Sleepytimes

Learned the hardway - never be too lazy to put in pulldown resistors when you are doing blue wire changes

"pull down" with a short to ground a repurposed pin without verifying that the firmware brings it up high, pop pop pop, like a killswitch for carefuly curated prototypes

speaking of prototypes -- apparently Atmel hadn't figured out yet that shipping a micro with its fuse bits set for an external crystal by default makes it bloody hard to program :/

lol

morning

only 10:45pm here. I'll say good morning to you in about 9 hours

when I get to work

but for now, Hi @jippie!

@Shalvenay which atmel?

I need to be able to communicate with a breadboard from a fpga using vhdl. Can someone please help me achieve this? electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/213868/…

How can I add a breadboard to the io port list in the user constraints file?

@user1534664 You shouldn't.

You're saying you have breadboards on your FPGA board? Are the breadboards hard-wired in any way to the FPGA?

@Mast as I currently understand it he wants the vhdl code that spawns breadboards out of an fpga...

Don't forget to video the result if that is indeed what you're trying to do.

I can't imagine anything else that would be specific to breadboards you wanted to add to vhdl...

but it has been a while since I did something with fpgas, in my days the border to the world were its pins

@Mast I have a board like this ni.com/cms/images/devzone/pub/pg22_fig2_Q2_09_INL.jpg, it contains the FPGA chip. The breadboard on it has connections to other components, and I believe the FPGA is one of them

believing is for religion, do the science and read the fine manual or test with a multimeter

ni.com/pdf/manuals/372809b.pdf page 25

I'm fairly new to fpga's and vhdl myself, so excuse me for doubting

but p25 inclines that the breadboard is connected with the FPGA

why would the vhdl need to care if that is the case anyways?

it is programming the fpga, not the breadboard

Well, the fpga is performing I/O right? Cause I can use LEDs and switches on my electronics board

so you want to put into you vhdl "drive pin 67 on breadboard high" and it should magically figure out how the pins on your fpga are externally wired to find that pin on the breadboard?

"drive pin 67 on breadboard high" is indeed what I want to do in VHDL. Does that sound impossible?

I thought it would be possible through using the .ucf file, just like it does with the switches & LEDs

you can give stuff convenient names, but it is still just driving pins of the fpga

I have this other device that contains 6 pins, and I have to connect it to my fpga somehow. I thought the way to do this was by plugging in the 6 pins into my breadboard and reading the pins the way I just described, but it seems to be impossible

hmmm

...

How else would I go about communicating between my FPGA board and other external devices?

If it's not done through the use of a breadboard

Again, I'm sorry I come across as misinformed, but I have no clue how to figure this out by myself

from within vhdl you access the pins, and then you connect to the pins in whatever way you like whatever things you want, chickens, hamburgers, oysters, opamps, thermonuclear fuses.

@user1534664 Put a wire between them.

Well, some of the pins are connected to the breadboard, right?

as shown in the FPGA board manual on p25

So if I can access the pins from within VHDL, I can connect with the breadboard, right?

@user1534664 Looks like it.

So just wire them to GPIO0..31

The wiring between the breadboard & FPGA is already done on the FPGA board I'm given. How can I figure out which pin is connected to GPIO0 for example? It doesnt say this in the FPGA board manual :/

I already told you

Can you please quote the phrase where you explained that? I missed it

@user1534664 You know there's a table on page 17, right?

Yeah

So how could I use GPIO0 for example, in VHDL?

"believing is for religion, do the science and read the fine manual or test with a multimeter"

Also look at page 16 and 27.

And as PlasmaHH said, check with a multimeter whether it works as intended.

With something easy, something fool-proof.

You don't want to accidentally blow-up your FPGA because you inserted a component the wrong way.

that was a funny diss plasma :)

I'm going to have an attempt at trying that mast

Do. Or do not. There is no try.

I really appreciate the help of you guys

pastebin.com/k1nQCVTu

It seems to have compiled

but my multimeter says GPIO0 is still on 0V =/

@user1534664 Set 0 and 3 hard on 1 or H and measure then.

I said you should use something easy, you don't need switches to find your GPIO pins.

I used these now

Again, the GPIO's are still 0v

Both GPIO0 and GPIO3

LED0 does work

And the code does compile, so that means GPIO0 and GPIO3 do exist...?

how can I tell the FPGA that foo is the pin that connects to GPIO0?

hm, intresting feature, if you upload a video to youtube containing music from some registered song, they will place ads on your video and revenues from that ad go to whoever registered that song...

ikr?

@PlasmaHH If that stops them from taking down videos, I don't mind.

I don't see ads anyway.

@user1534664 Map it.

@Mast how? I've been trying to for 3+ hours =/

@Mast lets just hope it wont detect any casual whistling as a song ;)

@user1534664 I usually do so within the VHDL itself, but you're probably using the GUI. I have no experience with the Spartan GUI so you'll have to read the manual yourself.

I'm not using the GUI, just VHDL

@PlasmaHH Knowing Google, I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

it is quite hard to find any particular information about how much control you have on the type and placement of ads in your videos when you activate monetarization...

@user1534664 Use the port map.

ARCHITECTURE foo OF bar_component IS
BEGIN
  PORT MAP (
    foo_pin                   => real_pin,
    bar_pin                   => another_real_pin
  );

@user1534664 I haven't VHDL'd in almost a year, but it should be something like that.

Of-course, there's usually a whole lot of signals and generics around there as well.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I'll do some research on that. My only problem now is that the datasheets/manuals don't say which pin on the FPGA connects to the breadboard e.g. GPIO0. Or at least, I haven't been able to find these real_pin references.

@PlasmaHH Know an online service that lets me blab get and post to it from one side and look on another PC what parameters get received?

they say the messages don't get to the server, while on my internal network it works fine, so I want to test it "across the real world" to show whether they should be looking at their own server

@Asmyldof AT89LP51ED2

@Asmyldof nope, never heard of any, but since I have my own server out there I never had the need to look for something like that

does there need to be anything behind it? you could just get and post something nonexistant on my server and if you have a fixed IP I can tcpdump it for you

@PlasmaHH that could work. It's for tonight though

I was thinking about setting something up, but I'd first need to spend time installing loads of crap

ping me on hangouts?

then

I was thinking of making a PHP page that shows the previously gotten parameters (history of 3 or something)

So that I can post to it with the script, and then refresh on PC and see my own empty one and then the last 2 device ones

@PlasmaHH will do

It's possible I'll see if simply a php that writes a txt file and reads it back works in my host's sandbox anyway, but I think maybe it doesn't allow locally written files and then it becomes a pita to figure out where to leave crap or install a database

might be possible to store something in the php session?

@PlasmaHH yeah, but PHP isn't really my thing, so then I'd have to figure out sessions

So do it in Node.JS instead.

Same difference

And also, the sandbox has no node libraries

so I'd already need to install shit or whatever and no

and the server doesnt either

:P

@PlasmaHH fair point, but either way, it needs to be PHP anyway for several reasons

@Asmyldof You're doomed.

@Mast exaggerate much?

Perhaps.

Or to put it differently, you haven't seen anything of this system yet, so you don't know, but it's already pretty much gone from 7th layer to 2nd layer of hell

Ask @PlasmaHH He's helped me here and there

don't, the therapy is starting to work...

hahaha

I added another €50 to your next budget, btw

Hope it helps

// somewhere else: char* pcFldVal = blah;

sprintf( acTmp, "%c%c%c%c", pcFldVal[0], pcFldVal[1], pcFldVal[2], pcFldVal[3] );

eh

whut

...

That's nearly on par with KC code

ok, another nice one...

// somewhere else int iMant and short sExp ...

also very nice is that one:

(int) ( cValue * ( pow( 128.0, (double) pstructFCI->iVarSzBytes - i - 1 ) ) );

Can I come by and punch people responsible for the maths?

they went back to india for hiding ...

@PlasmaHH I can float a ticket. Where?

@Asmyldof no idea, might be more useful for the world to nuke the whole peninsula

It would definitely solve world overpopulation. There's more people in India than in the whole of Europe.

it really won't, it isnt that afterwards there are mroe resources or place for everyone else

Hydrogen bombs instead of nukes should solve that.

eh,huh?

Less fallout.

Multiple orders of magnitude less.

not really ~80-90% of the energy is from fusion, the rest is still fission

also for total obliteration I would prefer larger yields, which needs multi stage designs which makes things really dirty again

Many small explosions.

many big explosions is better

less logistics, less chances to have to revisit some area because one did not go off...

Or we just boil the oceans to get more land.

(mostly thinking about a boosted version of the original tsar design

How about just have one half of the peninsula bull-dozer the other half into the ocean, rinse, repeat till there's 10% smartest/most resourceful left and have them run our labs?

how about 0.01%?

compromise 0.1%

Hello, is there anyone who has experience with ST cube?

@ArturasAleksandrovas STM32CubeF4? That's the only cube with a name remotely like that I can find.

Cool, we just got another "Great Answer"

(by the badge definition)

@jippie Good morning

And hello to everyone else as well.

When making an edit to an answer I have given, sometimes I would like to use the "strike-through" rather than delete the text. What is the command to cause text to show with strike through, when editing answer ?

<s>foo</s>

@PlasmaHH thank you

So, about to jump into the ARM Cortex world via Atmel SAM MCUs. Any major Gotchas I should look out for?

If you're planning on using an open-source toolchain, most of them require a bit of hacking

but that's kinda universal, I suppose

@W5VO, I'm planning to use Atmel Studio right now, which I think comes with the toolchain.

Or, at least, there is one for it from Atmel that may need to be installed.

Atmel comes with the whole chain, yea.

Their simulator isn't too bad either.

@BrandenBoucher Be aware of there being an ARM element and an "Chip Vendor" element

ARM is just the core and all peripherals are made by Atmel, so there may be a devide in the documentation and examples of ways things are done. This can be confusing at first

Core-related interrupts and clocks and blah-blah may look and feel different than the same kinds of subjects related to everything not-core

Other than that, it's mostly just read the docs and examples and you'll be fine. Don't stick all your learning effort onto the ASF based examples, as many of them, like most other systems also do, use stupid non-interrupted ways for things that could be easily done by interrupt

@Asmyldof, on the ASF note: I know they put a lot of hard work into that and it helps you for doing some rapid dev work, but it really is bloated and I prefer writing my own, more design-specific code anyways. So I think we agree there.

But it's good to keep your first point in mind. The way the core works may feel different than the way the peripherals work.

@PlasmaHH foo

@BrandenBoucher Enable the peripheral, enable the clock to the peripheral and unlock the peripheral. Not necessarily in that order.

?

@jippie, I was just asking if anyone had any gotchas about using the Atmel SAM MCUs.

@BrandenBoucher In that case the gotcha is to not forget to enable the peripheral, enable the clock to the peripheral and unlock the peripheral. Not necessarily in that order. Not mentioning to program the equivalent of DDR and PORT registers, that is pretty similar to AVR

@jippie thanks man...

Ya, I'm talking about specific to the SAMs

but good to remember. You need the clock, you need the setup, AND you need to enable it.

My experience is with TI parts, but I've seen similar registers on serveral controllers. Just be aware. Read the datasheet carefully when trying to use a peripheral.

BTW, am I the only one that thinks these dev board with tons of peripherals (LCD screen, buttons, LEDs, speakers, USB, ect...) are really awesome when you want to learn about an MCU our test something, but REALLY impede the design process when trying to create something specific, especially where you will need to implement all the support hardware?

Maybe I'm just being too critical.

@BrandenBoucher By peripherals I meant on chip peripherals like GPIO, timers, ...

@BrandenBoucher You use the dev boqard to get to know the features. Costs €30, which is peanuts in the professional world. Then you throw everything out and purposely design for your intent and board design

@BrandenBoucher You're missing a step. You start with the dev-board and afterwards you make a rough-prototype for at least that much which is more specialised to your needs.

@BrandenBoucher Some of the "better" boards have postage stamps that house the actual MCU/device and the dev board is just the "breakout", the protype process then proceeds to you spinning or otherwise wiring up your own breakout plane for the stamp, and eventually migrating to an integrated design.

@PlasmaHH too tired to do stuff. I think

@crasic, that's why I usually go from big dev board to simple breakout board. I think you understand where I am coming from.

@Asmyldof, some are not so cheap. But still pocket change in the professional world, true. However, compared to a one-off project by a hobbiest, that can be quite a significant cost.

@Mast, I guess that's kinda what I mean, essentially. The big dev board is nice for learning, but once you know that part, it seems easier (or maybe more useful for PoCs) to have a very simple breakout board.

@BrandenBoucher I've never bought a sample/test board above €70,- Once it crosses the €50 line it's easier to spin the first test design and dev on that

Even in my business

@Asmyldof, what's the currency conversion right now?

approaching parity

Ya! Just looked and it's pretty close

I'd have to agree, @Asmyldof. I think I only ever bought 1 dev kit over that.

0.9 I think

heavy up-down last few weeks

@BrandenBoucher Develop something suiting your needs and let China ship it to you.

Or have a kit with a standard slot and put your hardware on something with that bus.

Like PCI or something.

@Mast, NO. I refuse! 'MURICA! USA! USA! USA!

As long as I get to design and manufacture the prototype.

what...

nothing

I've made some PCB myself, but I'm not going to make FPGA PCB by hand.

To much precision involved.

Why not. I actually look forward to doing that soon

For starters I don't have the equipment required to guarantee that precision.

@Mast You just don't know the meaning of fun

@Asmyldof You write GUI in ASM I guess?

Well, I guess a multilayer (> 2) is probably beyond me, but a two layer

@Mast I have. Many times.

You know how embedded works, yes?

I think I know where this is going.

That's not what I meant :P

It is literally the answer to your question

And yes, I have made managed Windows GUIs in Notepad as well

No, not Notepad++

I strongly advise against it though

But, it's a great learning experience to make a 320x240 GUI in the lowest level language available

Need to download new awake. Mine's running out

@Mast if you have some kind of video output peripheral or ic it's not that hard to get an as Gui. The complexity of the os Gui comes from multiplexing multiple applications and not because it's particularly difficult to make graphical input and output on a low level

@crasic I dare you try making a bare metal GUI on a PS2 or later

:-P

(It's actually also very easy if your brain's maths library is properly updated)

😴

Nope, browser not showing Phone Chat Smileys

:/

:\

PS2?

Well, it is. They just all look the same.

Lol

Which means, they all look like a little box

Fair enough

No discrimination then though

UNICODE_SYMBOL_NOT_FOUND

true. but also not great for expression emotions.

\box

Kinda like saying. "HEY ALL, I HAVE AN EMOTION!"

🙍😏😿💩🙉💂👺👿

show off

the poop one worked

💩 classy

For me all of them work in the browser

the most important of all emojies

I'm typing them on my phone and checking on the PC :-)

I need to try more now

💀💋💔👌👍👎👊👏💰💉🎉📌🎨🎷🐥🐢🐅🐞🐾🍻🍯🍳🍟🍠

And of course 🍆

In chrome only the tiger doesn't show up

But the eggplant is much less suggestive

it's about as suggestive as 👊

@Asmyldof, I need the pointing finger emoji

Which makes 👊🍆 exceptionally dirty then

👍👎👌✊✌✋👊👆👇👈👉👋👏👐

👉👌

if you know what I mean

Toddler

:-P

👍

😡

🔇🔃🔀

👎

⏳

🚴

😕

:(){ :|:& };:

Even the meh face to express mehness over boxes becomes a box in Chrome

@Mast Warning Empty Function

You guys remember Nokia Snake?

8bit adder

ya...