Root cause: a non-ASCII em-dash in an app.py comment. The A/B updater pushes app.py
as 7-bit SysEx (charCode & 0x7F), which turned the em-dash's bytes into a NUL byte ->
corrupt source -> the pushed build crashed on boot (black screen, onboard LED blinking
CircuitPython's error/safe-mode pattern). A dragged copy was fine (valid UTF-8); only
the over-MIDI path mangled it.
- Replace the em-dash with ASCII; app.py is now pure ASCII.
- build.sh now ASSERTS pico-cp/app.py is pure ASCII (fails the build otherwise) so this
class of bug can never ship again.
- Device 0x20 handler VALIDATES the pushed app.py before installing (reject if it
contains a NUL byte, or is missing App().run()/APP_VERSION) and now catches ALL
exceptions (not just OSError) -> a corrupt/truncated/oversized push NAKs and keeps the
working build instead of bricking. Longer pre-reload sleep so the ACK flushes.
APP_VERSION -> 0.0.5.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
App.py-only (ships over the one-click updater). APP_VERSION -> 0.0.3.
- Run/stop is now a background tint (gray running / near-black stopped) instead of
STOP text, reclaiming the space.
- Running time + bar counter show "of total" when the track has a b<n> length:
"1:23 of 2:00" and "bar N of 16" (bar cycles 1..N); total time derived from
bars x master-beats-per-bar x 60/bpm. Parser now reads the b<n> token.
- Practice log is filtered to the current track (drops the redundant track column).
- Pads: squares for the main pulse, circles for subdivisions (was square + hollow
outline); fewer vectorio shapes too.
- Track number set apart from the title (small + dim, right) so it no longer reads
as part of the title.
On-device editing (tap instrument -> lane table; tap beat -> cycle state; dirty-name
-> confirm save/revert) is deferred to Phase 2, where "save" has a correct destination
(an edited built-in saves as a user copy).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Device screen redesign (CircuitPython app.py), built proportional to WIDTH/HEIGHT
so it scales to other panels (one adaptive firmware, per-panel config — not a fork):
- gen_assets.py bakes logo.bin (VARASYS wordmark, no tagline), midi.bin (DIN-5),
usb.bin (trident) as 4-bit-alpha bitmaps (same packing as the fonts).
- Header: VARASYS logo (brand cyan) replaces the "PM_K-1 KIT" text; MIDI icon goes
green when a host is listening, USB icon lights when supervisor.runtime.usb_connected.
load_alpha/make_glyph are non-fatal — a missing .bin falls back to text, never a
black screen (addresses the corrupt-file failure mode we just hit).
- Pad grid: filled squares on main beats, hollow outline squares (outer+inner rect) on
off-beats; playhead fills the lit pad. Vertical gridlines at the master lane's beats
(full height) so beats line up across lanes.
- Stopwatch (m:ss) + bar counter (master-lane cycles), refreshed ~4x/s only on change.
The .bin assets ship in the drive bundle (the A/B updater only pushes app.py), so a
one-time re-copy is needed to pick them up. APP_VERSION -> 0.0.2.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Split the CircuitPython firmware into a tiny stable loader (code.py) + the application (app.py,
carries APP_VERSION). The editor's ⋯ → "⬆ Update firmware" queries the device version (SysEx 0x02
-> 0x03 reply), fetches the latest app from the site (/pico-cp-app.py), shows device-vs-latest, and
pushes the new app.py over USB-MIDI (SysEx 0x20). The device installs it to a trial slot (old build
kept as app.bak), reboots, and the loader AUTO-ROLLS-BACK to app.bak if the new build fails to start;
a build that runs cleanly ~5s is confirmed (clears /trial). No BOOTSEL, no dragging; Chromium/Firefox.
app.py forced to pure ASCII so it pushes raw (no base64); SysEx buffer raised to 60KB.
build.sh/deploy.sh: bundle code.py+app.py and serve /pico-cp-app.py. Docs updated.
Verified in CPython: version reply, update install+reboot+ACK, rollback file dance; editor loads clean
with the updater wired.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Firmware (pico-cp/): the Pico now owns its filesystem by default (boot.py), so it can save the
practice log and write editor-pushed set lists; the drive is read-only to the computer, which also
protects the firmware. Hold button A at power-on for editor mode (drive writable; universal drag).
- Replaced the on-screen touch buttons with an on-device PRACTICE LOG (time · BPM · duration ·
track), newest-first, persisted to /history.json next to programs.json. Plays < 5s aren't logged;
tap a row twice to delete it. Real timestamps once the editor syncs the clock.
- USB-MIDI SysEx receiver: clock-set (0x01 -> RTC) and program-push (0x10 -> write programs.json,
reload, ACK/NAK). disable autoreload so our own writes never self-restart.
- Fixed swing: the parser was discarding the 's' flag, so /2s never swung. Now the scheduler uses a
per-step duration with long-short (2:1, SWING_RATIO 2/3) pairs on even subdivisions, matching the
web engine. Verified: ride:4/2s -> 266/133ms vs straight 200/200.
Editor (editor.html): requestMIDIAccess({sysex:true}); Save to device now pushes programs.json as
SysEx to the device (+ clock sync), waits for ACK, shows "Saved ✓", and falls back to downloading the
file (drag onto the drive in editor mode) when no device answers. Heartbeat also keeps the clock synced.
Web MIDI works in Chromium AND Firefox; the drag fallback covers any browser/OS incl. Safari.
Docs (pico-cp/README, info-kit, README) updated for the two modes, push programming, and the log.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The editor's 'Device audio' now sends a MIDI Active-Sensing heartbeat (0xFE, every 250ms)
to the device while on. The firmware reads usb_midi.ports[0]; while it hears the heartbeat
(<1s) it shows a green 'MIDI' badge top-right and silences the buzzer (the computer plays);
~1s after it stops, it reverts to the buzzer and hides the badge. Manual MUTE_BUZZER still
works. Verified headless: host detected -> MIDI shown + buzzer duty 0; timeout -> reverts.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The firmware ran every lane at a fixed beat/sub, ignoring the ~ flag, so a poly lane
(e.g. cowbell:3~) played quarter-notes instead of fitting its cycle into lane 1's bar —
the duple 'and' coincided with a triplet note. Now match the web engine: a poly lane's
whole cycle spans the master lane's bar (dur = master_bar / steps). Verified: claves:5~
over kick:4 -> both cycles = 2.400s (5-over-4); 3-over-2 lands correctly.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Firmware (pico-cp/code.py): on every click, send a USB-MIDI note-on per firing lane —
GM drum note by voice (SOUND_GM), velocity by level (accent/normal/ghost) — via the
default-enabled usb_midi.ports[1]. Polyphonic, so the computer plays the full groove.
New CONFIG: MIDI_ENABLED (default on), MUTE_BUZZER (silence the buzzer when using
computer audio).
Editor (editor.html): a '🎹 Device audio' toggle uses the Web MIDI API
(requestMIDIAccess) to voice incoming notes through the existing synth — Note-On ->
GM_NUM[note] / velocity-to-gain -> playInstrument(). The device is the clock; the
browser is the sound module, locked in sync. Chrome/Edge.
Verified: firmware emits the right notes (kick+hat on beat 1 of four-on-the-floor,
snare's rest skipped); editor loads clean with the toggle + handlers present. Docs
(info-kit, both READMEs) updated. The on-device buzzer/screen still work standalone.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Place step circles by proportional position in the bar (beat = column start) instead
of centring in per-lane slots, so same-meter lanes' beats land at the same x (e.g. the
8-step hat's beats sit directly under the 4-step kick/snare). Cap circle radius at 6
(was up to ~18). Verified by printing per-lane beat x-positions + rendering the grid.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
From on-board feedback (works well; minor tweaks):
- Pad grid uses circles now: big circle on each beat (division), small on the
subdivisions (vectorio.Circle — native, no extra cost), coloured/lit as before.
- Lane labels use a new small font (font_s.bin, ~12px via gen_font.py) so they're
half-size and show more of the voice name (e.g. 'hatClos').
- LED was blinding -> LED_BRIGHTNESS scale (default 0.15) applied on every write.
- Residual tearing -> SPI back to 62.5 MHz (vendor speed; smaller tear window on a
panel with no tearing-effect pin). Both are CONFIG flags.
Verified by rendering the full scene headless. font_s.bin added to gen_font.py + bundle.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Replace the single beat-dot row with a full pad grid: each lane is a row of step
pads coloured by dynamics (mute/normal/accent/ghost), with the playhead lit as it
plays (per-lane, so polymeter shows). Header (title/BPM/RUN/item) is compacted above
it; transport stays below. Pads are vectorio rects sharing one 8-colour palette and
recolour in place via color_index (cheap, tear-free); the grid only rebuilds on track
change. Caps at MAXLANES=5 rows (extra lanes still play). Verified by rendering the whole
displayio scene graph headless (layout + playhead lighting correct).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
From on-board feedback (memory + colours now good):
- LED: drive the WS2812 via the core neopixel_write module (no neopixel library to
install) — a tiny RGB class. Self-contained: it works straight from the bundle.
- Tearing: switch displayio to auto_refresh=False and push a complete frame only when
the scene changed (dirty flag, capped at the panel's refresh rate) so updates are
never shown mid-paint. Beat dots now recolour in place (vectorio color_index) instead
of being rebuilt every beat, shrinking the dirty region.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
On hardware the app rendered, beeped and took input, then died with MemoryError at
the text Bitmap alloc — the two ~37KB base64 font strings stayed pinned in RAM. Move
the fonts to small binary files read at boot (font_m.bin / font_l.bin), drop the
base64 + binascii, and gc.collect() before each text bitmap. code.py 56KB -> 20KB and
RAM use drops ~37KB+. Also: cyan rendered as yellow (R/B swapped) -> MADCTL 0x40 -> 0x48.
Bundle + README updated to include the font blobs. (LED still needs the neopixel lib.)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
New pico-cp/ — a CircuitPython port of the PM_K-1 firmware so the Pico mounts as a
CIRCUITPY drive carrying its code + tracks (the MicroPython pico/main.py stays the
simple fallback):
- pico-cp/code.py: displayio BusDisplay driving ST7796 via a custom init_sequence;
smooth anti-aliased text via displayio Bitmap+Palette (reuses the baked font blobs);
vectorio rects for dots/buttons; DIY GT911 touch (16-bit regs, edge-detected);
pwmio buzzer, analogio joystick, digitalio buttons, optional neopixel RGB; the
polymeter engine on a time.monotonic_ns scheduler. Reads /programs.json (falls back
to baked defaults); CircuitPython auto-reloads on file change.
- pico-cp/programs.json: the 23 default grooves. pico-cp/README.md: flash + calibrate.
- build.sh/deploy.sh: bundle + serve /pm_k1_circuitpy.zip. info-kit.html: experimental
'CircuitPython edition — USB drive' section.
Verified in CPython (stubbed displayio): init sequence well-formed, parser handles the
grooves incl. (3,8) euclid + @-4 gain, and code.py's actual make_text renders identical
smooth AA text. Hardware bits (panel/touch/MIDI) await on-board testing.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
