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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Ping from MMBasic
| Author | Message | ||||
| dtpnz Newbie  Joined: 04/09/2023 Location: New ZealandPosts: 3 |
Are there any plans to implement a ping function in MMBasic? I know we can ping Picomites etc but it would be great to be able to go the other way and execute code based on the ping result. |
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VK2FVAX Newbie Joined: 02/05/2025 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2 |
I'm keen for this. I've just bought a Pico/2/Computer to replace my much loved (read: abused) Colour Maximite from a while back. I'm planning to slap a Pico2W in there instead of the supplied Pico2. First call of business is to come on here and see if anyone is working on support and a firmware image. I've not spotted anything 'yet'. Still in reading mode. Exciting new generation/world.  |
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| Gadgetguy Newbie Joined: 26/04/2025 Location: FrancePosts: 24 |
Good morning, i just bought a maximite and a picomite (they both will likely arrive in the next week or so). Based on my understanding the picomite is much less powerful vs the maximite. Other than that are the two units more or less the same from an mmbasic perspective, would you know please? Edited 2025-05-07 15:13 by Gadgetguy |
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| VK2FVAX Newbie Joined: 02/05/2025 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2 |
Sounds good. My understanding is that the stock speeds for the Pico and Pico2 family are 133mhz and 150mhz respectively. Also double the RAM. I've seen sites that show how to overclock them upto 400mhz. Not sure this is necessary. I've been using my Colour Maximite for a number of years. It's MIPS based (PIC24) rather than ARM/Hazzard based. It'll be interesting to see how the MMBASIC programs I've written port over. A few are quite cycle heavy. I'm a newbie myself to these boards, so unfortunately I don't know much more. Keen to hear your experiences. |
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| PhenixRising Guru  Joined: 07/11/2023 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1141 |
The Picomite might execute code slower but the PIO actually makes it a more capable embedded controller. |
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| Gadgetguy Newbie Joined: 26/04/2025 Location: FrancePosts: 24 |
I just looked at processor speed, screen resolution etc. which suggest the maximite to be more powerful. Not sure what PIO is? |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7505 |
The PIO on the Pico is a very specialised module. There is a very good description of it and its capabilities in the manual. Basically it's a tiny CPU with a small instruction (basic) set but the instructions can actually be pretty complex. Each PIO has four "state machines" that simply walk along the dedicated memory area carrying out each instruction as it finds it. The machines can run on the same memory or you can make them run on only partial areas of it. The state machines themselves are unaware of each other. The whole PIO can communicate with the main CPU bus using two pipeline shift registers. The PIO can also directly control some GPIO pins. The main CPUs and the PIOs run independently of each other and can be running at different clock speeds. At maximum speed a state machine can carry out an instruction on every clock cycle. That can be *very* fast when you are running the system clock at over 300MHz! Once a PIO is running it will continue to do so, no matter what the main CPUs are doing unless it is waiting for some information from a CPU. It's a bit like having extra processors. There are two PIOs in the RP2040 and three in the RP2350. The PicoMite uses one PIO to handle video generation, the state machines producing the synch signals needed. MMBasic includes special commands for working with the PIO module. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| Gadgetguy Newbie Joined: 26/04/2025 Location: FrancePosts: 24 |
Very cool. Was not aware so thank you for explaining. Lot to discover / experiment with |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 4854 |
Hi, PicomiteVGA/HDMI uses PIO 0 for video generation (and audio when I2S audio is used). PicomiteW uses PIO 1 for wifi interface. PicoMite has both PIO's unused. But there is always 1 PIO (4 statemachines) free for user tasks. Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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