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CHIP Pro

nextthing.co

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Re: CHIP Pro

#131

Post by Yaggo »

astrodust wrote: post #66
Yaggo wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In theory, yes, but the lack of LVDS/MIPI display connector/driver (or even HDMI) makes it difficult to connect any practical display on it.

What are the LCD-Dx lines for?

No idea. I'm not familiar with the CHIP Pro, just quickly read the datasheet. The SOC contains Mali400 GPU, so in theory it should capable for video output, but I can't find any mentioning whether the video capability is enabled in hardware/software level in CHIP Pro (i.e pins wired & Linux driver).

Raspberry Pi has similar problem: although it uses a SOC designed for mobile applications, there are no open source solutions to connect generic smartphone displays to DSI port, and HDMI is very bulky/over-engineered solution for transferring video signal over few centimeters. (Blame Broadcom, not the Foundation.)

Re: CHIP Pro

#132

Post by samch »

platz wrote: post #22

I have the chip, esp8266, rpi, teensies, trinkets, arduinos... I studied electronics principles and built various circuits.. yet I have no idea what I can practically use these devices for in my life. They all sit in a box and I have a hard time justifying buying more of them.

I was in the same boat as you until I stumbled on a real, money-saving project. My PetSafe invisible fence wired transmitter blew out, and I wasn't keen on dropping over $100 on a new one. After dragging my feet for a few weeks and doing nothing about it, I realized that I could probably replicate whatever the transmitter was doing with my RPi. Sure enough, somebody online had hooked their transmitter up to an oscilloscope and figured out the correct signal pattern to send over the wire. If I have time tonight, I'm going to finish the code and test it out. When I'm done, I should have a new transmitter that I can control via my phone for significantly less money than the junk PetSafe sells.

Re: CHIP Pro

#133

Post by SuperKlaus »

gbajson wrote: post #53

Considering the fact that they missed delivery date of the previous one by at least 150% (I am still waiting) announcing new one with "Available Dec 2016" sounds like tasteless joke.

I had two orders and both were delivered on time.

Edit: I was part of the kickstarter batch.

Re: CHIP Pro

#134

Post by Palomides »

thom_nic wrote: post #128
Palomides wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you have a cutout underneath, with only a small overlap for the connection.

Milled cut out in the middle of the mainboard seems like an annoying additional cost. Headers that raise the module off the board would be acceptable, except when vertical space is a constraint.

You have to mill at least the outline of your board anyway, a little more is trivial.

Re: CHIP Pro

#135

Post by rbanffy »

platz wrote: post #22

I have the chip, esp8266, rpi, teensies, trinkets, arduinos... I studied electronics principles and built various circuits.. yet I have no idea what I can practically use these devices for in my life. They all sit in a box and I have a hard time justifying buying more of them.

I still have the wish to build a board for a Raspberry Pi or similar that, through the GPIO pins would be able to drive an Apple II as its console (using the keyboard and 80-column display) by directly reading from and writing to the 6502's address space. A tiny bit of firmware could initialize it as a normal Apple II peripheral and, with the right software running on the Pi, it'd be possible to emulate a number of different cards in software.

If I could lay my hands on an Apple ///, which had a color-capable text mode, it'd be even more usable.

My real wish, however, is to be able to actually work from the Apple II :-)

Re: CHIP Pro

#136

Post by MaggieL »

afandian wrote: post #91
RBerenguel wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ordered a TextBlade (small-form factor bluetooth keyboard with pretty nifty technology) on March 2015 for delivery on June 2015 (not a Kickstarter, mind you) and I'm still waiting (actually all purchasers are, except for a beta testing group).

I was thinking of buying one recently but couldn't find any reviews on YouTube which seemed suspect. Do you expect to ever get it?

I have one Chip and one PocketChip as a backer; my lifepartner has another PocketChip. Last February I preordered five Chips (the max) and another PocketChip. My understanding is that it's actually the PocketChip that holding up shipping my order.

If you're interested in activity from users, https://bbs.nextthing.co/ is the place to go.

I did a presso at a Scala conference back in February about using Scala on Chip, you can view the deck here:

https://goo.gl/2t5hBX

I was an early order of TextBlade too, cancelled after waiting a year for a device that was supposed to be in production and ready to ship. I got tired of letting people hold my money who wouldn't tell me the truth. The TextBlade forum is now being purged of anybody who complains; having originally created a "Rants" section, ranting is no loner allowed. For uncensored information, go to the TextBlade Reddit.

The TextBade mobile app, required for firmware updates and adavanced keyboard mapping has been in the iOS app store since last December (it's needed to be a beta user). Only mock-ups (at best; the video could well be fake) of the Android app have been shown; previously WayTools said they would not begin development on Android until after they started shipping product. They basic attitude has been that they don't give a crap about Android users but like their money.

Re: CHIP Pro

#137

Post by RBerenguel »

afandian wrote: post #91
RBerenguel wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ordered a TextBlade (small-form factor bluetooth keyboard with pretty nifty technology) on March 2015 for delivery on June 2015 (not a Kickstarter, mind you) and I'm still waiting (actually all purchasers are, except for a beta testing group).

I was thinking of buying one recently but couldn't find any reviews on YouTube which seemed suspect. Do you expect to ever get it?

A TextBlade? Well, there seem to be too many beta testers in the wild for it to be a scam of any kind, and too much money has been dropped on it, I suspect, so, yes, I expect to get it at some point. Of course I'm pretty pissed at having to wait that much, though.

Re: CHIP Pro

#138

Post by RBerenguel »

MaggieL wrote: post #136
afandian wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking of buying one recently but couldn't find any reviews on YouTube which seemed suspect. Do you expect to ever get it?

I have one Chip and one PocketChip as a backer; my lifepartner has another PocketChip. Last February I preordered five Chips (the max) and another PocketChip. My understanding is that it's actually the PocketChip that holding up shipping my order. If you're interested in activity from users, https://bbs.nextthing.co/ is the place to go. I did a presso at a Scala conference back in February about using Scala on Chip,…

Oh, is that you Maggie from the forum? I'm still vaguely able to complain there, or so it seems, but I still keep it low key. I also cancelled after a year, but then reordered when the beta testing thing started, since it seemed kind of imminent to get one. How wrong I was.

Checking your Scala on Chip deck, I'm pretty deep down the Scala rabbit hole since a couple of months ago.

Re: CHIP Pro

#139

Post by joeyh »

Seems this is not the same form factor or pins as the CHIP. So it can't be swapped out to upgrade PocketCHIP, etc. They seem to be missing an opportunity here to create a standard. Pity, I had assumed that was the goal.

(Of course, maybe there was a good reason to throw away the first attempt at a standard..)

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