Chris Walker's Content

#61290 Where are we supposed to buy obsolete 2Gb SD cards?

Posted by Chris Walker on 16 January 2015 - 07:14 AM in General Discussion

Hi BruceN,

I don't know the big retailers in NZ, but here's a link to the first reseller I found with a quick Google search:
http://www.phonequip...ro-sd-card-2gb/

The MMC (standard capacity SD) standard is limited to 2GB. SDHC support is required for 2GB+ cards. If you'd like to see SDHC support in the .NET Micro Framework, please request it on the NETMF Codeplex site:
http://netmf.codeple...item/list/basic

Chris

#63099 What is the latest firmware version for Netduino 1

Posted by Chris Walker on 10 June 2015 - 05:36 PM in Netduino 2 (and Netduino 1)

Hi lcacciatore,

The latest firmware for the gen1 hardware (Netduino 1, Netduino Mini, and Netduino Plus 1) is 4.2.

Chris

#63105 What is the latest firmware version for Netduino 1

Posted by Chris Walker on 11 June 2015 - 03:21 AM in Netduino 2 (and Netduino 1)

Hi Dr. Who,

The most popular boards from Netduino Gen1 were the Netduino Plus 1 boards. The networking stack in NETMF 4.3+ is too big to fit.

We do have a shiny new networking stack (Netduino.IP) that we could fit on Netduino Plus 1, and bring it up to NETMF 4.3.1. But we don't have a driver for the AT91SAM7X512's on-board networking MAC.

If a few kind folks from the community (or even one awesome community member with free weekends) wants to write a native+managed code LinkLayer (MAC) driver for Netduino Plus 1...we would be more than happy to incorporate that and do the remaining work to upgrade all the gen1 boards up to NETMF 4.3. Netduino is open source, and this is one of those areas where we need resource help (contributions from community members) to be able to make this kind of thing happen.

It would be cool to be able to upgrade 5-year-old Netduinos to the latest firmware, indeed.

Chris

#63425 What is the latest firmware version for Netduino 1

Posted by Chris Walker on 08 July 2015 - 08:36 PM in Netduino 2 (and Netduino 1)

Hi Ron,

Go ahead and install VS2013 and the Netduino 4.3.x SDK, and then install the legacy templates (see downloads page).

For Netduino 1 devices, just use the (Legacy) template when you create your new projects.

Chris

#61293 What is the difference between Rev A and Rev B boards?

Posted by Chris Walker on 16 January 2015 - 10:50 AM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

Chris, you're correct, I also have a Plus 1 and I was getting it mixed up with my Plus 2!! D'oh!

I understand that issue; they do look like siblings, don't they?

In the factory we have hundreds of Netduinos at a time stacked on white (ESD) tables for the testing and packaging process. Because different Netduinos look so consistently alike, our factory policy is to only work with one board model per table at a time--lest Netduino Plus 1s accidentally get mixed in with Netduino Plus 2s, etc.

[More specifically the flash-and-test process would flag the almost-doppelganger; critically this process ensures that the right boards go in the correctly-labeled packages.]

I'm glad that you have an NP1 to keep your NP2 company

Chris

#61286 What is the difference between Rev A and Rev B boards?

Posted by Chris Walker on 15 January 2015 - 10:47 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

Hi Tim,

Netduino Plus 2 only has one revision, Rev. A.

If you got a Netduino Plus 1...

Netduino Plus 1 Rev. A uses the external AREF pin by default (for analog voltage voltage).

Netduino Plus 1 Rev. B uses an internal AREF (same as 3V3 header) by default, and offers a GPIO switch to enable the external AREF in case you need the external AREF.

We found that almost 0% of users ever wanted an AREF other than 3V3.

To make your Rev. A board work the same as a Rev. B board, simply connect a wire from 3V3 to AREF...and you'll be good to go.

BTW, there were very very few Rev. A boards.

Chris

#63714 VS2013 is history, can't get VS2015 working

Posted by Chris Walker on 30 July 2015 - 03:17 AM in Visual Studio

Hi D.Brown,

I've been away from Netduino as well. I've got a regular netduino no plus or anything. What software do I need to get and in what order. C# express 2010 is no longer an option. I'm pretty new and need pretty clear instructions or I'm sure I'll mess something up.

Visual Studio 2013 Express and the NETMF 4.3 SDK should work for you; just be sure to change the target framework to the earlier version of .NETMF running on your device.

Head over to the Downloads page. Install VS2013 Express, the NETMF SDK, the NETMF plug-in for VS2013, and then the Netduino SDK. And then...install the legacy templates (for Netduino 1). [Yes, I know that's a lot of installs...sorry about that.]

Chris

#63713 VS2013 is history, can't get VS2015 working

Posted by Chris Walker on 30 July 2015 - 03:15 AM in Visual Studio

Hey Joshk,

I'm getting concerned. Does the release version of VS2015 Express not support the Netduinos?

VS2015 is currently "beta" for NETMF. It should be officially supported soon...but there are a few glitches still (notably with custom EventHandlers, where you have to add in a few lines of extra code to make the linking happy).

We're using VS2015 exclusively over here.

Chris

#63620 VS2013 is history, can't get VS2015 working

Posted by Chris Walker on 23 July 2015 - 06:20 AM in Visual Studio

Hi Joshk,

Here's a direct link to the NETMF plug-in for VS2015:
http://www.netduino..../netmfvs14.vsix

Chris

#62713 VS 2012 installation problems

Posted by Chris Walker on 15 May 2015 - 09:25 PM in Visual Studio

Hi Rx7man,

I have VS2012 ultimate, installed the x64 micro framework and SDK, but when I try and create a new project in VS by going to the MicroFramework -> Netduino (any version) I get the following error

Try repairing the NETMF and Netduino SDKs in "Control Panel > Programs and Features". Or simply uninstall the Netduino and NETMF SDKs and then reinstall them. Make sure that Visual Studio is closed when you're installing the SDKs--or it may run into troubles loading in the project templates.

I'm also wondering if the Netduino projects can be compiled for an Arduino board? I guess that would depend on the hardware of each.

Arduinos run different brands and types of processors (typically 8-bit instead of Netduino's 32-bit) which aren't as powerful as the ones used on Netduino. With Netduino you're using much newer technology.

Welcome to the Netduino community,

Chris

#63392 Visual Studio version for N3?

Posted by Chris Walker on 05 July 2015 - 06:23 PM in Netduino 3

Hi ishotjr,

Thanks for the detailed explanation Chris! FYI we met at MIX '11 - I was using Netduinos to control RC cars...

Oh hey, hi there! That was a pretty cool project! MIX attendees certainly had a lot of fun with it too.

PS, just curious: what about VS Code, or e.g. Sublime Text with MSBuild or other CLI tools...

VS Code is currently focused on ASP.NET and similar types of projects. And yes, I have already asked Microsoft for NETMF support in VS Code. For today we have (the awesome) Visual Studio IDE.

BTW, you could build your own custom integration with other IDEs if you wanted. Xamarin Studio has some support for Netduino (in Monkey.Robotics) as a reference.

Chris

#63522 Visual Studio version for N3?

Posted by Chris Walker on 14 July 2015 - 06:06 PM in Netduino 3

Cool - I'm will to try to document and share as much as possible!

(highfive)

#63396 Visual Studio version for N3?

Posted by Chris Walker on 06 July 2015 - 02:04 AM in Netduino 3

Hey ishotjr,

The best ways to share code today is through the Projects Showcase forum and by uploading your source to GitHub...and then letting us all know about it here.

We may look into a "code share"/"community samples" type of section in the future as well...but today we tend to coordinate and celebrate code through the forums.

Chris

#63381 Visual Studio version for N3?

Posted by Chris Walker on 04 July 2015 - 05:45 PM in Netduino 3

Hi ishotjr,

Welcome (and welcome back!) to the Netduino community.

For Netduino 3, you'll need a copy of VS2012 or VS2013. Express or Pro+ editions are fine. VS2015 will probably also work for you, although it's still in beta.

For free editions: VS Express for Windows Desktop and VS Community Edition should both work fine.

One more thing: going forward, the NETMF SDK may be adopting a "current and previous version" approach to supporting IDEs with the latest versions of .NET MF. So I would recommend grabbing a copy of VS2013 for your new Netduino 3.

BTW, what cool things are you thinking of building using Wi-Fi?

Chris

#63306 Visual Studio 2015

Posted by Chris Walker on 30 June 2015 - 05:28 AM in Visual Studio

Hi Mark,

Yes, you can grab a copy of the VS2015 "VSIX" plug-in with the NETMF SDK over at the NETMF CodePlex site...
https://netmf.codepl...ads/get/1423121

Chris

#63164 viewing .brd files

Posted by Chris Walker on 15 June 2015 - 11:53 PM in General Discussion

Hi Eric,

For the mainboards, grab a free copy of the Cadence Allegro viewer.
http://www.cadence.c.../Downloads.aspx

Chris

#63790 VBA Questions About Events and Analogs

Posted by Chris Walker on 06 August 2015 - 04:33 AM in Visual Basic Support

Hi STGMavrick,

I was just looking through older posts and noticed that you hadn't received any responses to this. Let me see if I can help get you pointed in the right direction.

So, What I'm seeing is that If I declare buttonstate as true initially I can turn it off. However, I cannot turn it on again. I'm assuming I am not doing it correctly. Ideally though I would prefer a single pushbutton to toggle the system on and off.

For debouncing: I recommend just checking the current time. Go ahead and react to the pushbutton--but keep a timer value which stores the "last pushed" time in ms...and if it has been less than 10ms since the last push...ignore the new event. No need for two buttons.

[Also...you may want to use EdgeBoth instead of EdgeLow for your interrupt trigger, so that you can see when the button is released.]

Secondly, My Analog input declaration would not work with my code I have written unless I used CPU.AnalogChannel.AnalogChannel_0. Pins.GPIO_PIN_A0 would complain about implicit conversion.

Ah, good observation. The Pins enumeration only works for digital inputs/outputs. Do you have access to the AnalogChannels.ANALOG_PIN_A0, etc. enumeration?

Thirdly, do these have RTC abilities? I originally wanted to have two modes. Manual on/off and time controlled. Start at X hour, stop at y hour.

No RTC, but you can do this pretty easily in code. Just subtract the current DateTime from the target DateTime and then set a timer to wake up your logic. There's no battery backup and you do need to set the time after boot--but this should work well.

BTW, welcome to the Netduino community!

Chris

#63405 Using the onboard 3.3v output

Posted by Chris Walker on 06 July 2015 - 06:07 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

Hi ioexception,

On the gen2 boards, there's a pin [ (Cpu.Pin)0x12 ] which you can toggle on/off to control the 3V3/5V power headers' output. Any change you've toggled that pin?

Also...many LEDs have a drop-out voltage that's greater than 5V. So you may need to use your 5V header. And, of course...be sure to include a resistor in-line with your LED if you're feeding it from a power source or the LED can be damaged. [I assume you already know and did this...but just being complete.]

Does that help get you running in the right direction?

Chris

#61847 uScoober - the filament for NETMF

Posted by Chris Walker on 11 March 2015 - 11:01 PM in Project Showcase

Cool, Eddie. Thanks for sharing!

Any chance you can link to a video of your presentation at .NET/FRINGE/ next month?

Chris

#63815 USB-Serial Module

Posted by Chris Walker on 07 August 2015 - 05:58 PM in Netduino 3

Hi Hawkez,

I was trying to open a GoBus COM port as you mentioned here. Is there some trick to using these COM ports on the GoBus? I saw that there is a TX pull-up pin coming from the micro for each of the COM ports on GoBus sockets on the Netduino 3 (pin 43 for COM7). Does that pin need to be configured as an output and set to true? If so, how do I get to that pin in code?

No need to mess with the pull-up pin. If you open COM5 (port 1), COM6 (port 2) or COM7 (port 3) on a Netduino 3 board running the current firmware, you'll get a 3.3V UART connection over those pins. Just be sure to wire up TX, RX and GND to the target (crossing over TX and RX). Also please note that this is an advanced hack that may not work in the future.

We've actually used one of the Gadgeteer USB-Serial modules before (the black ones, NOT the red ones) to hook up a quick and dirty serial port to a PC.

Chris

#63081 USB-Serial Module

Posted by Chris Walker on 08 June 2015 - 06:57 PM in Netduino 3

Hi KenTi,

We actually built the GoBus ports on Netduino 3 with the theory that we could support both .NET Gadgeteer and GoBus.

But almost all Gadgeteer manufacturers have stopped making Gadgeteer gear and the one that remains (where you bought your USB Serial Gadgeteer module) has discontinued the majority of their modules as well. So...rather than building for the past we decided to build for the future instead.

That said...it's totally cool to hack your board

If you want to open serial ports COM5-COM7 (on GoBus ports 1-3 respectively) you can probably use that module (without RTS/CTS) today. I can't guarantee that this will work with future firmware releases (which may increase performance further through reserved hardware pins)--but it's technically possible today through "hacking".

Chris

#64267 USB 3.0 issues

Posted by Chris Walker on 07 October 2015 - 05:46 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

Hi dmil4781,

Interesting. USB 3.0 ports are USB 2.0 ports with extra pins for the secondary (high-speed) USB 3.0 bus. That kind of behavior really shouldn't happen with USB devices. [There could be a glitch in the NETMF MFUSB drivers...something that we could report to Microsoft if it's a blocking issue.]

Are you alright using your 2.0 ports?

BTW, welcome to the Netduino community,

Chris

#63271 Upgrading Bootloader to 4.2

Posted by Chris Walker on 27 June 2015 - 04:03 AM in Netduino Mini

Hey Roy,

To upgrade the bootloader on a Netduino Mini, you need an RS-232 connection (to pins 1/2 and GND).

I recommend using a high-quality USB RS-232 adapter (if you don't have native RS-232 on your PC).

Here is what I usually use...
KeySpan USA-19HS USB-Serial (RS-232) adapter:
http://www.amazon.co...s/dp/B0000VYJRY

I usually plug in a female-to-female adapter or a female-to-female cable to the Keyspan adapter...and then add jumper wires between the female pins (2,3,5) and the Netduino Mini pins (1,2,GND). Make sure you cross over RX and TX--then erase the Netduino Mini (by shorting 5V to the ERASE pad temporarily), unpower/repower the Netduino Mini, and connect to the bootloader.

If you have a BASIC Stamp BoE board (with the RS-232 port)...that's a really easy way to connect to the RS-232 pins too.

Chris

#63272 Upgrading Bootloader to 4.2

Posted by Chris Walker on 27 June 2015 - 04:06 AM in Netduino Mini

P.S. RS-232 cables use positive and negative voltage to indicate 1s and 0s (instead of positive voltage and GND, like TTL UART pins). You'll see +5 to +15V and -5V to -15V on a true RS-232 signal.

#63334 Upgrading Bootloader to 4.2

Posted by Chris Walker on 01 July 2015 - 07:41 PM in Netduino Mini

Hey Roy,

Awesome. Thanks for updating us. So glad it's working for you; sorry for any confusion and troubles along the way!

Chris

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