#1387
  • CS4270 update -
    My ebay order got canceled due to ‘shipment lost’. I got a refund. Ebay prices seem to have gone up elsewhere.
#1388

URGH just tripped over my headphone cable and

IMG_20201116_214817
IMG_20201116_2148172976×3968 1.44 MB

This is not going to be fun to fix :confused:

#1389

Very fixable - glue and wire as it looks like the pads and traces have gone… Should be ok…

1 Like
#1390

I just bought two from a seller on ebay called “Top-Chip” - 7,30€ a piece :confused: going to report how that goes…estimated shipping in 14days

1 Like
#1391

Just built a DIY Norns shield and it seems to be working other than I’m pretty sure I got a defective display from Digikey (same missing pixels issue noted by others) and none of the distis has CS4270 codecs. I’ve ordered one on ebay but thats a crap shoot…

As expected with no codec on the shield, dmesg shows that the codec is not found and I get a SuperCollider error in Norns because jack and scserver have no audio device.

In the meantime I’m trying to configure Norns to use a cheap USB audio adapter as its default audio device. I plugged the USB audio dongle in, confirmed it is recognized by the OS and tested it with aplay - its working.

From what I see Norns sets up the codec as alsa audio device 0. I remapped the USB dongle as device 0 by adding /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf which contains:
options snd_usb_audio index=0

I also added /etc/asound.conf which contains:
defaults.pcm.card 0
defaults.ctl.card 0

This appears to be working to some degree - flashing led on the USB dongle indicates its getting data, no SuperCollider or Jack errors but I have no audio from the dongle. I’ve tried adjusting all the audio levels in Norns. If I try aplay to the USB audio dongle it fails telling me the device is busy which it should. If I kill jack aplay works again because jack has released the audio device. It seems so close to working!

I have not changed the devtree so I still get errors about the missing codec on bootup but it seems like Norns should be using Jack, not a specific device driver. What am I missing?

#1392

you may need to change the /etc/systemd/system/norns-jack.service service that launches jack

this line will need to be modified to your USB audio device
ExecStart=/usr/bin/jackd -R -P 95 -d alsa -d hw:0 -r 48000 -n 3 -p 128 -S -s
(the hw:0 part will be different if I recall correctly)

Read the Norns on Raspberry Pi thread for more

1 Like
#1393

It would appear that I have successfully remapped the USB device as hw:0. Jack launches OK and appears to be using USB audio but something is still broken. Maybe the secret is to leave USB as hw:1 and tell jack to use that. I think I tried that already.

I will read that thread.
Thanks!

#1394

It looks like Quest Components currently has three in stock, though I believe they have a minimum order of $25.

Edit: I should point out that I can’t quite vouch for this company since I haven’t finished my build yet. They’ve been accused (at least once) of selling salvaged parts as new. I don’t know how valid those claims are. So do with that information what you will.

#1395

CS4270 from Quest are legit. :+1:

I’ve ordered a bunch from them and all were new and functional. They are located pretty close to me but shipping and order processing was quick.

1 Like
#1396

Awesome. That’s very reassuring!

#1397

Thanks for the heads up on the codecs. It looks like the shipping would be $30US to Canada - if the minimum order is $25US that’s about $75 Cdn. Ouch! Hopefully my $6 Ebay part is legit.

1 Like
#1398

Right now, the CS4270-CZZ audio chip is sold out in Digi-Key and Mouser. Does anyone know of another chip that would work in its place?

#1399

Yes fixed :slightly_smiling_face:

IMG_20201119_155738
IMG_20201119_1557382976×3968 2.04 MB

Also realised I’d mashed the USB port too, but fortunately no traces torn so I just roughly bent it back into shape and put some hot glue around it for now

7 Likes
#1400

norns-shield_1
norns-shield_11200×725 122 KB

Shields are live on the Monome site


the @JHC case in prime-time! :clap: :clap: :clap:
8 Likes
#1401

Also looking for CS4270 and eyeing some expensive ebay offers. Would appreciate reports from working/nonworking codecs from ebay if possible :slight_smile:

#1403

Tried ordering the last couple of CS4270 from Quest, and they told me they are now out of stock. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Hopefully an alternative source becomes available while the big suppliers are waiting for stock.

#1405

Thank you, that seems worth a try for sure.
I am in europe, so a us groupbuy is not appealing to me. However i’d organize one in europe, so anyone who is interested in a chip feel free to pm me.

1 Like
#1406

Just ordered the minimum quantity of 10 with the cheap shipping. Will post back here once I have a working build and extra ICs to pass on. :smiley:

4 Likes
#1407

So I built my shield a few weeks ago … and my encoders have always seemed jumpy. Maiden tells me that when I rotate an encoder in one direction, I’m getting values in the opposite direction.

Are jumpy encoders common? Can someone else with a shield run a simple script and monitor it in Maiden … twist their encoders rapidly to see if they get jumpy values?

Mine will show values of like 2,3,2,3,-3,2,3 and that -3 in there sure makes fine tuning difficult.

Otherwise … having a blast and I’ve managed to write up a fun sequencer in Lua.

#1408

Encoder debouncing (aka very slightly smoothing / lagging input values to avoid jumpiness) is built in to both Norns Shield hardware and software, but apparently that doesn’t completely guarantee correct turns. I haven’t yet witnessed issues with the ones I’ve built for myself and friends but it might I’ve just gotten used to it without noticing.

Are you using the normal Bourns encoders that either come with the kit or were recommended at Mouser?