Raspberry Pi Zero 2 On PicoCalc

PicoCalc
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This is what the my new board looks like.

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The GPIO socket on the side of the PicoCalc is as follows:

1. 3.3V
2. GP2(PicoCalc) — GP4(RasPi) I2C SDA
3. GP3(PicoCalc) — GP5(RasPi) I2C SCL
4. GP4(PicoCalc) — GP14(RasPi) UART Tx or NC
5. GP5(PicoCalc) — GP15(RasPi) UART Rx or NC
6. NC
7. NC
8. GND

And the UART is as follows:

pic23
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In other words, I’ve made it possible to experiment with I2C and UART using the GPIO on the side of the PicoCalc.
Also, since I’ve made it possible to output UART signals to the PicoCalc’s USB-C port, communication with a PC is possible via a USB cable.
SPI can be tested by adding wiring.

I’ve written a blog post about this board and the installation of “picocalc-pi-zero-2 [by wasdwasd0105]”.
It’s written in Japanese, but it can be translated into English or other languages ​​through some translation function, so it might be strange English, but it’s probably decipherable.

-The following describes the dedicated board mentioned above and the manufacturing request.

-The following describes the installation of “picocalc-pi-zero-2 [by wasdwasd0105]”.

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Yeah I followed your github and it matches. Just couldnt figure out how to add the battery percentage to tmux. Also for some reason after following the instructions on the poweroff it shuts down but my picocalc still stays on.

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Ok. Is Pico-8 Framerate ok?

Battery:

Have you made ~/bin/battery executable and tested it?

Is there any status bar in tmux?

For this tmux must be running.

tmux set-option status on

Poweroff:

Have you made the script /usr/local/bin/picopoweroff executable?

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/picopoweroff

If you execute it you should see a punch of enter and a shutdown. (Not save to shutdown a running linux system) It takes some seconds.

picopoweroff

I have updated the Github side for poweroff. Thanks for your input!

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I got Pico 8 running on the 64-bit! I played Terra, Sonic, Pico World Race, and P.Craft :fire:

Here’s a video review/tutorial:

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Anyone managed to get the Pi Zero 2 to read/write the Picocalc board sdcard slot?

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For SD Card to work you need to connect the PI Zero to the Picocalc Pins.

SPI0_CS,SPI0_TX,SPI0_SCL,SPI0_RX,SD_DET –> SPI0 on Pi Zero (SPI1 is display)

SD Card:

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Experimenting with Retroarch and managed to get gameboy working through the pi zero.

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Oddly enough Pico-8 FPS is fine now. I will try the other things and get back to you. Thanks for the help man.

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Scummvm working just fine.

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CM0 anyone ?

512mb ram

8GB emmc

wifi

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Can it fit into Picocalc? :grin:

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Not like this, this is the full dev board

the core module is sold separately

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Kicad files are available, but will require custom made interface board

http://edatec.cn/storage/zip/20250920/d4be7476d8ce5a5a77f645ab08e852c5.zip

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Its seem like Raspberry Pi are planning for future CM formfactor

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Perhaps the CM form factor shall not be changed, but rather a new product line shall be established. If it were intended as a successor to the previous CM series, I would assume that an RP5 would have been chosen.

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this form factor has fewer pins than the original CM3 form factor they abandoned for the cm4 and cm5
I don’t think this will be their plan for all future compute modules

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Hi,

Do you think that other sbc with the same form factor than Pi zero 2 could be used with the Picocalc? I think that the drivers for keyboard and screen are on the linux side ? I think to radxa boards with more power and more ram

Best wishes

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with the right adapter board you can use more powerful boards, but you’re quickly going to run into the fact that 320x320 is just very small and no modern software is designed for that

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Hello folks, I just got my hands on a PicoCalc. It’s amazing how fast this option has progressed and I’m looking forward to install a Pi Zero 2W that I have laying around. My boards ((based on michael_mayer design) are in production and hope to receive them in a week or so.

My initial use case for the PicoCalc+Zero is to run retroarch, I want to relive some of the old games of my childhood with my sons on a portable device (though I’m open to other use cases once I have it p and running).

I’ve read this thread 2 times already, and I have a couple of questions (to clarify my understanding):

1 - Trixie is now supported - is there a reason why I would prefer this version vs bookworm or other?

2 - Ballpark, how much would batteries last before I start to having problems with the keyboard? I seem to remember that PicoCalc running Pico can last for days, can it last at least 4-5 hrs with Pi Zero 2W?

3 - Is it possible to modify/update michael-Mayer board to add support for the PicoCalc SD card? I’m envisioning having the ROM/games loaded in that card and just change/boot the microSD from the Pi Zero 2W as needed.

4 - I’m seeing some folks running retroarch, have you installed the pre-compiled (Laikka?) image from Retroarch.com or compiled your own one? If the later, are there any gotchas to be aware of for running it in PicoCalc?

Thanks in advance, as soon as the board shows up, I’ll start my soldering adventure!

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1.) The reason why to use trixie is that for the screen everthing works. (on Bullseye only FBCPY and Bookworm has to many issues)

2.) I have not tested it yet. Thanks for the reminder.

3.) Should be possible. It is something I will tackle in the future.

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@michael_mayer, what os is best to start with for a beginner? I got used to trixie now with my pi 5, but what steps do i need to take for trixie, and do i need to use the 64-bit or the 32-bit? and is there a tutorial from someone? and will it work with trixie when all the drivers are installed? and are all the drivers that i need to install the one in the github page?