teachop's Content

#9051 FreeRTOS

Posted by teachop on 06 February 2011 - 12:03 AM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

ok, lwip 1.2.0 is working, just dump it to your sample folder, copy contrib and ethernetif.c from 1.1.0 folder,
make proper makefile change, it will work, no need to make any change.

Good deal. I want to try lwip next to compare with uIP, which is working well.

#8699 FreeRTOS

Posted by teachop on 30 January 2011 - 06:25 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

FreeRTOS builds fine for the Netduino Plus under Ubuntu Linux as well. The same toolchain, gcc CodeSourcery lite, with eclipse as the IDE (no jtag). Of course SAM-ba is a pain - it works best for me to run it in VirtualBox+XP. Under linux there are a couple case-sensitive edits, only two, to get the first time build to go. If interested, find attached the list of what tweaks got this setup to work on both Vista and Ubuntu.

Attached Files

FreeRTOSNetduinoPlusBuildNotes.txt 2.95KB 82 downloads

#8629 FreeRTOS

Posted by teachop on 28 January 2011 - 07:07 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

Quick aside...should we make a "FreeRTOS and C/C++ programming" forum?

Makes sense to me, I agree use a generic name for non .NET applications, and have the FreeRTOS and NUT/OS as sub-categories, I am sure more will follow. Can you move existing FreeRTOS and NUT/OS threads under them to seed the process?

#8385 FreeRTOS

Posted by teachop on 25 January 2011 - 09:16 AM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

I got Netduino plus running with FreeRTOS 6.1.0+lwip 1.1.0, compiled with GCC-4.1 toolchain from www.gnuarm.com
with few changes.

I also tested with YAGARTO version 20100703, same code, not working. cpu hangs once network cable plugged.

Nice. Was very interested in your compiler experiences. I used CodeSourcery lite GCC, and have not tried the others. In the demo I built, there is a look-up function in the cgi code that crashes, and I had to rewrite it. I suspect that is a compiler issue as well. Other than that it was just, like you experienced, configuration details.

All in all, FreeRTOS+CodeSourcery+eclipse on Netduino Plus is looking pretty good, and I suppose I can live with SAM-BA! It seems my first Netduino Plus project will be without a .net. This will give performance and easy access to the irqs. You can't beat the hardware feature set for the price (wish there was a JTAG though).

I have not tried to get the SD card going with FAT file system yet on FreeRTOS, have you worked on that at all?

#9052 FreeRTOS

Posted by teachop on 06 February 2011 - 12:15 AM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

Linux host update: SAM-BA for linux is working again with new kernels. There is a new driver called sam-ba.ko - it is in 2.6.38 kernels - I grabbed the alpha of Ubuntu Natty (which is SUPER FULL OF POTHOLES being an alpha). And guess what. Atmel SAM-BA works properly. I don't know what cross-kit they used for the GUI but it looks pretty funny in Ubuntu Gnome. Who cares, it works great. So that means good things ahead. A full toolchain in linux, except there is no debugging. What I used was eclipse + CodeSourcery lite + FreeRTOS + SAM-BA + Netduino Plus. On this thread, above I see other compilers work too. One thing I had to do to get the sam-ba driver to always load was to blacklist cdc-acm, because sometimes it would jump in there and interfere. You don't do any of the usbserial driver dance that is in the readme file any longer.

#9373 FreeRTOS

Posted by teachop on 12 February 2011 - 08:56 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

ok, lwip-1.3.0 is working.

Rats, I didn't pull this off after an afternoon of head banging. I have undefined references to _exit _kill and _getpid so must be library issues, or need to add stuff to syscalls.c to fill the gaps. Also something about ethernetif_init that I have not gotten to.

#13034 Netduino Plus 1 Firmware v4.1.1 BETA 1

Posted by teachop on 09 May 2011 - 10:44 PM in Beta Firmware and Drivers

If you reflash your device with the v4.1.0.6 production firmware do you see the same spotiness with USB connectivity?

V4.1.0.6 does work better, as does V4.1.1.0Beta1. VS terminated once on the first deploy with V4.1.0.6 and never saw that with V4.1.1.0Beta1, might have been coincidence. Jacking the USB is sometimes required to get deploy started, but with some fooling around it works.

The problems with VS locking tight seem specific to the 42KB_RAM version. Those crashes require sending the ol' CTL-ALT-DEL and killing VS. Didn't see that with the other versions. Does this make any sense?

For now I will use V4.1.1.0Beta1 for some .NET learning...

#12976 Netduino Plus 1 Firmware v4.1.1 BETA 1

Posted by teachop on 08 May 2011 - 10:42 PM in Beta Firmware and Drivers

Hi Chris. Virtual Machine feedback was requested: I am finding about the same reliability as with prior versions. I actually used the 42K RAM version, if that matters. The setup here is Virtualbox 4.04 with the USB extensions, running on Ubuntu 11.04, with the Windows OS being XP SP3 fully patched up. The USB operations are spotty, it would seem. Sometimes things just lock up, sometimes the Netduino gets programmed and then VS locks up. Sometimes things work. Is the USB operation rock solid on a "real" windows (non-virtualized)? I was hoping for a better go this time, because with this version of VirtualBox, USB has been operating fine with odd devices such as programmers. If you have any particular tests you would like to run let me know! For now I will put FreeRTOS back on this little guy... hope we can get things worked out though, it would be fun to join the rest of the users on .NET C# and learn some of that too now...

#9450 FreeRTOS

Posted by teachop on 13 February 2011 - 09:56 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

Let me know if you need more info.

Thanks for the offer, will try again next weekend. I am using CodeSourcery on Linux for the toolchain, so will write something to fill those gaps and add it to syscalls.

My Netduino Plus is on "temporary deployment" (FreeRTOS+uIP, which is solid) trying to impress my wife turning stuff off and on from the phone. She wasn't.

The best was when I built our alarm clock from an AVR. Her response - "Is that what you have been doing?" Sigh...

#8282 FreeRTOS

Posted by teachop on 24 January 2011 - 10:51 AM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

What compiler are you using teacop? Codesourcery? Which version?

Yes, CodeSourcery lite. Used eclipse for the environment, but no debugging. Figured out a pattern so that SAM-BA works every time, at first it was a pain. I had to make some changes in the web server because it was crashing, other than that it was just stuff like LED defines, and it worked.

#8283 FreeRTOS

Posted by teachop on 24 January 2011 - 10:57 AM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

The demo you built on uIP...is the networking solid now or still flaky? We've been looking at ways to get uIP up and running on the Netduino Plus.

Chris

It is stable enough, in the short time I have had it running, once it is going, it doesn't hang up. There are dropped IP packets but I don't know if that is a problem or not yet. The flakes are in the connect/disconnect ethernet. I have to 1) power the Netduino Plus, 2) connect the ethernet. If the ethernet is connected already, then it sometimes isn't working, so I need to investigate that.

#8198 FreeRTOS

Posted by teachop on 23 January 2011 - 07:14 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

Are you thinking of building anything else with FreeRTOS?

You asked, no laughing. Two current projects might fit: One is a midi solenoid-over-wind pipe organ (currently arduino), second is a physical email/gmail/snail notifier wall hanging. The second is what I bought the board for...

is FreeRTOS using lwIP or uIP?

The demo I built is uip. A few edits of the web server got it running, have not touched the stack.

#8169 FreeRTOS

Posted by teachop on 23 January 2011 - 02:35 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

For entertainment, I tried FreeRTOS on the Netduino Plus using SAM-BA. The networking has flakes, but it is working. With the SAM7X demo, it acts like a USB mouse OK, prints stats via the web server, and gives control of the LED to a web page. It is easy to get the real Netduino Plus software back into it when you are done. Anybody else playing about with this, or something similar?

#6084 What is the Netduino Mini?

Posted by teachop on 14 December 2010 - 04:51 PM in Netduino Mini

Just ordered one to gift myself on the 25th! Looking over the schematic... If you ever plan to tweak the PCB at all, would you consider using a lower drop regulator (300mV) instead of U5? That would help in a stand-alone project designed to operate off a single Li-Ion or LiPo cell.

#6120 What is the Netduino Mini?

Posted by teachop on 15 December 2010 - 12:59 PM in Netduino Mini

Any particular power regulators you'd like us to investigate?

Not that I know of in the price range of the MC33269. The LT1965 is great, but too expensive! LP3871 instead of U5 would work in both applications, might be < $1, and is very LDO. Merry Christmas to you and yours too.

#7689 Netduino Plus Firmware v4.1.1 ALPHA 5

Posted by teachop on 15 January 2011 - 01:12 AM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

Some user experience using with VirtualBox on Ubuntu... Prior to installing this alpha version, I could deploy with varying reliability (Start Without Debugging == mostly works), but not debug (Start Debugging == never works). So I decided to try the Alpha. Since installing this version, I cannot deploy without messing around with the usb cable. The way I get it to work sometimes, is to click "Start Without Debugging", wait a few seconds, unplug the usb from the netduino plus, reconnect, and then wait. The program starts.

#7763 Netduino Plus Firmware v4.1.1 ALPHA 5

Posted by teachop on 16 January 2011 - 01:52 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

None of them are reliable enough

I put Vista back on an old PC and thing work, I will use that. If you need alpha/beta testing on Ubuntu/VirtualBox let me know, everything is still installed on my main machine (Linux).

#7719 Netduino Plus Firmware v4.1.1 ALPHA 5

Posted by teachop on 15 January 2011 - 11:07 AM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

do you have the same experience while using the beta 1 release?

Yes pretty much. I also spent more time with the .5 version, and it isn't very reliable either, sometimes requiring usb cable pulling. Jacking the cable sometimes causes VS to terminate however. Here is a summary of the entire Plus experience (XP in VirtualBox on Ubuntu):

Initially installing the driver (first connect of Netduino to USB), the driver installed, but after the progress bar fully filled, it never concluded the driver wizard, and required a boot. The driver did install however, and the device enumerates every time.

Using MFDeploy to install software, often the Ping hangs, requiring usb jacking. Same things happens when checking version. Fool around enough and it works. This cable jacking sometimes causes MFDeploy to terminate, sometimes not. After Browse... and select, the Deploy often hangs. Same thing. I think the pattern that works is to connect the device after hitting deploy. Anyway it eventually works, but after it proceeds to executing Application it gets stuck until the device is unplugged.

In Visual Studio, debugging has never worked once, fooling with the cable here then terminates VS. Starting without debugging can normally be made to work, wait for it to finish building and get stuck, then jack the cable, and deploy completes (sometimes VS terminates).

Thats about it. None of them are reliable enough to allow a development work flow to proceed. The Netduino Mini seems to work a bit better, VS terminates sometimes, but most of the time it works (using the RS-232 port with a Prolific USB serial cable).

#7304 Problem with Analog Input

Posted by teachop on 09 January 2011 - 02:25 AM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

the schematics is for the latest Rev. B board

Where is the Rev. B schematic for Netduino Plus found, from the download page I get Rev.A. I can see a circuit for switching aref on the Netduino schematic, but not on the Netduino Plus one.

#12711 Power Management

Posted by teachop on 30 April 2011 - 09:33 PM in General Discussion

I basically need to wake every 5-10 seconds (7 sounds good), collect some data and if nothing new, go back to sleep. I figured since this is the mode of operation, power can be saved dramatically. I expect the collection of data to take no more than 10ms so think of 10mSec* 50mA + 7Sec*1mA (it should be even less). So no reason for keeping the ARM at full active mode all this time.

Yes, that is a good plan. That is what I do too. IRQs wake things up as needed, or timed sleeps. Everything is programmed in C, even the Netduino Plus, which I put FreeRTOS on instead of the .net stock firmware. It is running a simple webserver, some USB, and a serial interface to the Zigbee.

wouldn't that be missing the purpose?

Depends on the purpose I guess. I thought getting native on the Netduino Plus with C and FreeRTOS, building the tools and even a custom programmer was fun, and that was my purpose. Netduino Plus is a great deal for me. Of course, 99.9% of people buy Netduino because of Visual Studio, so I understand your point!

#12681 Power Management

Posted by teachop on 30 April 2011 - 11:30 AM in General Discussion

I am searching a code sample of controlling the Netduino power. My project needs to run on battery and the typical ~40mA consumption of the board is not realistic to feed out of battery.

I saw some hack like code (that still did not compile) for the Arduino but I understand the Netduino is slightly different in this respect anyway.

I went through this as well. You can read about the CPU options in the at91sam7x data sheet Power Management Controller section, but the Netduino Plus board design isn't really targeting lowest power. What I found is the Netduino Plus works very well for parts of the system that are mains powered, and the portions of the system that are battery powered work better with Arduino Fio. I keep all the main application logic of the system on the Netduino, and the satellite systems for data collection / output operation only have "spinal reflex" logic. They are linked with XBee modules. What is your application?

#7020 Any Netduino Plus Stock

Posted by teachop on 04 January 2011 - 11:20 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

Got one of those from Amazon. They have one left in stock

Nice. I don't see any listings for Netduino Plus on Amazon, only Netduino and Netduino Mini. Can you post a direct link?

#6918 Any Netduino Plus Stock

Posted by teachop on 03 January 2011 - 05:29 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

I have been watching Maker Shed and a few other spots. Anybody know where|when these are in stock in the USA?

#10001 Netduino Plus / AT91SAM7X-EK compatibility

Posted by teachop on 22 February 2011 - 05:26 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

I tried to compile and load the IAR "basic-emac-uip-helloworld-project" example and... it works!

The FreeRTOS uIP example for the at91sam7x-ek also works with only a few tweaks (am using the GNU compiler). Was able to bring in parts of other examples and get what I needed for USB, ethernet, web server, and I/O. Have not worked on SD card yet because my current project doesn't need it.

#6940 Any Netduino Plus Stock

Posted by teachop on 03 January 2011 - 10:58 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

you should see them in stock at some local resellers this week and next.

Thank you - will keep checking. For some, Netduino allows experience in C#, .NET, Visual Studio, to be put to work in embedded apps. But I am the other way around, and with this learning C#, .NET, VS, building off familiar embedded territory. Good stuff.