DIY: norns shield

[infovore]

What do you mean by USB card?

If you mean soundcard, no: the norns shield has the same audio codec as a retail norns, and stereo IO on minijacks.

If you mean WiFi dongle, no: the shield works with the built-in WiFi on a Pi 3.

[kveye]

I meant the usb stick for storage.

[jwudel]

Nope! You do need an sd card for that purpose (and to run the os off of).

[kveye]

I don’t see a card reader on my pi. I feel so stupid asking about this

[jwudel]

What flavor of pi? We’re about to get out of my first hand knowledge but on the 3b+ it’s on the bottom. It was not obvious to me either.

[kveye]

Ah! Thank you so much, found it!

[infovore]

yep, the “card reader” is actually the permanent disk of the Pi - you don’t use it like a regular card reader. You’ll burn the disk image to the card, put the card in the Pi, and leave it there.

[dam_mad]

Ah!
This might just make me pull the trigger on this!

[tapehead]

I got this built up today. My first soldering project, so I’m happy it went well.

I have a couple of questions though.

Did anyone trim the display headers so the pins are not exposed?

Having Wifi available is not always an option either. I’m just wondering if this is an indicator that I may have an issue with my soldering somewhere on the build?

Thanks,

[vcvcvc_val]

@tapehead

Did anyone trim the display headers so the pins are not exposed?

I have not but I did briefly put a tiny amount of poster tack in a little row to keep me from brushing up against the pins. It was silly, but it worked!

My big tip overall for that sort of thing is to get some sort of case (I just have the bottom piece+standoffs of a lasercut case) with standoffs to stabilize as much of it as you can. Just helps when it’s not so… bendy?

@tapehead

Having Wifi available is not always an option either. I’m just wondering if this is an indicator that I may have an issue with my soldering somewhere on the build?

hmmm afaik WiFi is entirely internal to the Pi – what version are you using?

[papernoise]

@vcvcvc_val

hmmm afaik WiFi is entirely internal to the Pi – what version are you using?

I can confirm that both the 3B and 3B+ models have built-in wifi. I would not use an older version. Does that even work?

@tapehead

Did anyone trim the display headers so the pins are not exposed?

Some people say you should trim all the excess leads, because they “dissipate” energy, others say you shouldn’t because it’s going to stress the solder joint and could lead to microfractures.
I have no idea which camp is right and which is wrong, or if they are both right. I didn’t trim them out of lazyness.

[tapehead]

Thanks guys!

Wifi came up in the end. I’m at the end of a Mesh network, so it might have just been having an interesting time.

I had the build linked at the top of the thread 200106.

I’ve just updated via Wifi It’s telling me that it’s “shutting down” So I’ll wait for that to clear (it’s been a while).

I’m pretty certain I will sort out a case. I love the wooden look of the wooden ones going around. I’ll add spacers in the mean time to sure everything up.

[vcvcvc_val]

@tapehead

So I’ll wait for that to clear

If you watch the Red/Green LEDs for a few cycles you’ll begin to be comfortable with knowing it’s ‘resting’ at red-only.

For me, if it goes ~5 seconds of solid red after some green flashes, I feel confident that it’s ready to get power cycled.

Hope this helps!

[tapehead]

It very much helps!

Thanks!

[zebra]

@tapehead

I’ll wait for that to clear

You will wait forever; The pi/shield differs from the factory norns in that it doesn’t cut power after shutting down the system and stuff just stays on the screen. Wait for green LED to cease as suggested

[tapehead]

twenty characters of thanks.

[papernoise]

@zebra

You will wait forever; The pi/shield differs from the factory norns in that it doesn’t cut power after shutting down the system and stuff just stays on the screen. Wait for green LED to cease as suggested

I was wondering why it doesn’t give a visual feedback about that. Now I know!

[andrew]

FYI - @bassik reminded me that I made the audio jack holes too small in this design (some cables fit but most probably don’t)

easy to modify if anyone plans on using this in the future

[croque]

Last weekend I put my DIY Norns Shield together, and everything went great! It booted up from the very first try and was excited to getting to know this mysterious thing. I found some cool uses for it which I want to explore further, so I’m in for a great time.

I only have one issue: sometimes, completely out of the blue, the screen/display would just turn black. It has happened when I was turn encoders/pushing knobs, but I have also had it that the display would turn black/off when it was sitting idle on my desk. Sometimes it does that when it’s been on for only a minute, sometimes after 15 minutes (or more). The sound keeps on playing though… Anyone know what the issue could be? Thanks!

[Jensu]

It sounds like the screen headers might not be seated properly, therefor loosing connection if the PCB flexes a little. Are the machine headers pushed completely together? I remember it was surprisingly difficult for myself.