Bela Cape + CTAG Beast Issues

kmg

received the same output. testing Bela stacked on BeagleBone Black took a long time to upload code, but it works fine. Stacking FACE Capes on BeagleBone Black and Bela Cape on top of FACE Capes results in solid red light on Bela and endless uploading process. no errors returned in IDE console and no audio out Bela

giuliomoro

Does it work OK without the Bela cape? It does for me with the BEAST.

I need to do some more work to make it work with the Bela cape again.

kmg

Here is the output when I run without the bela cape, BEAST only

That leads to another question I had about the BEAST which may be relevant and more helpful in this issue. I haven't found any explanations of how these separate parts need to be attached, but from the pin diagram it looks like they'll house the molex connectors (although, I'm counting 10 male pins on each row of the face capes, 17 male pins on these separate attachments, and only seeing rows of 15 on the IDE pin diagram)

giuliomoro

kmg Here is the output when I run without the bela cape, BEAST only

I have seen that as an intermittent error, can you try running that a few times to see if it persists? Also can you provide your order number? You were sent the wrong breakouts. Did you get the red white black audio adapter cables?

kmg

I will give it a try and update you on that error.

Thank you for the clarification. Yes, I did receive the red white and black audio adapter cables.
Order number is: 25937

kmg

The issue does seem to be intermittent. I can't verify the audio output with just the FACE Capes and no Bela on top (due to incorrect breakouts), but the console indicates it is built and running

giuliomoro

OK thanks for verifying that, we'll send you out a replacement connector on Wednesday.

Try out the fix-ctag branch (this zip archive https://github.com/BelaPlatform/Bela/archive/refs/heads/fix-ctag.zip). The issue should be even more rare now.

I will keep working to get the analog inputs to work. That's almost there.

If you want to use the cape without the adapter in the meantime you'll need some socket wires and you can connect to the connector at the back. This is the wiring:

legend:

pin 1 GND
pin 2 GND
pin 3 GND
pin 4 GND
pin 5 acon1 ADC 0
pin 6 acon3 ADC 2
pin 7 acon2 ADC 1
pin 8 acon4 ADC 3
pin 9 GND
pin 10 GND
pin 11 acon5 DAC 0
pin 12 acon7 DAC 2
pin 13 acon6 DAC 1
pin 14 acon8 DAC 3
pin 15 GND
pin 16 GND
pin 17 acon9 DAC 4
pin 18 acon11 DAC 6
pin 19 acon10 DAC 5
pin 20 acon12 DAC 7

Looking at the board from the back, pin 1 is the top right, so the two columns on the right are ground, then you have two columns with the four inputs, then one column of ground, then two columns with outs 0,2,1,3 (0 and 1 at the top, 2 and 3 at the bottom), then one column of ground, then two columns with outs 4,6,5,7 (4 and 5 at the top, 6 and 7 at the bottom). In other words, looking at the back of the board:

o5 o4  g o1 o0  g i1 i0  g  g     // signal o = output, i = input, g = gnd
19 17 15 13 11  9  7  5  3  1     // pin number
----------------------------
20 18 16 14 12 10  8  6  4  2     // pin number
o7 o6  g o3 o2  g i3 i2  g  g     // signal o = output, i = input, g = gnd

kmg

Hello again... I created a separate post initially, but I figured I'd just update here since it is the same device. I am on something of a time limit for a final project in a class so I apologize for my sporadic messages in various places. I'm forgetting about the CTAG Beast set up for this project, but I'm having issues with the Bela Cape..

When I upload anything to my Bela board (even a blank project), it continuously outputs a frequency around 2756Hz. I thought it may have to do with an old project being preloaded to my board as it was accompanied by a 440Hz sine wave (coming from the autoload project in the IDE). I cleared the project, created a new one with 2 oscillators at 330Hz and 600Hz to confirm. This got rid of the autoload 440Hz osc~ output, but the 2756Hz frequency was still present.
To troubleshoot, I tested all of my output sources to confirm it wasn't my other devices. I used different power amps to confirm it wasn't unwanted noise from a cheap device, tried different transducers on different objects to confirm it wasn't a resonant mode of my initial snare drum setup, and I output the sound through different portable speakers. No matter the output source, or the code, my board keeps outputting the 2756Hz frequency...

I am borrowing another Bela board from my school (to replace my failed CTAG Beast setup and gain just two more audio ins/outs for my project). I tested my PureData patches through IDE with this separate Bela + Bglbne Blck setup using the different output sources described above. This other Bela board does NOT produce the continuous 2756Hz output. I used the same connectors on each device (molex, usb power, same laptop for IDE access).

Any thoughts on this? Does the separately sold Bela Cape stacked on the BeagleBone Black not function the same way as that which is purchased as a Bela Starter Kit?

Now that I have these two Bela boards together, I am noticing that the one I received as a separate purchase when I obtained my CTAG Beast Starter Kit does not look the same as depicted on bela.io, and it looks different than the cape I received from my school (different from the cape that is working ...)

Not sure if there's anything to gain from that last bit of info, but here is a pic for reference. My malfunctioning Bela is on top (with bglbne blck light on) and the functioning board from my school is on bottom:

kmg

kmg sorry, wrong file type in original post. here's the pic i mentioned

giuliomoro

kmg When I upload anything to my Bela board (even a blank project), it continuously outputs a frequency around 2756Hz. I thought it may have to do with an old project being preloaded to my board as it was accompanied by a 440Hz sine wave (coming from the autoload project in the IDE)

Do you get anything printed to the console? What block size are you using?

The cape at the bottom (rev B) will work with the CTAG without further work. The above one (newer, rev C) caused the partial incompatibility with CTAG that I addressed last week. You won't be able to use both Rev B and Rev C together, but if you need more than stereo audio outputs you can use the Rev C and use the "analog" outputs as audio outputs. ±2.6V audio signals from the analog outs are available on the unpopulated pads labelled GND 0 2 GND 1 3 etc.

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