Adabox 007 TV Zapper

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ejb
 
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Adabox 007 TV Zapper

Post by ejb »

I don't see this already posted so here's some information that might be helpful for getting the Gemma M0 TV BE GONE to work. The CircuitPython code listed in the instructions uses board.A1 as one of the arguments on line 16 but the project instruction photos show the gate of the transistor screwed into A2. That of course is a major fail and the project won't work like that because the PWM signal is going to A1, not to the transistor gate at A2. So, you either need to connect the gate lead of transistor to A1 or change line 16 to read board.A2 (which I did). Now the IR LED works! There was one other problem. The code.txt file seems to be way to big (37KB) to fit. I had to reduce it by more than two thirds (11KB final size) before it would fit onto the CircuitPy drive. I deleted the majority of the TV codes starting at the bottom of the list and gradually working my way up until it fit. Even with a bunch of TV codes deleted it still worked! At least it worked for the two Vizio TV's that I happen to have at home, but I'm sure a great deal of functionality has been lost. I did remove all the other extra files that the instructions said to delete but still the TV code text file was much to big to use without modification. Did anyone at Adafruit actually test this thing out, or am I missing something here?

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ejb
 
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Re: Adabox 007 TV Zapper

Post by ejb »

Has anyone else had any problem with this project? There should have been sufficient room on the CIRCUITPY drive to accommodate the code.txt file, but I've had to cull it down considerably so it will fit onto the drive. I've removed all unnecessary files and there are no hidden files that shouldn't be there. So why am I getting a not enough memory message when I try to add the complete txt file? I've tried reinstalling the latest UF2 boot loader multiple times and that hasn't helped. What's going on?

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ejb
 
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Re: Adabox 007 TV Zapper

Post by ejb »

Situation resolved. The problem apparently was that hidden files were being added by MacOSX. I followed the troubleshooting instructions and was able to transfer all of the necessary files and folders using terminal commands that block hidden files. Now I'm able to add the full copy.txt file to the CIRCUITPY drive. Everything fits and everything works.

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xyzmaker
 
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Re: Adabox 007 TV Zapper

Post by xyzmaker »

Hello- I am having the same issue in the fact that I can't seem to fit the files on the Gemma M0. I am using windows, and it keeps on adding in the boot_out file back on the drive. Is there some way I can fix this? It only needs 1 KB open, which is the exact size of the boot_out.

Also, I had to wipe the memory of the Gemma M0 because for some reason the codes.txt file got corrupted, so it still took up the 37 KB of memory, but I couldn't delete it. I then just wiped the drive using SD card formatter, and it still registers it as a Gemma M0, but it shows up as a USB drive. Is that something to be concerned about?


Thanks

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Adabox 007 TV Zapper

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

The Gemma M0's bootloader is supposed to mount as a removeable USB drive. That's how it uploads Python code.

It isn't really a filesystem, the bootloader just uses the USB-mass-storage protocol to handle the communication. Trying to delete boot_out doesn't do anything, and wouldn't give the microcontroller and more free memory. The 'file' is a hook for output generated in code.

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johnpark
 
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Re: Adabox 007 TV Zapper

Post by johnpark »

@ejb not sure which code you were referring to -- the code for the Gemma M0 version of the project uses A2 https://learn.adafruit.com/circuitpytho ... m0-variant

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xyzmaker
 
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Re: Adabox 007 TV Zapper

Post by xyzmaker »

Thanks for the response- closure is nice.

I just ended up removing the dotstar library from the drive, and that seemed to free up enough space for the script. I then soldered it up ( and carefully tested everything), but it still doesn't work on my Toshiba tv. I also tested it with a voltameter and it comes up it with (on 20v |: ) 0.05 to 0.09. Does that mean that it is working, and the code isn't included for that tv? All of the stuff is brand new and worked with alligator clips.


Thanks

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