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I like the RP2040

dgroshev.com

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Re: I like the RP2040

#331

Post by felipemesquita »

Otek wrote: post #330

So how can one start with doing something useful with this sort of things. Let’s say I have backend experience, some spare cash and time to try to get into embedded

For tutorials and hardware, check out Adafruit. If you’re okay with less polished documentation, also look into M5Stack (they are really cheap on AliExpress).

I currently work in e-commerce using Ruby on Rails, which I really enjoy. However, I do miss my previous work on the weird side of software and electronics for art installations on galleries and events[0]. If anyone wants to chat about or pair on embedded development, feel free to reach out to me at my username at hey.com. [0]https://vimeo.com/389519079

Re: I like the RP2040

#333

Post by rkagerer »

dgacmu wrote: post #132
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…

Though it's a continuing puzzle to me why ESPs have worse ADCs than the rp2040, given their relative maturity. (Neither is particularly good, mind you, but I'm generally ok with the rp for my toy applications.)

If you read through errata and compare editions of the tech docs, it becomes apparent ESP32 has a history of silicon problems with its ADC's - through a few generations of their chips. In some models they removed huge swaths of related functionality from their documentation because it was bugged.

They're slowly getting better but analog is hard and I suspect they haven't prioritized it as much, historically.

Re: I like the RP2040

#334

Post by numpad0 »

cockings wrote: post #4

> The RP2040 is impossible to brick. It comes with a read-only bootloader that can either mount as a USB mass storage device (firmware updates can just be copypasted to the "storage device"), or use its own simple USB protocol. Can anyone explain what this means? How is it both read-only and updateable? If the latter, how is it unbrickable?

Looks like there are docs that states RP2040's USB code is on an internal mask ROM, which can't be overwritten if true. The RP2040 don't have a user code storage at all, and it resides in external SPI Flash, so those can be written over without having to have an all-Flash architecture.

I've never seen other uC accidentally blowing out bootloaders, though. They have clever tricks that prevents write access on a firmware area while also allowing such firmware area updates.

I suspect the author might have heard about some horror stories like AVR's intentional in-circuit programming disabling feature accidentally triggering due to configuration errors upstream to developers or sporadic errors in data transfer, which "just" needs requires +12V input to unlock. Presumably the 2040 won't have such gotchas that scares hobbyists.

Re: I like the RP2040

#335

Post by loudmax »

triyambakam wrote: post #315
konstantinua00 wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

he said?

I was thinking about this. I think there is a trend in English to use they even when the gender is known to indicate a kind of distance from that person. E.g. my guess about the parent poster is that they (he or she in this case, a different usage) may not be very close to the "silicon guy"

Some time around the year 1500, English speakers stopped addressing each other as "thee" in favor of the plural form "you". The singular "thee" is intimate and informal, but might be considered rude in the wrong context. So using the more polite plural form "you" in all contexts is a safer option.

Many young people seem to use the gender-neutral "they" rather than "he" or "she", even when the gender is known and is unambiguous. This may turn out to be a fad, or it may be a similar generational shift in the language.

Re: I like the RP2040

#336

Post by Eavolution »

loudmax wrote: post #335
triyambakam wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking about this. I think there is a trend in English to use they even when the gender is known to indicate a kind of distance from that person. E.g. my guess about the parent poster is that they (he or she in this case, a different usage) may not be very close to the "silicon guy"

Some time around the year 1500, English speakers stopped addressing each other as "thee" in favor of the plural form "you". The singular "thee" is intimate and informal, but might be considered rude in the wrong context. So using the more polite plural form "you" in all contexts is a safer option. Many young people seem to use the gender-neutral "they" rather than "he" or "she", even when the gender is known and is u…

What I find quite interesting is in the northern irish dialect, plural you is quite uncommon, usually plural you becomes yous or yousins, because irish has seperate words for singular and plural you

Re: I like the RP2040

#337

Post by nick__m »

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…

I had look at the code (except flippydrive because it the source for a website) and I don't understand why the PIO would be needed if the RP2040 had more peripheral. None of them use the PIO for something that the STM32F401RBT6 doesn't have a peripheral for.

The RP2040 real advantage its name, its price and its availability during the pandemic chips shortage. It lacks peripherals and it's power consumption is awful.

Re: I like the RP2040

#339

Post by jvanderbot »

nick__m wrote: post #337
MegaDeKay wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I had look at the code (except flippydrive because it the source for a website) and I don't understand why the PIO would be needed if the RP2040 had more peripheral. None of them use the PIO for something that the STM32F401RBT6 doesn't have a peripheral for. The RP2040 real advantage its name, its price and its availability during the pandemic chips shortage. It lacks peripherals and it's power consumption is awful.

Analogous complaints were echo'd against the RPI boards, which are also just kinda meh when viewed from an industry / hardcore perspective. Hobbiers gonna hobby, and the ecosystem will eventually build winners / losers for each niche case.

For me, the existence of a MCU/MPU with better features at better price is irrelevant if I can't get known parts on small form factor eval boards using top links on google. Yes, I'm that lazy, but we live in a world with an embarrassment of really good options compared to 20 years ago.

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