Do I need the RP2350 Now?

PicoCalc
1

I’m just about finish with my MMBasic spreadsheet app. However, this morning while I was testing the app I got “ERROR: out of heap memory”. Does this mean I need to upgrade to the RP2350 board now? If so, which RP2350 board do I need? There seems to be RP2350a, RP2350b, . . . etc. Also, in order to guide me to the right board, you need to know that I use my PicoCalc solely for writing Basic programs. Does the RP2350 come with MMBasic? Or are there other boards that I should consider? It seems that I only need more memory. Of course, the added speed of the RP2350 would be welcomed. Thank you for you advice. - Jim

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I have a Pimoroni Pico2 in both my PicoCalcs. They’re fast and have the added 6MB PSRAM where arrays are stored in MMBasic. Try dimensioning an 850x850 array in a normal PicoCalc! Yes, you’ll get more heap but even so, analyze your code and see if you can reduce nested loops, recursive calls and other heap-robbing code.

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Another vote for the Pimoroni Pimoroni Pico Plus 2

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I couldn’t live without the ability to overclock to 378Mhz +. Sticking with my Pico2…, hopefully Pico3 one day

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I set CPUSPEED to 384000 with the Pimoroni Pico 2 and have PSRAM active. No issues at all.

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Well, I ended up with a Pico2 (RP2350). You guys can say, “I told you so” some day I’m sure, but, I really don’t think I’ll be writing any more long programs. This spreadsheet app took about two and a half months to build and I’m tired of making apps for now. I think I’ll stop writing apps and just start using the spreadsheet for all of my aviation/engineering/geometry/math/physics calculations. Anyway, I have the Pico2 RP2350 board in hand and am ready to install it in my PicoCalc. I thought I’d better check with y’all as to which PicoMite firmware I should flash on my new board. My RP2040 had PicoMite_PICO_V6.00.03_PicoCal.uf2 Is this still the curent version? Also, is this all I’ll have to do to get going again? Do I need to re-do “PicoCalc_BIOS_v1.4bin”? Or anything else? Thank you for your help! - Jim

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I use 6.03.00B2. Don’t let the Beta status throw you. It’s highly polished and works very well. If you keep your eye on the official PicoMite forum, you’ll be able to get the latest version every time one comes out.
Beta:
https://www.thebackshed.com/forum/ViewForum.php?FID=16

If you’re leery of betas and want the latest final version, go here:
https://geoffg.net/picomite.html

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I’m currently using the standard RP2040 on my PicoCalc (the one it shipped with).

I have the PIMORONI PICO PLUS 2 W (RP2350B) that I’m about to install. Are the 2 links provided by Toml_12953 the correct links? When I run OPTIONS LIST the PICO CALC is mentioned as one of the options.

Are the generic downloads the correct ones or is there somewhere that we can find a fine-tuned/tweaked version (maybe the W version is different). Also does the keyboard firmware need to be updated before installing the new pimoroni board? Thanks.

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Those links work for me. When you go to the forum, scroll to the last page. New releases are interspersed throughout the thread and ar near the end. They come from matherp so look for his messages. The Geoff link has the current working version near the bottom of the page. I use the same CPU that you’re putting in. Peter Mather (matherp) has written PicoMite to include the PicoCalc so there are no other versions you need. When you install, it will automatically use the features of the PicoCalc. Make sure you don’t try to install any of the VGA, HDMI or USB versions in the ZIP file. The one you want is PicoMiteRP2350V6.03.00B2.uf2
If you have keyboard BIOS version 1.4 then that’s the latest and will give you all the features.

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