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I like the RP2040

dgroshev.com

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Re: I like the RP2040

#141

Post by mewse-hn »

MegaDeKay wrote: post #113
dvdbloc wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where can I learn more about how they are used in console hacking? This sounds very interesting

Here you go. There might be more but these are all I can think of off the top of my head. Nintendo Switch modchip - PicoFly: https://github.com/rehius/usk . That is the OG source of the firmware behind the already mentioned https://github.com/Ansem-SoD/Picofly OG XBox Modchip - Modxo: https://github.com/shalxmva/modxo (see initial impressions from ModzvilleUSA at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUsov3i6jL0 ) XBox360…

The flippydrive is such a nice, clean install on a gamecube that it leaves me wondering if the rp2040 could make better ODE's for every other console (psx, saturn in particular)

Re: I like the RP2040

#142

Post by moefh »

Aurornis wrote: post #135
moefh wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GP is clearly talking about ESP32 boards, not the chip; they mentioned "LI Battery Controller", and "Display or Camera Connector". People sell RP2040 boards with those too, for example: - board with a battery charger: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-feather-rp2040-pico/powe... - board with camera: https://www.waveshare.com/pico-cam-a.htm

ESP32 is available as a tiny module that is soldered to the board as if it was a chip. Ignoring the module results in a flawed comparison. The module is chip and frequently used. If they encased the module in plastic and called it a chip, it would be the same. You can think of it as a chip.

Do they sell chip-like modules with camera connectors and battery controllers, though? I don't deny that ESP32 modules look like and are soldered as though they were chips, but to me it's clear that GP was mixing up chips (and chip-like modules) with boards.

Re: I like the RP2040

#143

Post by dragontamer »

nimish wrote: post #115
jsheard wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things like battery life will probably improve with experience, I was talking to a silicon guy about the RP2040 and they said it's pretty characteristic of a first generation design. The digital logic that can be validated on an FPGA is fine for the most part, but the analog elements are much more difficult to fine tune, hence the poor power consumption, poor ADCs, and lack of internal DACs or opamps in the RP2040, a…

Analog is large area and expensive in general so sticking to good digital and passable analog is a very good strategy to keep costs down.

Modern Microcontrollers focus on analog because modern microprocessors start at like $5, maybe even cheaper.

If you need digital girth, don't mess with lol 264kB RP2040 systems. Just buy $3 of DDR3L RAM (aka: 128MB) and run Linux for goodness sake.

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Even ESP32 is a glorified Bluetooth/Wifi chip first and everything secondary. You have to have a niche at this price point to be competitive.

RP2040's niche is the 264kB of SRAM, but not much else. It needs a bunch of external parts before it can become a reasonable solution as well, so its not really cost optimized IMO.

Re: I like the RP2040

#144

Post by 127 »

PIO is fantastic. Revolutionary. Not trivial to use but extremely powerful and adaptable. Too bad about the ADC. To be clear: the ADC is not "OK". It' s BAD.

Re: I like the RP2040

#145

Post by 127 »

peteforde wrote: post #120

I also like the RP2040, but I'd like to explain why I migrated away from it for my current project. First, the drama with PlatformIO really rubbed me the wrong way. I'm taking the side of the developers who are hurt by confusion in tooling. Second, the top of the line ESP32-S3 comes in a module format that can be dropped on a PCB with basically nothing but a few decoupling capacitors. The RP2040 requires careful plac…

You can do capacitive touch with RP2040 just fine. Turn on, turn off, measure time. Plus I don't like modules as they seem pointless complexity when I just want to order a ready-assembled, self-designed PCB.

Re: I like the RP2040

#146

Post by danhor »

peteforde wrote: post #120

I also like the RP2040, but I'd like to explain why I migrated away from it for my current project. First, the drama with PlatformIO really rubbed me the wrong way. I'm taking the side of the developers who are hurt by confusion in tooling. Second, the top of the line ESP32-S3 comes in a module format that can be dropped on a PCB with basically nothing but a few decoupling capacitors. The RP2040 requires careful plac…

The Pi Pico is intended to be the module format (and can be delivered on reels and used with some PnP machines), though it is much larger than it needs to be for this purpose (and this might be why you didn't mention it).

I have only implement touch buttons for hobby projects using a different MCU, but is there a reason to not just use the PIOs for touch sensing?

Re: I like the RP2040

#147

Post by dave78 »

riskable wrote: post #131
jcalvinowens wrote: post #44

The lack of built-in flash kills it for me. STM32 M3s with comparable throughput are cheaper and don't require an external flash chip (example: STM32F103C8T6 for $1.20 from jlc). I love the generic PIO though, I really hope other manufacturers pick up on that.

I used to have the same beliefs but the flexibility of being able to use just about any pin for any purpose really sold me on the RP2040. When I decide to add a new feature to my boards I don't have to spend an hour examining the minutiae of the data sheet to see if I can use a given pin for SPI (oops: no, I can't because I enabled alternate function 3...). It saves a TON of track routing time and simplifies boards c…

I agree with all that and would add that the documentation is fantastic, and the software tooling and SDK is well-done. That's a big advantage that vastly outweighs small differences in cost (unless you're selling millions of something).

Re: I like the RP2040

#148

Post by uncletaco »

RP2040 has single handedly reinvigorated a really niche market: custom controllers. Due to the wonderful work done on gp2040[1] which is open source game pad firmware, people can buy cheap, quality, fightsticks and leverless controllers for a lot cheaper than they can from vendors like Victrix or Razer. Not only that but because its open sourced the hobbyist side of the controller community are building RP2040 pcbs to accommodate all kinds of projects and weird controller ideas.

[1] https://gp2040-ce.info

Re: I like the RP2040

#149

Post by [deleted] »

danhor wrote: post #146
peteforde wrote: post #120

I also like the RP2040, but I'd like to explain why I migrated away from it for my current project. First, the drama with PlatformIO really rubbed me the wrong way. I'm taking the side of the developers who are hurt by confusion in tooling. Second, the top of the line ESP32-S3 comes in a module format that can be dropped on a PCB with basically nothing but a few decoupling capacitors. The RP2040 requires careful plac…

The Pi Pico is intended to be the module format (and can be delivered on reels and used with some PnP machines), though it is much larger than it needs to be for this purpose (and this might be why you didn't mention it). I have only implement touch buttons for hobby projects using a different MCU, but is there a reason to not just use the PIOs for touch sensing?

[deleted]

Re: I like the RP2040

#150

Post by seba_dos1 »

moefh wrote: post #129
seba_dos1 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can use things like dfu-util or esptool for quick iterative loops without any additional hardware. Hence my point - mass storage is a downgrade over what other µCs on the market were already doing with their ROM bootloaders before RP2040.

Just to note: with the RP2040 you don't need additional hardware (debug probe) for quick iterative development, you can use picotool[1] (using -f allows you to flash and reboot without needing to get it to bootsel mode). [1] https://github.com/raspberrypi/picotool

...and it doesn't use mass storage at all, blocking access to it in a clunky way to prevent simultaneous usage.

UMS seems like a nice idea when you first hear about it, but it doesn't really offer much once you look at it closer. The only proper argument for it is "no special software needed", but it a world where picotool is `apt install picotool` away that's not very advantageous anyway and only causes automount annoyances.

UMS shines where you have a device with a filesystem in its flash that you can access to actually manage the files stored there. Super useful for stuff like MicroPython. In contrast, pseudo-mass storage like on RP2040 doesn't seem very useful at all. It makes it appear more approachable, but only superficially.

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