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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : And I thought I had it down pat .......
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| hitsware Guru  Joined: 23/11/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 535 |
BUT 
VT100 board 1.2 MicroMite 4.5C Composite Video (all works fine with Duinomite) When I power up everything looks OK. I can enter code As soon as I goto EDIT I get a new line with each keystroke .... I notice at the bottom of the screen that the entries (save cut .....) take up more than the screen width ? I think ? I used this board with VGA and it worked OK .... |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2428 |
you need to set the screen height correctly with: OPTION LINES n
where n is the number of lines on the screen. i assume that the editor calculates the screen with automatically. cheers, rob :-) |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2428 |
from geoff's website: so n should be 18 for PAL, or 15 for NTSC composite video. |
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| hitsware Guru Joined: 23/11/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 535 |
I set that @ 24 as prescribed .... How can I calculate the right number ? edit: ya beat me to it  |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9586 |
Being that you are in America, and use NTSC video, you need to use the line OPTION LINES 15. I think you may perhaps be confusing the VT100 terminal screen settings for PAL or NTSC with the MicroMite settings - both are different. 
As the manual mentions, this is 24 lines by default, but remember that the MM is expecting a PC or VGA-type screen, and thus configures itself for a PC compatible line-number. At least, that is my understanding of it. So therefore, when you connect the MM to the VT100, and use it's composite video output, the MM needs to be told that you want 15 line output, to make the composite video output work. I will try this here now with a VideoMite PCB. EDIT: Yes, I see what you mean.  I cannot make the video output work in edit no matter what. It is always off. I can get SOME success with setting lines to 15(even for a PAL monitor!), but the bottom of the screen is still not right compared to how it looks on a VGA screen or in TeraTerm. Interesting.... Other members - please share your thoughts.
EDIT: OK, I have established that if you use the CONSOLE connected to the VT100, then the control codes are mucking up the composite video output. This does not seem to happen with the VGA output, just the composite. My guess would be that to fix that, you need to use one of the MM's com ports, which won't send any control codes. However, if you wanted to use composite and program your MM, this would appear to be a slight problem. Perhaps Geoff will offer his thoughts here... Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| hitsware Guru Joined: 23/11/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 535 |
> I think you may perhaps be confusing > the VT100 terminal screen settings for > PAL or NTSC with the MicroMite settings For sure 
With VT100 set for PAL and OPTIONS LINES 15 at least it is usable 
( If (as you noted) not the prettiest presentation ) IIRC it worked much better with VGA ...... > if you wanted to use composite and program your MM Exactamundo ! |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9586 |
Yeah, I am sure there is a slight issue here, but only with the composite video output of the terminal - the VGA and USB outputs seem to work fine, but the composite does not. I have tried a couple of the VT100 text commands(large and jumbo text etc) on composite, and they work fine, but the built-in editor does not. Watching this thread with interest... Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| hitsware Guru Joined: 23/11/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 535 |
> but the built-in editor does not. Yea ..... Not even quite usable after all. (I may also have a fault of some sort in my board. The whole thing reboots spontaneously every so often) > Watching this thread with interest... I perhaps should simply embrace the DuinoMite. I'm not really trying to 'embed' anything more than my personal gimmicks. I wish the ColorMaximite had the hardware UART ( AND the composite video ) However the MicroMite w/VT100 (or VideoMite) certainly would make a slick little PC (with composite) FWIW one of the reasons I like the composite is my monitor has a very nice sounding MP3 player built in 
How does the DuinoMite handle video ??? |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9586 |
You could use the CMM as your main processor, and use a MicroMite connected via it's console or I2C, to harness the MicroMite's hardware serial port - depends on how fast you need the com support, as the natural bottleneck in that idea, would be the speed of either the I2C or bit-banged CMM serial port. VGA 7" panels can be had on eBay these days for about US$60-70, so they are MUCH cheaper then they used to be. However, small 4:3 composite panels can likewise be had for about $20, so.... Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| hitsware Guru Joined: 23/11/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 535 |
I like the simple RCA connector for composite. Somehow elegant. Of course that's this week |
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Geoffg Guru Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 3282 |
The problem with the Micromite's EDIT command and the VT100 terminal is that the Micromite expected all displays to be 80 characters wide - which is not the case with the VT100 terminal in composite mode. When the editor tried sending lines longer than the display width the result was a messed up display. To fix this I have created an interim version of the Micromite MkII firmware (ver 4.6A) and it is attached. 2015-01-11_050958_Micromite_V4.6a.zip It has only two minor changes since the "official" 4.6 release so I am not planning full release (just release it on the Back Shed). The changes are: - Removed OPTION LINES and replaced it with OPTION DISPLAY. This new command allows you to specify both the display height in lines and the width in characters. The syntax is OPTION DISPLAY lines [, chars] (the width is optional). - Fixed a bug that sometimes caused a comparison between two integers to return an invalid result when the value of either integer was greater than 30 bits. While I was testing the OPTION DISPLAY command I discovered an error in the specifications for the composite video output of the VT100 terminal - the horizontal resolution was wrong. The correct specs are: - Composite PAL : 288 x 218 pixels or 48 chars x 18 lines - Composite NTSC: 264 x 180 pixels or 44 chars x 15 lines So, if you are using the above firmware with the VT100 Terminal in composite mode, you should use OPTION DISPLAY 18, 48 for PAL or OPTION DISPLAY 15, 44 for NTSC. Geoff Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net |
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| hitsware Guru Joined: 23/11/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 535 |
Good-Oh ..... Thank You
Hopefully Circuit Gizmo will soon update ... |
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| Geoffg Guru Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 3282 |
I created this version for you to just fix your problem - so you should update your Micromites yourself. Circuit Gizmo will probably wait for a full release. Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net |
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| hitsware Guru Joined: 23/11/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 535 |
That's where one needs a pic-programmer right? I've reflashed the Maximite and Duinomite, but that's about it ... |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9586 |
Yes, you need a PICkit to be able to re-flash the firmware. This kind of update cannot be done via USB. The Maximite's are a little different in that respect, as they have a dedicated bootloader which allows you to update the firmware via USB. The MicroMite1 and MicroMite2 do not, so to update these, you have to reflash the chip with a PICkit. PK clones are very affordable now though - about $25 on eBay. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| hitsware Guru Joined: 23/11/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 535 |
How long until the next 'full release' ? I don't know if I could run the PicKit ..... AND am trying to depend on Linux . It's interesting that even though Linux is used in ubertech, the usefull apps for Microprosessor are Windows |
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| ajkw Senior Member  Joined: 29/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 290 |
If you know someone with a RPi it makes for a quick and easy programmer for the Micromite. Method is covered in these forums. |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2428 |
also 'G8JCF' (peter) and I have posted methods using a 2nd maximite to carry out programming with a PC application. peter has his own code, i use a modified version of pic32prog. both methods seem to work extremely reliably, taking 10-15 minutes to complete the task. details posted in the thread "simplest 32MX150 ICSP". i'm sure i've posted a complete 'kit of parts' as a zip file somewhere on here. cheers, rob :-) |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4033 |
Another way is here - just need a confirming tester! John |
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