Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

For Flowcode users to discuss projects, flowcharts, and any other issues related to Flowcode 8.

Moderator: Benj

chad
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:13 pm
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by chad »

HI there, I'm about halfway through the demo time and am slowly getting a grip on flowcode.

First I think I have found a couple of bugs, or I am just missing something.
First:
DMX on a f303 nucleo 32. New file, f303nucleo32, dmx component, set pin, add initialize to flow chart, build. Compile to chip, Doesn't build, compiler error.
Tried a couple of different random st chips same result...

Second:
Neopixel Ws2811/12. component. Same steps, also compiler error (different). I tried the 2811 on an ard nano and it built and worked...

I'm ok with hardware but I am not much of a programer so I have high hopes that I can click with this software. I am grabbing stuff that I have laying around and trying to get simple test stuff up and running. But out of the first three: oled,dmx,neopixel only one of them works.

I have a 4k monitor and when compiling the flow code window jumps around. Not sure why. Making a new file causes a big white block and the screen flickers a lot. Is this usual? I have a modern up to date well specced computer. Under build if you view c and resize the window it will put you into an epileptic shock..

I tried to make a timer that blinks an led as a heart beat. IT simulated ok but hung my chip (f303). No big deal, just thought it was interesting.

Is there some master repository of user created components? If not there needs to be. Even the ard simple ide has libraries repo.

Over all I really like the concept but it doesn't seem that the st arms work very well. Or maybe I just don't know what I am doing (certainly possible).

Anyway I am going to keep playing with it until it expires. Is anyone has a sec to try out dmx and neopixel 28xx like I did and let me know if it is just me or not that would be appreciated!

thanks,

Chad

User avatar
LeighM
Matrix Staff
Posts: 2178
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:07 am
Has thanked: 481 times
Been thanked: 699 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by LeighM »

Hi Chad,
Thanks for the feedback, and yes, looks like you have uncovered a few bugs.
DMX on a f303 nucleo 32
I've looked into this and found that the bug is due to some recent changes to Rx and Tx selection of the UART not quite making it into the ST ARM, which is now fixed and will go out with the next update. The others you raised we will look at as soon as possible.
I tried to make a timer that blinks an led as a heart beat. IT simulated ok but hung my chip (f303)
That should work :D Could you post your project?
Is there some master repository of user created components?
That was originally in the grand plan, but hasn't happened yet
Over all I really like the concept
Glad to hear that
but it doesn't seem that the st arms work very well
On the whole ST ARM works very well, but I think we've maybe recently been "improving" things a little too fast and caused a few bugs for ourselves.
I have a 4k monitor and when compiling the flow code window jumps around
I'll ask around the dev team about that.
Thanks!
Leigh

chad
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:13 pm
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by chad »

Hi Leigh, Thanks for the replies! Whew, glad it's not Just my ineptitude. Bening not much of a programer and playing with a new ide and running into problems can be frustrating.

I am an old lighting guy I have been having fun making little dmx lighting things for around the house. Might I ask when the dmx might be fixed? Is that a point release or does that happen through the update under help? That is grayed out for me? No dmx is pretty much going to be a show stopper.

Ignore the timer 2 thing. I think I figured out what it was...
Is there a way to disable the prompt to save on build to chip?


Cheers,

chad

User avatar
QMESAR
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 1287
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 3:20 pm
Location: Russia
Has thanked: 384 times
Been thanked: 614 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by QMESAR »

Hi
The updates are available through the IDE update system ,not sure how that works with the Demo version though :D

chad
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:13 pm
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by chad »

I didn't know if it was disabled because there was nothing to update or if demo can't update. Makes an interesting edge case though.
'We fixed the thing that is a deal breaker for you but you will just have to buy it to see if it is fixed or not ;)'

Good to know it is a delta update..

chad

User avatar
QMESAR
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 1287
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 3:20 pm
Location: Russia
Has thanked: 384 times
Been thanked: 614 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by QMESAR »

chad wrote:
'We fixed the thing that is a deal breaker for you but you will just have to buy it to see if it is fixed or not ;)'
If Leigh or Ben says it is fixed you can be sure it is fixed,and if there is still some issue and you report they fix it again :D
MATRIX do support the software very well ,

User avatar
LeighM
Matrix Staff
Posts: 2178
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:07 am
Has thanked: 481 times
Been thanked: 699 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by LeighM »

Hi Chad,

The trial version does have access to the update system, but it could be a few days before these latest fixes get pushed out.
So I have attached the files that need to be updated.

STARM_CAL_UART.c to go into ...
C:\ProgramData\MatrixTSL\FlowcodeV8\CAL\STARM

cal_uart.fcpx to go into ...
C:\ProgramData\MatrixTSL\FlowcodeV8\Components
Attachments
STARM_CAL_UART.c
(17.27 KiB) Downloaded 193 times
cal_uart.fcpx
(17.76 KiB) Downloaded 204 times

chad
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:13 pm
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by chad »

Wow! super fast turnaround! That's awesome! Thanks. I'll get it installed and give it a shot.
I spent a bunch of time yesterday playing with the software and had a blast. So much more intuitive than banging my head against raw c.
I dug out my nucleo 446re board. I'm going to try to figure out how to set the clock to 180 instead of 80, wish me luck..

I guess the only other issue is the neopixel, but I am going to try to get dmx going today. Super excited!

Thanks all. I'll let you know how i get along.

chad

chad
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:13 pm
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by chad »

Welp, no joy.
I am using my 446re board, tried all three uarts that are exposed, double and triple checked my dmx source with multiple receivers and transmitters, my 485 transceiver looks good on the scope and the oled display that i am using to read the channel value is working.. Haven't played with the clocks yet.

Here is my little test prog..

p.s. the gLCD_SSD1306_i2c1 doesn't support the address of 0x3c. It is the common one found on ebay, amazon. oled 32x128. I figured out how to change it but it might be nice to add that address to the component.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
chad
Dmxtestnew.fcfx
(11.94 KiB) Downloaded 198 times

mnf
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 1188
Joined: Wed May 31, 2017 11:57 am
Has thanked: 70 times
Been thanked: 439 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by mnf »

Hi Chad,

What are you trying to achieve and what results do you have so far? (and what results do you expect?)
I'm not familiar with DMX hardware (at all) - so will approach things from the other end!

1) Can you get an output to the LCD - just a gcld_Initialise and then glcd_Print of some kind? The i2c addresses are pre 'shifted' in Flowcode (so address << 1 or address * 2 is used and bit 0 indicates r/w - I'd agree that this is a bit confusing and would rather the runtime did the shift)

2) The code you have has just 1ms (1/1000 of a second) delays - so, for example, LED shape is only on for a 1/1000 of a second.

3) I usually like to output some 'debug' info to UART - and then view the result on the PC (using a terminal program such as 'putty' or 'tera term') - this has the advantage that 'output' isn't lost (or overwritten) by the next line.... One thing to watch is that to output a newline you need to output "\r\n"

4) Unfortunately there isn't currently (though hopefully will be soon :-) ) an automatic save before build....

5) Neopixels certainly work well on Arduino - what compilation errors are you getting with other boards?

6) One of the major strengths of Flowcode is it's (very) active and helpful staff (take a bow Ben, Leigh, Daniel, Dave and Steve) - who will provide fixes and advice for most problems, and also it's users - who will pitch in with helpful (or otherwise) advice / fixes and code. If you have problem, and no one else can fix it, post your code and a question and someone will help!

7) Did you get 'blink' up and running?

Martin

chad
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:13 pm
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by chad »

mnf wrote:Hi Chad,

What are you trying to achieve and what results do you have so far? (and what results do you expect?)
I'm not familiar with DMX hardware (at all) - so will approach things from the other end!

Dmx is a lighting control protocol. I want to make some dmx led fixtures for fun and this is the problem for now. It is a 250000 baud serial protocol that uses rs485 as a physical layer.

1) Can you get an output to the LCD - just a gcld_Initialise and then glcd_Print of some kind? The i2c addresses are pre 'shifted' in Flowcode (so address << 1 or address * 2 is used and bit 0 indicates r/w - I'd agree that this is a bit confusing and would rather the runtime did the shift)

The oled is working fine. just needed to change the address.

2) The code you have has just 1ms (1/1000 of a second) delays - so, for example, LED shape is only on for a 1/1000 of a second.

This is just a debug pin to watch on the scope to make sure the program loop is running.

3) I usually like to output some 'debug' info to UART - and then view the result on the PC (using a terminal program such as 'putty' or 'tera term') - this has the advantage that 'output' isn't lost (or overwritten) by the next line.... One thing to watch is that to output a newline you need to output "\r\n"

Haven't played with a serial term yet. Definitely going to get into that soon. Just wanted to go with the oled for now because I know it is working and stable.

4) Unfortunately there isn't currently (though hopefully will be soon :-) ) an automatic save before build....

Niggly little thing. No big deal, just an extra click.

5) Neopixels certainly work well on Arduino - what compilation errors are you getting with other boards?

I tried it on an arduino and it worked for me too. Just don't like the st arms. IT gives a series of no op errors on build.

6) One of the major strengths of Flowcode is it's (very) active and helpful staff (take a bow Ben, Leigh, Daniel, Dave and Steve) - who will provide fixes and advice for most problems, and also it's users - who will pitch in with helpful (or otherwise) advice / fixes and code. If you have problem, and no one else can fix it, post your code and a question and someone will help!

I have noticed that! And think it is great! I pretty good with hardware but am not much of a programer. I am hoping that FC can help with that!

7) Did you get 'blink' up and running?

Yes, I have written a couple of test programs and am getting used to the IDE. Think it is really cool so far. There are just some tings that I want to do that don't seem to be working on the ST arms that I choose to use.

This program is just a quick test to see if the dmx is doing it's thing. I have checked all of the physical stuff. I don't know if I am missing something in my simple test program of if the ST arm code or the dmx component is broken.

thanks!
Chad



Martin

User avatar
Benj
Matrix Staff
Posts: 15312
Joined: Mon Oct 16, 2006 10:48 am
Location: Matrix TS Ltd
Has thanked: 4803 times
Been thanked: 4314 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by Benj »

Hello Chad,
I have a 4k monitor and when compiling the flow code window jumps around. Not sure why. Making a new file causes a big white block and the screen flickers a lot. Is this usual? I have a modern up to date well specced computer. Under build if you view c and resize the window it will put you into an epileptic shock..
I have a 4K monitor at home and do not get these graphics problems, at least not as bad as you are saying. Could it maybe be a graphics driver issue? I do have a special no tear g-sync gaming monitor and gfx card so maybe that is helping me to not see the issues? Can you describe your setup in more detail?

We have noticed some issues have crept in when doing tasks such as a new project or compiling so our upcoming 8.1 release should hopefully tackle a lot of the problems regarding this. Basically Windows is flagging the application as none responsive as we were doing a lot of processing in the main GUI thread. We have now moved this processing to alternate threads allowing the GUI to remain responsive.
The updates are available through the IDE update system ,not sure how that works with the Demo version though
Updates will work as normal with the demo version.

Finally if you do find compilation errors it really helps us a lot if you can post your Flowcode project file. It just makes replicating the problem that much easier which means we can spend more time on fixing the issue. Just looking at the NeoPixel component issue for you now.

chad
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:13 pm
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by chad »

Can you describe your setup in more detail?
Sure. I have three monitors.
Main monitor is 4k driven by a nvidia gtx1080. Driver : current as of today. It is not a g-sync so I am locked at 60hz.
The wing monitors are both 1080p driven by a nvidia gtx 770ti.
Windows 7 pro
AMD ryzen 7 1800 8 core.
16gb ram.

I have been running in software opengl because with hardware opengl when the program opens and exits it resets my other monitors.
I have the same results in either case. On my machine if I just launch the program and am at the start page if I resize the window everything in the startpage tab flicker and strobe on every mouse movement. It looks like the dark skin is fighting with the white background. None of this is really a big deal. It's just, ineloquent. I don't notice graphics glitches with any other of my software, why I mentioned it. I could just be an edge case.
Finally if you do find compilation errors it really helps us a lot if you can post your Flowcode project file
Understood. Will do that from now on. I didn't do it for the dmx and the neopixel initially because it was easily reproducible by everyone. They were just broken.

I did post my test app above for the dmx. It does compile now but I can't get a dmx value out of it.

Thanks for looking into these issues.

chad

chad
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:13 pm
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by chad »

Hi guys, any update to my problems?
My demo time is ticking down. 9 days left.

So a few things I have noticed so far:

i2c (native) apparently isn't supported on st arms. This seems to me to be a fairly big omission. The chip I am using has 4 of them. (not like anything uses i2c).

There is no option to set my chip to its max speed in the configurator.

According to another post if I do change the chip speed this messes up the timing for interrupts. (also a fairly big deal, who needs accurate timing in an interrupt?).

Of the 4 standard components I needed for the little project that I want to do only one of them works. The oled driver. (with a minor visual bug in the simulation). I wonder how many other things are broken.

Neopixel , broken.

DMX , broken.

EEPROM, broken. Leigh did Give me some code that can write to flash . I have been busy and just haven't tried to dig into that just yet.

The "chip" representation doesn't match my chip.

Not all of the i2c,uart,spi,dac,adc... Are selectable or exposed. I didn't pick some obscure chip, I'm using standard st nucleo dev boards.

Numerous graphics glitches on a pretty beefy machine.

Numerous minor little things. Oh yea, don't double click a flow code file in the finder with flow code already running.

In my opinion the 30day test time is too short it needs to be double. Especially considering that 3/4 of the officially supported components on a supposedly supported ST arm platform I want to use are broken. I only have a few hours here and there to work with the software. The free version is nerfed to the point of uselessness.

Your marketing claims something like 1300 chips supported. A more intellectually honest statement would be "1300 chips kinda, sorta, maybe supported or not* (*especially the popular and powerful ST ARM)".

I really like the concept a lot. I have had a lot of fun slowly learning it and I will probably still purchase it if you can get the things that I want to do with it working. In my opinion you guys have spent a large amount of time throwing the kitchen sink into the software but have neglected the core functionality, you know, compiling code on microcontrollers. I choose st arm because they are cheap, easily available and powerful.

Like I said I am still going to buy it, but it is going to be almost $400 usd for me. That's a pretty good chunk-o-change for something that only sorta works.
Look, I get it, 1300 chips * how many components is a giant grid of pain. But it would be nice if you at minimum supported common dev boards,chips fully.

I still have high hopes. Tick, tock.
Thanks,

Chad

edit: a word

User avatar
LeighM
Matrix Staff
Posts: 2178
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:07 am
Has thanked: 481 times
Been thanked: 699 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by LeighM »

Hi Chad,
That's quite comprehensive :D
i2c (native) apparently isn't supported on st arms.
No not yet, software only mode
There is no option to set my chip to its max speed in the configurator.
For ST ARM targets, the speed needs to be set to the oscillator frequency, not the PLL,
that does not stop you configuring the clock multipliers/dividers to give you maximum throughput
According to another post if I do change the chip speed this messes up the timing for interrupts
If the speed is set to anything other than the oscillator frequency it messes up a lot of things, not least the delay functions.
Unfortunately the interrupt timer values do have to be calculated manually,
Flowcode does not currently have all the information to calculate and display the correct resulting frequency.
Sorry, maybe we could have inhibited the frequency display to avoid confusion
Neopixel , broken. DMX , broken.
I think Ben has plans to check through those, but we are currently hard pressed by other priorities this week.
EEPROM, broken. Leigh did Give me some code that can write to flash . I have been busy and just haven't tried to dig into that just yet.
This is what makes it difficult for us to prioritize fixes, maybe it would be useful to let us know what is urgent and what isn't
The "chip" representation doesn't match my chip.
Not all of the i2c,uart,spi,dac,adc... Are selectable or exposed. I didn't pick some obscure chip, I'm using standard st nucleo dev boards.
For the Nucleo boards it was decided to make the chip view (and peripheral selection) match the Arduino pinout.
If you swap your project target to the actual ST ARM device you will get access to all pins.

Leigh

chad
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:13 pm
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by chad »

Hi Leigh,

Good tip on choosing the chip vs. the nucleo board. I did try your code I didn't get it to work but it could be my fault... so..

You asked about priority. So I want to build some dmx stuff for fun. To do that I need DMX, Neopixel, a way to store the dmx start channel and a display to show and select the dmx channel. So for my project all 4 of those must work. Only the display currently works. That's 1 out of 4.

The i2c issues, the clock issues, the interrupt timing issues are obviously things that should be addressed. Like I said in my first post the st arm chips don't work very well. I have proven that I think.

I REALLY REALLY want this to work well with the st arms. I don't care if the code is bigger, slower and less optimised. For me (a not very good programer) the ability to flow out programs totally outweigh the downsides. BUT it has to, you know, function and actually work.

Am I the only person that is using flowcode with st arms? Am I the only person that has noticed the shortcomings? Am I doing everything wrong?

DMX + ST ARM is what brought me here from google. I realize that dmx is a specialized thing and that it uses funky timings but it is a supported component part of coms-c.

I just noticed that you have made some changes to your website and got rid of all mention of st arm. Does that mean that you are abandoning them? You still have them listed in the table...?

I can help you with the dmx testing and tell you how to get a controller going without spending any money using stuff you have around already.

Any way, 7 days until my software turns into a pumpkin.

Thanks,
Chad

User avatar
Steve
Matrix Staff
Posts: 3418
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2006 3:59 pm
Has thanked: 114 times
Been thanked: 422 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by Steve »

Hi Chad,

Whilst the ARM chip-pack is not our most popular, it is being used successfully by quite a few other users. One of the big issues we have found with these STM32 devices is that they have multiple and complicated clocking mechanisms, which does affect many aspects of Flowcode.

Regarding your specific issues, I know we are looking into these and I'll see if we can extend your trial if we can't solve them before it runs out.

Regards,
Steve.

chad
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:13 pm
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by chad »

Hi Steve,

Textual conversations are sometimes difficult because body language and tone of voice aren't present. That being said I would like to make sure you guys understand that I am appreciative of time you all are taking looking into this stuff for me. I can sometimes be blunt, but it is always meant in a constructive criticism context. Sometimes a new third party view and a little truth to power can be a good thing(?). I have mentioned before that I am not much of a programer. For me FC is close to the holy grail. I am basically your target audience (outside of institutional sales).
I understand that matrix is first and foremost an educational solutions provider and that FC is primarily structured around that model. The simulation aspect is primiallary to support a hardware less 'learn programming' courseware. I get it, makes perfect sense. I understand that my needs aren't even a blip when viewed in that context.

Then I come along. I picked (probably) two of the tweakeyest timing components that you offer and try to run them on an arm that has "multiple and complicated clocking mechanisms". My use combination apparently has uncovered, how do you blokes put it, a sticky wicket :) If I am having these problems then surely others are as well, or will.
You mentioned that the now 'arm' package isn't as popular. Might I posit that we have a 'if you build it they will come' situation. If changing the speed of the chip to native frequencies fundamentally borks, globally, FC timing that isn't a minor bug. Broken peripherals are a big speed hit with code that is (necessarily) unoptimized for portability, amplified by the fact that we can't clock up the chip to native speed. Pic's are small in the maker community, arduino is king but showing their age, arm is where all the cool kids are at! It would seem to me that giving arm the short shrift would be counterproductive to future profit. Unless guys like me are ancillary to the 'learn to code' & 'learn to robot' educational appliance.

My purchase is contingent on same, I suspect I'm not alone, I just happen to be a more vocal pain in the arse :) Reason being, I really want this software.

Cheers!

Chad

User avatar
LeighM
Matrix Staff
Posts: 2178
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:07 am
Has thanked: 481 times
Been thanked: 699 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by LeighM »

If I can just comment on a technical aspect, there seems to be increasing confusion regarding 'speed'.
Maybe I've not explained too well in previous posts.
The ARM device has numerous clocks driving different buses , the core and peripherals.
Using the project config screen you can set the various dividers, selectors and PLL multipliers to whatever you want to give the desired end clock frequencies. That is, drive them as fast as you want, within specification of course :wink:
Because Flowcode has no idea what crystal you have for the oscillator on the hardware you need to enter this value in the config screen in Flowcode. Everything then just works. (For the Nucleo boards this is known and pre-set for you)

The only issue here, and discussed in other forum threads, is that the value entered into the dialog field needs to be the source oscillator frequency, not the core clock frequency.

Hope that clarifies
Leigh

chad
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:13 pm
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by chad »

Leigh,
Who Me! Confused? Unpossible. I resemble that remark. :)

That does make sense. Let me re-read the datasheet section on clocks and freq in an attempt to minimize the chance further stating something barmy.
(see what I did there? I'm trying to learn a new language)

My goal is to try to figure out how you have the chip set and how to set it for maximum performance. I suspect that it isn't running anywhere as fast as it can be. Moar is always better right?
Being a complete numpty, my confusion is, if I leave the clock setting at 8mhz (the external clock from the st link section) does that muck up the interrupt timing stuff if I change some of the config bits to get the chip up to 180mhz?

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Chad

p.s. on the chip display. I am using the nucleo 446re. You don't have the 446re chip. You have the 446ze, but that is the 100 pin chip...

User avatar
LeighM
Matrix Staff
Posts: 2178
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:07 am
Has thanked: 481 times
Been thanked: 699 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by LeighM »

if I leave the clock setting at 8mhz (the external clock from the st link section) does that muck up the interrupt timing stuff if I change some of the config bits to get the chip up to 180mhz?
Yes, leave the clock setting at 8mhz, that way the code that Flowcode generates, and the execution on target, will be fine regarding delays, UART baud rates etc.
For Timer interrupts you will need to set the prescaler and rollover values yourself (in the icon properties dialogue) to give your required time based on the input clock frequency that you chose. Note also that there is more than one timer clock so you will need to check which clock that particular timer uses.

The STM32 CubeMX has a good graphical Clock Configuration tab that is very useful.
I just wish we had the time to do something similar in Flowcode :?

chad
Posts: 198
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:13 pm
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 33 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by chad »

Hi leigh. Thanks for the info..


So In 24 hours my FC demo will pumpkinify itself. None of my issues have been fixed nor have any concrete assurances been given.

FC is on sale right now and I would like to buy it but the things I want to do with it don't work.
I noticed that you quietly deleted the DMX master out of coms2.

So, what's up?

thanks,
Chad

p.s. I had a 50/50 bet that you would just quietly let my demo expire and ignore all of the issues that I have highlighted hoping that I would just go away. Looks like I am right.

User avatar
LeighM
Matrix Staff
Posts: 2178
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:07 am
Has thanked: 481 times
Been thanked: 699 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by LeighM »

Hi Chad,

Regarding your issues..
I2C is usable in software mode
The STARM device does not have any EEPROM, so this would need a new component writing to simulate in Flash memory.
The DMX component is waiting for a bit of free time of the original author, I don't know about it being deleted, will have to check up on that.

We try to help as best we can, but cannot give any concrete assurances on behalf of the company.
It's just a shame that you are so reliant upon the DMX right now.

User avatar
Benj
Matrix Staff
Posts: 15312
Joined: Mon Oct 16, 2006 10:48 am
Location: Matrix TS Ltd
Has thanked: 4803 times
Been thanked: 4314 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by Benj »

Hello Chad,
p.s. I had a 50/50 bet that you would just quietly let my demo expire and ignore all of the issues that I have highlighted hoping that I would just go away. Looks like I am right.
We are not like that. Sure lots of companies are but not us :D If we forget to do something then it probably because we forgot :wink: We can always reset your 30-day trial on request. Have you thought about asking for this rather than being negative, catch more flies with honey etc.

I haven't removed the DMX component in fact both the DMX master and slave are showing up on my fully up to date installation so it's very strange it's not there for you. Have you ran the update tool and done a full database update?

What problems exactly are you having with DMX. I've been reading back through the thread and all I have spotted so far is a sentence saying it doesn't work. Can you tell us what you have tried and maybe attach your file so we can see what you've done.

Me and Leigh have been discussing the Neopixel code too and this should hopefully be resolved very soon for the STARM family. The main problem here is reliably calculating the tight timings but it looks like we now have a solution for this.

User avatar
Benj
Matrix Staff
Posts: 15312
Joined: Mon Oct 16, 2006 10:48 am
Location: Matrix TS Ltd
Has thanked: 4803 times
Been thanked: 4314 times
Contact:

Re: Hello all, NOOB here some comments, thoughts, and questions.

Post by Benj »

WS2811 component now working with the STARM devices. I've just pushed the updated component to the update system.

You just have to specify the Instruction rate in the new "STARM Instruction Rate" property as there isn't a simple way of getting this currently, my test device BL0061 is 180000000 e.g. 180MHz.

Post Reply