8 replies to this topic

[DDH69]

I've built three more PS Pico setups, my first with a potentiometer plunger via ADC (ADS1115) and accelerometer (LIS3DH) for nudge .  These ones are for myself and two mates pinball cabinets not arcade cabinets.

 

I have 1 x Pi Pico v2 and 2 x Pi Pico v2.  All is working on all three boards except the ADS1115 with the Pico v2.  With the v2 the response is sluggish and can be seen as such in the config tool.  With the v1 the response is essentially real time. 

 

I am certain its not a hardware issue as I've placed the v1 Pico in all three builds and they all respond to the plunger in real time when monitoring with the PS Pico Config Tool.  With no other changes if I swap to a Pico v2 I get the sluggish response as I move the slider potentiometer.

The configuration is identical on all 3 Picos (saved and imported), all are on the latest release.  I must add I was on v1.0 and moved to v1.01 and they got less sluggish, but still to slow.

I2C0 is on GPIO 12 & 13.  IC20 has the ADS1115 and LIS3DH only.  The ADS1115 uses interrupt (ready) to GP14, the LIS3DH uses interrupt 1 to GP 15.

No relevant errors in the log (just errors about my missing PS Pico Worker board)

 

Any help / thoughts appreciated.

[mjr]

I assume that Pico v2 means the RP2350 Pico 2.  (The nomenclature is a little confusing, because they also have at least three revs of the original Pico RP2040 that they call "versions" - just wanted to make sure we're talking about the CPU type rather than revs of the original Pico RP2040.)

 

I don't know of anything that should make a Pico 2 slower for I2C input, but the Pico 2 isn't the one I develop with, so I haven't done much testing on it.  I've really only tested that the Pico 2 boots.  I guess there must be some subtle incompatibility in the hardware, but I don't know what it is.  You should probably stick with the RP2040 if you can't find a configuration difference that explains it.

If you're pretty sure it's a Pico 2 hardware difference, you might want to file an issue about it on github.  I'm not sure I'll be able to look into it any time soon (like I said, I'm not really prioritizing Pico 2), but that'll at least record that it's a known issue for future reference.

If you're in the mood for experimentation, it might be worth trying a really minimal configuration with JUST the plunger and as little else as you can possibly enable - remove all other devices, turn off all of the USB interfaces (gamepad, keyboard, etc), and test with just the Config Tool.  A mysterious slow-down sounds like it could come from something completely unrelated to the plunger, and that's just where it happens to be visible.

[DDH69]

Thanks mjr.  I wasn't aware that there were so many versions.

 

You assumed correctly, but FYI, I had a closer read of the details and I am comparing ....

Pico = RP2040 version 2, ROM 3 - RP2040-B2

Pico 2 = RP2350 version 2, ROM 2 - RP2350-B1

 

I stripped the config to just a name / id, logging, I2C0 and plunger config - issue still exists.  I tried with no interrupt configured, issue persists.

 

When you swap tabs in the Config tool to "Plunger" it even takes time for the screen to update at first.  Its like the whole process and communications slow when monitoring the plunger.

 

Sounds like I might be hunting for some Pico's and shelving the Pico 2's.

[mjr]

Interesting - I really have no idea what could be different.  But it truly is a different hardware platform with (almost) the same name, so there are bound to be some surprises.

 

One other thing I'm curious about is whether the slowdown could be limited to the Config Tool, and/or the USB private Vendor interface used for configuration activity.  You could try enabling the gamepad after all, mapping the Z axis to "plunger.z0", and observing the gamepad in JOY.CPL (not running the Config Tool at all for the test).

[DDH69]

Immediate response using joy.cpl and sluggish with Config Tool. (not run at same time), sounds like your hunch about the private Vendor interface could well be it.

[mjr]

Interesting - thanks for trying all of that.  Definitely seems to narrow it down to something on the Config Tool side, either the USB interface or simply the Config Tool UI being sluggish.  This is potentially good news in that it might not affect normal use in the simulators.

[DDH69]

Thanks for the help.  I can keep going forward now.

 

Given that I can plug / unplug between Pico and Pico 2 with Config Tool remaining running and cause / fix the issue as many times as I want, I agree that its likely the Config Tool.  Its like the when the Plunger tab is selected that the tool is flooded with messages or interrupts or similar.  The Windows refresh of the Plunger tab is slow, ie when you first select the tab artefacts remain in the button areas and edit boxes then clear after a couple of seconds.  All responses remain a couple of seconds slow with the Pico 2 connected.

 

I hope this helps us all going forward.  As always, happy to test more if it helps.

[DeKay]

@DDH69

 

Are you able to use the OpenPinDev nudge / plunger in VPX? I've been unable to have it come up as an available option in either Linux or Windows in the latest version of 10.8.1. Lots of details in the post linked below and the one that follows. It is likely something simple that I'm doing wrong but if so, I have no idea what that might be.

 

https://www.vpforums...=54968&p=552372

[DDH69]

@DDH69

 

Are you able to use the OpenPinDev nudge / plunger in VPX? I've been unable to have it come up as an available option in either Linux or Windows in the latest version of 10.8.1. Lots of details in the post linked below and the one that follows. It is likely something simple that I'm doing wrong but if so, I have no idea what that might be.

 

https://www.vpforums...=54968&p=552372

 

It will be some time until I try that.  At present I'm only in the build phase for these boards and communicating with the Config Tool and DOFLinx.