Fates - a DIY norns DAC board for Raspberry Pi

[fourhoarder]

i had to use a third party SSH client, worked fine.

[okyeron]

@Elian

Also I wanted to expand the filesystem via ssh.

If you’ve not done this yet, that’s likely where you’re running into problems with maiden, etc. (there’s no disk space to do anything yet).

If you have a computer with ethernet, it might be good to try SSH-ing over ethernet instead of wifi to get the filesystem expanded, and then see if the other stuff like wifi is working or not.

Alternately you could plug in a keyboard and HDMI monitor to the pi and expand the filesystem directly.

@Zifor

I’m trying to get the fates file off your GitHub for flashing

Did you manage to get the disk image downloaded? The image is hosted at the Internet Archive and that can be slow sometimes. Sorry it’s not the best solution, but I don’t have a better place to host it right now.

[Zifor]

I asked my Dad to , download it in a city. But took all day. All good in the end!

[Zifor]

Hi folks i keep getting this issue with my Fates. i don’t get the opportunity to change ip for SSH into it. Its just like this. Wrong firmware?

[coreyr]

Press button 2 while on this screen, it should show your fates’ ip

[Zifor]

They are unresponsive hardware? I’ve reflowed them a few times now.

[coreyr]

Encoder 4 (top right) will do nothing without further programming, but are all other controls unresponsive? Can you take a picture of the 40 pin header solder connections on the fates board?

[Zifor]

good idea ill give that reflow and ill be back. give me 5 mins

[Zifor]

Do i need to install norns in addition to fates?

[okyeron]

@Zifor

i don’t get the opportunity to change ip for SSH into it.

I don’t understand this sentence.

You don’t need to change the IP - but you do need to determine what the address is to access via SSH. You also need to get it on your WiFi network.

If you have a computer with Ethernet - try that first instead of WiFi.

Best bet might be to connect a keyboard and hdmi monitor to the pi, get the disk image expanded and then see what’s happening.

Buttons on fates not working is very strange tho

[Zifor]

okay no problem.
I mean that i don’t get the menu option to access it in Fates. It just stays on top level of screens. Shows me the mixer , the recorder etc but i can’t click into anything. I am thinking it has to be a disk image issue (for me , or something). I reflowed all the buttons a few times , reflowed the socket. everything seems right. so ill try another flash again and ill be right back.

[coreyr]

That sounds more like a potential issue with the mechanical switch if you are able to navigate between pages with encoders but are unable to navigate through layers with the switches.

[Zifor]

I don’t get a menu to access as far as I’m aware in the software. But ill give it another go again but this time ill reflow the whole board

Edit: I used slightly different clicky buttons. Maybe that’s the problem. I’m going to go back and edit this post when I find the right ones.

[okyeron]

@Zifor

Edit: I used slightly different clicky buttons. Maybe that’s the problem. I’m going to go back and edit this post when I find the right ones.

Aha - I thought those looked slightly different. Are they still MEC switches? What is the part number?

Did you maybe orient them 90 degrees off?

The switch used are the MEC 5GTHxxx series. Datasheet here (5ETHxxx are equivalent)

Note that Pin 1 is the bottom right corner on the Fates pcb, so pin 3 goes to the pull up resistor and pin 4 goes to the pi GPIO pin.

[GGeb]

Hello everyone, I just finished to build my fates but it does nothing…

In order to install the firmware I only downloaded the disk image file and I flashed it to the sd card as described in the guide. Is there anything else I need to do?

Also, I did not solder the USB-C for power, I am trying to power it up straight from the RBpi (4b 2gb), is that an issue? Those little pins scary me and if I can power it from the RBpi would be better for me. (or do you have any trick to solder them properly?).

Good news is that nothing smoked

[okyeron]

@GGeb

I flashed it to the sd card as described in the guide. Is there anything else I need to do?

You also need to expand the disk image, get connected to a network, then run update. which are all detailed in the documentation

@GGeb

I am trying to power it up straight from the RBpi (4b 2gb), is that an issue?

This is fine.

If you’re not getting anything on the display (but you can otherwise access the pi system via SSH or with an attached keyboard/HDMI-monitor), then it may be a soldering problem. See the troubleshooting guide to check your voltages, etc.

[GGeb]

Thanks.

I am not understanding how to expand the disk image if my screen is not showing anything… could someone help me with this?

Also I am not understanding ‘Open a terminal, SSH to the Pi’. If anyone could expand on this, I would be really greatful!

[Zifor]

I can’t find the switches I used currently. But i ordered these as there was a long wait list for the part at the time. However the switches you advised are easily in stock now. So I’m going to plug these out and wait a few day until my order comes. Thanks again for everyone’s help

[Zifor]

okyeron/fates/blob/master/install/norns/Norns_disk_image_install.md

You need to go into terminal on your computer and type in the commands where requested. Then you will be able to remotely expand your fates that way.

How to get started with Terminal on the Mac

SSH Protocol – Secure Remote Login and File Transfer

[GGeb]

Thanks for the links.

The only problem now is that I can not access Fates wifi settings in order to connect it to my laptop, nor I can access the RB IP code…