Does anyone also get that the bash command:
sudo apt full-upgrade
and (edit:)
sudo apt upgrade
on a #raspberrypizero2w #RaspberryPizero causes the #USB interface
as shown by the bash command #lsusb :
lsusb
to fail to detect any USB devices?
#raspberrypi #upgrade
Edit: My workaround: plug in a #hub and the devices in the hub are detected. Very odd indeed. The original OS was 64 bit lite.
Another small update, mostly to feel good about the project stability
I added screenshots of system resources usage at two weeks uptime
Swap was full for some reason, but a reboot fixed that
Design and Construction of an IoT-Based Smart Oven with Raspberry Pi Zero W
Raspberry Pi eBooks 📚
https://bokfive.com/raspberry-pi
For more, follow @bokfive 🌟
Yeah so once I connected a camera module to the #RaspberryPiZero and streamed video to my desktop through #UDP and watched it with #VLC. Good thing I documented absolutely NOTHING about that setup and now have to start from scratch even though I am tired and irritable.
Fuck!
Write shit down, folks. I highly recommend it! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This Rasperry Pi Instant Camera Prints Photos on Sticker Paper https://petapixel.com/2025/04/01/this-rasperry-pi-instant-camera-prints-photos-on-sticker-paper/ #raspberrypicamera #raspberrypizero #instantcamera #DoItYourself #Educational #raspberrypi #Technology #build #News
Tom’s Hardware: This Raspberry Pi Zero camera instantly prints photos using thermal paper. “We’re living in an age where digital photos reign supreme, but that hasn’t stopped maker and developer Spacerower, as they are known as over at Reddit, from creating a Raspberry Pi-powered camera that creates physical photos for you on the spot. This handheld Pi camera was made from the ground up from […]
Weaponizing and Gamifying AI for WiFi Hacking
https://anonsys.net/display/bf69967c-1767-e15d-91e0-a8f047296681
MiniDexed EuroRack PCB Build Guide
Here are the build notes for my MiniDexed EuroRack PCB Design.
This is a DIY module only for use in my own DIY system.
Do NOT use this alongside expensive modules in an expensive rack. It is highly likely to cause problems with your power supply and could even damage your other modules.
Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am not responsible for any damage to expensive instruments!
If you are new to single board computers, see the Getting Started pages.
Bill of Materials
Also required: 3.5mm panel mount sockets for audio and MIDI – I use different types, but it will depend on the panel used (see panel discussion).
Build Steps
Taking a typical “low to high” soldering approach, this is the suggested order of assembly:
Here are some build photos and more details of the steps involved.
Note: Most of these photos show the build for V0.1 of the PCB. There are some minor updates in V0.2 which will be noted where relevant.
The power circuit on the underside of the board has two options for mounting the regulator. It can go either vertically or horizontally, but with the tab up. Both methods use the same solder holes. Which is chosen will largely depend on what heatsink options there are.
Note: the first version of the board only had a single option, with the tab down, making contact with the PCB. This didn’t really work from a cooling perspective, hence the change.
The following “in progress” photos still show the first version of the board with the regulator the other way around, an additional resistor, omitted from V2, and the diode in a different place.
Note that low-profile capacitors may be required as they will sit underneath the Raspberry Pi Zero. If the regulator is “standing up” then it should be possible to bend the capacitors over into the space reserved for the regulator.
The GPIO headers have to allow enough space for the Zero to be mounted and not interfere with the PCM5102. See discussion below.
The EuroRack headers need to be correctly oriented and shrouded headers are strongly recommended.
The SSD1306 requires additional spacers on the pins to raise it above the PCB for presentation closer to the front panel.
The PCM5102 must have its solder jumpers configured, if not set already, and requires both sets of pin headers adding.
In the photo below, the PCM5102 has zero-ohm, surface mount resistors as jumpers – but it is really hard to see! On first glance, it looks like there is no link configured at all, but they are connected as: 1L, 2L, 3H, 4L.
These modules have to be added after the other components, as they prevent access to the solder pads during assembly.
GPIO Header Options
One option is to use extended headers, which ought to allow room for the Zero and a heatsink (if required) on the main BCM chip. Note: A V2 Pi Zero could probably benefit from a heatsink I’d imagine if running fully processing all 8 tone generators.
Another option is to remove the on-board 3.5mm, SMT, audio jack on the PCM5102 as shown below, and use “normal” sized GPIO headers.
If non-extended GPIO header is used then, as already mentioned, low-profile electrolytic capacitors may be required as they are positioned underneath the Pi Zero too.
Power Options
As previously mentioned, there wasn’t really much choice when it came to mounting the power regulator for V1 of the board, but in V2 I’ve positioned it differently to allow it to be “tab up” or upright.
The upright positioning was hopefully placed so that a long, thin heatsink could be mounted alongside the Pi. This shows one of those heatsinks you can get for M2 SSD cards. I figure that drilling a hole in it would do the trick, but I’ve not actually done this myself (see below).
The solution I went with in the end was to actually replace the 7805 with a 7805-compatible DC-DC buck converter. These are available fairly cheaply online.
These work a lot more efficiently than a 7805, so especially when drawing 300mA or so from a Pi Zero 2 whilst dropping from 12V down to 5V, they still have no need of a heatsink.
The downside of using these (apparently) is that as a switching power unit, they can be pretty electrically noisy. But as I’m powering a microcontroller rather than a pure analog circuit in the first place, I decided it probably wasn’t going to be making things much worse. This is hardly a high quality, electrically clean build anyway!
Final Assembly
Required Components to use my panel:
I’m using the same designs of TRS sockets for MIDI and audio that I use in all my modules. These need mounting on the panel. Soldering will come in a moment.
I found that with the GPIO header height I was using, alongside the final height of the SSD1306, height of the buttons, and the encoder’s shroud, that the following mountings were required:
An alternative build had a slightly larger gap (due to using 12mm buttons) so required four sets of 10×2.5mm spacers.
Another quirk of my first build was that I only had 9mm high buttons which wasn’t quite enough to reach through the panel. Ideally a 11mm or larger button would be required.
But this allowed me to 3D print a white 2.8mm diameter, 3.0mm high, extension that I could glue on the top, meaning that the exposed part of the button was white, matching the panel.
My second build used a black panel and 12mm buttons, but as already mentioned this meant the panel had to use 10mm spacers instead of 8mm spacers. One issue with that is that there isn’t much of the encoder shaft exposed. I found some knobs that worked ok, but my preferred (cheap) knobs could not be fitted and still allow the encoder switch to function.
In summary, there is still a fair bit of trial and error with each build depending on the exact combinations of screen height, encoder shaft length, button length and so on.
Once the PCB and panel is fixed together then the two 3.5mm sockets can be soldered to the PCB (or connected using headers if that was the preferred option).
Recall that MIDI IN does not required a GND connection. Also double check which solder tabs correspond to the TIP and which to the RING, which should match the “T” and “R” labels on the PCB (“S” is for shield, i.e. GND).
Testing
I recommend performing the general tests described here: PCBs.
Then, prior to plugging in the RPi Zero, do the following:
Only then power off, plug in the RPi Zero with an SD card containing MiniDexed (configuration below) and verify that the display, encoder, buttons, MIDI IN, and audio out are all working.
MiniDexed Configuration
The following are the key MiniDexed.ini configuration options required:
SoundDevice=i2s
SSD1306LCDI2CAddress=0x3C
SSD1306LCDWidth=128
SSD1306LCDHeight=32
LCDColumns=20
LCDRows=2
ButtonPinBack=5
ButtonActionBack=click
ButtonPinSelect=11
ButtonActionSelect=click
ButtonPinHome=6
ButtonActionHome=click
ButtonPinShortcut=11
EncoderEnabled=1
EncoderPinClock=10
EncoderPinData=9
PCB Errata
As already noted, there were a number of issues with the first version of the PCB, but these should have been addressed in the published version.
As the time of writing, there are no further known issues with V0.2 of the PCB.
Enhancements:
Closing Thoughts
I’m still not fully happy with the longer-term implications of how I’m powering these boards, but I’ll see how things go. Those DC-DC converters seem like a feasible option so I’ll see how they perform.
The panel height issue could be better too – it would be nice to have a recommended set of components and a known useful size of spacers, but there is still a fair bit of trial an error at the moment with each build.
Also, sometimes the display height isn’t perfect, as shown below. I might 3D print a display bezel or surround to help.
The end results looks pretty good though, so for this stage in my thinking about these, I’m pretty pleased with how this has ended up.
But one last time, just to make my position totally clear: this is a DIY system and should only be used with other DIY modules you wouldn’t mind too much losing.
It is NOT for use alongside other commercial (expensive) or treasured modules. There are commercial versions of MiniDexed apparently for that, that I have no experience of.
Kevin
@djsundog sadly that's not how #USB works.
New blog post - GBC Retro Zero combined edition - Final version. After a hiatus I though I would have one last go and fix all the annoying things about this AIO build. I've conbined the 2 PCBs into one and added footprints for clicky buttons all round. #gameboy #Nintendo #gbc #RetroPie #RaspberryPi #RaspberryPiZero
https://facelesstech.wordpress.com/2025/03/02/gbc-retropie-aio-combined-edition/
MiniDexed EuroRack PCB Design
I’ve seen a number of EuroRack format MiniDexed versions now, from 3D printed panels and designs, right through to commercial modules.
It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for a while, so this is my first attempt at a take on a 8HP EuroRack format MiniDexed using a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.
This is a DIY module only for use in my own DIY system.
Do NOT use this alongside expensive modules in an expensive rack. It is highly likely to cause problems with your power supply and could even damage your other modules.
Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am not responsible for any damage to expensive instruments!
If you are new to single board computers, see the Getting Started pages.
The Circuit
In terms of the circuit, this is essentially my MiniDexed Raspberry Pi IO Board in the SSD1306 format with the EuroRack power supply from my EuroRack 6HP MCU Experimenter Module.
I did toy with the idea of not bothering with a 5V regulator and powering the Pi from the EuroRack 5V line, but I didn’t for a couple of reasons:
For these reasons I included a 12V to 5V conversion via an L7805 regulator to power the Pi. It does get a bit hot though with a Zero 2, so that has to be taken into account – something I hadn’t done in my first version of this board!
Aside: there are two L7805 regulators shown on the schematic as I’m going to include two footprint options on the PCB itself.
One other thing I’ve left out is the 10Ω resistor. I was largely following comments online when I included it before, but from reading some more (some good discussions here, here and here), I can see that they tend to be included instead of a fuse. But if the Pi is drawing a few 100mA and this is in the 12V input line, then that will be quite a bit of power as I understand things dissipated through that resistor already, so I’ve left it out.
The rest of the circuit is designed around a Raspberry Pi Zero with an I2S audio output via a GY-PCM5102 module, but I’m planning on using headers to link to MIDI IN and audio out on a panel.
I’m not supporting USB MIDI, just serial MIDI. I’m also only supporting MIDI IN.
There are a few components left on the schematic that I’ll be omitting when it comes to putting the PCB together, but I’ve left them there as reminders for the future.
PCB Design
The general idea is to have most of the circuitry on a single PCB that will fit within a 8HP EuroRack module. This means a 40mm (or less) wide PCB and ideally 100mm (or less) long to keep within cheap PCB limits. This works well with EuroRack, leaving 14mm top and bottom for mountings.
I’ve therefore opted for a PCB-mounted encoder, buttons and display and headers linking off to an off-board (still on the panel) MIDI IN socket and Audio OUT. The final PCB is 40x88mm.
Power will come from a EuroRack compatible 16-way connection which will be on the rear of the board. A Pi Zero will also be mounted on the rear of the board.
For expediency I’ve also mounted the GY-PCM5102 on the rear of the board. I’d have quite liked to have made the 3.5mm TRS socket accessible, but I just couldn’t make it all fit. For basic use I was planning on using the L/R/AGND connections anyway to a 3.5mm TRS socket taken to the front panel.
Ideally I’d have used 3.5mm stereo Thonkiconn style connections, but in the end I went for panel-mounted TRS sockets and header connectors instead.
The spacing of the controls isn’t optimum but I was having to compromise with mounting of components and mounting of the encoder and buttons. I think it will be ok, but I’ll have to see when I get it back.
As previously mentioned, not everything on the schematic has been realised on the PCB. I’m going for off-board audio and MIDI jacks, and I’m not bothering with headers for the buttons.
Also, as previously mentioned, I’ve included two footprint options for the L7805 – one vertical and one (tab up) horizontal. The idea is to provide options when it comes to adding a heatsink.
Front Panel
I’ve design a panel to match. This is just using KiCAD to create a PCB panel, as I’ve done before.
I’ve had to take a bit of a punt with the dimensions of the display. I won’t really know how it will mount until I get all the parts back and try them out.
I’ve taken the mounting holes forward from the Pi through to the panel. Without those, only the encoder would have been keeping the PCB and panel together.
Somewhat annoyingly, I noticed as I was writing this blog post, that I had a stray ref** silkscreen element for the audio jack. When I received the boards back, I had to gently scrape that off with a razor blade.
When I sent off the updated PCB I took the opportunity to also order some more panels with that fixed, but it means I’ll have a choice of either white or black panels when I’m done.
Closing Thoughts
This is something I’ve been wanting to do for some time, so it’s nice to have finally had a look. I kept with the “white look” I’ve been using for my EuroRack experiments so far, but will have a black option too.
The first version had a few issues. First, annoyingly, I managed to get the SSD1306 footprint the wrong way round, so I had a few bodge wires to fix that. And then there were issues with the heat dissipation from the regulator, so all in all, I’ve moved onto a v0.2 of the PCB (unusually for me – I usually just make do :)).
I’m still not convinced about the power situation. Driving a Pi via a L7805 does seem to waste quite a lot of energy, so I need to watch out for the heatsink situation as the build comes together. It might be that directly powering using a USB supply is better, so I might revisit this in the future.
That stray ref is annoying, but that is what you get when you change the size of a hole at the last minute and don’t notice a reference changing layers. So that is just bad luck I guess (unless I really should up my verification process before hitting “send”!).
But then the whole panel was a bit of an experiment as the screen, particularly, was hard to judge up-front without any kind of spatial model, but there seem to be enough options to largely make it work.
So still very much a work in progress, but I think there is a lot of promise, and having a couple of these in a rack does look really neat.
But the general advice still stands – this is a DIY system and should only be used with other DIY modules. If you want a MiniDexed for use in your treasured EuroRack setup alongside your expensive modules, then there are commercial options available, although naturally I have no experience of them myself.
Kevin
Tom’s Hardware: This old phone reads poetry to you using a Raspberry Pi Zero. “There are all sorts of ways to revitalize old hardware, but throwing a Raspberry Pi into the mix is a sure way to get us excited. This project, put together by a maker known as Rootkid, does just that with a really clever upgrade to a vintage phone. When you pick up the receiver of this old phone, you’ll be met […]
Has anyone managed to get a #RaspberryPizero or #raspberrypizero2 running autonomously from solar power in Northern Europe? For example as a 24/7 data logger. Just curious what sort of challenges one would have there and what sort of re-start behaviour you get if the device loses power due to low light periods. #brownout #solarpower. Cheers.
So far I have it this info:
https://stfn.pl/blog/34-pico-power-consumption-solar-panels/
https://kittenlabs.de/blog/2024/09/01/extreme-pi-boot-optimization/
my partner went to Cambridge and all they brought me back was this #raspberrypi5 these #RaspberryPiZero s and some Chelsea Buns from #fitzbillies
Lilbits: UGREEN’s 500W USB-C charger, Fire Toolbox v38, and the ONEXPLAYER G1 hits crowdfunding this week for $899 and up
PC accessory maker UGREEN already sells a desktop USB charger that delivers up to 300W of total power over four USB-C ports and one USB-A port. But it can’t send more than 140W to any single device.
Now the company has introduced an upgraded model that offers up to 240W of power to a single device, and up to 500W when you use it to charge multiple devices.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech […]
#amazonFire #crowdfunding #fireTablet #fireToolbox #lilbits #oneNetbook #ONEXPLAYER #onexplayerG1 #pisguar #pisugar3 #raspberryPi #raspberryPiZero #ugreen #ugreenNexode500w #ups
PiSugar 3 is a tiny uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for the Raspberry Pi Zero. It has a 1200 mAh battery, RTC, and a USB charging port. At $40 it's more expensive than a USB power bank, but it offers full UPS functionality including wake and shutdown features. https://buff.ly/4h0dJ4M #RaspberryPiZero #RaspberryPi #PiSugar3 #PiSugar #UPS
I have a USB #Sdr Dongle and a spare #RaspberryPiZero.
I can't hear our home's wireless doorbell from my office.
Can I combine these two things into a solution?
Anyone?
Remember the #Sega #Dreamcast #vmu?
It'd be cool to build a case for a M.2 #NVMe with an integrated screen and gamepad buttons like these, maybe run a little #raspberryPiZero in it?
#retroGaming #videoGames #gaming #segaDreamcast #hardware #raspberrypi #rpi
