Fates - a DIY norns DAC board for Raspberry Pi

[okyeron]

@Magidip

Would the fates support a hardware modification for midi in and out using the gpio pins while having the fates pi-hat installed? like a hardware modification that connects to the pins on the fates dac that would go to 3.5mm jacks.

Yes - you can actually use the UART header on the bottom to get the RX/TX connections. I’ve not actually tried this, but it should work.

@Magidip

Would the norns software even support hardware midi without modifying the code?

No. Not without some changes in the code. There are some recent developments here, but I would not expect that to be fully integrated for awhile if at all (will need to wait and see)

FWIW - a < $10 USB to DIN MIDI interface is a super easy and cheap solution here that is supported by norns.

@Magidip

Could I flash something like Patchbox OS to another micro sd and use it to edit pure data patches with a hdmi monitor and mouse/keyboard from the fates dac hardware(Can this even be done on the fates currently with sidekick or norns mother)? Would patchbox OS support the fates pi-hat and be able to utilize the audio interface?

Yes. Patchbox should work. I tested it before, but it’s been a year+ and I don’t remember details. The main thing is that the OLED display won’t work on the patchbox image. You will just need to do some audio device configuration (which is likely in config files rather than directly in patchbox helper apps)

You can use PD on Fates right now with sidekick and norns-mother. Editing is a question - I’ve only done that over VNC but not tried editing PD patches directly with keyboard/mouse/HDMI monitor - but I think that’s doable.

[Magicdip]

@okyeron

You can use PD on Fates right now with sidekick and norns-mother. Editing is a question - I’ve only done that over VNC but not tried editing PD patches directly with keyboard/mouse/HDMI monitor - but I think that’s doable.

Okay I’ll give it a try running from norns to see what happens and report back.
Yeah that would be the ideal solution.

The atari st and amiga emulators have very good midi support through gpio, but less good with usb.
I use a usb interface with the norns now and am happy with it and will keep the norns software installed on the pi fates after I get this project ironed out.
I just want to test if I can get pure data and the atari and amiga emulator to run well using the hardware midi and audio ports.

Thanks for the help!

[okyeron]

Update 201001 now available

NOTE: This is a Fates-only fork maintenance release that is NOT synced with the main norns release schedule. The previous release had a couple issues with regards to encoders acting badly so I wanted to push this out to fix. The issues are due to some github repo changes that I missed in the Fates fork. Apologies for any unwanted glitchyness.

---

If you are on 200218 or later
use SYSTEM > UPDATE while connected to the internet.
(please report back if you have problems with this)

If you are running a version prior to 200218, DO NOT USE SYSTEM > UPDATE .
You must update manually via SSH. Instructions are on the release page: https://github.com/fates-project/norns/releases/tag/2.4.2.5

[alley_cam]

Great work on this @okyeron, great layout and breezy build

Still working on the panel finish (ran out of paint )

Aluminum top panel, Delrin bottom, glass screen protector
Tried to conjure some Aleph and Grid 128 DIY kit vibes

[debasernyc]

Hi there, I’m on 200218 and when I try to do UPDATE, it goes through he process of downloading, unpacking and tells me its done, i reboot and am still at 200218. I updated to 200218 via command line.
Any thoughts on this? Trying to get Dronecaster to work and wondered if being up to the most recent update would affect that. Thanks!

[okyeron]

Delete version.txt and run the update again?

Check maiden during update?

[fourhoarder]

@okyeron

FWIW - a < $10 USB to DIN MIDI interface is a super easy and cheap solution here that is supported by norns.

can you say more about this? currently trying to find my “couch surfer” Fates interface and ended up ordering one of those inline roland dealies but $10 is even cheaper than the $40 i paid.

[debasernyc]

sorry for the noob question, but why do you mean by check maiden during update (I can connect and see maiden in a web browser just fine, just not sure what you mean for me to look at) thanks!

[debasernyc]

removed version.txt, ran the update from the device, went through the motions as it did before, rebooted, no newer version and the version.txt file is not there still… strange?

[okyeron]

The update process will spit out info to the Maiden REPL (the bottom pane of the maiden interface).

@debasernyc

removed version.txt, ran the update from the device, went through the motions as it did before, rebooted, no newer version and the version.txt file is not there still… strange?

So - turns out there might be an error with the update and I’ll need to fix that later tonight.

In theory the software should be updated, but the version file is wrong

[okyeron]

Ok - I updated/fixed the update package. In theory you should be able to just re-run the update.

[debasernyc]

That did the trick, thanks!

[encephalitislethargi]

are you talking about usb to midi cables? i have 2 of these and they work perfectly between all of my gear including norns
Usb20Midi Cable $10

[fourhoarder]

yep, that’s the one Okyeron was talking about, even cheaper from ali express and you don’t have to buy from amazon. i’ve been getting ali stuff in like two weeks, even in covid. Wish takes much longer.

[encephalitislethargi]

i still do amazon because i got used to prime 1 or 2 days shipping a long time ago and now anything that takes longer than that makes me angry. bad habit maybe but yeah its the same cheap cable under different names all over the place. they’re pretty good

[alexam]

Hi there, is it common that the fates got problems with the gpio header of the pi 3b+? Sometimes there is no sound and sometimes I cannot use the encoders, so I guess the connection there is not that good. Am I right or is there something else not right with my fates?

[okyeron]

Could be the pi header is not soldered well. ?

[SYS2064]

thanks, I updated via SYSTEM>UPDATE and everything works

[matteo.ini]

Hello everybody. I found a used pcb, from a guy who tried to solder but failed, causing a bit of disaster. Does the Fates scheme exist, so that I can restore some broken connections? thank you
Matteo

[okyeron]

Unfortunately the design files are not publicly available.

Send me a DM with a picture of the board where there are issues and I can make some suggestions