Sonic Potions - Penrose Quantizer DIY Kit

[pjbulls]

* Fuse settings for external quarz (20MHz):
* avrdude -p m328p -c avrisp2 -U lfuse:w:0xe7:m
* avrdude -p m328p -c avrisp2 -U hfuse:w:0xd9:m

Should be the same for the 168

Awesome, thanks!

[glennfin]

Can someone please point me to the latest firmware download and instructions for updating?. I could never get mine to work correctly but it has old firmware. The links in the first post are dead.

Thanks

[pjbulls]

The latest firmware is in this git repo as far as I know. Precompiled binaries are in the bin/ directory.

If you have a chip with the audio bootloader already flashed you should be able to play the bin/penrose.wav file per the instructions provided in the manual, but I haven't tried that.

You can also update the firmware (bin/quantizer.hex) via an AVR ISP programmer such as the USBasp and a flashing utility such as avrdude. If you have avrdude set up and the programmer connected to the board you can flash the firmware via a command similar to 'avrdude -c usbasp -p m328p -U flash:w:quantizer.hex:i', see for example here for some more detailed explanation.

[BartBral]

Can someone please point me to the latest firmware download and instructions for updating?. I could never get mine to work correctly but it has old firmware. The links in the first post are dead. Thanks

https://github.com/SonicPotions/Penrose In the BIN folder.
When you use the audio-file update procedure, be sure to use a stereo cable, as the update is send thru the ring of the the cable into the Penrose Trigger-IN jack. Be sure to amplify the signal enough, otherwise it won't update properly/at all.

Further update info here:
http://www.sonic-potions.com/penroseManual

Good luck!

[glennfin]

Thanks guys!.. I'll give it a try.

[mnygus]

There is bug in 1.2 firmware! When input voltage is >2.55V, ADC hysteresis is not working and sometimes Penrose can switch randomly between two notes.



I've fixed this and you can download latest fixed firmware here:

https://github.com/mgalach/Penrose/blob ... rFixed.hex

[pld]

There is bug in 1.2 firmware! When input voltage is >2.55V, ADC hysteresis is not working and sometimes Penrose can switch randomly between two notes.

It's kind of a shame the forum is still MIA, the hysteresis issue has been covered a few times (e.g. here, albeit in a different format).

There's also some other quirks in the firmware, for which I had fixes in various branches -- but since there's actually been a total overhaul by float32: github

[mnygus]

I will try overhaul, thanks!

Too bad there is not .hex, I have to fugure out how to compile it...

[BugBrand]

There is bug in 1.2 firmware! When input voltage is >2.55V, ADC hysteresis is not working and sometimes Penrose can switch randomly between two notes.

It's kind of a shame the forum is still MIA, the hysteresis issue has been covered a few times (e.g. here, albeit in a different format).

There's also some other quirks in the firmware, for which I had fixes in various branches -- but since there's actually been a total overhaul by float32: github

Yup - the thread for my bug-format version has some decent firmware as linked above: viewtopic.php?p=3121480#p3121480

[glennfin]

I don't see the firmware wav file anywhere....

There is bug in 1.2 firmware! When input voltage is >2.55V, ADC hysteresis is not working and sometimes Penrose can switch randomly between two notes.



I've fixed this and you can download latest fixed firmware here:

https://github.com/mgalach/Penrose/blob ... rFixed.hex

[Fedor]

Finished the build today (my first diy module ever!), so I need the latest firmware, too)

[BugBrand]

Oh yes, I never figured out how to make a .wav - I used a usb programmer to the 6pin ISP header (wasn't particularly comfortable with all that but figured it finally!).

[kreiff]

I don't see the firmware wav file anywhere....

I actually compiled and outputted the wav file on my machine using float32's instructions. You can download it from my google drive here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v8viPz ... sp=sharing

It worked on both of my builds. Firmware update instructions are the same found here:
https://www.sonic-potions.com/penroseManual

I found that after the audio completed, I had to power cycle the module.

float32's firmware is much better. No more glitches between notes. I want to say the accuracy is better across octaves as well - but I haven't reviewed all the updates that float32 made in detail.

[Fedor]

@kreiff, thank you!

[glennfin]

I don't see the firmware wav file anywhere....

I actually compiled and outputted the wav file on my machine using float32's instructions. You can download it from my google drive here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v8viPz ... sp=sharing

It worked on both of my builds. Firmware update instructions are the same found here:
https://www.sonic-potions.com/penroseManual

I found that after the audio completed, I had to power cycle the module.

float32's firmware is much better. No more glitches between notes. I want to say the accuracy is better across octaves as well - but I haven't reviewed all the updates that float32 made in detail.

Thanks!

[constantG]

I just finished building this and plugged it in, all the lights and buttons work and all of the inputs and outputs seem to work. Firstly, I don't really understand how to calibrate it with a multimeter (I don't have an oscilloscope) and a full (beginners) explanation/demonstration of this would be great. Secondly, whilst everything seems to be working, there is no variation in pitch from the output whatsoever. All help would be appreciated.

Cheers

[BugBrand]

To calibrate mine I simply select C on the key-switches and then check that these octaves are close to 1V intervals, measuring with your multimeter.
On my BugFrac version I have a manual voltage source so this is easy, but you'd need to feed in a variable signal of 0 to +10V
There is always a bit of deviation & some DACs seem to be way off in some ranges, but most are just fine.

[constantG]

To calibrate mine I simply select C on the key-switches and then check that these octaves are close to 1V intervals, measuring with your multimeter.
On my BugFrac version I have a manual voltage source so this is easy, but you'd need to feed in a variable signal of 0 to +10V
There is always a bit of deviation & some DACs seem to be way off in some ranges, but most are just fine.

If I turn the trim pot whilst it is sending notes to the oscillator, should I hear the pitch changing?

[BugBrand]

The trim pot is scaling the output - it only affects amplification of the DAC signal, does not have any effect on the input voltage signal directly.
As you change the input voltage, yes, the output voltage should change.
If it isn't then perhaps there is a fault on the normalisation of the ext-trigger input -- with nothing connected the module should be constantly reading the input, whereas plugging a cable in switches it only to react when a trigger arrives.
Unfortunately I only really know about my own BugBrand version of Penrose, not the original kit.

[constantG]

Is this right?

connect the CV out from my MPC to the input socket and measure the output with a DMM whilst sending a C0 from the MPC should be about 1V DC?

[constantG]

All it does is play the same pitch, no matter what I try.

If everything else is working correctly, is it likely that I have a blown IC ?

Edit:

Lesson 1. Sleep on it!

IC in the wrong way round, luckily no damage was done and its working fine now.

[Nyonyx]

Hi, I have a problem with my penrose quantiser I built from thonk.co.uk.

Sometimes it will work as expected but sometimes it does not quantise below 2.5v. I have reflow everything, updated the firmware and calibrated it. The problem still persist. 0v should be a C note, but instead I get a D# note. Do you have any idea? My build is very clean, and all solder joints are good.

also the trigger input doesnt work !
Someone else have solve this problem ?

Thank you.

[efluon]

there's actually been a total overhaul by float32: github

Thanks for that!!

If someone builds that, i had some struggle, which I share here if someone runs into the same issues.

• somehow i had python3 on my mac in /usr/bin, so when hombrew installing python3 i needed to make an alias (so that the pip installed IntelHex can be found)

• the avr in my kit was an atmega168p, so i needed to edit artifact.mk for 'make load' to work. (added the p to the target, changed the fuse-setting to what was given earlier in this thread, removing the efuse setting ->
  avrdude -B100 $(AVRDUDE_OPTS) -p atmega168p -U lfuse:w:0xe7:m -U hfuse:w:0xd9:m

[waldenpotato]

I just finished building two of these. I noticed that it seems sometimes the notes will switch to a different note randomly. I initially figured that this was happening because the control voltage was close to two notes. But after reading a few messages here it sounds like it might be a firmware issue. How can I confirm this - check firmware version I have, find newer version, install newer version, etc?

Update:
I'll take a look at the float32 code and see if that has any good stuff.

[the_laconic]

Hi all, first time post, and probably not the last, since I've jumped headlong into DIY modular.

I'm working on a Penrose v 0.4. The assembly instructions refer to a pair of 18 pF capacitors that connect to the crystal. There are no 18 pF capacitors in the kit though -- instead there are what appear to be 50 nF capacitors (503).

It's possible that's correct, since the cap values are chosen according to the crystal as far as I can tell. But there isn't enough info on the crystal to say what model it is. I emailed Sonic Potions on Thursday and haven't got a response. Frustrating.

Can anyone who has built this recently please advise? Did you have the same caps? Did you switch them out?

Thanks,
Marc