-port power draw thing.

If it's a powered usb hub, then it should work. That said, I've back-powered hubs before and fried either the port, or the entire hub.

[bitter badge]

So here's what might be happening:

USB 2.1 and earlier was required to provide a minimum of 0.5 amps. This could be shared across multiple ports on the same controller and is generally enough to power a keyboard, a mouse, and up to a few USB flash drives. By the time USB 3 came out though, most motherboards provided around 1 amp and sometimes more. I don't know exactly what the USB 3 spec requires, but I do know most USB 3 motherboards provide at least an amp. Motherboards tend to be pretty good at meeting minimum specs for this.

Powered hubs normally provide at least the minimum spec on each individual port (rather than sharing it between ports on the same controller), since that's what people buy powered hubs for most of the time. That said, stuff on Amazon can be hit and miss, and there are companies that make things like USB hubs and cables that don't bother meeting minimum specs. On top of that though, if you got a USB 2 hub, and it did meet minimum specs, that's only 0.5 amps shared across all of the ports. I don't know exactly how much power each Adafruit board and TFT uses, so I can't really make a good guess, but it is possible you've got a hub that only provides 0.5 amps per port or even total overall, while your board/TFT combos need a little more than that.

Again, this is just a guess based on very limited information. It could be something entirely different.

There is one thing you can test if you have a regular multimeter that might give some insight. Plug the board in without the TFT and measure the voltage across the power and ground pins you normally connect the TFT to. Then unplug it, reconnect the TFT, plug it back in, and measure the voltage across the same pins used to power the TFT. If the voltage with the TFT connected is more than a few percent lower than it is when it's not connected, odds are really good the hub isn't providing enough power. Otherwise, it's probably something else.

(Another possibility is that the TFT is producing RF emissions really close to the USB clock frequency, which is interfering and preventing USB connections from working properly. I don't know how likely this is, but it's certainly a possibility.)

[hazy tulip]

@urban arrow can you send the product link?

[urban arrow]

Thank you! So far, I have 2 breadboards with Picos, one has an ili9341 TFT, the other a smaller ST7789. Measuring the voltage from PC (I DO get a Port OK), , is 4.66v coming out of the Pico VSYS from PC, and 4.8 from power hub (good port).
Other board w/ ST7789 seems to be a problem. By the time I measure voltage going into the TFT, it's below 4.5 either from the hub, or the PC. And , NO port shows either way. Time to investigate my wiring. I "think" the hub is OK...
This isn't the only board I have the problem with...
Thank you very much for explanation.
Also, of late I learned my lesson of using "too long" USB cables - seems to be a fair voltage drop over distance, and PC does not give me a port, unless shorter cable.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TPMEOYM?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

[bitter badge]

4.8V out of the USB port is already a little low, and 4.5V is extremely low for USB, so you've definitely got a power issue.

Yeah, I'd start by looking for a wiring problem. In my (admittedly limited...) experience Sabrent products are generally fairly decent quality, and that listing says it should be able to sink 2.5 amps without a problem.

Good luck. Hopefully this gets you on the right track to finding the issue.

(If your ST7789 board isn't from Adafruit, double check to make sure it comes with level shifters and a voltage regulator. The ST7789 controller is a 3.3v device. Adafruit adds level shifters and voltage regulators to most, if not all, of their ST7789 TFTs, if I recall correctly, but other companies may not. If you are powering it with 5V and it doesn't have a regulator, it would probably act like a short. I would expect this to destroy the display, but maybe the voltage drop is enough to prevent fatal damage.)

[urban arrow]

Yes it's Ada thanks! Still looking...

[hazy tulip]

I don't know what the power draw is on that board, but looking at the tech specs (https://sabrent.com/products/hb-ump3) I'm seeing this:
"For a stable connection, the devices connected to the 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub must not exceed a combined current of 5 volts 900 mAh"

[fair summit]

The TFT's don't take that much power. Do the non-TFT boards of the same kind show up but the TFT don't? e.g. Plain ESP32-S3 vs ESP32-S3 TFT?

[tardy moat]

Hello! I am not very knowledgable about electronics, but I am going to attempt to make a RGB LED project, what is the best place to get help with picking what parts I need to make something?

[somber spindle]

The learn guides are a great place to start, check out the neopixel uberguide: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide

and part recommendations are in the left bar

[tardy moat]

ok thank you, I will check in the help with projects!

[hazy tulip]

That guide is really good, but it covers a lot of different products. You can narrow down your learning if you already know what kind of LEDs/products you want to use.

[urban arrow]

Thanks guys. I've got things sorted. Breadboard wire routings and the like...

[acoustic remnant]

is it normal for the adafruit fruitjam to become soo hot ? I'm guessing it comes from the overclocking being applied by the (adafruit) dvhstx lib but i can't touch the bottom on the pcb as it's very hot

i have no way to verify how hot exactly though

[hardy cradle]

@acoustic remnant Electronics too hot to touch is, IMHO, almost always a sign of a serious problem. I would unplug it from everything at least until you get a better reply.

[acoustic remnant]

well it's a barebones adafruit fruitjam

just running /displaying something on the screen & doing usbhost

i know dvhstx lib overclocks the cpu

even if you set 150mhz in board config

[hardy cradle]

I haven't really started to play with mine yet, but I just powered it up with the Doom demo... let's give it a minute or two if I can stand the audio that long and I'll see how hot mine gets.

[acoustic remnant]

ok i'll test with it as well

i saw rp2350 has an internal cpu temp monitor but calling analogReadTemp(3.3f) crashes the cpu

[hardy cradle]

That was about 2 minutes... the temperature my less-expensive Flir camera's IR thermometer (the camera image isn't quantified/calibrated on this model) didn't exceed 36C anywhere (set to 0.95 emissivity)

(Looking at the bottom of the board, that was.)

I'd call that temperature pleasantly warm, definitely not too hot to touch.

[acoustic remnant]

ok so my code might it's just doing 60 fps 320x240 (using adafruit's dvhstx) and usbhost in tightloop with 100us delay calling usbhost.task. doom does not use adafruit dvhstx though so will need to check whats exactly changing cpu

[hardy cradle]

It does sound like maybe something needs adjusting in your code or in the libraries you're using. I would expect it the FruitJam to be able to push harder than what's need to merely run Doom, but the only chips I've ever used that were designed to be too hot to touch in normal operation are stepper drivers. Elsewhere seems risky. Best of luck!

[acoustic remnant]

i can read the temp will check how high it will go

it reports 51-52 °C

it being uint32_t cputemp = analogReadTemp(3.3f) (i know it returns float but my sprintf behaved badly with %f)

[bitter badge]

Hey, I can't get it to compile with Arduino. It can't find pio_usb.h. I made sure I had the board libs setup right and selected for Adafruit FruitJam RP2350.

[acoustic remnant]

it also uses adafruit tinyusb and adafruit dvhstx library

probably it's included with adafruit tinyusb

also need to set tinyusb as stack

[bitter badge]

Thanks. Installing now.

[acoustic remnant]

thanks

[bitter badge]

No problem! I finished what I was working on earlier than expected, so I figured I should take care of this now so I can get to work on the HSTX/DVI driver. (The next stage of my project.)

[acoustic remnant]

ah nice, i'm using adafruit dvhstx lib its easier 🙂

[bitter badge]

I totally understand! I'm using that for reference, but I want to add some more specialized color depths, and then it needs to be integrated into the rest of my project. (I just finished writing a driver stack for the ST7789 controller, and now I need to integrate the HSTX driver into the higher end graphics functions.)

[acoustic remnant]

nice i think thats over my head 🙂

i mean capabilities

[bitter badge]

It is kind of intense sometimes, but we are all at different levels. You'll get there eventually, if that's what you want to do, and if you don't want to, there's nothing wrong with that either. (TinyUSB is taking forever to install...)

[acoustic remnant]

its a big install yes

[bitter badge]

Glad to hear that, so I know it hasn't just hung.

[acoustic remnant]

not sure if it has lots of dependencies

[bitter badge]

It had a list of 4. I scanned them but I don't remember what they are are. SdFat is one of them. That's what it's on now, and that one is probably kind of big on its own.

[acoustic remnant]

btw the config i made for snes controller is this one: https://github.com/joyrider3774/fruitjam_experiments/blob/main/usbhost_keyboard_mouse_joypad_example/usbh_processor.cpp#L54

it basically defines hid report array index, and if the value should be read as a mask or direct value (per button)

i based it on the snes controller example code from adafruit but always best to test in real life scenario (with real hw i mean)

[bitter badge]

Indeed.

Alright, I'm going to go play some video games for a bit. I'll let you know once the dependencies are done installing.

[acoustic remnant]

ok thanks

btw that pio.h file is probably in but not sure if that was a dependency of any of those i mentioned earlier or if i manually installed that but those i mentioned earlier are also required

[bitter badge]

Alright. If it's still missing after the others are installed, I'll install that as well. Thanks.

[acoustic remnant]

btw i just ran doom (idle on lvl 1 startup) my fruitjam gets equally hot. But i have not tried yet without usb keyboard & mouse attached or monitor attached

[bitter badge]

Ok, I did have to install Pico PIO USB (just for your personal notes), in addition to the other two.

I have my HDMI screen connected and the SNES style gamepad but no mouse or keyboard. HDMI output seems to be working well.

It does detect the gamepad, but it doesn't work quite correctly. Here's what it says is being pressed for each button:

Up: GAMEPAD_LEFT
Left: everything except GAMEPAD_LEFT and GAMEPAD_RIGHT
Right: nothing
Down: nothing
Start: nothing
Select: nothing
...nothing for X, Y, A, B, R, or L.

[bitter badge]

(Also, in case it might be useful for diagnosing your other problem, the bottom of the Fruit Jam is not getting super hot.)

[acoustic remnant]

you can enable debug serial messages for the usb

to see raw hid data

https://github.com/joyrider3774/fruitjam_experiments/blob/main/usbhost_keyboard_mouse_joypad_example/usbh_processor.cpp#L5

but i might have to buy that snes controller to be sure

just crazy i'd spend 5$ on a controller and pay 20-25$ shipping costs kinda hoped it was correctly mapped

[bitter badge]

I got a few at once with other stuff in the same order, so shipping wasn't too bad, but I totally understand.

I think I've got USB serial debug enabled. I'll see what the output is.

[acoustic remnant]

ok thanks, normally it can be spammy (it was with my ps1 controller)

the trick is finding out what values you get when pressing certain buttons and identifying if it's using a bit mask

[bitter badge]

Ok, so I commented the #undef USB_DEBUG line, and set the debug port to Serial. I must have missed something, because it's not presenting a serial port on my machine.

[acoustic remnant]

need to #define USB_DEBUG

but serial should show up either way

unless i had no serial.begin anymore

[bitter badge]

That might do it. I don't see that in setup(). I'll add it.

Any idea what header that's in?

[acoustic remnant]

not sure but there is a serial.begin on the 2nd core

normally arduino.h i guess

https://github.com/joyrider3774/fruitjam_experiments/blob/main/usbhost_keyboard_mouse_joypad_example/usbhost_keyboard_mouse_joypad_example.ino#L111

[bitter badge]

Oh, yeah, that should it. Odd...

[acoustic remnant]

are you compiling from within arduino ide or platformio ?

[bitter badge]

Arduino IDE.

[acoustic remnant]

ok weird

i may know whats causing it

there are 2 tinyusb stacks

should select the non host one

[bitter badge]

It was a combination of two things. It was presenting a COM port, but it wasn't the normal one. Windows Device Manager wasn't keeping up when things changed. And the baud rate is set to 9600, while I normally use 115200, so Putty was failing to connect. It's working now!

Let me see if I can get you some data.

[acoustic remnant]

cool ok thanks, yeah i've set it to 9600 as baud 115200 together with the usb host stuff (and doing serial over usb) could disconnect the devices

product and vendorid i might need as well (it mentions it normally on connect of the device)

so potentially may need a wait for serial to appear

or some while(!Serial) delay(10)

[bitter badge]

That makes sense. 9600 is also a little easier with Putty, since it's the default, so you don't have to change it every time.

Product and vendor ID are listed on every line, so you'll have those more than you need!

[acoustic remnant]

ah good

you could also try to create a config entry in gamepadconfig or adapt the existing one would save some trouble sending things back & fort

it's not that hard to understand if you check it

at least if the pad gets detected

[bitter badge]

Yeah, I'll also be keeping this information for myself, since I'm going to be writing my own driver for it eventually. Here it is:

No buttons:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0xf 00 00
Up:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 00 00 0x80 0x80 0xf 00 00
Down:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0xff 00 0x80 0x80 0xf 00 00
Left:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 00 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0xf 00 00
Right:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0xff 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0xf 00 00
Select:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0xf 0x10 00
Start:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0xf 0x20 00
X:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0x1f 00 00
Y:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0x8f 00 00
A:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0x2f 00 00
B:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0x4f 00 00
R:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0xf 0x2 00
L:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0xf 0x1 00

[acoustic remnant]

oh that'll do as well thanks 🙂

let me adapt the config entry

[bitter badge]

I figured providing the raw output would avoid missing anything that might be important. Comparing those with the "None" entry should hopefully make it easy to identify which bit is for which button.

[acoustic remnant]

yup indeed, only thing i can't see is which ones are bitmasks (in order to see that one would need to press multiple buttons at the same time and check if 2 button values get or'ed together)

[bitter badge]

Well, I don't have time to test all possible combinations, but if you have a few specific ones you want to me to try, I'm happy to do it!

[acoustic remnant]

x+y and L+x usually is enough

L+ R also

justi n case

[bitter badge]

Here you go:

X+Y:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0x9f 00 00
L+X:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0x1f 0x1 00
L+R:
    joyrstick report productid 58369 vendorid 2079: 0x7f 0x7f 00 0x80 0x80 0xf 0x3 00

[acoustic remnant]

hmm the values seem to match whats in my config (including the masks) i wonder if specifying vendor & productid in the config would fix it

if that does there's a bug in my gamepad config selecting logic

basically

GamePadReport GamePadConfigs[] = {
    //{productid, vendorid, L,LV,LM,R,RV,RM,U,UV,UM,D,DV,DM,A,AV,AM,B,BV,BM,X,XV,XM,Y,YV,YM,LS,LSV,LSM,RS,RSV,RSM,SELECT,SELECTV,SELECTM,START,STARTV,STARTM}
    //snes padd from adafruit (not tested)
    {58369,2079,0,0x00,false,0,0xFF,false,1,0x00,false,1,0xFF,false,5,0x2F,true,5,0x4F,true, 5,0x1F,true, 5,0x8F,true,6,0x01,true,6,0x02,true,6,0x10,true,6,0x20,true},
    //ps1 none dualshock using my adaptor
    {34918,2341,2,0x00,false,2,0xFF,false,3,0x00,false,3,0xFF,false,0,0x04,true,0,0x02,true,0,0x08,true,0,0x01,true,0,0x40,true,0,0x80,true,1,0xf2,false,1,0xf1,false},
};

am checking my config selecting logic

normally if product id & vendor id never match it should use gamepad config 0

[bitter badge]

Wish I could help more. Unfortunately I don't have time to go through all of the code to figure out how it works/should work.

I'll hold off starting the HSTX/DVI driver till tomorrow. If you need more testing before then, let me know, and I'll try to do it as I have time.

[acoustic remnant]

ok thanks

[acoustic remnant]

could you do one quick test ? add product id and vendor to 1st line (replace the 2 0's) 58369,2079 as per example above. I just tested with my psx 1 one controller setting them 0 and making it 1st entry and it behave wrong also but setting product id and vendor id fixed it. So probably should with you as well

there's a bug somewhere in gamepad config selection if the vendorid and productid can't be found

[bitter badge]

Compiling.

Yep, that did it. Every button works as expected, and I tested a few combinations, and they work perfectly fine as well!

[acoustic remnant]

yup so now i need to check why it can't select config 0 in case it can't find product & vendor id

but it's good that i also know product id and vendor id of the snes controller

thanks so much for testing this

[bitter badge]

No problem! Glad we were able to make some progress.

[acoustic remnant]

yup the bug i can simulate on my end i have a working ps1 controller as well

but now that productid & vendorid is known it will work for the snes controller (those are unique to a device)

[bitter badge]

Hey, I've got to go run some errands right now. If you need anything else, post it, and I'll try to respond when I get home. Otherwise, good luck!

[acoustic remnant]

thanks again, will do

i see whats wrong

:x

i only have 2 gamepad configs

it's reading beyond memory

of array and matching it from elsewhere in memory

ok bug is fixed 🙂 i had for (int i = 0; i < sizeof(GamePadConfigs) ; i++) instead of for (int i = 0; i < sizeof(GamePadConfigs) / sizeof(GamePadConfigs[0]); i++)

and it matched 2 0's beyond array bounds

[acoustic remnant]

i fixed the bug in the crisp game lib portable port i'm doing as well. it should normally work but if you could do a quick test on this with the pad would be nice, requirements and setup are the same https://github.com/joyrider3774/crisp-game-lib-portable-fruitjam

[bitter badge]

It works!

[acoustic remnant]

cool thanks

[bitter badge]

No problem! And good work.

Hmm, the controller has stopped working on it. It works again after a reset though.

[acoustic remnant]

yeah i have similar issues with usb host disconnecting randomly

have not been able to find out whats causing it

[bitter badge]

I thought I remembered you mentioning something about that. That is strange. Well, I have to leave for a while again (just stopped back in and had few minutes to test). If I run into anything like this with my own stuff, I'll let you know. I don't expect I'll get to my own controller driver for another week or two though.

[acoustic remnant]

sometimes it lasts for hours sometimes 10 minutes

the green lights for the usb also go off on the board then

the (other) cpu core usually had a crash somehow then

but have not been able to find the culprit only thing it does is usbhost.task() and a delaymicrosconds(100)

the only thing running on that core is usbhost stuff, graphics and and sound is on the other core

[acoustic remnant]

ok would be interested to know about that. I know doom is using their own port (/fork) of tinyusb

[keen shoal]

hallo guys, i wanna ask about Adafruit, did I can buy the products using another platform like Alibaba or like that?
Thanks

[bitter badge]

You can get a lot of Adafruit products from Digikey. Adafruit has a partnership with them, so prices are generally the same. There are other places that resell Adafruit products, but you'll generally pay more for them that way.

[keen shoal]

I want to buy some of product component for IoT sir like Adafruit or DFRobot, and i want to buy from Alibaba platform or like that. Because on their official website, i can't talk to them for asking. Any suggestion sir?

[bitter badge]

Adafruit has a forum and you can contact their customer support (I think the link is at the bottom of the page). If you have specific questions, you can also ask here. Adafruit has many employees here that can respond to product questions, and often people like me who use their products but aren't employees can answer specific questions as well. Bigger questions can be asked on the Adafruit forums.

If you have questions about things like pricing or shipping though, they've got customer support contact links at the bottom of most of their web pages. That's probably what you are looking for. You can contact them through a form, and they'll generally reply via email, where you can reply directly if necessary.

Here's the link to their general contact page. From there pick the category your question falls into, and you'll generally end up filling out a form explaining your question, and they'll contact you through email.
https://www.adafruit.com/contact_us

[acoustic remnant]

btw just so you don't run into same problem as i had, when setting up usbhost stuff be sure to set tx_ch to something else than the default 0 in the pio config, Its for choosing the dma channel used. The default value is 0 and dma channel 0 is already in use with dvhstx library for (pixel) line transfers. I did not know about this initially and the result is an immediatly disconnected usb host stuff and no gfx output (or probably cpu core getting a fault) doom sets the channel to 9 for example (0-4 seemed to be in use already with me when doing i2s sound and using dvhstx library)

[acoustic remnant]

another thing that might be an issue is if you wait for vsync (blocking) on a certain core with dvhstx and do usbhost stuff task updates on same core it might not be calling it fast enough so i set it up on the other core so the blocking buffer swap / vsync wait does not interfere with it. Usbhost needs to have the task update function be called reguarly and there is some maximum limit between calls that may happen before devices enter some sleep state or disconnect (it's basically for having a keep alive kind of thing as mouse & keyboard are passive devices, they don't reguarly send hid reports, only when input happens)

[fair summit]

We don't sell on Alibaba and we don't have resellers who sell on Alibaba that I know of. What country are you in?

[bitter badge]

There's a specific function in the SDK for selecting an unused DMA channel. I don't know why many of these libraries don't use it instead of choosing a hardcoded (or config selected) channel that may already be used by something else. Thanks for the warning though! Maybe I'll have to modify it to do that instead of using the config...

As far as cores go, my plan is to let USB have the second core to itself. In the long run I plan to integrate a lot of this into CircuitPython, and it uses the second core as dedicated USB host. HSTX shouldn't use enough CPU time to be a problem running on the first core. For vsync I already have a strategy planned. Instead of a blocking buffer swap, I'm going to have the buffer flip function swap a buffer pointer that the DMA vsync interrupt uses to reset the DMA starting address. This way you call the buffer flip function and then just continue on without needing to block, and the actual buffer swap happens automatically with vsync. As long as you don't try to run the game loop faster than the framerate of the video output, and as long as you always do input handling, game logic, and any non-video output (audio, for example) before rendering (basically, rendering is always the last thing before the game loop delay), this should work perfectly. (And honestly, there should be a lot of flexibility in this model, if your rendering isn't using the vast majority of the CPU time of the first core.)

I think this strategy should work well without interfering with USB. (But we will have to see...)

[acoustic remnant]

isn't that function (dma_claim_unused_channel) pico sdk specific ? the usb host from tiny usb could also be used with non pico sdk or other boards than rp2040/2350 and i don't know if arduino (in general) got something similar. I think it's to keep it more open. I actually tried using the function for assigning a free channel to the config but it still locked up

[bitter badge]

It's very possible that's exactly why a lot of those don't use that function. That said, if Pico-SDK can have that function, it should be possible to manually check what DMA channels are being used.

But yeah, I'm sure you are right. TinyUSB isn't pico specific, so it probably does it that way to keep it compatible with everything else. My project is RP2350 specific, at least currently, so I can still modify TinyUSB to be specific to this CPU. And since that's not part of the stuff I'm going to turn into CircuitPython modules, it shouldn't be a problem (as long as I can actually figure out how to make it work, anyhow...).

[acoustic remnant]

yeah with pico sdk related stuff it's easy to see whats claimed (& busy). I've used this to check it

void print_dma_status() {
    for (int ch = 0; ch < 16; ch++) {
        bool busy = dma_channel_is_busy(ch);
        bool claimed = dma_channel_is_claimed(ch);
        Serial.printf("DMA %d: %s%s\n", ch, 
               claimed ? "CLAIMED " : "",
               busy ? "BUSY" : "idle");
    }
}

[bitter badge]

Nice. Honestly, I want to dig into the Pico-SDK code to see how it is doing that. I'm sure there are registers or some such somewhere, or maybe it is keeping track of that stuff in the background like a memory manager. If it's just tracking in the background, just using a DMA channel without claiming it could cause problems...

[acoustic remnant]

yeah it may be why if i used dma_claim_unused_channel initially for my config assign did not work if other libs hardcode them at some point it could still cause a conflict

[bitter badge]

Exactly. I've been careful to use that exclusively for claiming DMA channels, but something that doesn't play by the rules could cause problems. Most of the HSTX/DVI drivers I've seen just grab an arbitrary channel without claiming it. A few claim a specific channel, but without error handling if it fails. That's something I'm definitely changing, but that means I might have to customize TinyUSB. (USB host is one thing I don't plan on writing my own driver for.)

[acoustic remnant]

well technically related to usb tiny, you can specify it at program (ino) level as you can customize it that's at least better than dvhstx which seemed to indeed hardcode it

[bitter badge]

Yeah, that's definitely one step up. In fact, what I could do is set the DMA channel in the config, and then claim that channel in my own initialization code before initializing anything else that needs DMA. That would avoid conflicts. On the other hand, that also creates initialization order dependencies, which isn't great.

[acoustic remnant]

yes but thats under the assumption others claim as well right and don't harcode stuff (but if your going to adapt things it could work)

[bitter badge]

Right. This is part of the reason I'm writing my own drivers. Another part is that none of the existing drivers for most of the stuff are well suited to video games. Adafruit has some solid libraries for low framerate stuff and for displays that don't change super often, but the RP2350 is capable of 50fps on a ST7789. So my ST7789 driver is optimized to actually achieve 50fps. I've also added optional double buffering, which is expensive in terms of memory but necessary if you are writing a game that is pushing 50fps and has more than the most basic rendering. For HSTX/DVI, I want it to be able to do some of the more esoteric color depths, so that there are more buffer size options. For example, 6-bit color, which was used by a handful of 1980s/1990s systems (including Sega Master System) only needs 57.6kB video buffers (115.2kB minimum with double buffering) at 320x240. If your game doesn't need more colors than that, that will save you a ton of memory over 16-bit, which needs 153.6kB buffers (307.2kB min for double buffering). A collection of different color depths like this allows for fine tuning color depth with memory needs for other things.

Another benefit of writing my own drivers is knowing exactly how they work. This way I can optimize things better, because I know what I can get away with without messing anything up.

[acoustic remnant]

indeed, related to dvhstx, initially i was not using the double buffered option in the crisp game lib port, but you'll notice all kind of issues then when it's drawing fast as the code is drawing already again in the buffer while the screen is still refreshing

[bitter badge]

Yep. I haven't had that problem yet, but I have some game dev experience, so I'm familiar with it. So as soon as I had the driver and the first elements of my graphics library done, I added double buffering.

One major improvement I made from Adafruit's ST7789 driver was using DMA for the SPI communication. This means drawing to the display is non-blocking, which means you can write to the buffer while it is being blitted to the display. My library can be used without double buffering, which is great for saving memory if you are going to run at a lower framerate than the max, but at the max framerate, you definitely need double buffering.

Because HSTX needs to send data constantly though, it needs double buffering either way, to avoid tearing (this is what it is called when you get graphics corruption due to the buffer being modified while it is being sent to the display). There are strategies for avoiding this with a single buffer, but they involve keeping track of the vertical position the screen is currently on and rendering only things that are above it. This is pretty expensive in terms of CPU, so it's one of those CPU/memory tradeoffs.

[acoustic remnant]

yeah i was aware of the term but it looked as if it was more than just a skewed display but yeah double buffering fixed it,

i've got a pimoroni explorer actually as well with a st7789v screen but i have not been able to initialize it yet from arduino code, can program to board and so but still need to try more to get the screen going with it. Someone had it working when using the pico sdk directly but it required some extra cflags to be set to tell pico sdk to allow using other gpio pins. but it should be possible as circuitpython can do it. But have not tried much mainly played with the fruitjam

[keen shoal]

thank you for your information sir

[keen shoal]

Right know I'm in Indonesia sir

[bitter badge]

Here's my code.

https://github.com/Rybec/Fruit-Jam-Game-Lib (I'll probably eventually change the repo name, but for now this is it.)

The ST7789 driver uses the SPI1 driver. SGL is my graphics library. It's not complete yet. (Once the HSTX/DVI driver is done, I'm going to finish the basic 2D vector graphics stuff and then write a 3D rendering engine.) There are mechanics in there for changing what pins are used for DC, CS, and RST. It uses SPI1 specifically, because SPI0 is used for other stuff on the Fruit Jam and the pins for it aren't exposed.

Anyhow, maybe you can use my code as reference to figure out how to do it in Arduino. It's MIT licensed, so you can even just use my code directly if you need to.

I hope this helps!

[sinful stratus]

hi ! i just tried to AVR program an atmega328p using this code https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_AVRprog/blob/main/examples/avrprog_program_uno328.py
the signature verification worked (i saw the 0x1e 0x95 0x0f) but then i got an "spi transaction failed" error... and now every single transaction is failing and it wont even verify the signature
any ideas .. is it possible i bricked mine :<
i tried with another chip out of curiosity (another atmega328p) but i commented out all the lines in the avr programming script for resetting the fuses and stuff and it worked perfectly

[sinful stratus]

update : i fixed it in an insane way. i figured out the problem was that the fuses were set to make it look for an external oscillator but none was attached. i cant just add one because this is a smd chip on a board that isnt mine... so i took an alligator clip and attached one end to a pin set to 6mhz pwm in circuitpython and the other end to my multimeter probe then touched it carefully to the clock pin , then with my other hand i hit G to make it start

[bitter badge]

Lol! Nice. I once fixed a boot issue on a 286 by unplugging the harddrive data cable when it reached the boot command that was freezing my system up and then quickly plugging it back in. (Just for the record, never do that. It could destroy the harddrive, the HD controller, both, or maybe even the motherboard.)

Anyhow, your hack was much safer.

[sinful stratus]

that is so awesome

[ancient rivet]

look up "high voltage" programming for another way around that issue. it does require programming hardware that can do it, but it allows programming regardless of fuse settings.

[whole jacinth]

HV (parallel) programming is rarely viable for a chip that’s already soldered onto a board. it needs too many signal wires. (i guess you could desolder the chip, but you might as well replace it at that point)

[fair summit]

We don't have a distributor in Indonesia, but see https://www.adafruit.com/distributors

[sinful stratus]

i looked into that but i read that the only way to do high voltage programming on the atmega328p was with parallel programming , which was a ton of wires that i couldnt reasonably attach to the chip (its SMD and soldered on to a preexisting board with only the SPI programming lines broken out)

[sinful stratus]

yep :>

im totally new to this and i was rlly surprised that the clock idea worked

[upbeat glen]

I want to create a radar based object detection system using ai, what I want to know is which esp to use which is not too expensive? Like specifically which esp would be best, I don't need a in build camera module. Kindly tell me.

[weary fiber]

I think I might be done with my first PCB design? no ERC or DRC complaints

[dusty citrus]

What software are u using

[weary fiber]

KiCAD! Big recommend btw

[granite portal]

kicad the goat

[weary fiber]

I have since learned:

• I'm too lazy to gather 3d models for all my components
• Who needs front ground wires when you can do a ground plane on BOTH sides
• ground stitching at low frequencies is vibes-based

[soft igloo]

What solutions do you know is good when doing product dev? Like peeke.app and Maze . What do you use?

[tribal stirrup]

Not sure if this has been shared yet, but lots of Adafruit love on this recent LTT video (awesome project too) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNb55ZwnCRc

[hard estuary]

That is seriously cool, watching the video now. Might just have to add this as a topic for The Bootloader. Thanks for sharing this!

[hasty wedge]

Is it too late to chime in about Freensy?

No drama! I don't care about anything other than the application! I will not reply to any messages regarding the drama and I welcome moderators to delete those messages.

I think audio processing and DSP can be one focus point for it.

Sampler, FM, subtractive synths! Digital reverb! Delays(probably not much with 2350's RAM)! Vocoder! FFT powered voice changers! Speech synthesizers! I know circuit python can do quite a few of those features, but a strong focus on them is what I believe a lot of potential Teensy users want.

Those will draw huge amounts of new users

When I was at NYU ITP there was one course about hardware audio synthesis. The instructor (he was super nice and professional) taught that class with a Teensy 4.1. I bought one from Adafruit just to be safe, but just for fun, I managed to finish (and excel) that course with an Electrosmith Daisy and a fully open source toolset.

[hazy tulip]

I'm a eurorack guy so I like what I'm hearing

[hollow flint]

How does the current state of https://learn.adafruit.com/audio-synthesis-with-circuitpython-synthio compare against that feature set?

[hasty wedge]

This is exactly what I am referring

CircuitPython but with more native (C++) audio DSP modules

And an easy way to interconnect them

That will make Freensy extremely competitive to Teensy

And since Teensy CircuitPython also gets those features, it increases Adafruit's dominance in embedded audio processing and music making

Then with an easy to use GUI patch maker (just like what Teensy has but output CircuitPython code), chief's kiss

If they can go above and beyond, port those stuff to the regular Pi Pico RP2040, then it will go far beyond and benefit the entire community

[hollow flint]

Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong, but for those who want to experiment with a beta version of the Freensy Tinychad software/firmware ecosystem, I believe the Adafruit Fruit Jam, or any other RP2350 board with PSRAM and some extra on-board peripherals, would suffice.

[fair summit]

name is now changed to "Tinychad"

[hasty wedge]

Let's goooo, no more Teensy reference

Absolute chad move indeed

Adafruit can really take this chance and greatly improve their audio processing portfolio

[weary fiber]

this is my canon moment holy heck

Whenever I start to understand convolutions they get harder

[fair summit]

Willsky was my prof 50 years ago, with this book. It is in the attic.

[bitter badge]

I've played with audio synthesis (from scratch) with a handful of dev boards in the past, including an actual Teensy (2.0, I think?) back in the early 2010s. I wasn't able to find one that could generate decent audio though, so I kind of gave up. Modern microcontrollers should easily manage though, and a board specifically designed for the task, with a fast open source synth library would be awesome.

For hardware, it would be nice to have a 3.5mm headphone jack and maybe a built in stereo amplifier (0.5 watts?) with the appropriate capacitors and such with broken out pins to connect to speakers.

The last time I played with synthio, it was very heavily limited by CP. It would be awesome to have a C synth library that will work with Pico-SDK and maybe a C++ version (or wrapper) for Arduino, for higher end synth projects. I think there's also a fair amount of room with synthio to add C optimized signal generation and processing functions to get around the inherent slowness of Python.

I'd definitely buy this! In fact, I'd probably buy a few. I've got a synth project on the back burner right now that I was working on with an RP2040 QT Py. A small RP2350 board (doesn't have to be QT Py small) with a headphone jack and a stereo amp with connectors for speakers would be a huge upgrade, and it would make it much simpler. Right now, I've got an amp with a speaker half soldered to the QT Py board, because one of the leads broke. A small plug in connector soldered to the board would fix that. And a headphone jack would make testing super easy, since I wouldn't even need the speakers connected until later in the process. (My project would also need a Stemma connector, for the touchpad controller boards I'm using for the keys for the device, and I'm sure many others would like that for other forms of input.)

[fading hare]

The Adafruit website wipes my cart if I navigate from the Shop to the Learn site. I can see I have items in the cart on the Learn site, but as soon as I navigate back to Shop, my cart is empty. 🙁

[fair summit]

Are you logged in with your Adafruit account?

Which browser are you using and which OS?

[night crescent]

SHOW and TELL 1/28/2026 https://youtu.be/gl2yKNdT3VM

[fading hare]

Web cart issues between Shop and Learn sites

[compact crypt]

Does Adafruit have an official US Amazon storefront? Is there someone I can ask some additional questions about ordering or should I just sent an email?

[fading hare]

From what I know Adafruit does not have an official Amazon storefront. I do not trust any of the third-party sellers that sell Adafruit stuff on Amazon. Their pricing is usually pretty suspect as well. You'll see prices like $29 for a $5.95 breakout component, for instance. I always order directly from Adafruit.

[compact crypt]

Yeah, same. Amazon just prefers buying from Amazon

[fair summit]

No, we have no official Amazon presence. Here are our official distributors: https://www.adafruit.com/distributors

Sometimes DigiKey, etc., have stock of things that we have run out of.

[fading hare]

Here's a good example of what to watch out for with Amazon sellers... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G6ZS36W3 That is a $5.95 product that they're selling for $29.99.

Then again, I am not surprised because that seller's ratings are a bit of a fish hook.

Anyway. If you don't buy from Adafruit, how are you going to accumulate free coasters and Keeboars?

[fair summit]

Note that these may not even be genuine parts. Since the designs are open-source, they may be clones, possibly with substituted parts.

[fading hare]

That reminds me, I gotta start using my perma-protoboards that I got during COVID. I have like 20 of them or something... Yes. I was bored. Yes, I spent a lot of money on electronics components. 😄

[woven lily]

Wow thanks for sharing. Fun video to watch. Always nice to see Adafruit get street cred

[hazy tulip]

Worth mentioning since Amazon vs. Adafruit came up: do not buy lipo batteries on Amazon unless you like a high risk of fires. Just get them from Adafruit. Even TommyB in that Linus Tech Tips video says the same thing.

[rain ginkgo]

Hello im new here, I am looking for a swedish HID layout 🙂

[fair summit]

https://github.com/Neradoc/Circuitpython_Keyboard_Layouts there is an "sw" layout -- I think that's Swedish

[rain ginkgo]

thanks alot!

@fair summit i could not see a sw layout, or am I blind=

[fair summit]

https://github.com/Neradoc/Circuitpython_Keyboard_Layouts/blob/main/libraries/layouts/keyboard_layout_win_sw.py

[dusty citrus]

What ic do those things use, or a schematic? Can't find anything online
https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ez4FlLO

I just need some extremely cheap X4 esc. Those things seem to do the job, but I have no idea of what are they

[bitter badge]

To be totally honest, I wouldn't trust a product like that with totally blank chips. Either the chips are counterfeits that didn't come with identifying marks printed on them in the first place, or the seller is intentionally covering up the identifying marks, and in either case that suggests that the product isn't what they claim it is.

I can't tell you what you should do here, but blank chips is definitely a sign that something probably isn't what it appears to be.

[dusty citrus]

Honestly as long they do work usually I don't care, but as I need to integrate something akin to a custom PCB, I was looking for a similar ic/schematics to put in

[acoustic remnant]

at what cpu frequency is the adafruit fruitjam running ? from what i understand even if we set 150mhz in arduino ide it will get overclocked at runtime for / by dvhstx

ah seems it's 264mhz

[dusty citrus]

or if you have any suggestions for any akin thing? can't find much else that does not cost like x20 times more

[tepid stone]

the saying "you get what you pay for" seems appropriate there

[stuck moth]

fruit jam doesn't overclock in CP at least. rp2040 with picodvi does

[terse lava]

And cheaper shipping on Adafruit lipo batteries.

[acoustic remnant]

ah was not aware of that

[bitter badge]

Same here. The problem is that they don't always work, and you can't know if they will till you try them. And even if they do work, they may burn out in the future, because they can't handle the current they are advertized to handle. It's much better when you know exactly what chip was used, so you can check the specs and make sure it will actually do what you need.

That said, I understand needing to keep costs under control. You should just be aware of the risk.

[bitter badge]

The CP HSTX driver is a completely different driver from the Arduino one. The Arduino one can do a lot more, but it does automatically overclock. The CP lacks special text modes and some other stuff but doesn't overclock. (I'm honestly not sure why the Arduino one needs to overclock, given that the resolutions that need overclocking to work can't fit a full framebuffer in memory.)

[acoustic remnant]

yeah indeed think most people will just use 320x240

[frozen spruce]

Ugh I am so sick of software companies charging out the as* for programs when small hobbyists like me are working on their first starter projects and can't afford the only software that devs use to make their stuff.

Anyways, does ANYONE know where I can find a importable layout for the Adafruit ItsyBitsy RP2040 board? I just can't get Eagle right now... :/

For KiCad

[dusty citrus]

In the end I found the ic, but I can't find stocks from like lcsc and akin

[fair summit]

Kicad can import Eagle. I'm not sure what you want -- a footprint, or the board design?

[frozen spruce]

Foot print so I know where to put the holes on my board. I tried importing a while back and it wouldn’t work

[river pier]

@fair summit Henlo, 🐥 🐣 ,
I am a new member and I reviewed the two sites for Code of Conduct, however the one that is listed for the Rust conduct is 404. https://rust-lang.org/en-US/conduct.html
Thank! <;

[loud atlas]

https://rust-lang.org/policies/code-of-conduct/ here's an updated link :)

[river pier]

Got it! Thank you Evelyn.

[loud atlas]

<3

[fair summit]

@grave crest could you fix the link to the Rust CoC, in #code-of-conduct , at you leisure? See above.

[terse lava]

It definitely works. Did you get the board file from Github and downloaded it as a file? Then in KiCad go into the board editor and do a File -> Import -> Non-KiCad file (or whatever it says exactly)?

[frozen spruce]

Last time I did this it refused to import it to the drawing, it just opened it as a separate file, zooming out would do nothing. But I got it to work.

[grave crest]

Done. 🙂

[compact crypt]

How can I buy Adabox 060? I don't see a way to actually subscribe.

[fair summit]

We are adding subscribers slowly. Previous subscribers had first dibs: https://www.adafruit.com/adaboxfaq

https://www.adafruit.com/adabox

[compact crypt]

OK cool. How deep is the waitlist? I have probably submitted my email 3 times 😄

[fair summit]

The last Adabox was 022. What is 060? When the next one starts to be prepared, you may get an email.

[compact crypt]

Yeah thats the one. No idea how 060 got in my head. I'd like to pick up a Fruit Jam to play around with.

[fair summit]

Are you already on the notify list for https://www.adafruit.com/product/6200 ? That would be the way to get one.

[spring smelt]

Is there a problem with the Adafruit website? I'm having trouble loading any pages on the site.

"Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete."

Bah, some bad cookies. Clearing them fixed it.

[compact crypt]

I am now. I feel like I've signed up for 10% of your product listings as of late 😄

[spring smelt]

You aren't alone @compact crypt 😉

[compact crypt]

The "back in stock" emails are an excellent source of dopamine

[bitter badge]

@compact crypt The last time the Adafruit store was out of Fruit Jams, I got one from Digikey. They don't always have Adafruit products in stock when Adafruit is out of them, but sometimes they do.

[acoustic remnant]

yeah i've gotten mine from digikey as well

they sell worldwide

there could be other resellers

[fierce prawn]

How do I get the top off

I tried a lot of tools alr but no luck

[mint girder]

Heat? WD40? Assuming you want the top off on one piece 😅

[fierce prawn]

Feels like crome plated plastic

And I need to take it off to reach the led so I can convert it to a digital penlights

[mint girder]

Are you sure if it's glued, tension fit, or has some kind of internal latch (like a much stronger Easter egg)?

[fierce prawn]

It's all I think

[fierce prawn]

I saw a latch but it can't be unlatched

[mint girder]

Lol sorry sounds not meant to be

[fierce prawn]

I know
At least the colour diffusion tube is screw off able

So I just need to rebuild the base

[mint girder]

Chrome is so hard to reproduce at home. I can sympathize with trying to keep it intact. Darn manufacturers, they hate hobbyists.

[dusty citrus]

Do yall like my setup

[worldly flume]

Uh ok bro

[dusty citrus]

I need some extremely small linear actuator that can be found on lcsc... On AliExpress I've found this stuff but I don't like it because:
It requires pogo pins and so it can't just be placed by the fab, there's no docs (although it could be reverse easily), and I'd like more a real actuator rather than an assembly with a screw

But a screw assembly it's likely required as something that small likely would not have force to hold

[mint girder]

What are you moving with it? Or what are you attaching it to?

Tiny little things. I see these are configured for a stepper. Is that ok for your application?

[dusty citrus]

It's for automating some kind of trigger/switch for a mechanical device.

Servos like sg90 work, but AliExpress stuff is unreliable, I'd like it to be smaller as possible, cheap, low v, without requiring extra logic/hw

@mint girder

[tiny loom]

What are the different types of Oled display

[edgy apex]

You know that feeling when you think you have to develop a system from scratch only to find out someone's already way ahead of you? I had already turned my family history into a timeline of images/documents. I wanted to make an interactive map but I didn't know where to start until I recently found Project 44 https://www.project44.ca/ they have geospatial systems for WWII history so I'm going to be augmenting my timeline project with a geospatial timeline using nothing but primary source materials.

[mint girder]

Could a solenoid work? Similar movement as an actuator but mechanically simpler and you don't have to handle for forward and reverse. Just power on/off.

FWIW I buy regularly from AliX and I've rarely been burned. I don't trust the reviews but as long as the published specs are what I need then I'll buy.

[dusty citrus]

It's also because I don't wanna deal with soldering, just order from jlc, and do the minimal work as possible

[dim agate]

I just noticed that the Adabox link in Adafruit's website does not work (404) https://www.adafruit.com/adabox/

[compact crypt]

OK io.adafruit.com is pretty awesome

[dim agate]

I agree, WipperSnapper and Adafruit IO make IoT super easy

[compact crypt]

It was unexpectedly smooth. I'm teaching my daughter to program a robot and it really makes the job easy.

[fair summit]

If you remove the trailing slash, it works: https://www.adafruit.com/adabox

I'll report this up the chain. No idea if it used to work and now doesn't, but it seems like an easy thing to allow.

same is true with various other URL's

[halcyon shoal]

anyone ever found a good bdf font size that covers many font sizes?

[dusty citrus]

And with this I guess that I'm fired from my job

[fair summit]

The web developers say the rejection of trailing slashes is a temporary issue and should be fixed fairly soon.

[dim agate]

Thanks!

[fringe raptor]

https://www.tomshardware.com/3d-printing/adafruit-pushes-back-against-ny-states-sweeping-ban-on-3d-printing-guns-suggests-amendments-to-preserve-the-public-safety-goal-without-breaking-education-open-hardware-or-small-manufacturers

Thanks for screwing over my aunt's company, gun grabbers

SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED

[glossy juniper]

how to activate the Adafruit IO+ using the github student pack?

[dim agate]

I just noticed that there is no CircuitPython UF2 download for the Pimoroni Explorer (RP2350) https://circuitpython.org/board/pimoroni_explorer2350/

[fringe raptor]

Btw yes Limor is my aunt

Idk how to prove it

But she is

[fair summit]

https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/10778 is not finished; I think it was added to circuitpython.org prematurely

[fair summit]

see https://www.adafruit.com/github-students (I have not tried this myself)

[hollow flint]

As https://blog.adafruit.com/2026/02/03/new-york-wants-to-ctrlaltdelete-your-3d-printer/ describes, it also impacts makerspaces, including the ones found within educational institutions and public libraries. It just so happens to be that open source hardware companies, such as Adafruit, are also heavily impacted.

[fringe raptor]

Im aware it's not just hers

But I do have a personal connection to this because of it

In case you don't believe she's really my aunt btw

I have a family photo with her

Kinda a self dox but whatever

She's been over here a few times even

[fair summit]

In the interest of the privacy of the rest of your family, I have deleted the photo.

[fringe raptor]

Sorry

Anyways

I have a 1986 Tandy 1000A that still works

Thought you guys might be a bit interested

[dusty citrus]

How are called those things that make cilinder object roll? usually used by lasers and akin
they use other cilinders to make the thing roll
looking for an already made stl, but I guess I'll have to bother

[dusty citrus]

nvm found it

[night crescent]

Desk of Ladyada – OpenClaw, eInk Hacking & Vibe-Coding an Oscilloscope 🦀🔬
https://youtu.be/zV4uNFiw_3E

Back from maternity leave and putting OpenClaw to work on a Pi 5... Opus parses datasheets, Codex writes the code, hardware tests itself, and it texts us when it's done. Also hacked an eInk reader and vibe-coded a mini oscilloscope while chillin' with a newborn.

[rapid geode]

"Shes totally my aunt, but she lives in canada so you cant meet her..." 😛 j/k, its just funny cause not a single person was doubting you the first time you said it 🙂

the prosed law is plain dumb. willfully dumb. not really much else to say. it takes people like adafruit and co though to push back though to make sure dumb laws like this dont go anywhere

[fringe raptor]

Yeah but I see why it can be seen as a crazy claim

[rapid geode]

my aunt is cool too, she used to make me nice snacks

[lost thorn]

Hello, I wanted to ask if there are any competitions or contests held which have components such as microcontrollers or transistors and such as prizes.

[bitter badge]

I'm not aware of any myself. Maybe others are? I am aware that there are a handful of annual contests using microcontrollers and such that sometimes have cash prizes, and cash can be used to buy more of those components. (Unfortunately I don't remember of the names of any of them off the top of my head, but I'm 100% certain there are people here who would know.)

[lost thorn]

ok, was curious, thank you very much

[bitter badge]

No problem. I hope others who know more will speak up. I'm actually a bit curious about this as well, as I'm sure there are more than just the few I've heard of in the past.

[hollow flint]

Years ago, my family won a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B at a contest held at a local science museum. Ironically, no other families showed up to participate.

[loud atlas]

is there an eta on a restock for the CR1220 batteries?

[fair summit]

If you need some now, I'd recommend buying from Digi-Key or another quality distributor. They have name-brand coin cells at good prices. I buy a batch of CR2032's every few years from Digi-Key. They are higher quality than the typical Amazon stock, and much cheaper than drug-store, etc.

qty 1 at DigiKey is around $0.37-$1.00 for qty 1, and there is a discount usually starrting at qty 10

[loud atlas]

ty

[compact crypt]

I'm not sure where to ask this question - Is anyone successfully running Retro Jam v0.4 on a Fruit Jam? I'm having audio sync issues.

[modern moon]

Idk if I'm in the right discord. I wanna make a custom usb device that controls all of my windows audio

[hasty wedge]

That's me

I am having an overabundance of CR2032's that I have no idea where to use them

[silent portal]

Hi everyone 👋

I’ve started an open-source learning challenge called
100 Days, 100 IoT Projects.

The goal is to build beginner to advanced IoT projects using:

• ESP32 / ESP8266
• MicroPython
• Sensors, OLEDs, MQTT
• Live simulations using Wokwi

Each project will include:
✔ MicroPython code
✔ Wokwi simulation
✔ Clear explanation for beginners

GitHub repo:
👉 https://github.com/kritishmohapatra/100_Days_100_IoT_Projects

I’d love feedback from the community and suggestions for future projects 🙌

[fierce prawn]

Is this nice

My latest passion project

[dim agate]

What does it do?

[fierce prawn]

10 band live audio precessor

It's basically hardware eq

[ebon dew]

Does Adafruit have a stance on Discord requiring ID and facial recognition to continue using their platform?

I'm likely to delete my account if Discord decides to go that route but the biggest loss would be losing access to Adafruit's Discord community. There's always the forums though thankful for that.

[fair summit]

My understanding is that the "teen by default" stance Discord is taking will not affect the Adafruit server. Our server is not designated as a server with adult content. We don't have age-restricted channels either.

https://discord.com/press-releases/discord-launches-teen-by-default-settings-globally#age-assurance-clarification

no age verification will be required to use our server

quote:

• Discord is not requiring everyone to complete a face scan or upload an ID to use Discord.
• The vast majority of people can continue using Discord exactly as they do today, without ever being asked to confirm their age.

You need to be an adult to access age-restricted experiences such as age-restricted servers and channels or to modify certain safety settings.

[ebon dew]

Thank you for the press release. Hadn't seen that. Looks like it will only really impact people sending explicit memes or images. My guess is it won't affect a majority of discord. Thank you. I feel a little more at ease.

[fair summit]

This is turned OFF on the Adafruit server:

[fair summit]

Trailing slashes on most URL's like https://www.adafruit.com/adabox/ should now work again.

[hollow flint]

Adafruit was mentioned in an iFixit video: https://youtu.be/s8axvc3Iz78?t=97s

[weary fiber]

groundfill that top plane! the PCB starts covered in copper, so make use of it all you can!

[sick apex]

I needed 48v for a motor... so I connected 2 bench psus in series, it was the sketchiest thing I've done yet lmao

[jagged citrus]

I wanna share what im working on as well

Havent finished it yet though

Its a ESP32S3 robot controller board

Like trili said you should add a ground plane (i do this on both layers)

As well as stitching vias

[dusty citrus]

do you have like a lemmy channel or an alternative to discord?
I'm not scanning my face just to use this platform

[bitter badge]

https://discord.com/press-releases/discord-launches-teen-by-default-settings-globally#age-assurance-clarification

This is the current word on the age verification.

Here’s what we want you to know:

• Discord is not requiring everyone to complete a face scan or upload an ID to use Discord.
• The vast majority of people can continue using Discord exactly as they do today, without ever being asked to confirm their age.

You need to be an adult to access age-restricted experiences such as age-restricted servers and channels or to modify certain safety settings.

For the majority of adult users, we will be able to confirm your age group using information we already have. We use age prediction to determine, with high confidence, when a user is an adult. This allows many adults to access age-appropriate features without completing an explicit age check.

They also say one of the age verification options they will offer is a facial scan, that they say won't leave your device. Presumably the data analysis happens in-browser (or maybe in a 3rd party app or some such), but they claim the image itself never leaves the device. (They also claim that even their ID based age verification only records age and deletes all other information.)

All of that said, routine changes in EULA and Terms could easily sneak in clauses in the future that remove the "we won't record your private data" stuff. Slippery slope and all that.

[bitter badge]

According to the above, the only way you'll be required to do any kind of age verification is if you a) are underaged or Discord can't guess your age accurately, and b) you are using some kind of [inappropriate] or other adult Discord channel.

Adafruit's channel is neither [inappropriate] nor other adult, so until Discord decides to change this policy you won't be required to do a face scan to use this channel. (If you are also using other channels that do qualify for point b, that's your own problem, and you have to deal with what you have to deal with.)

That said, Adafruit does have a web forum you can access from any of Adafruit's web sites. If I recall correctly, there's a link to the forum at the bottom of every page.

[fierce prawn]

By top plane you mean where

[fair summit]

See #welcome message

[urban pawn]

Uh. Random question. I am struggling to get any sign of life from a 64x32 hub75 panel. Are they really touchy about power and need one of those special 5V 4A supplies? I’m wondering if it’s just my phone chargers not having enough current… 😞

[fierce prawn]

Do I really have to

I'm scared of loop cz my PCB has both analog and digital

I'm currently using a star based gnd where every gnd is linked to one

[neon crag]

just bought an adafruit 32-s2 feather

tryna add circuitpython to it

[hollow flint]

Here's the list of all ESP32-S2 development boards manufactured by Adafruit, that have CircuitPython available for it: https://circuitpython.org/downloads?manufacturers=Adafruit&mcufamilies=esp32s2

[neon crag]

i downloaded it already thanks

but im having problems putting it on

i tried esptool

[hollow flint]

There's eight different options that meet that criteria.

[neon crag]

didnt work that much

[neon crag]

oh

its the feather one sorry

https://circuitpython.org/board/adafruit_feather_esp32s2/

here

[neon crag]

so usually its supposed to open a new boot called circuitpy

but thats not the case when i drag the file

this is the first time i do something like this btw

[hollow flint]

Follow this section of its Adafruit Learn Guide: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-esp32-s2-feather/update-tinyuf2-bootloader-for-circuitpython-10-4mb-boards-only

[neon crag]

i dont see it icl

i put in boot mode im pretty sure

sleect to choose whatr happens with removable drive

should i touch that

@hollow flint hope im not asking for too much but u think i can vc this real quick

[hollow flint]

Did you click the "Open Installer" button, or a different button?

[neon crag]

open installer

INFO_UF2.txt

TinyUF2 Bootloader 0.10.2 - tinyusb (0.12.0-203-ga4cfd1c69)
Model: Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2
Board-ID: ESP32S2-Feather-revA
Date: Jun 24 2022

should be 0.33

[hollow flint]

This is what you should see after pressing that button:

[neon crag]

i clicked install circuitypython 10.03. UF2 only

[hollow flint]

Try "Install Bootloader Only". I don't know whether the other options either include installing the bootloader, or if they skip that step in particular. Either way, doing the two steps separately shouldn't hurt.

[neon crag]

kk

Which one do u think it is

A90 pro were my earbuds

[hollow flint]

Since we're trying to connect to it over USB, and not Bluetooth, I'd guess that it's JL_SPP.

[neon crag]

My screen is orange bc I have sensitive eyes and put night mode

[hollow flint]

Oops, I forgot to mention that there's a difference between the TinyUF2 bootloader, and the ROM bootloader. It's explained here in more detail: https://learn.adafruit.com/using-open-installer-on-circuitpython-org/boards-with-full-usb-support
That webpage also has better instructions for the procedure that I was trying to guide you through.

[neon crag]

ill look into it ty

[weary fiber]

went for OSHPark's black substrate w/ clear soldermask (idk the examples are cool) so this shoooouuld be the final design?

[sinful stratus]

looks rlly cool :>

[edgy apex]

I got openclaw going on my argon one up, things will eventually go wrong and I'm hoping the most I would have to do is reimage the nvme drive

[edgy apex]

well, its alive. I told it to play a sound and it beeped, told it to take a picture with the camera and show it and it did. it can access the microphone too

[dim agate]

Is it possible to get OpenClaw running using 1GB of RAM?

[manic lily]

Hello! Just curious, the Powerboost series JST PH-2.0 connectors seem to have the opposite polarity orientation than basically any other LiPo battery I can find other than the one manufactured by Adafruit, is there any reason for that, or does anyone know of a way to flip the polarity to source batteries easier?

I'm also super new to this stuff so I may be way off base and misunderstanding something

[hollow flint]

IIRC, Pimoroni's products have the same lithium-ion battery polarity as Adafruit's.

[neon crag]

best feeling in the entire world

[brittle condor]

does anyone know of a waterproof camera module for rpi? i wanna build a home intercom (think ring doorbell)

[fair summit]

We have some weatherproof enclosures with clear tops, but the larger one is out of stock:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/3931
https://www.adafruit.com/product/903

But you can find similar things elsewhere, e.g. https://www.polycase.com/

I did websearch for waterproof electronics enclosure

[opal stag]

I just got a bearded dragon and I was wondering if there's a sensor I can use to determine the UV index indifferent spots of the enclosure. I see a few different sensors in the Adafruit store. Is there one that is better for determining an accurate UV index measurement?

I should clarify it's UVB that i need to measure

[fair summit]

we make two sensor breakouts currently:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1918
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4831
The first one looks more specific to your needs, but it's worth reading the description and the datasheet.

[edgy apex]

I have my argon one up running openclaw which I connect to my m1 macbook running qwen2 with ctx of 32768. it works! just not sure what to do with it just yet.

its not as good as the paid models by default, but makes up for it by being free

[dim agate]

Is it possible to run OpenClaw on a Linux machine with only 1GB of RAM?

[edgy apex]

it says it needs 2gb
https://safeclaw.io/blog/openclaw-system-requirements

I blew $5 in 2 minutes with one of the paid models and i didn't even do that much so I decided I was gonna run local

[dim agate]

I might try running PicoClaw instead because it only uses 10MB (https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw)

[edgy apex]

Sounds fun

I'm testing different models out

[dim agate]

What models have you tried?

[edgy apex]

a bunch when i was trying to get it to work, once I figured it out I have tested qwen2 and mistral because they have large context. I am going to put them through some challenges soon

[dim agate]

Have you tried Claude yet?

[edgy apex]

yea thats how I spend $5 in less than 2 minutes

[queen kestrel]

I use After Dark for any PCB that I can get away with two-layers. FYI, that render is a little bit off from what a real board looks like. The copper with the clear soldermask is more orange (copper) and the exposed pads are bright gold: https://blog.oshpark.com/2020/09/10/after-dark-now-looks-great-in-kicad/

[bitter badge]

I've got to get back into board dev again. I haven't used KiCad in too long, and it's looking so much nicer than it did when I was using it more regularly!

[toxic kernel]

I just blew all my fun money on MeshCore stuff and they announce a sale

[fierce prawn]

Dammmm

It's so small

I just bought it

[toxic kernel]

Have a specific use or just to tinker?

[fierce prawn]

Just to play with it

Got one below msrp

[toxic kernel]

I was looking at one to install Bruce, but went with a T Embed

[shy creek]

Hello, I am not sure if this is the appropriate channel to ask but, i have a bluefruit and i am not able to connect to it via bluefruit connect on my android, I am trying to program it so i can change the neoLEDs with my phone any help would be appreciated. ( i have updated the bootloader and added all the lib files )

[ancient rivet]

by bluefruit, do you mean one of these?
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4333

[shy creek]

yup that one

[ancient rivet]

are you programming with arduino or circuitpython?

[shy creek]

circutpython

[ancient rivet]

ok, let's move to #help-with-circuitpython

[dusty citrus]

oh they're not just requiring id/biometrics... they're also scanning every thing that you post in search of "harmfull" content

there are plenty of better alternatives, not centralized... too bad that they're not popular & it's not easy to convince people to change

[bitter badge]

Everyone is doing that. Gmail is reading your emails. (It might not be a person doing it, but they are using your email content to personalize ads and possibly for training AI.) Facebook is reading all of your posts and doing psychological evaluations on you (and has occasionally manipulated what is in your feed, to do psychological experiments on you). Reddit is scanning everything you post there and probably using it for AI training and maybe also targeted advertising. YouTube is keeping track of everything you watch and is also scanning and using your comments.

So yeah, Discord is keeping track of and evaluating everything you post on it, and it has enough information on most users already to evalute the odds that you are a legal adult. It's not a great situation, but the only option to guarantee avoiding that is self hosting, and that's mildly hard and often prohibited (and sometimes port blocked) by ISPs for residential accounts.

I'm actually considering writing an (open source) IRC server with additional commands that would allow clients to access old messages, search old messages, create message threads, and do a lot of the other stuff that Slack and Discord let you do. Unfortunately I currently have too many higher priority projects. Even if I did have time to make it now though, you are 100% right that the biggest hurdle is convincing people to change. I'd love to see the internet become much more distributed, so that people have more control of their own content, but I don't think we even have the infrastructure to make that work yet. We need some kind of distributed social networking system that can do things like authentication without needing a central server. I actually designed and started working on this in the mid-2010s, but I ran out of time and steam (was working on my Master's degree), and now I'm not even sure where the very incomplete code is. Maybe someday...

[frigid herald]

I know someone doing an atproto discord clone

basically for that distributed authentication aspect

(and self-hosted content)

I guess there's also sharkord, that someone mentioned to me lately...

hm ok just tested that, its not ready 🙂

[dim agate]

I just got the NeoTrellis!

[stuck moth]

I've used irccloud as an irc client for history

[night crescent]

Link to join to show and share your project! & watch it live or later! https://streamyard.com/9enn6s8w3g & https://youtu.be/Sbc-kmwewpQ

[somber spindle]

Gmail doesn't read your emails anymore and hasn't for years, because they get much better information out of chrome/telemetry and their whole advertising and analytics network

One source: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/26/534451513/google-says-it-will-no-longer-read-users-emails-to-sell-targeted-ads

[bitter badge]

2017... Yeah, that lines up with the last time I experimented with it to see if I could get it to change the ads by writing something in an email. They must have changed it right after I did that test.

That said, that doesn't mean Google isn't reading your emails for non-ad purposes. That article only says they've stopped reading emails for targeted advertising purposes specifically. That does not rule out LLM training and a ton of other things. Technically they could even still be using them for advertising purposes even, so long as they aren't being used for targeted ads specifically. For example, using email contents of all users together to estimate what kind of ads are most likely to work in general. That's advertising purposes, but it's not targeted. So yeah, they say they aren't reading them for targetted advertising purposes, but that doesn't rule out hundreds of other reasons they could, and probably are, reading them.

That said, the rest are true. (And Facebook has promised multiple times to stop using its platform for psych experiments and then got caught doing it again. Google generally seems to be more honest, but...)

According to Google it isn't using email content for LLM training either.

But Google does admit that it's LLMs can and do access emails, if you don't opt out? Why would it do that if it isn't using them for training? Ah, it's related to some new features giving AI generated autocompletes. It accesses other emails in the thread to load it's temporary buffer with context. That makes sense.

[burnt tendon]

Of course this means that free GMail could go on Our Incredible Journey.

[somber spindle]

oh yeah, google is totally reading your email, just not for ad purposes, and they solemnly swear that under threat of lawsuit from everyone who uses G suite (aka Google Workspace).

[fierce prawn]

Update

I bought another thicker replacement LCD

The original was thin and broke when I replaced the battery

[weary fiber]

Also update about something different

Coming from an arduino-heavy background, Embedded Systems class makes me feel so dumb

What used to be a single-line "output a 1khz 50% pwm on pin 1" is now a paragraph of code setting various peripheral registers

Like, you gotta enable the RCC clock bit on the peripheral's bus, then set a prescale and counter limit, then set your timer channels to PWM mode, then set your channels to "Preload Enabled", then enable your GPIO peripheral clocks... and their modes to alternate/outputs/pullups

[fierce prawn]

Arduino is
We handle all for you

PLC
We expect you to know what you do! Heck yeah, you can even do unsafe to hardware stuff if you want

[weary fiber]

also side note but this class is really reaffirming my choice of major. Doing all this stuff manually is a bit brutal the first time, but man it's satisfying. I really wanna be, like, doing anything like this for a career & I'm so eager for my next personal project where I can put all these learnings together

embedded systems neat

[bitter badge]

I took an embedded systems course for part of my Master's program, and it used Arduino exclusively. I got permission from the professor to use C, because I felt I wouldn't be able to learn what I wanted from the class otherwise. Thankfully he allowed it. I ended up having to port a few Arduino libraries to pure C (drivers), but despite the code being that much longer, I much preferred it.

Incidentally, I also wrote an I2C driver from scratch for the CH552. I was going to try to port the Arudino driver, but it has so many levels of indirection that it can't go faster than somewhere between 100kbps and 50kbps. Mine hits somewhere between 400kbps and 350kbps.

Arduino can be great, if you don't need performance and want to avoid the platform specific details of your microcontroller, but the performance cost is almost absurd, especially if you have to bit-bang pretty much anything. (The CH552 doesn't have built-in I2C, so I had to write a bit-banging driver. The Arduino driver uses a multi-level port/pin mapping setup that makes it easy to use any pin you want, but every single pin transaction has to go through 3 or 4 function calls, dereferencing around as many pointers into various look up tables. For convenience, it's awesome. For performance, it's an utter nightmare. It's also really bad for total code size, with the long switch statements and look up tables.)

I absolutely love working at the lowest level on microcontrollers. Last year I wrote that CH552 I2C driver, a monochrome display driver (using that I2C driver), and then I went to the RP2350 (on the Fruit Jam, specifically) and wrote an ST7789 driver, a SPI/DMA driver (easy, cause it uses hardware SPI and DMA, through the Pico SDK functions for those), and now I'm doing a customized HSXT/DVI driver (and Pico SDK functions, but much less easy, as DVI is complicated). It is kind of brutal, but it's so satisfying.

Anyhow, good luck and have fun!

[weary fiber]

Oh man that's gotta be so cool. Before this class, the most I'd done was editing some adafruit libraries to use buffers a little differently

And now... all this just to get 2 equal/opposite PWM signals

[lilac kraken]

Hello,
My son has a science project due on 24 February, so we only have four days left. Your video “Raspberry Pi 5 – Talking Translator: Multi‑lingual Local LLM & TTS on the Pi” is the closest match to what he needs: an AI‑based automatic language translator.

In your build, KittenTTS uses the Adafruit Voice Bonnet (2 speakers + 2 mics), but that board is no longer available.
He already has a Raspberry Pi 5 (4GB).

Could you please advise on the simplest and fastest alternative hardware to give the Pi:

a microphone input (so it can listen), and

a speaker output (so it can speak)

so that it can translate between languages, or at least speak responses?

Since he is completely new to Raspberry Pi, it would help us enormously if you could also share step‑by‑step instructions for installing the required software from scratch—everything needed to get audio input/output working and run the translation demo.

Any quick guidance or recommended substitutes would mean a lot to us. Thank you.

[bitter badge]

I can't really give you step-by-step specifics, as I'm not familiar with the software, but:

First, you'll need something that can amplify audio signals to drive the speakers. Adafruit has several audio amp boards. You'd need a stereo one for two speakers, and then you'll need to buy two speakers rated for the same wattage that the amp outputs (at least, if you want decent audio quality). Maybe something like this: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1552 If you can do it with a single speaker, there are mono options as well.

For the microphone you also need an amp, but it's a different kind. Adafruit has a few boards with amp and microphone built in. Here are two different kinds:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2716
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1713
If you want stereo, you'll need two, but if one mic is enough, you only need one.

From there, you'd have to do some soldering, and then you'd have to figure out how to setup the Pi or the software to use GPIOs for the speaker and mic.

Four days is not very long for this, and even if you had the original bonnet, I'm not convinced it would be long enough. I'm not sure I could pull it off in four days! Further, using a handful of separate boards for this is neither fast nor easy, but unless someone else is aware of an all-in-one solution like that bonnet, it might still be the "fastest" and "easiest" option currently available.

I hate to say it, but if it is an option, it might be a good time to start considering alternatives to an AI language translator. If you work on this full-time for the next four days, and the parts arrive extremely fast, you might be able to pull it off, but I wouldn't bet on it otherwise. That said, if there's someone here who has done it before and really understands the process (and has the time to walk you through it starting immediately), it could be possible.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you good luck! This sounds like it could be a really cool science project.

[hollow flint]

Arduino PLC IDE is
😶

[fierce prawn]

Dammm

[sinful stratus]

are there any i2c DACs that i can use with audioio? i want to output audio over the i2c bus

[fair summit]

audio has to be precisely timed, and I2C is not a good protocol for that. Could you explain what you want/need to do and your constraints in more details? Which board or microcontroller chip are you using?

[signal matrix]

Hi Walid,

Similar to Lord Rybec, I can't give step by step help here: I don't have a Raspberry Pi 5, for one thing (I do have a few older models).

I agree with all that Lord Rybec says.

I have a suggestion for adding a microphone and speaker which avoids the need for soldering. Adafruit (and others) sell devices that can be connected to the Pi USB ports. See eg https://www.adafruit.com/product/3367 and https://www.adafruit.com/product/3369.

However - after plugging the devices in, the Pi needs some software setup and configuration to make them work. See eg https://learn.adafruit.com/usb-audio-cards-with-a-raspberry-pi/instructions. I haven't been through that process myself. It doesn't seem exactly straight forward. For me, this kind of thing is interesting and fun to explore, but if any time pressure is involved, it can turn quickly into something quite stressful.

You mentioned that your son is completely new to Raspberry Pi. Setting up a Raspberry Pi for the first time is something of a science project in itself. Do you have a suitable power supply, SD card, keyboard, mouse, monitor and monitor cable?

An AI talking translator does sound like a very interesting project. But it is ambitious... this was science fiction just a few years ago. Good to have a goal, though!

I'd suggest breaking down the goal into a sequence of smaller sub-projects. (A very common thing to do in engineering.) So... perhaps focus only on audio output first (this is usually a little simpler than audio input - working / not working is more obvious). Perhaps connect a speaker to the Pi, and make a "doorbell" project - press a key (on the Pi keyboard) to trigger a sound effect. Once that is working well, then connect a mic, find a way to record audio from that, then play it out to the speaker. Now you have shown that the hardware is working, next step would be to find & work on another goal (small, within reach) which moves you closer to the eventual end goal.

But... given the shortage of time, it might be appropriate to find a project that uses a basic Pi setup (Pi, monitor, keyboard, mouse), without any audio hardware.

So: a simpler project idea - how about get the basic Pi setup going (ask if you need resources for this), and then try and write a small amount of Python code that asks the user for a word, looks it up in a small dictionary (which you provide), and prints the translated word? Something like this...

word = input("Please type a word to translate: ")

if word == "hello":
    print("hola")
else:
    print("Sorry, I don't know that word")

Best wishes!

[sinful stratus]

i want to get audio both into and out of a MacroPad RP2040 which only exposes the i2c bus on the stemma QT port. i would love to use i2s or whatever but it just isnt broken out!

i thought about maybe putting a seesaw attiny breakout on the i2c bus instead and having it do all the work

basically i need to read PCM bytes from a UART and turn them into audio

[fair summit]

you could do audiopwmio to one of the STEMMA/QT pins. See https://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?p=1073621#p1073621 (and the whole thread) for a bit of discussion. You don't have to use the STEMMA/QT connector for I2C.

[hard estuary]

todbot made a macropad add-on that does audio out and midi in, don't know if that is helpful: https://www.tindie.com/products/todbot/macropadsynthplug-turn-rp2040-into-a-synth/

[proud robin]

does anyone know if there is a way to get in communication with ladyada? im writing an essay right now and id like to ask her for her input on some things regarding this blog post (https://blog.adafruit.com/2026/02/19/californias-new-bill-requires-doj-approved-3d-printers-that-report-on-themselves/). thank yall! :)

[stuck moth]

email [e-mail] pt wrote that article I think

[sinful stratus]

oh yea! well i was using the pins on the STEMMA QT connector for UART tx/rx but now i need to also transmit audio as well. so i was thinking i could use i2c with one peripheral handling the serial and the other handling the audio and then i pass data between them

but now my idea is one of the seesaw breakout boards in the middle (running my own firmware probably) that does the passing of the pwm data to the dac (i guess i2s) on its own , and then i just talk to that over i2c instead and let it do the passing on its own while the rp2040 just displays stuff