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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : PicoMite Alpha Firmware

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Volhout
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Joined: 05/03/2018
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Posted: 10:47am 01 Jun 2021
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@mixtel90

Power up (yellow=5V, green = 3.3V blue = 1.1V)
Voltages are stable in miliseconds.
The dip in the 5V is caused by the current limitter of the 5V supply (set to 200mA). A capable charger will not product such a voltage dip.



Tested the crystal oscillator startup on both boards 9thye good, and the faulty).
Please note the scope is in envelope mode, otherwise you would see aliasing in the crystal.

Both boards enable the crystal oscillator after 75ms. Then within 12ms the crystal oscillator produces a stable waveform.

The bad unit



The good unit




If it is caused by the crystal oscillator, it is very critical since the boards are not behaving very different.
PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS
 
Mixtel90

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Posted: 10:59am 01 Jun 2021
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Nope... I doubt if there's any difference that wouldn't be ordinary component tolerances - and pretty close at that.
Mick

Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini
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Mixtel90

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Posted: 11:17am 01 Jun 2021
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@matherp

XMODEM SAVE is creating the file on the pc, but it's empty. After the attempted save the prog has disappeared from the editor. :(

I'm not using a very big file - 116 lines.

Edit: (I wrote XMODEM SAVE, but the same thing happens with XMODEM SEND.)
Edited 2021-06-01 21:21 by Mixtel90
Mick

Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini
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Volhout
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Posted: 11:20am 01 Jun 2021
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@matherp

Version a6 is not very different. Only 1x in 30x it connected (and had a blinking LED).
Observation: the one time it worked, the first time the LED blinked was very short (like a flash), not the steady 1 second sequence.
PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS
 
circuit
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Joined: 10/01/2016
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 232
Posted: 11:31am 01 Jun 2021
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  CaptainBoing said  

Before acquiring my laser...



I don't want to take this thread off-topic, but could you indicate what "laser" technique you are using?
Edited 2021-06-01 21:36 by circuit
 
matherp
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Joined: 11/12/2012
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Posts: 8601
Posted: 12:02pm 01 Jun 2021
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a7

PicomiteV5.07.00a7.zip


XMODEM S fixed (hopefully) XMODEM S "filename" was working before
Some permanent OPTIONS available (colourcode, tab, case) and OPTION LIST
another change to startup - difficult to fix when my boards work all the time

HINT: align the connector with the USB socket and plug in straight and fast. One data line connecting and  the other not can cause problems
 
darthvader
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Joined: 31/01/2020
Location: France
Posts: 75
Posted: 12:15pm 01 Jun 2021
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It will be good to have a base board to not have to solder , connect etc for each project.
I see this one who give vga , audio , sd card etc ;)

pimonori pico demo

what do you think about it ?
Theory is when we know everything but nothing work ...
Practice is when everything work but no one know why ;)
 
lizby
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Joined: 17/05/2016
Location: United States
Posts: 3027
Posted: 12:35pm 01 Jun 2021
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For my picomite, no change in USB enumeration with a7--I get blinking light and access after flashing, but not thereafter when plugged in. I tried all 4 usb ports on my laptop. Also tried an 18650 module with usb power--no blinking light.
PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed
 
Volhout
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Posted: 12:39pm 01 Jun 2021
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@peter,

same here a7 doesn't cut it. Please PM me your address, I will ship my board over to you.

Regards,

Volhout
PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS
 
Volhout
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Joined: 05/03/2018
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 3580
Posted: 12:47pm 01 Jun 2021
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  darthvader said  It will be good to have a base board to not have to solder , connect etc for each project.
I see this one who give vga , audio , sd card etc ;)

pimonori pico demo

what do you think about it ?


OK, for GBP3.60 you have a Pi Pico. Add GBP18 and you have a VGA + SDcard + audio. So technically you have a small computer. But it has no keyboard, no mouse, no serial port, no GPIO, and only works with the C/C++ Pico SDK.

I have doubt it will attract the forum here, mainly because the lack of IO.

Doubtless, it is a masterpiece in design, and with the Pinomo name on it there will be a fanbase. But I am not interested myself.
PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS
 
Mixtel90

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Posted: 01:07pm 01 Jun 2021
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  darthvader said  It will be good to have a base board to not have to solder , connect etc for each project.
I see this one who give vga , audio , sd card etc ;)

pimonori pico demo

what do you think about it ?
As you need to have pin headers on the Pico to use that board, and vga isn't supported for MMBasic (at the moment anyway) then you'd probably be better off with a normal breadboard and a SD card adapter module. Audio output only needs a couple of resistors. There aren't many tie points per pin for the Pico either, so if you wanted to connect a load of buttons and LEDs you may need a breadboard anyway.

Of course, if your main interest is in using the Pico in the normal Raspberry Pi environment then it might be worthwhile.
Mick

Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini
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Mixtel90

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Posts: 5767
Posted: 01:29pm 01 Jun 2021
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XMODEM working :)
OPTION COLOURCODE working :)     (Yay!)
OPTION LIST working :)
OPTION CASE working :)
OPTION TAB working :)

And the heartbeat flasher starts when running from a charger.

Nice one, Peter. :)
Mick

Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini
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Volhout
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Posted: 01:31pm 01 Jun 2021
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@peter

You are running the CPU at 125MHz ?
The problem is not cause by a CPU change from a1 to a2 where CPU runs at 250MHz.
And some chips can't run at 250MHz.

Volhout
Edited 2021-06-01 23:31 by Volhout
PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS
 
lizby
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Joined: 17/05/2016
Location: United States
Posts: 3027
Posted: 01:33pm 01 Jun 2021
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Error : Internal fault (sorry)

I have a program which will not load from SD and which cannot be AUTOSAVEd.

I narrowed it down to a single line:

 sprite read 1,36,180,36,36,sp    ' up arrow

If you press F10 and paste in that line, you get the "Internal fault" error message after Ctrl-Z.

I retyped it in Notepad to make sure there weren't any invisible characters, and still get the same error.

If I enter an empty editor and copy in that line and exit with F2, I get the error. In fact, just the word "sprite" typed into the editor will produce the error when exiting with F1 or F2.
> AUTOSAVE
sprite
Error : Internal fault (sorry)
>


"' sprite" can be AUTOSAVEd (with a single quote before "sprite").

~
Edited 2021-06-01 23:47 by lizby
PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed
 
matherp
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Joined: 11/12/2012
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8601
Posted: 01:50pm 01 Jun 2021
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a8

PicomiteV5.07.00a8.zip


FLASH LIST now shows the first line of the program in the slot
OPTION AUTORUN now allows a number between 1 and 10 or OFF
If there is a program in the slot specified then that program will run on boot up. If not then autorun will be reset to off
SPRITE bug fixed?

Another change to the startup timing but who knows  
Edited 2021-06-01 23:53 by matherp
 
lizby
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Posted: 02:13pm 01 Jun 2021
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a8:

AUTOSAVE of the file containing "SPRITE" (and other not-yet-implemented commands) works.
Appreciate the improvement to FLASH LIST.
Still no enumeration of the USB after power cycling.
PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed
 
Mixtel90

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Posts: 5767
Posted: 02:21pm 01 Jun 2021
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Just tried


'Hello World
Do
Print "Hello World!"
pause 1000
Loop


in flash slot 2

Then OPTION AUTORUN 2

Power cycle or temporarily ground RUN pin

Starts up
Prints header
Prints a space and the prompt.
There is no prog in editor.
OPTION AUTORUN has reset
Same problem if the comment is removed

FLASH LIST is lovely. :)

Edit:
Incidentally, the RUN pin is very sensitive. The on-chip pullup seems to be high (probably around 50k) so just touching the pin with a short length of insulated wire would cause a reset. This might be something to watch out for, particularly if you haven't got your Pico on a breadboard.
Edited 2021-06-02 00:42 by Mixtel90
Mick

Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini
Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs
 
Plasmamac

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Joined: 31/01/2019
Location: Germany
Posts: 504
Posted: 02:44pm 01 Jun 2021
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Has anyone else tryed the Hello multicore cpu speed example from Multi
Plasma
 
Mixtel90

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Posts: 5767
Posted: 03:27pm 01 Jun 2021
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Ooh... just discovered that OPTION DISPLAY works too. Thanks, Peter. :)

Just put a Pico on a breadboard and managed to solder a SMD button onto the tops of pins 28 and 30, over the top of 29. Now have a Reset button. :)
Edited 2021-06-02 01:33 by Mixtel90
Mick

Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini
Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs
 
matherp
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Posted: 03:30pm 01 Jun 2021
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  Quote  Starts up
Prints header
Prints a space and the prompt.
There is no prog in editor.
OPTION AUTORUN has reset
Same problem if the comment is removed


That will teach me to move some code after testing something  

a9


PicomiteV5.07.00a9.zip



 
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