#44

just in case you missed it, this post from above seems to answer your question in a bit more detail than the first post:

i have zero personal experience with the shield though so i can’t speak to how much the noise difference is felt in practice

2 Likes
#45

i personally have never been able to hear the difference, your build might be noisier…hard to say

if I were in your shoes (able to afford full norns and grid) i’d probably get the shield and grid, see how i like em and upgrade norns later after selling the shield

tons of people are willing to buy a built shield secondhand so that could be a win-win

(but if you pull the trigger on full norns from day one you won’t regret it)

3 Likes
#46

Oh, I was sure I had read this thread couple of times before asking but lo and behold there it was. I was thinking about buying a shield and maybe upgrading later on, but in my experience the market for these kind of more esoteric machines is not great where I live, and I’m not sure if I’m into the hassle of international or pan-european shipping. It took me ages to sell my w/ even when it was out of stock everywhere, with what I would call a very fair price, and I have probably seen a single Norns and not a one Shield on sale in the biggest online used instrument marketplace of Finland.

2 Likes
#47

Quick question. I have a norns shield on the way but I’m about to buy a used Grid 64. Just want to make sure that the grid 64 and norns shield are compatible?

#48

definitely compatible, but your mileage my vary on ease of use – this is sorta mentioned here and there’s a collection of scripts which do offer 64-grid compatibility without any additional user coding: Norns Scripts for a 64 Grid

2 Likes
#49

Hi again, lovely patient Shield experts :upside_down_face:

Another of my seemingly endless supply of clueless n00b questions, I’m afraid…

I think I’ve successfully updated my Shield to 210114 - it all seemed to go smoothly - but I guess what I’d like to know is, how can I check? How can I find out what version is installed? Is there anywhere in the Shield software that would tell me? Or maybe in Maiden somewhere?
[insert head-scratching emoji here]

tia, as ever :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

1 Like
#50

yes! K2 on the home screen will reveal system info.

Screen Shot 2021-01-15 at 1.43.10 PM
Screen Shot 2021-01-15 at 1.43.10 PM763×491 39.3 KB

screenshots from: wifi + files - docs

1 Like
#51

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the info!
Will go and check - and a further shot of reading the manual looks like it’s in order, too!

1 Like
#52

FWIW, I think I was the guy who bought your w/ in the end!

So - I’ve built a couple of Norns Shields for a circle of friends (last year, some time before the current “no soldering needed” version was available at Monome store), and a Fates for myself. I’m not sure if I have a single PCB of one of those still in store somewhere or not.

In any case, if you end up in Helsinki one day, I’m sure one of us can arrange the possibility to check one of the shields (or the Fates) out in person so you don’t need to order from the US just to hear what it’ll be like / whether it’ll be good enough for your ears.

I’m not very picky about SNR and usually try to apply sane gain staging anyway, but I do think I have semi decent monitoring and ears, there’s nothing lo-fi or overtly noisy about these ones I’ve built and heard. The “factory built” Norns will be better in that spec, but whether it matters for me or not I don’t know.

(Probably planning to upgrade to a factory built Norns at some point myself, just because I like these things a lot, not because I find the sound quality or SNR wanting…)

4 Likes
#53

Nice! We’ll see, Norns is out of stock anyway and Grids seems to be too for a long time, so I’m not in a rush. In this regard Shield could be the sensible solution, given it’s in stock and would be something to work with and relieve GAS while waiting for availability of other stuff.

3 Likes
#54

IMG_20210115_231241
IMG_20210115_2312414048×3036 3.75 MB

Just got my Shield, not excited at all! Sorry had to share.

Also beautiful minimal design, great work.

3 Likes
#55

So yeah I ordered a Shield in the end. At least I have something to concrete to work on as I’ve been already learning Lua and Supercollider with few ideas in mind. And a bit leftover cash for 16n or some other controller type of thing doesn’t hurt either. Just wished Grid waa in stock, but I’ll get there eventually (a bit quicker if anyone within Europe wants to part with their varibright 128…).

2 Likes
#56

So just got my shield today. Finished installing but the shield will not power up. I checked my power supply and it’s the correct power. I also looked over the instructions a few times to make sure it’s put together correctly and it is. It seems to only turn on the raspberry pie but not the shield because it does the correct light sequences but I don’t see “the sparkle animation”. Any suggestions?

#57

Try reflashing the card with Etcher

Is the green light on the side of the Pi showing any activity during boot?

#58

I see no green light at all just the constant red and flashing yellow.

I’ll try reflashing the card

EDIT: sorry just realized the light I thought was yellow is actually green. So yes there is activity

#59

Also take a look at the SD card expand section here and make sure to complete this step
:v:

1 Like
#60

Thanks! That was the simple fix :man_facepalming:

2 Likes
#61

anybody have experience with screen freezes and/or blackouts? everything seems to be working “behind the scenes” as it were, but the screen itself either doesn’t show up at all, or starts up and then freezes on something and wont come unstuck even with “reset”, has to be powered down unplugged and then plugged back in.

i think i’m somehow cursed lol because @alley_cam went over all the soldering and fixed it up for me so nice! lol it was a very nice week that it was working. i keep thinking it has something to do with grounding or the power supply (had to switch all my bulbs to dimmable because the power in this old apt building was killing all the LEDs so fast with how inconsistent it is). running power through a power strip and adapter it seemed like it was mostly fine. sometimes it seems like it’s better if i hold it in my hand then on the wool blanket or wooden floor… now i’m veering into my pseudo-science ideas of why i am unable to use digital things :laughing: “stick to analog grandpa!” the kids are yelling at me. Also I plugged in my “bleached” again, did that cause this? Why did I do that? Why do I tempt Satan this way…

anyways I’ll have another pass over all the solder joints connecting to the screen, but please let me know if there’s anything else I should look at lmao, and then i promise I will leave this thread alone once and for all >.<

#62

Are you using the stock Pi power supply?

I have had a similar issue with a bleached on my factory Norns,
everything will boot but screen will remain black, once I remove the bleached, display turns back on

however I have not been able to consistently reproduce this issue and the bleached is the only usb device not powered by an Offworld

I have an extra Offworld 2 that you could try, hit me up

#63

Hi Dan! New owner of a Pi here and very excited already by what I have been able to get from it in just two days. I would be grateful if you could enlighten me on one issue : from the the “power on” “power off” instructions, could you enlighten me as to what “the not red light” is ? I assume the red light is the one behind the usb power in, but I do not see any other light… Is it some form of humour? :slight_smile: Also when going into sleep mode, it asks to disconnect power when “the not red light stops blinking”…

Philippe