#428

oh ok got it. i haven’t soldered anything yet. should i wait until i connect the boards to solder the address jumpers or do those first so i get them in the correct order?

#429

i’d suggest - tile the boards first. then do the address jumpers all at once as the last step so you can visually compare and make sure they match the picture I posted

1 Like
#430

got everything soldered together. flashed the multitrellis sketch to the teensy but it would only detect the teensy once i plugged the usb cable into the actual teensy usb port, not the micro usb. while still connected to the pc, i was able to get the first two boards to light up for about a second. after that, i figured maybe i just wasnt getting a great connection by holding the flexi pcb connectors to the board, so i soldered it on. flashed the grid (neotrellis monome) hex (again via the teensy port), and now i’m getting nothing. I’m not sure what I’m even supposed to be seeing or how to test it. I tried the Grid Test script, but its not even showing up in my “grid” Devices ports, so obviously no luck there. If i have it plugged into the pc, and i start pressing the point on the flexi pcb between the micro port and the connector pins, i get a tiny orange-ish light flashing 3-5 times quick on the teensy beside the button and then nothing. I dont know what that indicates or what exactly was triggering that.

so i don’t know what the next step is or what i did wrong. i was unable to get the basic sketches working but now that i think of it, that may have been because the micro port was possibly not working. I just didn’t realize it because i was using the arduino software instead of the little Teensy Programmer app, which tells you when it sent the sketch to the device and uses the physical teensy button to confirm.

I dont know if anyone has had these specific issues with the build, but since i had no idea what i was doing going into this, im sure im more lost than most people who have done it already

#431

Are you aware of anyone trying to print this yet? I just got a larger printer so I may try to run one this weekend.

#432

I have a larger printer as well and plan on printing one in a month or so once I build my boards. Look forward to seeing your results

#433

Well…

I’m going to print it myself, soon.

2 Likes
#434

I have a few test prints that are headed for the recycling bin. They are functional, but have some minor issues. If anyone wants them DM me to discuss the details:

15900926597663670529807830886866
159009265976636705298078308868663072×4096 2.86 MB

9 Likes
#436

I suspect that unless you specifically wanted a neotrellis (colours ???) rather than a monome grid, it would be almost the same price to get a monome grid - if someone was to charge for their time in 3d printing or ordering laser cut stuff and then assembling - the price is probably going to be a lot more than you would want to pay…
(mybe clarifying - I like diy because I like making my own stuff and I get a kick out of playing my own diyed things. If I just wanted a Grid, I would personally just buy the monome one - the neotrellis is a lot cheaper for me purely because when I build stuff, I count my time as free because it is leisure time…)

3 Likes
#437

I think this is heavily dependent upon how much someone charges for their labor, because parts cost is only ~$250, assuming a 3D-printed case. But you could definitely get close enough to B-stock Grid pricing to make that the better option…

#438

Agree completely. Mine was a lot cheaper than that though - parts were £140 (so ~$170) including printing a case. So if I factored in $0 for time and wear and tear on my 3d printer it would be very cheap :slight_smile: but when you factor in nurse maiding the printer, throwing away failed prints, assembly etc, it can be quite a few hours… it makes a genuine monome grid/b-stock grid/second hand etc look pretty good value…

1 Like
#439

Dang, that’s a good deal! NeoTrellis + button pads alone would be $140, from what I’ve seen…

#440

pcbs + buttons were slightly cheaper (but not by much). But, yes - all you need to do is add a teensy ??? $20 or so… and a bit of wire and solder… plus 3d print a case - I guess maybe $5, max $10 anyway, in filament… so $140 + $20 + $10 = $170 ! :slight_smile:

1 Like
#441

Well that was easier than expected. I am usually fine with the hardware, but getting firmwares compiled and flashed is my kryptonite. Successfully ran the test script on an 8x8 grid last night. So thanks for the easy to follow instructions and links to flashing the teensy. Hopefully the norns part is just as easy tonight.

I was only able to get 6 boards and 3 sets of buttons, essentially cleaning out all suppliers. So if anyone sees some poop up for sale, let me know. Mainly the boards, as amazon has some buttons at an absolutely terrible price, but I would do it if i had the boards.

Thanks!

1 Like
#442

Seems like a power problem, no? Reflowed all solder points and tried a couple different USB ports with the same result.

All buttons light up when individually pressed.

edit: seems liek this is most likely to powering thru the teensy. I’ll add the usb breakout and see if that helps

edit2:Figured I would attempt modifying the norns shield code to accommodate the grid.

First attempt I got:
[49/57] Compiling crone/src/Commands.cpp
g++: internal compiler error: Killed (program cc1plus)
Please submit a full bug report,
with preprocessed source if appropriate.
See <file:///usr/share/doc/gcc-6/README.Bugs> for instructions.
Waf: Leaving directory `/home/we/norns/build’
Build failed
-> task in ‘LIBLINK_C’ failed with exit status 4 (run with -v to display more information)

I assumed my norns timed out, as it took me so long to figure out. Went thru the steps again and got this:

[51/57] Compiling crone/src/MixerClient.cpp
virtual memory exhausted: Cannot allocate memory g++: internal compiler error: Killed (program cc1plus)
Please submit a full bug report, with preprocessed source if appropriate. See <file:///usr/share/doc/gcc-6/README.Bugs> for instructions. Waf: Leaving directory `/home/we/norns/build’
Build failed
-> task in ‘crone’ failed with exit status 1 (run with -v to display more information) -> task in ‘LIBLINK_C’ failed with exit status 4 (run with -v to display more information)

This bricked my norns shield, won’t power up. Tomorrow I’ll try reflashing the norns image to the sd card and go from there.

Any ideas or suggestions welcomed, as this is way above my head

#443

Yeah - that’s def the power brown-out situation in your video. Teensy USB can’t supply enough amps to light all the leds. The breakout should work around this.

For re-compiling norns on the shield, you may need to kill all the running stuff to avoid the memory error.

First you should stop all norns processes with the following.

sudo systemctl stop norns-jack.service
sudo systemctl stop norns-matron.service
sudo systemctl stop norns-crone.service

You may need to re-pull the norns source with submodules (if you didn’t already)

cd ~/norns
git pull
git submodule update --recursive --init

Then the kung-fu for replacing the device stuff (too lazy to go find it)

Then compile

./waf configure --enable-ableton-link
./waf
#444

thought i’d post one of my first attempts at using the neotrellis grid with the Fugu script. Works great, feels very solid. love the case (from denki oto). @okyeron was way more helpful than he needed to be so i wanted to mention that and officially say thank you for putting up with my questions. big time tech support and personal hero

got it sending midi to the 4 digitone voices here:

1 Like
#445

Thanks. Flashed a new card and got it working, at least I think I did.

At the last step of flashing the code to the teensy. I am using this teensy code which i think is correct.

I get an error when verifying the code. I think its because I need to include some libraries, but that’s about where it starts falling apart for me. any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

#446

I just pushed a couple of hexes for testing and for the default layout. if you want to try those.

(for neotrellis_monome_teensy and multitrellis_test.hex )

#447

IMG_6926
IMG_69263024×4032 2.1 MB

I printed the bottom of my case last night, and found a few things to fix. The teensy cradle seems to work, but is just a tiny bit too narrow. Also I forgot to account for the solder joints between the boards, leading to the PCB not laying flat. I also flipped the usb header so it’s the right way round.
New models uploading to github now.

Top printing right now.

4 Likes
#448

The top turned out pretty great!

IMG_6962
IMG_69623024×4032 2.65 MB

IMG_6961
IMG_69613024×4032 2.26 MB

And together this looks amazing (I’m sorry this is the first thing I designed and printed myself).

IMG_6964
IMG_69643024×4032 2.2 MB

Reprinting the bottom right now.

7 Likes