Build Firmware for Pico2w "par_spi.uf2" / "ftp_server_par_spi.uf2"

[jo-achim-dot]

On which platform and with which program can I create the "build"? Do I need to adjust any paths? What are the disadvantages of providing "par_spi.uf2" directly? thx

[jbilander]

Hi, I'm currently doing significant development for a new version of the firmware that will have not only the old SDBox functionality (with the sd card drive functionality) but also a ftp server running on the Pico 2 W. It's not finished yet though, it's in heavy development at the dev branch https://github.com/jbilander/amiga-par-to-spi-adapter/tree/dev/rp2350 . It will be a dual-boot system where the Pico 2 W can be booted into two different modes, bare-metal mode with the Amiga SPI Bridge or a FreeRTOS-mode with the Wifi/FTP-Server enabled. This will be done by holding down a push-button 3 seconds (currently on GPIO13, pad available on the underside of the carrier board). In order for the WiFi to work it'll be required to build with your WiFi credentials (put in a file called wifi_credentials.cmake in the rp2350 folder) so that is why there will be no ready made provided ftp_server_par_spi.uf2 file as everyone would need to build their own version anyway with their own credentials set. You can build the dev branch now if you want to. It boots by default into the bare metal mode and the Amiga SPI Bridge should work fine. You will need the arm-none-eabi-gcc toolchain installed and path to the bin folder to it put early in your PATH (on my Mac it looks like this)

PATH=/opt/local/bin:/Applications/ARM/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/opt/X11/bin

and then you can build like this:

git clone -b dev --single-branch https://github.com/jbilander/amiga-par-to-spi-adapter.git
cd amiga-par-to-spi-adapter/rp2350/lib/fatfs/
git submodule update --init
cd ../..
mkdir build
cd build/
cmake ..
make -j4

the par_spi_ftp_server.uf2file will be created in the build folder.

for the wifi_credentials.cmake (the file you put in the rp2350 folder) you just put these entries inside the file:

set(WIFI_SSID "YourSSID")
set(WIFI_PASSWORD "YourPassword")

Regards,
Jorgen

[jbilander]

For your information, if you check the log when the pico 2 W starts up, this is what you should see when you run a command similar to screen /dev/cu.usbmodem141201 115200 to trace the log:

Normal power-on detected. Launching bare metal.
Entering bare metal mode (Core 0, WiFi Disabled).
Amiga SPI Bridge: Initializing on Core 0...
Amiga SPI Bridge: PIO1 ACT mirroring enabled
Amiga SPI Bridge: Exclusive handler installed (fast interrupts ~200-300ns)
Amiga SPI Bridge: Ready - waiting for Amiga requests
Amiga SPI Bridge: Hold GPIO 13 button for 3 seconds to switch to FreeRTOS mode
Amiga SPI Bridge: SD card detected, signaling Amiga...
Amiga SPI Bridge: Card presence signal sent

[jo-achim-dot]

Hi Jorgan,

Thanks for your support. I finally managed to create the .uf2 file over the weekend. YES! ;) For all you Amiga enthusiasts, don't try it with Windows 10 or 11; it'll be a disaster. I used Linux Mint v22 (Ubuntu) and installed the following via the terminal as administrator:

1. Install CMake and the GCC cross-compiler: "sudo apt install cmake gcc-arm-none-eabi libnewlib-arm-none-eabi libstdc++-arm-none-eabi-newlib"

2. Install Git: "sudo apt-get install git"

3. Executed the commands as described in the "rp2350" project folder.

I just saw your update, including the instructions—GREAT! What a fantastic project! I love the layout with the original 25-pin D-sub package! I'm just waiting for my components for the board! I think you'll be releasing a revised version of the circuit board with the toggle switch (mode switch (GPIO13)) soon?

Thanks! Regards, Joachim

[jbilander]

Great, thanks, glad you appreciate the work. yeah you are right, I'm thinking about making a small re-design of the PCB so that a push-button can be accommodated directly on the carrier board, also perhaps switch the LED indicators to smd variants.

Regards

[jo-achim-dot]

Hi Jorgan,

Happy New Year and lots of good ideas ;)

I successfully built Rev. 3B and it's running well. I flashed it with the "old" firmware without FTP. I also built the new firmware with FTP, but so far I've only tried the bare-metal mode (default). I noticed the following:

In line 37 of "CMakeLists.txt", the "I" in "import" needs to be lowercase, like this: "include(FreeRTOS_Kernel_import.cmake)" otherwise it can't find the file under Linux. Also, the activity LED doesn't seem to work (it does with the old firmware).

Next, I'll order your new Rev. 3C board and build that one. Thanks for updating it so quickly. Then I'll also try the FTP mode.

Best regards, Joachim

[jbilander]

Hi, and Happy New Year!

What a coincident, I discovered today that I had forgot to add the activity LED functionality so I did a fix a couple of hours ago, I also added it around all SD card operations in ftp_server.c so it should work now in either mode:

feat: Add SD card activity LED to FTP mode, centralize LED initialization in main.c

Added SD_LED_ON/OFF indicators around all SD card operations in ftp_server.c.
Moved PIN_LED initialization from par_spi.c and ftp_server.c to main.c since
LED is now used in both bare-metal and FTP modes.

so if you do a git pull now and rebuild and re-flash it should work. I tested it briefly myself and it works in both modes for me.

Thanks for the info about the lover case "I" in "import", I'll fix it.

Regards

[jbilander]

for your information:
I noticed a bug when I tried to upload a kickstart file (size 524 288 bytes) it didn't work, fixed now:

fix: Send 226 response for uploads that are exact multiples of buffer size

Files exactly 512KB (8×64KB) or other multiples of FTP_STREAM_BUFFER_SIZE
were timing out because the completion response was only sent when buffer
had remaining data. Moved 226 response outside buffer check to always send
for streaming uploads.

jbilander/amiga-par-to-spi-adapter@3897f9e