I wonder if the editor font issue is there in any other PicoMite builds? If it is, then mentioning it on TheBackShed release thread would be a way to get it noticed and fixed. I can only test MMBasic for Linux which is different enough, and not in sync with the latest bleeding edge PicoMite stuff. I don’t have any other PicoMite devices to test. Some stuff could be tested without a display attached, and just a serial connection to the Pico module, but this is a display issue, so it would need a display. My guess is that the active users on TheBackShed mostly are using HDMI devices and maybe not testing the LCD display as much. Though Peter did show the scrolling test video with the updates graphics driver. But maybe he didn’t notice the font in the editor?
I just wish I knew 100% if it was a general issue or a specific PicoCalc issue. PicoCalc is sharing almost all same display code now though, so my gut feeling is this is a general bug and just hasn’t been noticed yet.
I don’t chase new releases, I stick with what works and RC17 is working perfectly fine at the moment. Having said that, I would like to test the new driver, but I have to ask, is this font issue a major bug or is it just a mild irritation?
RC21 code is merged in but I haven’t done a release yet. (It’s getting easier to merge the code since pretty much all the original PicoCalc display code has been removed, and we can use the regular PicoMite code.) While it has more fixes, I haven’t tested to see if the editor font thing is still a problem. I’d say the font thing is a “minor irritation” – I don’t think it makes the text illegible, but it’s not correct and kind of annoying.
RC21 has someting of a big new feature, which already has one identified bug, so I might hold off until RC22 rolls around (no doubt in a few hours, heh) for a release. Peter added line continuation in th editor. Not sure what to think about the automatic code reformatting, but it will wrap lines and add an underscore as a continuation character. The result is that you’ll be able to see everything on the display in the editor, and code lines won’t fall off the edge to the right like they’ve been doing, with no way to edit them.
It also has a fix for that MP3 bug someone mentioned here (maybe in another thread). The code for playing MP3s has been rolled back since the new code apparently had issues playing some files (including, apparently, the demo file that was on the PicoCalc SD card.)
I’ve never used build automation in github, but I plan to look into that soon. I think it can be used for free (with some limits I need to check and understand), and if so, it might be a way to have regular builds posted. Then in cases where syncing the code with Peter’s repo is clean and easy, it would make new releases easier. We don’t have any automated testing for this, so the builds would be as-is, but it seems like some people prefer this bleeding edge stuff, and it would save me having to go back to this on an almost daily basis. Building for the three targets takes a bit of time, so if github could “magically” do that part, then I’d appreciate that. I’m not sure how I could add meaningful release notes though. Maybe the idea would just be to have these as-is, and up to anyone who wants to use it to read up on it and figure it out, and then do occasional point releases when things are actually stable and reliable, and include release notes for those.
(Essentially, the stuff github would produce would be like the stuff Peter includes in his zip files on TheBackShed.)
That’s assuming I can figure out how to make it work and get something going.
I think I am probably in an extreme minority of users who are happy to let others chase Peter’s patch release candidates and just wants things to work reliably. I think I will wait a few more days, maybe even a week to upgrade and see what happens, my gut is telling me there are some more bugs yet to be found.
New update. This one has a number of fixes from Peter (including a fix for the font corruption in the editor, MP3 codec, and other stuff). It’s also got a new (probably still a bit buggy) feature that you can read more about on TheBackShed. And I also added a few Picocalc-only features of my own.
I’m particularly interested in hearing if the CHARGING command works for anyone. All of these new PicoCalc specific commands require an updated keyboard firmware like this one. (The original one that shipped on the devices won’t work, and I don’t know if more recent shipments have the newer version or not.)
For the PicoCalc build specifically, I’ve added several new commands, described here (and added to the repo README.md). I was unable to get the CHARGING command to return anything other than 0, even if the device was plugged in and charging. I’m not sure if this is an issue with my keyboard firmware, but the code seems fine compared to the example in the official PicoCalc repo from Clockwork. The BATTERY command and the BACKLIGHT KB command both tested fine for me. Any of these commands can be used in a program, which can be set to AUTORUN, so it’s now possible to set the keyboard backlight at startup to your preferred brightness.
Information Command
Decription
MM.INFO(BATTERY)
PICOCALC ONLY Returns the current battery level percentage (0-100).
MM.INFO(CHARGING)
PICOCALC ONLY Returns 1 if battery is charging on external power, 0 if battery is not charging.
Option Command
Decription
OPTION BACKLIGHT KB brightness
PICOCALC ONLY Sets the brightness of the keyboard backlight. ‘brightness’ is a value between 0 (backlight off) and 255 (maximum brightness).
Im really struggling to understand all Iv been reading on here over the last few days. so just for my own clarity, if I want to put in a rp2350W in my picocalc when it arrives, I then drop this rc21.UF2 file into it when its in boot mode, and that will be that half done. but it wont work unless I update the rest of the board?
So I need to download STM32 Cube programmer (which Iv just done), where is the file I need to use to update the rest of the Picocalc and whats it called?
Iv only ever used GCBasic and tinkered a bit with arduino, and Im at the blinky LED stage with MUeditor, so any help would be great!
Basically yes Katie, give it a second and it should then reboot and start flashing the LED on the core (‘heartbeat’). RC21 will work to an extent but expects the latest keyboard software (1.2)…
Have a look at this for the STM32 1.2 keyboard software and how to do it. Not yet tried it myself so beware as always !. Note it’s the USB-C for the onboard STM32, the Micro-USB for the core you’ve installed.
Thanks for clearing it up a bit!
Iv been looking in here: https://github.com/clockworkpi/PicoCalc/tree/master/Code/picocalc_keyboard and all the trail that lead me here and I cant see anywhere a 1.2 keyboard file I can upload?
I dont even know what file type Im looking for that the STM32 Cube program will use to send it to the Picocalc, everywhere I look there`s great big lists of files most seem to be related to it, but nothing I can use. I had the same problem trying to find UF2 files, most of the links just took me to big lists of files and no UF2 anywhere! at least the First part of it makes sense now
Yup!
though Iv no doubt at the rate things are moving here well probably be on RC30 when my PicoCalc arrives, but if I can get some practice in now and gain a bit more familiarity with the whole setup, then I should be able to hit the ground running when it gets here.
It`s a steep learning curve! but the time is going to pass by anyway, so I may as well use it constructively
I typed ? mm.info(charging) at a prompt. It returned 0 as it should.
I then plugged in the USB 3.0 charger, ran the command again and it returned 1 as it should.
I then unplugged the charger and typed the command again and it returned 1 (which it shouldn’t)
I waited about 30 seconds and typed the command a fourth time. This time it returned 0 which was correct. It seems like there’s a settling time after the charger is removed before the hardware senses it properly.
I’m not sure how I could add meaningful release notes though. Maybe the idea would just be to have these as-is, and up to anyone who wants to use it to read up on it and figure it out, and then do occasional point releases when things are actually stable and reliable, and include release notes for those.
