No love for the Axoloti DSP Board?

[tele_player]

There are axolotis floating around taking up space in a drawer. I see a few for sale each year.

And Axoloti is still being sold by Johannes. I got two more a few weeks ago. They are still a great value.

[forrest]

No, the pinout is not the same, Axoloti controllers will not just plug straight into Akso.

The pinout isn't the same? This post in the Axso forum (https://forum.zrna.org/t/how-do-the-gpi ... ti-core/44) seems to contradict that, am I reading this wrong?

[tele_player]

No, the pinout is not the same, Axoloti controllers will not just plug straight into Akso.

The pinout isn't the same? This post in the Axso forum (https://forum.zrna.org/t/how-do-the-gpi ... ti-core/44) seems to contradict that, am I reading this wrong?

From Akso forum:

In general, anything that is possible via IO pins on the original hardware is possible on the new hardware. The processors are pin compatible. The pin assignment is exactly the same by default for all legacy features. The GPIO test points that existed on the original Core hardware have the same names and assignments.

Yes, you’re reading it wrong. I’ll break it down:

“The processors are pin compatible”
That’s the processors, NOT the connector on the Axoloti.

“The pin assignment is exactly the same by default for all legacy features”
On an MCU like STM32, the assignment of internal peripherals to external CPU pins is very flexible. This just says that all the legacy features of the CPU will be found at the same pin names.

“ The GPIO test points that existed on the original Core hardware have the same names and assignments. ”

This just says that all the IO that is made available on the board is the same. It’s related to the line above.

What he didn’t write, but is clear from looking at the diagrams for both boards, is that the physical locations and arrangement of all these compatible signals is not the same.

This was done to maximize features, while minimizing board space. There are very few Axoloti add-on boards available, and backward compatibility was not a requirement.

(wow, why did I write all that on my iPad, when my Macbook Pro was in the same room? )

[forrest]

What he didn’t write, but is clear from looking at the diagrams for both boards, is that the physical locations and arrangement of all these compatible signals is not the same.

Very helpful thank you, I guess that's the rub that I missed. Anyway I guess it's a good thing, seems like the project needed a defibrillator.

[ersatzplanet]

No, the pinout is not the same, Axoloti controllers will not just plug straight into Akso.

The pinout isn't the same? This post in the Axso forum (https://forum.zrna.org/t/how-do-the-gpi ... ti-core/44) seems to contradict that, am I reading this wrong?

From Akso forum:

In general, anything that is possible via IO pins on the original hardware is possible on the new hardware. The processors are pin compatible. The pin assignment is exactly the same by default for all legacy features. The GPIO test points that existed on the original Core hardware have the same names and assignments.

Yes, you’re reading it wrong. I’ll break it down:

“The processors are pin compatible”
That’s the processors, NOT the connector on the Axoloti.

“The pin assignment is exactly the same by default for all legacy features”
On an MCU like STM32, the assignment of internal peripherals to external CPU pins is very flexible. This just says that all the legacy features of the CPU will be found at the same pin names.

“ The GPIO test points that existed on the original Core hardware have the same names and assignments. ”

This just says that all the IO that is made available on the board is the same. It’s related to the line above.

What he didn’t write, but is clear from looking at the diagrams for both boards, is that the physical locations and arrangement of all these compatible signals is not the same.

This was done to maximize features, while minimizing board space. There are very few Axoloti add-on boards available, and backward compatibility wasn’t not a requirement.

(wow, why did I write all that on my iPad, when my Macbook Pro was in the same room? )

Well they better re-write that bit of text - I see a lot of people making the same mistake I made without looking deeper into it.

[zrnsm]

Hey everyone. Appreciate your interest in my project. I just want to chime in and say that tele_player has the exactly correct interpretation here.

There was no intention at all of making the new device exactly the same physically in terms of test point layout. It would have been impractical given the other layout constraints.

Legacy expansions will of course still work. All of the pins that legacy expansions rely on are still available. They are just oriented slightly differently. You just need to connect the appropriate pins. In general, pins that were grouped together on the original like A0-A7 for example are grouped together in the new design but with a slightly different orientation. It would be very straightforward to make an adapter breakout board to support the legacy header.

Feel free to get in touch with me directly if you have any other questions.

Best,
Nicolas

[tele_player]

Good first post, Nicolas.

[JoshuaACNewman]

Hey, I don't think anyone's posted the link to the new Akso forum here yet so I'm gonna! It's over here: https://forum.zrna.org/

[weasel79]

akso firmware is now online https://github.com/zrna-research/akso
and the first batch of hardware seems to be shipped out.
https://zrna.org/akso

[MikeDB]

I've just built it into my Code 61 controller.

I've already got one but hadn't thought about putting it into the keyboard itself. Must open up the keyboards I have to see if there's enough room.

[tIB]

and the first batch of hardware seems to be shipped out.

I'm not sure that's the case.

[tele_player]

I just received an Akso in the mail. Installing software...

... software installed, initial testing sounds great!

[tIB]

I just received an Akso in the mail. Installing software...

... software installed, initial testing sounds great!

First one in the wild? What's the verdict?

[tele_player]

First impression is very good, but I certainly didn't comprehensively test it. This is new hardware, requiring non-trivial software modifications, bugs are sure to appear. IMHO, this is an impressive achievement.

Here's how it looks next to an original Axoloti Core.

[tIB]

In fairness there is very little trivial about setting up the axoloti core which has been around for ages now. Pleased to see these are making it out now - I'll be getting one once there are more out there. Axoloti makes for a great mpe synth so the extra power should come in handy.

[weasel79]