Raspberry Pi

[james]

OK. Steve. I get it. You're not a fan of LaserBoy.

Whatever.

Some people get a lot more out of it.

I guess they took the time to examine it and figure out what it really CAN do.

I don't jump through all those hoops to make a laser show. I can create new, custom art and have it shooting out of my projector in minutes using nothing but LaserBoy and a generic wave player.

The fact that it works in Windows, Mac OSX, Linux and embedded Linux is very attractive to some people.

We'll see where it goes.

James.

[mixedgas]

No, I'm not fan of trying to convince people that a 19$ blue box and a couple of opamps is the best they can do.
BTW, the blue box on Ebay is going away too. I tried to buy a few the other day for a DC coupled input project for a school science project, and they are dying.
Take the core code to the next step and add output in a useful manor.

Argumentum ad hominem, and Straw Man techniques of avoiding the question at hand, are not serving you in this argument. The obvious answer is to code new code based on the old and add output functionality to the low cost platform in a open source manor. Pass the data at some point where it is public and open with a semiphore or hook for the timing. Then a third party device can pick it up and display it. The whole beauty of Ardunio and Pi is that the data bus or ports are brought out into the open for use.

SMD is making it very hard to hack off the shelf devices, its time to provide the hardware in a open manor and call it from the code.


Steve

[james]

I haven't used the CM106 based "blue box" for years!

I use the more common fully populated 8 channel CM6206 based USB SND8.

And who cares anyway? There are many other choices of 6 or 8 channel sound devices.

Plans for the future are to use the HDMI 8 channel LPCM digital stream.

That's not going away any time soon.

No matter how you do it, at some point it ALL has to come out a DAC and become analog voltages!

That will always be open to modification.

The modified sound card DAC is the easiest way someone can get a working system that is 100% DIY.

Some people like that idea!

So you don't like my software.

SO WHAT?

James.

[mixedgas]

Who said I didn't like your software.

What I don't like is frustrated, exasperated newbies who cant get a ~10 year old kludged WAV output device design to work, no matter which USB box is used. I bet you never knew that in all these years of making people adjust pots, the A2D and D2A reference voltage was brought out on a test pin on the C-Media chips. All you needed was a simple inverting op-amp to create the inverse version and to sum the resultant inverse with each channel.

The new Kludges will not work any better when you need a microscope and a wire bonder to install them. 405 sized parts are considered huge these days, and are the absolute limit of manual assembly. The traces to support 405 are usually too thin to solder to.

Its not education or fun when its a ordeal or trial by fire to get the system to work. If you want to stay in the game, you'll need to make it easy for output to be obtained. SMD board houses charge 50 cents a square inch and a setup fee. Why not make it easy and do a open source implementation that requires no adjustments?

Steve

[james]

Send them all my way and I'll help them sort it out.

It's a lot of little details, but in general it's not very complicated.

Yes, Steve. I am well aware that most sound chips offer the offset voltage on one of their pins.

But for the sake of a complete generic solution, I chose to provide a local negative voltage regulator. Not only does this work for almost any sound chip with a DC offset, but it also totally avoids the complication of exactly what you pointed out ~ having to solder onto the tiny pin of a sound chip.

The design also offers a per-channel trim pot to null out even the tiniest differences in resister values (between the individual channels) that are in the analog audio chain.

I would and have encouraged anyone and everyone to do whatever they want to do with the technology that I promote and provide. Some people have.

I can't seem to get the point across to you that this is not, and never has been, about hardware!

Laser signals are PCM digital audio streams!

That fact is forever.

Hardware is of-the-moment.

Take it from there.

Technically Still Correct!

James.

[james]

What does any of this have to do with fried chicken anyway?

James.

[james]

Here's some cool stuff to Google!

Check out these ARM processors:

(dual core)
rockchip rk3066

(quad core)
rockchip rk3188

(quad core)
Allwinner A31

And looks at this!
ONDROID U2

Also look at
picuntu linux

This is what computers look like just before they become completely microscopic, self replicate by the trillions, and and blow in the wind like dust. Enjoy the view, while it lasts.

James.

[bobc]

Did anyone find a use for their Raspberry Pi?

I have one which is now gathering dust. Somehow the Pi seems to have missed the mark, but I guess it was only intended for kids to learn Python. The main thing it has going for it is cheapness, but that tends to be a short-lived thing with tech.

[james]

It's a full featured Linux workstation / server that fits in the palm of your hand and runs off of a low current simple 5 volt supply.

I think that's pretty cool!

There are tons of projects out there that are based on the Pi.

Soon I will be releasing a new version and a HOWTO for people who want to use it to run LaserBoy.

James.

[james]

Got it!

Please check this out and let me know how you do with it.

http://laserboy.org/forum/index.php?topic=559.0

Thanks!

James.