DIY: norns shield

[JaggedNZ]

Yes, black display is a sign of a potential short and I can see at least two suspects on the pi header…

[Michaalhell]

Yeah I was thinking of getting the full kit. We have a soldering desk at work which I can use after hours so I can do some training or in worst case scenario have a co worker Do it for me

[huron]

I have the same one that powers my Polyend Anywhere Skiff. Good to know!

[mwilliams]

Built my kit on Friday night, soldering took less than 30 minutes, mostly because I took extra time when doing the headers on the OLED display, but otherwise, powered up first try and it’s simply wonderful! Thanks for making the DIY kit!

[alexanderam]

Hello there,

i got a big problem with my DIY Build Norns Shield. all the solder joints and everything seems to be good (checked under the microscope) but when i take it on the Pi 4B nothing happens. Also the Act LED on the PI is not working much, just in the beginning when i turn the unit on. I used etcher to flash the SD Card. The Pi 4 comes fresh out the box, so did i forgot to setup up something or what could it be?

thank you and best greetings.

[zebra]

Pi 4 is not supported “out of the box.”

Can I use the official Norns Shield w/ Raspberry Pi 4?

The short version is no. The slightly longer version is that we’ve chosen to focus purely on the 3B/3B+ because it’s effectively the same hardware as used in norns itself. This way we have a single hardware target that scripts can run on so they should always give the same experience. A side effect of this is that we have one whole additional platform less to test, which means more time for other things (and we really need that time for other things!). The even longer answer would be that sinc…

@tehn

this image is for the rpi 3b+

[alexanderam]

oh my god, thank you. And I was wondering what i did wrong there.

[glia]

hey everyone

i have wobbly pots but is that something worth repairing if they’re functional? is this normal/expected behavior?

thanks in advance for the help!

[tehn]

i wouldn’t suggest replacing them unless they’re giving bad data.

these encoders definitely have some wobble even direct from the factory— these same units are used on all sorts of music gear, specifically because they’re so affordable for relatively good performance.

(i’ve lined up a potential replacement, but the change is expensive and disruptive… so i’m weighing the value heavily)

[glia]

Thanks!

That’s pretty much what I came to hear. Never had a problem with the data output and control

[tomw]

Just wanted to add my thanks to everyone involved with norns and the helpful comments in this thread. I went full DIY and after many years of through hole soldering this was my first SMD project which may have been a bit ambitious but after some testing and reflowing half of the DAC everything seems to be working!

[huron]

It lives! That was relatively painless. Thanks to tehn and monome for making this open source, the wonderful resources of the Lines community and Denki Oto for the beautiful bamboo case.

Off to learn how to use this thing now.

[PopGoblin]

Wow… looks good! I have two sets nearly ready (I need to solder on new screens - I destroyed the first batch ) - but have had trouble sourcing good enclosures - and, strangely enough, button caps and knobs.

[huron]

The knobs you see are from my Mannequin modules that I swapped out with the knobs that came with the DIY Shield kit since they are the exact same ones. Someday I will switch them out with the blue Intellijel style ones.

[Hlp]

would like to ask since mit Norns wifi stoped working, if i update by Sd Card (update image into the proper folder)

-are the most recent script/app versions updated aswell?

-i think the update will be done within the norns UI so i dont loose any Data (samples and scripts)

correct?

I am confused bc the Docs point to UART and nothing about a Win Pc.
So i need to find the simplest, best way to update w/o wifi

[thrly]

Despite everything, I couldn’t remove the crystal and ended up melting the circuit area in the attempt. So a fresh start. Before I do anything wrong again , could I just check that this is the correct orientation for pin 1 (highlighted)… so effectively I’d just flip this chip up and over onto the board… (I’m pretty sure this is how I lined them up before, so worried its still backwards)

this time I’m going to pre-solder all the pads, then just try and melt the crystal in one corner at a time rather than apply solder to the corners direct…

EDIT: to clarify, I did try and check the datasheet on mouser, but couldn’t confirm that bevelled pad was pin 1, just the chip’s dimensions.

[GARL]

Just received my norns shield yesterday after a few months of wait, very excited. I put everything together, the screen doesn’t respond at all. Tried the troubleshooting tip of going over every solder points and it didnt help, tried to focus on the worst solder points (my soldering skills are not very good) still getting nothing on screen… What kind of advanced troubleshooting should i try ? Anybody here has a similar issue ?

Thanks for your time

[tehn]

what does the pi LED activity light look like?

also double check the main header, not just the screen headers

[bemerritt]

A picture can really help as well

[GARL]

The pi power led is red and constant, when i plug the usb c in there is a flash of green led activity that lights up. I forgot to mention i’m using a RPI 4 model B.

I checked the main header too and tried my best at getting the solder joints clean. But all in all my soldering skills are so low i was afraid a picture wouldn’t help a lot. I’ll take pictures