Gemma M0 Flash Too Small

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tokayon
 
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Gemma M0 Flash Too Small

Post by tokayon »

Hi, I am new in Adafruit Development.
I've purchased the Gemma M0.
Tech Description of Gemma says: 256KB Flash - 8x as much as 8 KB on ATtiny85
But actually when I plugged my Gemma M0, finder says that only 8 Kb is available (at the regular CIRCUITPY mode).
I can't even write some new libs on it (not enough space!!).
At the BOOTLOADER mode there are 3.5Mb available.
How is it possible?
256KB this is the size of what? Is it kind of advertisement trick?
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adafruit_support_carter
 
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Re: Gemma M0 Flash Too Small

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

The 256KB Flash is the total program memory for the controller. The bootloader and CircuitPython firmware take up a fair amount of that. The spaces reported in your file explorer window are not truly accurate. The filesystems, both bootloader and with the CIRCUITPY folder, are simulated and presented as part of the USB device. So they don't always show up right in various file explorers.

What you have with a Gemma M0 is referred to as a "non-express" board. When working with CircuitPython on this board, space will be very tight. As result, some of the core modules of CircuitPython are left out:
https://circuitpython.readthedocs.io/en ... ort-matrix
and you need to be careful when installing libraries:
https://learn.adafruit.com/welcome-to-c ... ards-12-18

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tokayon
 
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Re: Gemma M0 Flash Too Small

Post by tokayon »

Why can't you just write at specs exactly the working flash space, which is available for user to work with.
All what you can get by deleting all those additional files is 48 KB.
So it would be fair to correct the specs: 48KB Flash - 6x as much as 8 KB on ATtiny85.
Last edited by tokayon on Tue May 21, 2019 7:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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adafruit_support_carter
 
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Re: Gemma M0 Flash Too Small

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

It's not an advertisement trick. It's in the datasheet:
http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/D ... 01882D.pdf
It just is what it is and the product page is reiterating that basic datasheet specs.

You can utilize different programming languages to get access to more of the flash space if you want. For example, Arduino would not require the CircuitPython firmware, which would free up a lot.

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tokayon
 
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Re: Gemma M0 Flash Too Small

Post by tokayon »

Aaa, I see.
Thank you for your reply.
I apologize (and I edited my comment appropriately ).

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