How to start to program on the uconsole?

uConsole
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  • Sorry for bothering you again guys, I already asked for a uconsole (the CM4 version of course). I want to develop software over the uconsole, more specifically I am interested into scientific software, sensors and data. I of course want to document everything and open the code of everything. I suppose the OS would be the raspberry version of Debian and I assume the OS is stored inside a flash card (or is inside the CM4 module I asked?).

    My questions are:

  • Can I start using a normal raspberry pi 4 to develop programs meanwhile the uconsole arrives?

  • The system should be a Debian version is not?

  • Does anyone knows about possible compatibility problems because of the hardware differences if the answer to the first question is a yes?

  • I suppose, when developing something over the pi 4, then I would need to recompile for the uconsole then, IN the uconsole (assuming all the libraries and software are there).

I have justs ome basic experience making software during my PhD for ocean purposes, some stuff using GTK and C for spectra stuff, some python and TK for birding stuff, some Arduino with sensors, gtk and C for thermal monitoring/review over metallic plates, some basic LLM stuff, some old microcontroller communication with computer, some old OpenCV to detect objects and so on, not at all very smart just barely scrapping stuff U.U and I am VERY sure I am very primitive on this T.T

So, any type of feedback about how to enter into this it would help me a lot :smiley: (I fell like a neanderthal here) , thank you guys and girls!

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any linux program that runs on a pi 4 with debian will also run on a uconsole with one of rex’s debian images.
There are some compatibility differences but they likely won’t matter for the programs you make.

If you do some low level display stuff you’ll need to account for the fact that the uconsole display is natively a portait screen and not landscape. But very few programs do that, and then the rotation is already handled for you.

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I think I saw Q-EMU has the Cortex-A72 (4 cores) with 2 GiB of RAM implemented, as it is the same as the Raspberry Pi Compute Modules 4 (CM4) that are used for the uconsole. I wonder now about the repositories and libraries available, as it is Debian it is always extremely well supported.

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no, uconsole IS cm4/cm5.

it just has some few additional things connected via usb (keyboard, expansion board)

the only thing that you don’t have “easy” access to pins on cm4, but there are expansion boards with pins out.

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you can run a lot of linuxes, but yes, “default” one ‘trixie’ is current debian, but it’s just a raspberrian os + uconsole kernel and some extra packages.

there is no any practical difference between raspberrian os and uconsole’s (just drivers)

so you can begin to develop on pi4 and should be able just to copy your files to uconsole later.

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I am considering that maybe then switch to a disk as the one from: 【Pre-Order】uConsole Upgrade Kit - Adding NVMe SSD/RJ45 Ethernet/ USB 3 – Hacker Gadgets

Is a good option as that would give me more space, maybe faster and also as I expand the stuff might need more libraries and other stuff even if I try to see everything as a clean C/C++/GTK/Python.

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sure, but it won’t affect your program (except for a speed in IO heavy tasks)

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That would be almost a given (I think), might be writing and reading a lot to the device as it works :confused:. But I am assuming I am more constrained by the communication circuits/software in this case.