568

To me this points to a hardware failure of some sort (shield DAC, Pi, etc.), not software (SD card, system, etc)… but I could be wrong.

EDIT - FWIW - there could be some misconfiguration causing the DAC not to work, but that should not be the case with the standard shield disk image.

569

Agreed. But I’ve tried two Pis (both of which seem to work fine standalone with Raspbian Buster Lite) and I’ve put together two shields (the first of which I sent back to @tehn who said it’s working just fine), and I’ve tried two different power sources.

570

I have a somewhat weird issue with my shield build (SMD preassembled kit). I put the kit together, and basically everything works correctly except SW3 does not register any presses. I checked with a multimeter that the switch makes a connection and every solder joint seemed fine. But when poking around with a multimeter testing the resistors I noticed that R48 (the one between SW3 and +3V3) basically measures infinite resistance (my multimeter shows 0.L MOhm). The other resistors measure 10 kOhm fine.

I’m somewhat puzzled by this, because as far as I know resistors go to 0 Ohm if the burn out. Any suggestions for a fix or what might be causing this?

571

Resistance can go to 0 if solder-bridged or changed by too much heat. Infinite resistance could be from a cold solder joint, crack, or other separation. Good work debugging it so far; should be an easy fix to replace the resistor if reflowing the solder joints doesn’t fix you right up.

2 Likes
572

which power supplies are you using? do they deliver 2A?

the shield you send back to me worked (with my known-working card) first time. i’m using a USB power supply which we ship with the actual norns— 5.25v at 2A.

573

Now that I think about it more, you might be right that the problem is with the power supplies. I’ll have to check the first one I used for the amp rating, but the second one I used was being powered from my laptop (which I’m now realizing was a lazy mistake on my part). I’ll test out a 2A supply tonight.

Still baffled by my Pi 3B+ not displaying anything though. Hopefully using a 2A supply changes that.

574

I just tried both Raspberry Pis again with a 2.4 A power supply with the exact same results. dmesg still shows the same error message on the 3B (the one that actually reaches the norns screen so I can connect to wifi).

Any suggestions on how to proceed with debugging? I’m wondering if it’s somehow related to my screen (since it’s the only the only thing I have one of and I did not send back with my first shield).

1 Like
575

you should be able to dmesg w/o screen attached?

after you set up wifi once it will reconnect automatically

and perhaps I need to return the one I tested as working. more the point: it’s probably time to take this back to email

576

Thank you for the suggestions! I tried reflowing the joints a couple of times but that didn’t seem to do the trick, so I think I’ll be ordering a couple of 10 kohm SMD resistors to replace it.

577

Hi, I’m trying to use hotspot made of my phone but it keeps saying “activating”. And I dont have any IP address. Is it because the phone is too weak? should I try connecting with router wifi?

On monome site I read that it needs wifi nub - does it really? I thought raspi has it

579

shield does not require wifi nub. yes, i’d suggest first trying to connect via a router to confirm it’s working.

1 Like
580

Thank you very much. Ok got the connection through cable :slight_smile:

When I dont do anything for a moment, the screen goes off - is this normal? like power saving mode?

581

Forgive me if this has been covered elsewhere, but what’s the approved method for turning off (and on) the norns shield? I assume that just yanking the power is not a good idea to maintain file system integrity, so I’ve been selecting “sleep” in the menu instead, and then pulling power. But is there a way of returning from sleep without pulling the power lead and putting it back in?

Also, while I’m here, am I right in assuming there’s essentially no headphone out in the norns shield (although the standard line output works fine for this purpose), and that’s why the headphone volume control in the interface doesn’t do anything?

582

I’ve also been wondering about the sleep option on the norns shield. So far I’ve just pulled the power after entering sleep.

I can answer the second point though! The headphone output control is indeed nonfunctional on the shield due to the lack of a separate headphone jack.

583

You’re doing it right! This is correct.

No: on a real Norns, the device effectively powers down once sleep is complete, but this is dependent on the hardware design. On a factory Raspberry Pi, I don’t think this is possible, and I’m not sure the functionality of SLEEP can be changed to enable what you describe easily.

2 Likes
584

That’s correct, the Raspberry Pi has no way to cut it’s own power so the only way to fully turn it off is to remove the power after triggering SLEEP and it’s done shutting down.
The same goes for restarting, unplug the power and plug it back in. Again only do this after shutting down using SLEEP.

1 Like
585

So far so good! The shield works!!!

Does anybody have some spare/leftover standoffs?

1 Like
586

I’d be happy to take the plunge into the norns world but can’t wrap my head around some things. Would be happy if someone answered a couple of questions:

  • what are the basic use cases for norns shield?
  • can I use it without grid or arc?
  • what do I need for it to communicate with modular?
2 Likes
587

hi vladimir!

norns shield has the same functionality as norns. if you’re looking for ready-made uses, i’d recommend this detailed list of community scripts. these are just the start :slight_smile:

clicking through each script will land you on the lines thread which details arc/grid requirements. norns does not require arc or grid to function, but a particular script might. details will be in the threads.

if there’s a use not covered, the studies will outline the basic building blocks for writing your own scripts.

as far as modular goes, most any class-compliant USB midi-to-cv dongle/interface will work – to keep it “in the ecosystem”, see crow.

588

@dan_derks thank you for fast and informative reply!

How does norns shield compare to original norns in terms of audio inputs and outputs? Currently I see a usecase for myself in using norns shield as a looper/delay of modular material. But am worried if it can handle signal levels and routed conveniently