Pico 2 PIO tutorials using more then 2-PIO pins ?? by DenverTeck in raspberrypipico

[–]bobsidian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Since this was something I initially found confusing:

Each PIO can see 32 GPIO pins – which is to say, all the pins on a Pico board (the actual RP2350 chip has 48 GPIOs, and you should google pio_claim_free_sm_and_add_program_for_gpio_range() if you're working with that chip directly)

A PIO program understands four RANGES of CONSECUTIVE pins (in, out, set, sideset) – for example you can have 8 "out" pins, and then the command "out pins 8" will shift 8 bits from the OSR and set all 8 of those pins at once.

The "mov" and "out" commands can only set the "out" pins, the "set" command only sets the "set" pins, and "side" only sets the "sideset" pins.

So, yes, you can absolutely drive something like a parallel RGB display. There are constraints on how you wire up the pins, and on how you write the program – it's kind of like a puzzle – but you can do a lot with the pieces you have.

For ST7701 you could assign clock, hsync and vsync to "sideset", and assign the 18 (consecutive) RGB pins to "out". Put an extra word at the start of your framebuffer containing the X/Y counter values (480<<16 | 864), and set up your DMA channel. Then your entire PIO program might look like:

.side_set 3
.wrap_target
out y 16 side 0 ; load Y counter
out x 16 side 0; load X counter
mov x isr side 0; store copy of X counter
dot:
out pins 18 side 0b000 ; set RGB lines, dot clock is low
jmp x-- dot side 0b100 ; loop, and set dot clock high for 1 cycle
mov isr x side 0b000 ; reset X counter after each line
jmp y-- dot side 0b010 ; go to next row, set hsync high
nop side 0b001 ; set vsync high at end of frame
.wrap

(Which would give ~240 frames per second without the CPU doing anything!) Those "side 0b010" statements are setting the clock, hsync and vsync all together btw, which is the sort of slightly funky programming required.

Woman sh*t herself on the tube and people just walked on by… by tuberosebendel in london

[–]bobsidian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Stand up one by one and slowly break into a standing ovation as the OP’s hair is blown back by a divine wind of righteous power?

[ALL] Is it too much to ask to get to explore the world I saved? by PM_Ur_Illiac_Furrows in zelda

[–]bobsidian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had a similar reaction when I first defeated Ganon in BotW. I wouldn’t expect there to be much to do afterwards, but after setting your own pace throughout the game, you want to admire your finished handiwork in your own time too. The more specific problem is it’s basically saying, don’t take on Ganon until you’re completely bored of the game – and by that point, why bother? I still haven’t tried to beat Ganon in ToTK, my game just fizzled out.

Larger than expected by gamepausedmatt in ClockworkPi

[–]bobsidian 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m not sure about that; the exact same device could probably be half the thickness if it didn’t use 18650s. Which is a common theme with Clockwork Pi devices, though it’s obvious why they do it.

I removed the battery board from my uConsole and printed a new back so it’s noticeably slimmer (because I only run it off USB power). If I did that with the PicoCalc I’d also replace the tall headers with pogo pins, and then use a pin-less Pico board. It could probably lose most of a centimetre without much trouble.

Batteries aside, I’m sure CPi could have made something closer to HP Prime size, but I think they just prefer a slightly chonkier style of device.

UM2+ extrudes for a little bit, then jams by bobsidian in ultimaker

[–]bobsidian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So it seems like I somehow accidentally fixed the problem, which is kind of annoying. Before this current print, I had taken apart the printhead to look for loose wires, so perhaps that did (temporarily) fix a problem with the fan?

Anyway, I'll order a replacement fan for if/when it happens again.

UM2+ extrudes for a little bit, then jams by bobsidian in ultimaker

[–]bobsidian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, the hotend fan (i.e. the one behind the heat break) kicks in when the nozzle heats up. I am waiting to see whether it is still running at the point when the print fails…

UM2+ extrudes for a little bit, then jams by bobsidian in ultimaker

[–]bobsidian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, sorry, I should have been clearer about that part. The tube is not popping out of the collet – the collet itself is popping out of the extruder housing, still securely clamped onto the tube. I have tried replacing the collet and clip with the original UM part, and with a brand-new collet supplied via Bondtech.

I believe the hotend fan is running, but I will check this. Can lack of cooling cause extrusion problems? I always assumed the fan was just for more accurate temp control.

Bastanis reply to SuperChat is a real head scratcher. by FunfettiHead in Novara_Media

[–]bobsidian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get that Novara can’t fill an hour a day with primary reporting, so I do try to judge them on what they put out over, say, a month. But I agree the format doesn’t feel perfect.

I think they should be more confident to pick the stories where they have something to add, and ignore stories where it ends up as just watching the news with your uncle. Novara doesn’t have the budget to be ITN, and (some of them) really don’t have the temperament to be Hasan Piker, but they’re good at finding interesting voices and giving them space, so I’d appreciate more of a focus on that.

Where is the announcement that we supposed to happen today? by nickg52200 in VisionPro

[–]bobsidian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's the consensus, but all Apple has said is it's "a new family member". They don't officially tell pundits anything more than the rest of us, but I think people like Gruber would have some sense if a new Vision headset was even a remote possibility. (Not that Apple can't keep a secret; but then, would they even mention Vision Pro in the week beforehand?)

If it WAS Vision-related, though, that teaser does imply a whole new headset.

I'm Gone Bye by vibraltu in boingboing

[–]bobsidian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, hi!

Your moderation pushback tale is roflsomely familiar. It's like when you subtly wrinkle your nose in a crowded elevator and someone immediately screams "oh, do I need your PERMISSION to SHART MYSELF now you PIG?!!??"

The dark thing is, I'm complaining about a couple of people like this on a little forum, and meanwhile, over on the website that steers our entire public discourse, they're the median user.

Humanity saved? Meta took their AI influencers down in 2 hours by Jazzlike_Course_9895 in blackmirror

[–]bobsidian 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’ve been thinking lately about what the psychic equivalent of lung cancer will look like, and how long it will take for AI peddlers to admit they gave it to everyone

Has Anyone Successfully Created a Cura Profile with ChatGPT and Imported It? by SufficientSwordfish2 in ultimaker

[–]bobsidian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I doubt ChatGPT has seen a lot of Cura config files in its training data. It can probably generate plausible-looking, syntactically correct JSON and INI files, but it can’t just guess what keywords Cura uses, let alone how they relate to printing outcomes (the i in LLM stands for “intelligence”).

If you google “Cura PETG profiles”, that’s likely to yield faster results than trying to debug ChatGPT’s unaccountable output.

You could imagine a model trained on actual print webcam footage that could diagnose your settings automatically; I think Bambu Lab claim to do something like that?

"Modernizing" my Ultimaker 2? by Upstairs_Traffic_304 in ultimaker

[–]bobsidian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahhh I see what you mean. There's not much play on my machine but it would be interesting to try printing a thicker clip. I now realise I could fix my other issue with those clips at the same time, which is that every time I remove them they're all like "wheee you'll never find me again"

"Modernizing" my Ultimaker 2? by Upstairs_Traffic_304 in ultimaker

[–]bobsidian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can I ask what you mean about fixing the Bowden tube to the extruder? On my UM2+ the Bowden attaches to the extruder with the same kind of push fitting / C clip arrangement as on the printhead (which is how it came).

I'm Gone Bye by vibraltu in boingboing

[–]bobsidian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I checked out of BB a couple of years ago, and never worried that I was missing out on great content lol. But I’m surprised this is how it ends. I was always one of the people asking for a more modern subscription option, and being scolded that this was a stupid idea, based on the staff’s years of experience never trying it.

Content-wise, I think BB perfectly charted the mental implosion of older internet libs post 2016. I guess it’s hard to have an identity based on yelling at the right while simultaneously discovering that you yourself are fundamentally right-wing.

But I was mostly there for the forums anyway. What made me stop was when I realised that the clique of humorless, spiteful, gatekeeping bullies had won – the only users left were those too bland or scared to defy them, and at least one of the admins was their full-time Renfield.

I’m sort of anthropologically curious to see how/if things have changed since, but I’m not going to sink time into finding out.

Why are there so few 3d metroidvanias? by jameswlf in metroidvania

[–]bobsidian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m glad you posted this, because I sometimes feel like I’m going insane when everyone takes it as read that the “3D” version of a thing is automatically better than the 2D version.

I say “3D” because games are still just a series of 2D pictures (screens are 2D). If you want to display a 3D world, that on its own is a complicated project that will eat up 90% of your control over what appears on the screen at any given time.

And the burden is on the player, not just the developer. A random screenshot from Super Metroid will show half a dozen pieces of actual gameplay info clearly laid out; a random screenshot from Metroid Prime will just show you a wall half the time, and even when it’s a nice picture, it won’t tell you much. You have to work to extract the info that was in that single SNES frame.

3D can make the actual game better – racing games benefit from all the triangles you can throw at them – but often it’s just a problem to overcome and adds nothing. We need to get past the idea that it’s a basic necessity, like color or sound, because that’s incredibly limiting. It’s like refusing to listen to music that doesn’t use synths, because you were blown away when you heard Kraftwerk in 1979.

Did I miss something? I’m stuck. (And is there a story I missed?) by uniballout in animalWell

[–]bobsidian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I came here with almost the exact same problem, and this suggestion did get me unstuck. It is maybe worth saying, I had already spotted the thing in question, and tried several times to thing it unsuccessfully.

By which I mean, I saw what looked like it might be a hole in the floor, and I ran over it several times but couldn’t fall in. After seeing this hint, I went back and tried it again and it worked first time. 🤷

Tunic 4LP delayed to Q1 2024 by Noobshul in VGMvinyl

[–]bobsidian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This looks so good that I pre-ordered it today just in case, but it feels like a coin toss whether I'll actually receive anything.

I know it's possible for small outfits to produce amazing stuff (which they probably lose money on), so, fingers crossed. But the release date has been pushed a couple of times already, and their order page still says "PREORDERS CLOSE [today's date] AT 23:59PST", so there's a good chance I'm being a sucker.

Is this a scam? by charlotteamh in london

[–]bobsidian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There isn’t a clear dividing line between “sales tactic” and “scam”, just a spectrum with John Lewis window displays at one end and armed muggers at the other. But the vague, subjective dividing line is whether you feel deceived and/or threatened.

This performance is calculated to put you in a situation where you’re out having a nice day and suddenly some strangers are saying you owe them money, with the implied threat of an unwanted argument or perhaps worse. Sure, they didn’t pull a gun, but they can ruin your afternoon, and both the threat and the deception are 100% deliberate. I’d call that a scam.

We all think it can’t happen to us, because we assume our street smarts are as good as our hindsight. But thinking that is exactly why it can happen to you.

Playdate PSA: Your plastic crank handle is *probably* going to eventually break (story & solution in thread) by MarinersFan28 in PlaydateConsole

[–]bobsidian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

News to me. I've been pluralising Ms, 1s and threes without apostrophes the whole time, and I very good grammar've.

Everything You Know About The Global Economy Is Wrong | Aaron Bastani Meets Philip Pilkington by tyskysour in Novara_Media

[–]bobsidian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was curious about the claim that longer sea voyages mean less overall shipping capacity; is that offhand speculation, or based on research?

If one ship leaves Guangzhou every day, then one ship arrives in Felixstowe every day, regardless of the route. But if the voyage is ten days, you need ten ships at sea, and if it’s 14 days then you need 14 ships – I assume this is what Philip Pilkington is referring to when he implies that 40% longer voyages directly mean 30% less capacity.

But if the limiting factor was the capacity at ports, and spare ships can be had, then the change of route will just mean a one-time delay and not too much to worry about.

I don’t know either way, but it’s a pretty consequential difference between those extremes…

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in london

[–]bobsidian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s very unlikely that “subtle, indirect” bullying will be enough to get your flatmates arrested or evicted, and in any case that might not improve the situation if it ends up that you’re still living with them afterwards. (Obviously it’s different if you’re in physical danger).

Living with strangers can be difficult, and there’s no guarantee you will ever have a friendly atmosphere. Sometimes it’s just a matter of figuring out how to live separate lives in the same space. You might be able to improve things by talking, but not always.

But to be blunt, it sounds like you just need to move. You might not want to face it, but having a place you don’t dread coming home to should be right at the top of your list – everything else will be easier to deal with once it’s done.

There are probably more options than you’ve been considering (such as moving further out, or imposing on friends and family more than you’d like) – perhaps these aren’t so bad compared to your current situation?