Picoware (Open-Source Custom Firmware)

PicoCalc
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I hope your weekend is going well!

Documentation took a bit longer than I hoped (I was typing it all out manually lol then I eventually got Claude to help me)

I did take a look into Bluetooth and got BLE scanning working, but it still needs some work. So instead I’m going to create some apps/games and tidy up the documentation a bit before the next release.

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It’s ready :partying_face:

Picoware v1.4.6

I added some new apps, so make sure to copy the apps folder to your SD card

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I hope everyone is doing well! I’ve been working on some games/animations/apps for the micropython version of Picoware. Im still working on porting FlipSocial (social media network) but I should have it done by this weekend.

So far I added a Cube animation,

a Starfield animation,

and Flappy Bird

There’s been many ported animations on Reddit/Youtube that I plan on adding into Picoware too.

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That took a lot longer than planned, but finally finished up FlipSocial

I also added Tetris

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Picoware v1.4.7 :fire:

This release mainly contains new apps but I also added PSRAM support and cleaned up some of the code. I hope y’all are having a great week!!

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@jblanked great repository, thank you for making this happen! may I suggest a feature to define an app to be run at startup?

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Thanks for checking out Picoware!! Unfortunately that feature can’t happen because of how the flow of the system is set up.

You can however create and run custom apps directly on the device though :fire:

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Picoware got it’s first pull request/contribution, a remake of Space Invaders :fire:

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Great day! I’ve been working on converting some community projects into Picoware

PicoFlower

Bubble Universe

I was working on the Rotation animation from Zenodante, but its currently like 0.17 frames per second (even after a ton of optimization) so I’ll likely move on from that

Let me know if you have any feature requests! I want to add a few more apps before the next release

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Thanks so much for your work on Picoware and all the video tutorials. I’ve got it running on my 2350, and have tried out all the sample stuff. It’s amazing to see the progress you’ve quickly made!

In terms of feature requests, anything you can do to make it friendly to a new coder trying to learn Python on the Picocalc would be great. I’ve messed around with mmBASIC quite a bit. I love that it boots fast to a prompt, allows for quick testing and revision, and seems to have pretty good access to the hardware (flash slots, autorun, sound, GPIO pins, etc.). But I don’t want to invest a lot of time learning BASIC; I’d rather learn Python. I just get a little stuck trying to start out learning Python on the Picoware.

I know booting to a prompt defeats the point of Picoware, but is there anything else you could do to give learning Python on Picoware that same immediacy and simplicity of learning mmBASIC on the Picocalc? Maybe I’m asking for a terminal app? Or maybe there’s a way to get this using Thonny and I just haven’t figured it out yet. I don’t really know enough about how to ask. Also, the need for a bunch of “wrapper” code (START/RUN/STOP) is simple for you guys, but a little confusing for me! Is there a simpler way for someone starting out.

Sorry for the long post! Any help appreciated.

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Welcome to the forum and thanks for checking out Picoware and my video content :fire:

It’s also glad to hear that the 2350 is working for you and that you’re into Python!! I’m actually a C++ fan but the updates over the last few weeks (and upcoming weeks) are for the MicroPython version.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any plans to integrate an on-device REPL (because as you mentioned, it sort of defeats the purpose of a streamlined system). Maybe if we get enough requests, I could implement that feature later, where users would type in like Ctrl + D or something from the Desktop view.

However in the meantime, you can use Thonny with Picoware and use Thonny’s REPL. The process is:

  1. Flash the micropython version of Picoware (with your PicoCalc off)
  2. Un-plug the Micro-USB and turn on the PicoCalc
  3. Open up Thonny IDE
  4. Plug back in the Micro-USB to your PicoCalc
  5. At the bottom right corner of Thonny, click on the MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico) as the interpreter
  6. Hit the Stop button (looks like a red stop sign) in Thonny (top-middle of the IDE)
  7. The REPL should appear in the terminal window, but you can also write/create files in the editor window and run the script by clicking the Run button (looks like a green arrow) in the top-left of the IDE

That process is actually how I test longer scripts or scripts that I know I will have to work on for a few hours (like that FlipSocial app and more recently Bubble Universe)

With Picoware apps, I understand that the start/run/stop requirement is a little “petty” but it’s how Picoware maintains the lifecycle of the firmware. In my opinion, it ensures users don’t get “stuck” in one app and allows developers to clean up used memory.

This guide explains the APIs available:

Thanks again for your support. Always feel free to leave feedback/suggestions, ask for guidance/help, or get your feet wet and submit code :fire:

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Yes, that worked on Thonny. I appreciate the help.

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Great day!! Picoware v1.4.8 is ready :fire:

This release is a micropython update that adds some new apps (Bubble Universe, DVI Bounce, PicoFlower and more), caps lock functionality, and fixes a few bugs I noticed over the last few days!!

Make sure to copy the apps folder from builds/MicroPython to the picoware folder on your SD card. If there is no picoware folder, create one.

Check it out:

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Here’s a quick tutorial on using HTTP requests in Picoware

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I hope your weekend is going well. I did some work in the SDK version tonight:

Merged Blair Leduc’s BIOS 1.4 update

Switched to a callback for keyboard/input parsing

And optimized the getTime method that handles fetching and syncing time

Those updates will be in the next release (after I make some micropython updates) but you can get it from the dev branch in the meantime

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Great day! I’ve been working on the MicroPython version:

I merged Blair Leduc’s southbridge/keyboard drivers

Added 7 example apps (from the YouTube tutorials)

And did some cleanup

I think now I just want to add some more apps and then I’ll push the release. I hope your weekend went well!

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Last cleanup/edits for the next release

I switched to a static frame buffer

Added functionality so if the Home button is pressed, it returns to the Desktop view

Added a fill triangle method

And lastly added 3D rendering to the game engine

Tomorrow/Tuesday I’ll do some final testing and push the release

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I hope your week has been going well so far!

Picoware v1.4.9 is ready :fire:

This release is an update for both the SDK and MicroPython versions. The SDK version got support for BIOS 1.4 and some minor improvements. The MicroPython version got nearly 10 new apps (mostly from the YouTube tutorials but also including a new Text Editor app), Home button functionality (pressing it will return you to the Desktop), save-to-file functionality in HTTP requests, and many quality of life improvements.

Check it out:

Make sure to copy the apps folder from builds/MicroPython to the picoware folder on your SD card. If there is no picoware folder, create one.

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Just like to report that v1.4.9 MicroPython is not able to load any except the initial screen.

Pico2W

The SDK version is running good.

All under UF2 Loader 2.3

Have two more uf2 which is running fine:

phyllosoma_kb

picocalc-terminal-v02

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Thanks for checking out Picoware!!

What did you mean above?

All under UF2 Loader 2.3

Glad to hear the boot loader is working too. I think I’ll do an updated review of that soon