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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Just ordered one of these :
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hitsware2 Guru  Joined: 03/08/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 713 |
All the way from the U.K. Hope to make it work with coming version of mmPico/VGA  my site |
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Hans Senior Member  Joined: 18/10/2022 Location: CanadaPosts: 116 |
Just do a search for "Pimoroni Pico VGA Demo Base" (ALL). There are a number of posts that have discussed this board in the past. I found several. Hans ...  |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 4256 |
That board Will not work with picomite VGA The connecties between the VGA connector and the rp2040 are different. The audio is different. Volhout Edited 2023-03-10 16:54 by Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3816 |
I think it runs DOOM, though, so don't just scrap it if you like such things. John |
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| hitsware2 Guru Joined: 03/08/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 713 |
Hopefully soon uPython will work . First I'll try this .... Edited 2023-03-11 05:49 by hitsware2 my site |
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| matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 9139 |
Very unlikely with this board - there are a number of dedicated demo's in C that run on it but that is all |
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| hitsware2 Guru Joined: 03/08/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 713 |
Yea ..... I see that .... but hope springs eternal Then there is the BBCBasic .... From what I know , I don't know if it will be able to read ADC ? COUNT ? et. al. Why don't you make the new version compatible with this board ? It evidently is based on the RPi reference ( for what that's worth ) ? Edited 2023-03-11 07:03 by hitsware2 my site |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 6814 |
Do you want it compatible with that board or do you want it usable? ;) You don't create a language to run on one particular PCB nowadays. First, I2S audio needs quite a bit of processing. It's not I2C, which can be handled in hardware on the chip. It would probably need the second PIO. Second, the VGA system on that board uses 17 GP pins rather than 6. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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Hawk Senior Member Joined: 15/07/2021 Location: AustraliaPosts: 141 |
I couldn’t see any indication that a keyboard can be connected to the Pimoroni. They’re must be something that I’m missing, as the RPi Pico port of BBC BASIC supposedly runs on it. |
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phil99 Guru Joined: 11/02/2018 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2141 |
Unless they have found some way to use a USB keyboard through the USB port it will have to be tethered to a computer. In which case you may as well run your programs on the computer and leave it in the junk box. Perhaps you are meant to use the few remaining I/O to implement your own PS/2 port. |
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| matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 9139 |
Because it is a catastrophically stupid design |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3816 |
It's odd, too, in that I can't (*) figure _why_ they chose it. Someone was clever enough to create the PIOs etc and so much else on the Pico (OK, the ADC is an exception) ... yet the "reference design" has such shortcomings. Like it was made by someone with little interest in h/w (GPIOs etc) - other than quite good VGA (using up so many pins). Oh well. It wasn't expensive. (*) it's well beyond my abilities re h/w Perhaps they'll make a version 2 ref design... any of the MMBasic ones would be good! John |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 6814 |
I suspect the reference design is optimised for running impressive demos to show off the Pico. It has nothing to do with making it usable. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3816 |
Bingo! Sounds right. They definitely need a #2. John |
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| hitsware2 Guru Joined: 03/08/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 713 |
That doesn't mean it's a ' boot to basic ' standalone ... my site |
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| hitsware2 Guru Joined: 03/08/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 713 |
Except you may be able to use the vga monitor the same way as now doable with small lcd displays my site |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 6814 |
That board is a clever but pointless design IMHO. It's actually what it says - a demo board. It's not intended to do anything useful, there simply isn't enough IO left. Also, by the time you are running the VGA display most of the RAM has gone. There quite simply isn't enough of it. You *may* get impressive things to run (written in C) but it's not a general purpose board by any means. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3816 |
Reading more, and looking at the examples, looks like they debugged the Pico using the ref design. Maybe take off various resistors etc and use it for MMBasic after that. John |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 6814 |
Cheaper and more convenient to get a PicoMite VGA mini.... ;) Ok, you don't get the (unsupported) high number of colours or the (unsupported) I2S audio. :) Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3816 |
Well, they're supported - but not by MMBasic (for good reasons). I plan to send for Mini PCBs once someone else who's competent at soldering etc has got them & found any problems plus fixed them :) (BTW I am convinced the PM & PMVGA are far better designs for actual use than the demo board.) TBF, the demo board is cheaper if you already own it (the OP & me, at least). It may even be cheaper than buying the Mini PCBs and parts (I don't care, I'll buy 'em anyway). Also, it doesn't need any soldering (probably a -ve for many on here LOL) or the effort of buying of various components (not meant as a complaint). I had a very quick glance at the demo board just now and don't really fancy trying to remove parts. CBA as some say. John |
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