#Community Help Desk

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

frozen hill
#

Welcome, everyone, to the CircuitPython Community Help Desk. The next Help Desk event is happening tomorrow, Saturday September 10th, at 8am ET. Join us in this thread to follow along with any text chat. The Community Help Desk voice channel will be available for voice and video as well. Have fun!

crimson kettle
#

Hello everybody! Just a quick note that this thread is and voice chat is being recorded today for possible playback on the Adafruit YouTube channel

modest iris
#

Happy Saturday, everyone!

crimson kettle
#

Can you keep an eye on the help-with-circuitpython channel? I'm recording this one and can't switch

modest iris
#

Sure. I can do that.

golden chasm
#

Hello everyone, happy saturday! 🎉 I'm here in text channel now and will hop into the voice room after I finish chomping down my breakfast.

crimson kettle
#

good morning! Take your time,

modest iris
#

Good morning!

modest iris
stoic verge
#

Good Morning! Hope everyone's day is starting off well!

modest iris
#

So far so good! Happy Saturday!

stoic verge
#

I'll need to stay muted but I'll be listening in in the voice chat

golden chasm
torpid shell
#

Good morning everyone, I am around now myself. I'll try to pay attention to the voice channel too but feel free to ping me

crimson kettle
#

if anyone needs help with anything, feel free to ask here or join the chat channel

modest iris
#

(I'm back)

crimson kettle
#

away for a few

golden chasm
coarse tapir
#

I have traditionally used a teensy to build my keyboard
https://github.com/HughMungis/ake160886/tree/master/ake160886
but I would like to replace the teensy with a KB2040

However when I try to follow the instructions here
https://learn.adafruit.com/using-qmk-on-rp2040-microcontrollers/adafruit-kb2040-on-the-pb-gherkin-30-keyboard
even the example commands don't work. nevermind the code on my github

Because I'm dumb and chose a project with more complexity than i realized, there's also a custom matrix involved and I'm not sure if there's special rules on implementing that on a kb2040

Is this project even possible? Be warned I'm using this project to teach myself some basic programming so I'm a bit of a noob

zenith stirrup
#

CP 8.0.beta ESP32-S2 Feather py code.py output: ]0;🐍Wi-Fi: off | code.py | 8.0.0-beta.0\]0;Wi-Fi: off | code.py | 8.0.0-beta.0\ width: 480 height: 320 triangle_1: 0.177979 triangle_2: 0.754028 triangle_3: 0.0310059 ]0;🐍Wi-Fi: off | Done | 8.0.0-beta.0\ Code done running.

#

CP 7.3.3 ESP32-S2 Feather ```py
code.py output:
width: 480 height: 320
triangle_1: 0.35199
triangle_2: 1.57401
triangle_3: 0.375

Code done running.```

# 
from adafruit_hx8357 import HX8357

# 3.5" TFT Featherwing is 480x320
displayio.release_displays()
DISPLAY_WIDTH = 480
DISPLAY_HEIGHT = 320

# Time between weather updates
# 900 = 15 mins, 1800 = 30 mins, 3600 = 1 hour
sleep_time = 900

# Initialize TFT Display
spi = board.SPI()
tft_cs = board.D9
tft_dc = board.D10
display_bus = displayio.FourWire(spi, command=tft_dc, chip_select=tft_cs)
display = HX8357(display_bus, width=DISPLAY_WIDTH, height=DISPLAY_HEIGHT)

#triangle_group = displayio.Group()

width = DISPLAY_WIDTH
height = DISPLAY_HEIGHT```
coarse tapir
torpid shell
#

@golden chasm @coarse tapir I noticed the guide is version 0.17.5 and the output is from 0.18.5 so looks like some of the settings changes

river vector
#

Heya Tim. Verstappen in the lead.

coarse tapir
river vector
#

we were tallking yesterday about where to develop your code, directly on the pyportal or in a folder on your hard drive and then copy paste over to do device.

modest iris
#

Adafruit PyBadge, CP 8.0.0-beta.0:
width: 160 height: 128
triangle_1: 0.000999451
triangle_2: 0.234
triangle_3: 0.066

Adafruit PyBadge, CP 7.3.3:
width: 160 height: 128
triangle_1: 0.0010004
triangle_2: 0.241
triangle_3: 0.0710001

river vector
#

what are the pros and cons? it seems easy to copy a project bundle to it directly and then commit push for a new version/function in one at the same repo

#

one and the same

coarse tapir
#

the keyb in question ☝️

modest iris
#

@river vector One con I've found to developing on the device is that if your USB connection glitches during a save of your code, it's possible for changes to get lost.

river vector
#

vs code tend to autosave and thus trigger the pyportal to restart. how to avoid?

modest iris
#

You can turn off autosave in the VSCode preferences...

golden chasm
#

I disabled the autosave function in PyCharm to avoid it making my device restart. I would guess that it's possible in VSCode, but don't have any personal experience. So not sure how to do it specifically.

river vector
#

@modest iris is that the reasons for the restarts? whats the best setting for autosave, afterdelay? or just off?

modest iris
#

@river vector I tend to just turn it off when I'm working on my CircuitPython development projects, and save when I'm ready. But I also tend to save to my hard drive and then I have a build task configured in VSCode to copy to the device when I want to.

river vector
#

it just seems to be quicker to have the pyportal run the edit w/o the copying. but then i had other problems that you probably cana help with. The Thrashes folder gets full, and you haave to empty it when changing project. can this be avoided?

#

Yeah @modest iris i actually saw that stream, tell us how you do it?

stoic verge
#

@river vector I mostly edit my files on my harddrive then copy over to my circuit python device. This let's me use git. But for "bug fixing" or feature development I'll edit on the device, then once I have functioning code I'll copy that back to my disk. The reload slows it down a touch, but the workflow helps keep me from loosing my code

modest iris
#

@river vector I save to my hard drive, and then I add a launch configuration to my VSCode workspace to copy the files from the hard drive to my CPY device. Same with PyCharm.

river vector
#

not to mention the ._files.

modest iris
#

CuriousMarc's YouTube channel, for those who are interested: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3bosUr3WlKYm4sBaLs-Adw

YouTube
CuriousMarc

Videos documenting restorations of exceptional vintage electronics and early computers, space hardware and the odd mechanical calculator or Teletype. It often showcases my Hewlett-Packard test equipment collection and, from time to time, my R2-D2 robot build. Things rarely work when I start, but almost always do when I end. A nerdy place for you...

river vector
#

and it also solves the nuisance of having tp rename the CPYPORTAL to create a different folder for a different repo.?

modest iris
#

@river vector I'm not sure what you mean? I don't rename my CircuitPython devices. I just don't have more than one connected to my computer at a time typically.

#

When I've done this, I've just made a build task that runs the command cp my_project_file.py /Volumes/CIRCUITPY/code.py.

river vector
#

so for each new project you create (and name) a folder on your hdd, copy the project bundle from learn guide (eg.) to that, (push it to git), edit, copy over to CPY, check if works, make fixes on HDD, copy and check again.

modest iris
#

Yup. That's typically how I work. I create different folders in /Users/tammy/projects for each project.

river vector
#

ok, git it. hehe

stoic verge
river vector
#

and with the HDD way you dont have to bother with hdd being full because of Thrashes and ._files that vs code / git uses?

modest iris
#

Right. I only copy the code file to the device when I'm ready to run it.

river vector
#

and the above mentioned files are not copied? there hidden somewhere i dont remember right now

stoic verge
#

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-metro-esp32-s2

....[Other networks]
78:D2:94:45:E0:00  9 -60 [wifi.AuthMode.WPA2, wifi.AuthMode.PSK] US NETGEAR

Code done running.
soft reboot

Auto-reload is on. Simply save files over USB to run them or enter REPL to disable.
code.py output:

Code done running.
soft reboot
modest iris
#

@river vector I make the build task specify which files to copy.

#

And then it doesn't matter.

river vector
#

yeah well, @modest iris i have to keep things simple for my students so that theres not too much automagical stuff in the CLI. but ill look into tasks

#

so here the problem with the ._files

modest iris
#

I'm not sure about the ._ files - I don't see that on my Mac. Maybe that's a function of your environment?

river vector
#

did vs code add these? nad how do i avoid copying them?

#

i think there secret right. hidden i.e.

modest iris
#

Would configuring VSCode to ignore the ._ files work for you? When I do the copy, I configure the task to just copy the specific file(s) I want to deploy.

river vector
#

im also on maac

signal harbor
sand pier
modest iris
river vector
#

well, i was slow to add ._* to gitignore, and once you pushed, itsw hard to get rid of them

modest iris
#

@river vector You could do something like cd repo_folder; git rm --cached $(find . -name .*_ -print) to remove them from your repos.

river vector
#

but the question was whether i can avoid copying them if i dont use tasks, just drag and drop like

cerulean sable
#

I built CircuitPython this morning and got 7.2.0. ??? Is the version somewhere in the build_* folder? I've since pulled the 'main' branch from github.com/adafuit/circuitpython.

river vector
#

yup, thanks, i will try that now.

modest iris
#

@river vector I don't know of a good way to avoid copying them by drag-and-drop except to disable "show all files" so you don't select them when you drag/drop.

signal harbor
torn raven
#

macOS will create them anyway on non-HFS volumes when you create or copy a file that has extended attributes or a resource fork

modest iris
#

@torn raven Ah, that makes sense.

signal harbor
#

they should not appear on a mac volume either

river vector
#

oh well, of course i cant, because i dont have my pyportall (where is smarrtly stored the code, not on HDD :)) with me in the bar.

modest iris
#

That would make it challenging, yes. 😉

signal harbor
#

(I might also suggest discotool cleanup --all to remove them from any connected board)

modest iris
#

You could also use a tool like piku to deploy your CircuitPython projects, which manages which files get copied.

river vector
cerulean sable
torn raven
#

almost every file you download to macOS from the internet will have some quarantine attributes, so that's where a lot of the ._ files come from when copying things to a CircuitPython volume

river vector
#

yeah, copying from project bundle in the learn guide

torn raven
torn raven
river vector
torn raven
modest iris
#

I don't think that I've ever seen a Git repo clone being tagged with that quarantine attribute.

sand pier
river vector
#

well we dont do CLI here at high schooll 🙂

sand pier
river vector
#

excellent @sand pier

#

"Unfortunately you cannot use drag and drop copy in Finder because it will still create these hidden extended attribute files in some cases "

#

in black and white

modest iris
#

@river vector If you're using VSCode, maybe set up some standard build tasks you can use in your students' projects.

signal harbor
#

you can unquarantine with xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine dirpath but I don't think it is enough to completely remove the extended attribute ? there might be a way though (and you can make an applescript droplet for that code)

torn raven
#

xattr -c filename will clear all extended attributes, i think

golden chasm
modest iris
signal harbor
#

xattr -c -r ~/Downloads/adafruit-circuitpython-bundle-* then (for example)

torn raven
#

confirmed that xattr -c on a CircuitPython bundle prevents quarantine attributes from being set on extracted files upon unzip, so that might be a more streamlined way to do it

cerulean sable
#

I'm out for the day, but wanted to thank everyone who organized and participated in the Community Help Desk. This is awesome, looking forward to the next one! 😄

zenith stirrup
#

@old kayak 7a5d2e8 is the hash commit just so it's easier to reference.

signal harbor
#

I use an applescript droplet to remove quarantine (it sometimes prevents opening php files in BBEdit...) to remove all attrs something like that, saved as an application

📎 remove-xattr.scpt
#

(to avoid CLI)

zenith stirrup
river vector
#

it got very complicated and CLI all of a sudden. i think this stuff needs to be included in the every learning guide, since it will fill upp the devices hdd.

signal harbor
#

we could also have a javascript droplet to remove the files on the board

river vector
#

but biggest problem as i recall was the Thrashes folder, but i guess that willl be solved by develloping in hdd

signal harbor
#

oh the trash is disabled

torn raven
#

modern CircuitPython installs drop a few files to prevent macOS from creating Trashes; if you have a filesystem formatted from an older build, it might lack those files

signal harbor
#

unless the drive is not properly formatted by CP

#

yeah very old build or an existing drive from Micropython for example

river vector
#

my students dont know first thing about unix commands, and the threshold is too high and pedagogically challenging.

torn raven
#

if you have a way to distribute the project bundles to them without the quarantine attribute, that might easiest

modest iris
#

@river vector That's why I think defining some build tasks in VSCode (they go in a JSON file in the project folder) might be a viable solution for you too.

signal harbor
#

oh hey xattr -c -r /Volumes/CIRCUITPY works to remove the ._ files, so the droplet I posted above should also cleanup a drive (if you are on mac of course)

river vector
#

yep, @modest iris gonna look into that and rewaatch your video, that i cant remember the name, do you?

modest iris
#

Not off the top of my head, no. 😦

river vector
#

also: why cant you clone just one project in the learning guides repo? the repo conatins all guides..

old kayak
river vector
river vector
modest iris
#

Wouldn't let you download what?

river vector
river vector
signal harbor
river vector
#

ok, it turns out i DID bring my pyportal to the local bar. hooking it uo now.

torn raven
# river vector how can i check

i don't remember the exact names, but ls -al in the CircuitPython root should show you a few dotfiles like a regular file (not directory) named .Trashes or something

river vector
#

so what do iu do first+

signal harbor
# 
.Trashes
.fseventsd
.metadata_never_index
river vector
torn raven
# river vector

yeah your .Trashes is a directory, so it's going to have actual contents if you've deleted stuff in the Finder

#

and it seems odd that .Trashes has extended attributes. can you do xattr -v .Trashes so we can see what they are?

stoic verge
#

For the titano display issue--does it get slower the larger the polygon being filled? And does it seem like it get's slower linearly to it's size or the time delay grow quadraticly with it's size?

signal harbor
#

you should format the drive, backup your files and in the REPL (or code.py honestly)

import storage
storage.erase_filesystem()

then put back your files

#

that will create the special files

golden chasm
#

I don't have a good sense of whether it's coorelated linearly or quadractically though.

torn raven
river vector
stoic verge
#

Is it possible the brightness code has a accidental change from:

size = height*width
for i in range(len(height)):
    for j in range(len(width)):
        pixel(i,j).brightness(foo)

to

size = height*width
for i in range(len(size)):
    for j in range(len(size)):
        pixel(i,j).brightness(foo)
golden chasm
#

Interesting thought. I'm not certain if it could be possible. To the best of my knowledge it isn't manipulating each pixel for the brightness. Instead just changing PWM voltage output of some LEDs that are near the display.

torn raven
# river vector

yeah i'm going to second Neradoc's suggestion to copy stuff you want to keep and reformat the partition

torpid shell
#

Reading through the PR on auto brightness now just to see if something was in there

torn raven
river vector
torn raven
#

who was it that did the bisection on the Titano issue? what were the commit hashes of the last known good and first known bad?

signal harbor
modest iris
signal harbor
#

then you can simply open code.py and put the following in it (and nothing else)

import storage
storage.erase_filesystem()
river vector
#

yeah, i dont nee to keep it. im gonna start a new project..

signal harbor
#

the board should reload, erase itself and reboot

#

or you can make it reboot by pressing reset, it should come back with a fresh CIRCUITPY with just code.py and lib and the support files

golden chasm
signal harbor
river vector
#

did it.

signal harbor
#

looks good

#

(you need to cd back to it when it restarts, the shell doesn't know where he's at when the drive goes away)

river vector
#

ok, it reset the name to circuitpy as well

signal harbor
#

oh yeah that too

river vector
signal harbor
#

so now you can download the project bundle and install the files

#

you can run it through the Remove Xattr Droplet app to avoid putting the extended attributes files, or you can drop CIRCUITPY onto it

#

(it can also be run and will show an open dialog, doesn't have to be a droplet)

torpid shell
#

@stoic verge Just a FYI I did reproduce the SSID problem on an S2. Maybe just how I ran it but one time I saw my two local routers (almost beside the controller) be seen after a soft reboot but nothing else.

signal harbor
#

you can also have the app unquarantine itself 🤯

stoic verge
torn raven
torpid shell
#

wifi is a "weird" module in it does some initialization on import which most don't. Something probably got added that isn't being reset on a soft reboot properly.

stoic verge
river vector
#

so i have my project bundle now, in finder.

#

no ._ files as of yet

#

or doesnt it show?

torn raven
# river vector

all those @ suffixes on the file modes mean there are extended attributes, which will get put into ._ files if you copy them to a non-HFS volume like CIRCUITPY

river vector
signal harbor
signal harbor
#

if it only finds .DS_Store, it's clean

river vector
torn raven
# river vector

yeah, i think that's expected if you didn't clear the attributes before unzipping the bundle

river vector
torn raven
river vector
#

i dont know what to do with neradoc thing.

signal harbor
#

did you get the "Remove Xattr Droplet" app ?

river vector
#

well, i dont know what a droplet is

signal harbor
#

it's just an app

zenith stirrup
#

@stoic verge been running the scan for over an hour now and not a single fail, it's looping fine on my feather s2. sorry it's not working for you 😦

torn raven
stoic verge
signal harbor
#

yeah I know, I need to make a readme, and a "release" and like zip the app into it

signal harbor
river vector
stoic verge
torpid shell
stoic verge
golden chasm
# 
import board
import time
import displayio
from adafruit_display_shapes.polygon import Polygon
from adafruit_display_shapes.rect import Rect
from adafruit_display_shapes.triangle import Triangle

display = board.DISPLAY

t0 = time.monotonic()
print("speed: ", end="")

# shape = Rect(0, 0, 480, 320, fill=0x00ff00)


shape = Polygon(
    [
        (0, 0),
        (480, 0),
        (480, 320),
        (0, 320)

    ],
    outline=0x0000FF,
)

print(time.monotonic() - t0)

main_group = displayio.Group()

# main_group.append(polygon)
main_group.append(shape)

display.show(main_group)
while True:
    pass
river vector
signal harbor
#

yup that would do it

zenith stirrup
#

keith do you have a UM S2?

#

i was unable to reproduce it on an adafruit feather s2

torn raven
river vector
stoic verge
river vector
zenith stirrup
#

weird, wonder why i can't reproduce it

signal harbor
#

but it's not an issue if you get vscode to ignore the ._ files ?

river vector
torn raven
stoic verge
stoic verge
river vector
golden chasm
river vector
old kayak
#

Thanks!

stoic verge
#

I ducked out at the wrong time, cheers all this was really nice and helpful!

river vector
#

thanks all!

zenith stirrup
#

Had an awesome time being able to discuss so many different things in a longer open format. This was great!

old kayak
#

Indeed! I appreciate the openness and the amazing collection of expertise and experiences.

knotty verge
old kayak
#

Given the current 8.0.0 build, would setting the PWM frequency to 100kHz improve display performance?

#

Not that it should, but we’re still troubleshooting.

torn raven
#

i think someone on voice tried with a number of different PWM frequencies and said it did have an effect on display performance in a nonlinear way?

knotty verge
old kayak
#

Can’t redefine the backlight pin and still test the display.brightness code logic in the core.

knotty verge
# old kayak Good idea. I’ve been testing it without adafruit_pyportal so far with the PyPort...

It's not CircuitPython, it's adafruit_pyportal. So you can choose to not use it. It is what's using that pin (see line 82 of adafruit_pyportal.peripheral https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_PyPortal/blob/main/adafruit_pyportal/peripherals.py#L82

You should be able to do:

import board, pwmio
display = board.DISPLAY
tft_backlight = pwmio.PWMOut(board.TFT_BACKLIGHT, frequenycy=500, duty_cycle = 2**15)
tft_backlight.duty_cycle = 0 # turn off 
tft_backlight.duty_cycle = 65535   # turn on 100%
old kayak
old kayak
# old kayak Ah, I thought I had tried that but got a pin in use error. That was a long time ...

To keep from getting the ValueError: TFT_BACKLIGHT in use I had to release displays first. That's a step I apparently skipped before. Next will try it with v8.0.0-beta.0. ```python
import board, pwmio, displayio
displayio.release_displays()
display = board.DISPLAY
tft_backlight = pwmio.PWMOut(board.TFT_BACKLIGHT, frequency=500, duty_cycle = 2**15)
tft_backlight.duty_cycle = 0 # turn off
tft_backlight.duty_cycle = 65535 # turn on 100%

#

Thank you @knotty verge !

signal harbor
#

but if you release the display, there's no board.DISPLAY

old kayak
#

Yes, but I can test the backlight. Still doesn't test the interaction with displayio as you pointed out.

knotty verge
#

I was wrong initially. You should not have to release the display

torn raven
#

i wonder what happens if you drive the backlight externally with a completely different PWM source at a variety of frequencies. maybe there's a power stability thing going on with the TFT module and the backlight driver chip

#

like drive it with a separate board…

old kayak
knotty verge
old kayak
#

Not sure. It seemed to start happening after auto_brightness was disabled.

knotty verge
#

hmm weird

old kayak
#

... and it appears to be the backlight PWM frequency.

knotty verge
#

how the heck is auto_brightness even determined. Seems suspect to me 🙂

old kayak
#

I'm thinking that there's either 1) something in displayioi, tile_grid, or elsewhere in the core, or 2) the backlight pin on the MCU (PB31) has a shared timer issue.

#

auto_brightness was never coded or enabled. It was a placeholder that was deemed to be no longer needed.

#

If I understand the reasoning, that is.

old kayak
torn raven
old kayak
#

I'm a rabbit-hole distractor at this point.

river vector
#

see ya, thnx

river vector
# modest iris <@695675843938222220> I make the build task specify which files to copy.

HeyTammy. Well, ive been researching the task thing, but i dont know what to do, OMH. and i cant for the life of me find that video where i saw you use it, i only watch youtube pretty much, cant find ya. also the launch config. well theres a topic for yer next video! 🙂 as we were discussing, avoiding the copying secret ._files, not using (much) CLI, not filling the CPY with trash. but if i could get a glance at yer task and launchfiles id try to figure soemting out.

modest iris
river vector
true plover
#

@frozen hill this one?

frozen hill
#

@true plover Here you go!

#

Yep!

true plover
#

Did I lose you CGrover?