PicoChess v3.2 Images

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RandyR

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May 27, 2023, 2:53:03 PM5/27/23
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Hi everyone,

For some reason my links were being hidden below the bottom of the message when replying in Dirk's thread so I will start my own thread for version 3.2 of PicoChess.

I have uploaded new Desktop and Lite images. Dirk has fixed a bug which caused the web board display not to refresh when taking back a move using either a MAME engine or the PGN Replay & Analysis engine. It worked correctly when using a 'normal' engine.

Hint: if you want to slow down the PGN Analysis & Replay engine move time (to give you time to guess the next move, for example), edit the pgn_engine.uci file in the /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/extra folder and change the think_time setting for the game you want. This is also the file where you create entries for games you have added (in PGN format) to the /opt/picochess/engines/pgn_engine/pgn_games folder. Here is the default entry for Saved Game 1:

[SaveGame1]
pgn_game_file = /opt/picochess/games/picochess_game_1.pgn
max_guess= 0
engine_path = /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/a-stockf
think_time = 1

The name in [brackets] is what will be shown on the display after selecting the PGN Replay & Analysis engine. See this post from Dirk for more information on this cool feature.

Here are the links to both images:

Lite (3.8 GB)

Desktop (4.3 GB)

Randy

Dirk

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May 28, 2023, 4:23:36 AM5/28/23
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Thanks Randy,

really enjoying V3.2 - even having the good old retros on my phone while playing, fantastic!

Enjoy!
Dirk
IMG_1385 (1).jpeg

Nacho Ros

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May 28, 2023, 5:05:27 PM5/28/23
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Everything I've tested in this latest 3.2 works perfectly. I've incorporated some older ROMs that look great with the fullscreen artwork. PGN A&R works really well. I can easily add opening books. Setting up positions also runs perfect. I can only say thanks again and again for the great work you guys do.

kingsin...@gmail.com

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May 28, 2023, 6:15:04 PM5/28/23
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I have been trying to download the lite version of this for two days.  It only gets halfway through and then says it failed.  When I go back to try again, it says too many people are trying to download it.  I was really looking forward to trying it out for memorial day. 

Randy Reade

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May 28, 2023, 6:55:19 PM5/28/23
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Not sure what could be the problem. Perhaps you were downloading when I updated the images? Or your internet connection? I've never heard of that issue.

I'm sure you'll have success eventually.

Randy


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TobiasL

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May 29, 2023, 2:30:10 AM5/29/23
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try another browser, sometimes I had trouble downloading files from google drive with Safari. And other people had problems too. When I used chrome it worked fine

kingsin...@gmail.com

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May 29, 2023, 4:45:21 PM5/29/23
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Success!! Thank you!! tried firefox, microsoft edge... and finally got it with chrome.  Ready to play chess now

RandyR

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Jun 20, 2023, 4:52:34 PM6/20/23
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Hi everyone,

I think I have fixed the problem when selecting clockside = right (in System/Display menu). It should now correctly work with Fisher and Game Time modes. Also, for those using a DGT3000 connected to a DGT board with the clock cable, switching clock sides will switch in this case as well (but you would probably need a longer clock cable than is supplied with the DGTPi to be able to reach the right side of a DGT tournament board). I doubt many people use this function anyway.

For those whose setup requires placing the clock/DGTPi on the right side of the board, please test and let me know if you run into problems. Also, if someone using a RevII could test the image(s), that would be great. I don't think they will be affected but cannot test myself.

If you don't have a need for using clockside = right option, nothing else has changed.

Here are the links to both images (I'll also attach the changed files if you want to make the file swap yourselves - they go in the /opt/picochess/dgt folder):


Lite (3.8 GB)

Desktop (4.3 GB)

Randy

pi.py
hw.py

RandyR

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Jul 2, 2023, 6:57:25 PM7/2/23
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Hi Everyone,

I have updated my images to include Stockfish 16 (thanks Al) and an updated translate.py file from Henri which adds additional Dutch translations.

The links are the same:

Peter Eßer

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Jul 4, 2023, 1:49:11 AM7/4/23
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Hello. Downloaded Stockfish 16 DGT PI. Thank you for the work. Question: What does the "Auto" function mean on the Engine Sockfish 16? 

RandyR schrieb am Samstag, 27. Mai 2023 um 20:53:03 UTC+2:

RandyR

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Jul 4, 2023, 10:02:35 AM7/4/23
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Peter, Dirk S explains it here.

Randy

Charles Declercq

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Jul 4, 2023, 10:27:17 AM7/4/23
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Hello everyone. Thanks for the update. One question. What file do I need to modify to use a 1920*1080 screen?
Thanks a lot.

Randy Reade

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Jul 4, 2023, 10:36:20 AM7/4/23
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Hi Charles.

Have a look at the config.txt file in the boot partition on the SD card (or the /boot folder of a running system). Check the Raspberry Pi documentation for which settings to use.


Randy


Pensez à l'environnement ! N'imprimez ce mail que si c'est vraiment nécessaire.

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RandyR

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Jul 5, 2023, 5:31:23 PM7/5/23
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Hi everyone,

I have incorporated box86 and wine into my Desktop image. It is ready to go for RPi4 users who wish to add 32-bit Windows engines to use in PicoChess. There is an example stockfish12.exe file and the required stockfish12 & stockfish12.uci files all located in the /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/windows32 folder. This engine can be enabled by removing all of the semicolons (;) which are currently commenting out the [windows32/stockfish12] entry in the engines.ini file.

If you are using a Raspberry Pi 2, 3, 3+ and Zero 2 W, and Raspberry Pi Compute Modules 3 and 3+ and would like to run wine you will have to make an additional edit in the config.txt file. In that file, at the top, there is an entry to enable a custom kernel. I compiled this today and tested it on my DGTPi which has a Pi3b inside. The custom kernel is necessary since the default kernel (kernel7.img in this case) was built with a 2/2 Gb virtual memory split and wine requires a 3/1 Gb split. The Raspberry Pi 4 and 400, and Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 all use kernel7l.img in a 32-bit environment so the custom kernel is not required/used by them. However, if you try to boot a Pi4 with the kernel entry in config.txt enabled it will probably fail to boot (I didn't try this). In that case you would have to edit config.txt and comment out the 'kernel=' entry. If you have no desire to run windows chess engines (32-bit UCI) the image requires no modifications and will work like before.

Note that it is best to run wine/Windows engines on a Pi4. On my DGTPi things are definitely slower to start (the stockfish12 engine took about 30 sec. to initialize) but I didn't have a monitor attached and probably should have killed the chromium process, among other things. Even on the RPi4 it took about 13 sec. to start the stockfish12 x86 engine. Also, if you update your system, it may install/overwrite the kernel modules and the custom kernel may no longer work (not an issue for Pi4/400 users or if you aren't using the custom kernel). If this happens, comment out the 'kernel=' line as mentioned previously or re-flash.

If you need help getting an engine to work, open a thread on the forum and hopefully someone can help. Since I don't use this capability (I run Windows engines remotely) I probably won't be able to help with the debugging but am willing to make necessary changes to the image if you tell me what you need. Also, if someone more knowledgeable than me knows if I've missed something with the box86/wine install, let me know. Mono and winetricks are also installed.

There is a backup of the old boot folder files located in the boot.bak folder on the rootfs partition if you need them.

The image uses wine-stable-8.0.1 and I followed the instructions here and used the WineHQ .deb files:

https://ptitseb.github.io/box86/COMPILE.html
https://ptitseb.github.io/box86/X86WINE.html

Here is the link (no changes to the Lite image):

Desktop (4.8 GB)

Randy


On Saturday, May 27, 2023 at 1:53:03 PM UTC-5 RandyR wrote:

Luigi Vogliobene

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Jul 6, 2023, 8:59:38 AM7/6/23
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Thank you Randy

Henri

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Jul 6, 2023, 2:19:27 PM7/6/23
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Thanks for the image Randy! Don't want to be a party-pooper again, but in spite that Stockfish 16 is present, the 'old' Stockfish 15.1 text still shows but I can't find it anywhere. I've added a screenshot.
Schermafdruk van 2023-07-06 19-42-24.png

Randy Reade

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Jul 6, 2023, 2:36:43 PM7/6/23
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Ah, there's always something I forget! Thanks, Henri. I'll fix the image(s). In the meantime you can edit the engines.ini and/or favorites.ini file and fix the typo. It should be there.

Randy


On Thu, Jul 6, 2023, 1:19 p.m. Henri <hwspij...@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks for the image Randy! Don't want to be a party-pooper again, but in spite that Stockfish 16 is present, the 'old' Stockfish 15.1 text still shows but I can't find it anywhere. I've added a screenshot.

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RandyR

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Jul 6, 2023, 2:44:21 PM7/6/23
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Ok. Strange. The engine/favorites.ini files look OK (at least in my latest images). I'll have to boot an image and see.

Randy

RandyR

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Jul 6, 2023, 3:11:22 PM7/6/23
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Henri, did you update Stockfish yourself? It looks like you are using an older image - I was using 32-bit in the names for the 64-bit image (and may have used them for a short time on my 32-bit images as well but not any more. I tested my latest images and they are OK.

Randy

On Thursday, July 6, 2023 at 1:19:27 PM UTC-5 Henri wrote:

Henri

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Jul 6, 2023, 3:31:25 PM7/6/23
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Randy, I downloaded the one a couple of messages above. Unpacked it's 11.964.056 bytes and it is timestamped 5-7-2023 22:37. It contains the folders 'windows32' and 'wine' which are new to me. I found the Stockfish 15.1 statements in engine.ini and corrected them, so everything seems te be ok now.

Henri

Op donderdag 6 juli 2023 om 21:11:22 UTC+2 schreef RandyR:

RandyR

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Jul 6, 2023, 4:39:09 PM7/6/23
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That's very strange. The timestamp matches what I have for the image in my folder and also what's inside the archive, which are OK as far as the engine.ini and favorites.ini files are concerned. I wonder if somehow the upload got corrupted or the link is wrong somehow. I'm downloading it now and will have a look.

Randy

RandyR

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Jul 6, 2023, 4:48:38 PM7/6/23
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I just extracted the image and looked at the engine.ini file. Here are the first 2 entries:

[NNUE/StockfishNN]
name = StockfishNN 16
web = Stockfish NNUE 16
small = Stf NN
medium = Stocf NN
large = StockfishNN
elo = 3310
ccrl = 3541
levels = 19 1 core, levels Elo@3087 and Elo@3180 2 cores, level Elo@3190 3 cores
ponder/brain = y
fischer chess960 support = y
comments: Specify NNUE weights file in the <engine>.uci file. No embedded net.

[a-stockf]
name = Stockfish 16
web = Stockfish 16 Classic
small = Stf 16
medium = Stockf16
large = Stockfish16
elo = 3310
ccrl = 3541
levels = 20 1 core, level Elo@3180 2 cores, level Elo@3190 3 cores
ponder/brain = y
fischer chess960 support = y
comments: No embedded net and NNUE off.


It looks correct to me and matches the favorites.ini entries. Don't know what to say.

Randy
On Thursday, July 6, 2023 at 2:31:25 PM UTC-5 Henri wrote:

Henri

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Jul 6, 2023, 4:57:58 PM7/6/23
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Hi Randy,

Man, what a mystery. The only thing i can think of is that another (old) engines.ini file was copied to the mounted image, although I do not have any remembrance of this. Anyhow, I'll burn another copy of the image. If you don't hear me scream again, I guess the 'problem' is solved.

Henri

Op donderdag 6 juli 2023 om 22:48:38 UTC+2 schreef RandyR:

RandyR

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Jul 6, 2023, 5:12:15 PM7/6/23
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Yes, very strange. I wonder if the problem showed up for anyone else who downloaded the image. Here is the link again:


Randy


Marc Hamilton

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Jul 9, 2023, 10:33:51 AM7/9/23
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Randy,
I was wondering how difficult it would be to enable the Windows  version of Komodo 14 since it has been made freely available?

RandyR

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Jul 9, 2023, 12:15:12 PM7/9/23
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Hi Marc,

It looks like the only binaries available are 64-bit so they won't be usable on our 32-bit box86 setup (for the Windows binaries) or Linux armhf (as the Linux binaries are x86-64).

You could always set them up as a remote engine.

Randy

Scally

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Jul 9, 2023, 12:35:03 PM7/9/23
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Hi all,

Yes, I was typing a similar reply but Randy beat me to it.

Attached is a list of my 32 bit and remote engines …


Cheers,

Al
IMG_0542.jpeg

RandyR

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Jul 9, 2023, 12:35:31 PM7/9/23
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It looks like Komodo 12 was the last time they compiled a 32-bit x86 binary.

Randy

lvogl...@gmail.com

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Jul 9, 2023, 12:57:15 PM7/9/23
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Hi Al, Randy, do Hiarcs engine works in a windows32 environment of Picochess ?

Inviato da iPhone

Il giorno 9 lug 2023, alle ore 18:35, Scally <scall...@gmail.com> ha scritto:

Hi all,
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Marc Hamilton

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Jul 9, 2023, 2:04:28 PM7/9/23
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Randy, 
I found a workaround for using the Komodo 14 64 bit engine. I loaded it into the Fat Fritz2 GUI and it interacts with the DGT board. 
Thanks for the feedback... really liking the 3.2 version of Pico... Running it on one 4b in the Web version, and on another 4b for DGT, both booting from thumb drives. 

Marc

Randy Reade

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Jul 9, 2023, 3:29:07 PM7/9/23
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You should also be able to use Arena. That's what I usually use on the PC. It also has a connection to the DGT board.

Randy
Message has been deleted

RandyR

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Jul 13, 2023, 4:17:50 PM7/13/23
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Hi everyone,

I have updated my images incorpoating a fix from Ghislain for the duplicate email bug when completing a game and not resetting the pieces to the starting position before shutting down.


Here are the links to both images:

Lite (3.8 GB)

Desktop (4.8 GB)

Randy
Message has been deleted

Marc Hamilton

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Jul 21, 2023, 9:22:59 AM7/21/23
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Bump the images to the top of the list...

On Tuesday, July 18, 2023 at 8:16:50 PM UTC-7 jn56...@gmail.com wrote:
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NOTE; ONLY SERIOUS / RELIABLE RECEIVERS CAN CONTACT.

DM ME ON WHATSAPP FOR A SERIOUS DEAL.

+447405129573

Randy Reade

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Jul 21, 2023, 9:40:51 AM7/21/23
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Good call, Marc. That was annoying. Another reason to switch to a better forum platform.

Randy

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Kyle Washington

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Jul 30, 2023, 5:22:01 PM7/30/23
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I would be in favor of that! Haven't done Picochess in a while mainly because of kids.. but I also went through a job change which meant paperwork.  The only flat place next to my laptop was right on top of the DGT board, and the pile kept growing...

Fast forward to now, and my 12 year old is finally ready to help this old man learn chess. Got the DGT out from under the pile, along with the touchscreen Pi I assembled, and connected it all.  Got ready to update Picochess and had a hard time finding this thread! Google searches lead to old versions. Anyhow, now I found it, and I'm at work.  Will go home tonight and re-learn how to put images on an SD card and try to do these updates.

While I love notices about any lucrative investment opportunity, it messes up my forum reading on how to edit the .ini files and I am WAY out of practice.  If there is a Picochess for Dummies thread (which I probably posted in before), let me know which one that is and maybe it will minimize the dumb questions from me!

As always, it is so great to find the support and the updates from everyone here.  Primarily my DGT purchase was to try and help me try low-strength engines and tutors to get me on par with my kid. He will really enjoy the stronger options, though. This will be fun.

Kyle

Message has been deleted

RandyR

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Aug 13, 2023, 12:37:16 PM8/13/23
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Hi everyone,

I have updated my images fixing the issue with the Fischer increment not being applied to the player's time when using Web-Play (no e-board) mode. I have also attached the updated picochess.py file to save you from downloading the image(s) again. Just replace the picochess.py file in /opt/picochess.


Here are the links to both images:

Lite (3.8 GB)

Desktop (4.8 GB)

Randy

picochess.py.zip

Henri

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Aug 13, 2023, 2:47:51 PM8/13/23
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Thank you Randy, you do a great and wonderful job in this community :)

Murat

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Aug 14, 2023, 7:42:58 AM8/14/23
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Thank you very much Randy.
Message has been deleted

Chrono Pilot

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Aug 22, 2023, 4:46:10 AM8/22/23
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Hello Randy,

Does the Desktop image work with Rasp4pib with EVICIV Raspb Pi 7" Touch Screen? I tried with 16Gb microsd but it does not seem to boot up. Not sure what I did wrong.

Thanks,
Chrono

Randy Reade

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Aug 22, 2023, 9:36:48 AM8/22/23
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It should work. I think that's the one I have but I can't check until next month. Perhaps someone else can verify it. The Pi should boot regardless. Maybe set up wifi (add your wpa_supplicant.conf file to the boot partition) and try logging in via ssh. Or try a different SD Card or the Lite image.

Randy

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Chrono Pilot

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Aug 22, 2023, 10:43:25 AM8/22/23
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I switched to the Lite image and it boots like a charm. There maybe something not quite right on the Desktop image. Thanks.

Chrono Pilot

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Aug 22, 2023, 12:09:08 PM8/22/23
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Could you please reload the Desktop image at your earliest convenience possible? Many thanks!

On Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 9:36:48 PM UTC+8 RandyR wrote:

Randy Reade

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Aug 22, 2023, 12:13:09 PM8/22/23
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Is anyone else having an issue with the Desktop image not working?

Perhaps it was a bad download. I suggest re-downloading again.

Randy

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Chrono Pilot

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Aug 22, 2023, 12:29:26 PM8/22/23
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I downloaded twice. Flashed twice on different sd and got the same results. Maybe someone who has success can chime in. Thanks.

Randy Reade

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Aug 22, 2023, 1:43:52 PM8/22/23
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OK. I can't check for a couple weeks.

Randy

m371...@gmail.com

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Aug 22, 2023, 2:20:19 PM8/22/23
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I downloaded the desktop  a few minutes ago and verify it does not boot correctly into the WEB play interface.

It will boot to the desktop and then when it loads the Chromium browser it states, 127.0.0.1 is not available.

 

If I click on kiosk.sh it will load the Picochess web play but it’s saying “no e-board” in the status.

 

Mark

 

Sent from Mail for Windows

m371...@gmail.com

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Aug 22, 2023, 2:28:37 PM8/22/23
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Actually, it boots okay once I connect a ethernet cable… however, it still says “no e-board” (i.e., spinning prompt) . Once I used the menu to select “no eboard”  (it was set on DGT) it functions correctly and will boot correctly after that.

 

Sent from Mail for Windows

 

From: Randy Reade
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2023 10:43 AM
To: pico...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: PicoChess v3.2 Images

 

OK. I can't check for a couple weeks.

 

Randy

Randy Reade

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Aug 22, 2023, 3:23:20 PM8/22/23
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Thanks Mark. So it's working normally. If no internet the web browser loads before SAMBA initializes. There is a thread about this on the forum and a solution.

Randy

Randy Reade

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Aug 22, 2023, 5:33:55 PM8/22/23
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Also, on first boot after flashing it is better to wait for PicoChess to start before opening on the board. On subsequent boots it's better to power on the board first. 

See this thread for using PicoChess without an internet connection:


Randy
On Tue, Aug 22, 2023, 11:28 a.m. <m371...@gmail.com> wrote:

Chrono Pilot

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Aug 25, 2023, 8:46:53 PM8/25/23
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Hi Mark,

Do you mind uploading the image that you have too google? I tried again with or without network (with no e-board always), and it just won't boot at all. First time I do see the Rasp pi logo and then second third time it just go black and never came back.

Hi Randy,

Do you still have the previous desktop image before this one that I could try? The Lite image works. Is there a way of installing everything missing on the Lite image and convert it to the full Desktop image. Please share the steps if not too troublesome for you.

Thanks in advance,
Chrono

Randy Reade

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Aug 25, 2023, 9:13:02 PM8/25/23
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I do have the previous images. I won't be able to upload them until early September.

The desktop image is built using the RPiOS Desktop release. Adding a desktop environment to the Lite image is possible but you would have to be good at Linux and find the instructions on the web. You would be better off troubleshooting the Desktop image. It sounds like a video issue (might be fixable editing the config.txt file on the boot partition). I will check the latest image when I get home but it sounds like Mark already did. Also, nobody else has reported any issues.

Randy

m371...@gmail.com

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Aug 25, 2023, 9:15:11 PM8/25/23
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I have Randy’s July 20, 2023 version of the Desktop that does not have the Fischer time fix…

I’ll replace the picochess.py file in this image which will fix the Fischer time issue.

I’ll send you a private message with a link when I get it uploaded.

Should be in about an hour…

 

Marc

 

 

Sent from Mail for Windows

 

Chrono Pilot

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Aug 26, 2023, 3:34:35 AM8/26/23
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Many thanks, Mark. It still fail to boot up.  However, this time after reading Randy's post, I took the config.txt from the Lite image and overwrite it and lo and behold, it boots up! So happy now. Many thanks to both Randy and Mark for helping me troubleshoot and make it work. You guys are awesome!

Marc Hamilton

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Aug 26, 2023, 1:35:36 PM8/26/23
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I'm glad you got it sorted out. I'll have to bring up both config.txt files and look for differences.
Anyway, you inspired me to connect a Raspberry Pi to a 7" touch screen monitor, and I have an new (portable) way of playing Picochess.

Marc

Murat

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Aug 26, 2023, 6:54:36 PM8/26/23
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Hi Marc. This is the monitor and cooler I am using. Pi4B mounted nicely to the back. Makes it very portable.

I had to use long M2.5 screws to mount the cooler properly.

Murat

Marc Hamilton

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Aug 26, 2023, 7:11:43 PM8/26/23
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You put a cooler over your CPU? I had not thought about that. I have a spare that should work. Anyway, I was using a 3b+ and the performance was leggy. I should have a 4b, new 7" monitor and power supply by tomorrow. 
I also ordered a HDMI cable (6" length) that has a mini HDMI on one end. Just in case I can't figure out the HDMI ribbon connection. The one I was trying to connect this morning seemed a bit short in length. Any tips on how to make this connection to the small ribbon connector adjacent the full size HDMI port on the monitor would be appreciated. I know to pull up on the back bar, but the orientation is confusing me.

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Murat

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Aug 26, 2023, 9:58:57 PM8/26/23
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My display came with solid U shape bridge adapters both for hdmi and for USB3 port to power up the screen.
All I needed was to connect power to Pi4.
Here is a picture from the back. The little adapter on the top left is for Logitech keyboard and mouse combo.
One under that is the USB3 bridge which powers the monitor. HDMI bridge is in the top not visible in this picture.
7inch.jpg

Marc Hamilton

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Aug 26, 2023, 10:27:14 PM8/26/23
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I'm not going to get mine that clean looking... Nice setup! 

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Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2023 6:58:56 PM

Chrono Pilot

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Aug 27, 2023, 5:56:22 AM8/27/23
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Hi Guys,

Does the Rasp pi 4b cpu gets overheat and is a good heat sink really necessary? Thanks.

-Chrono

Murat

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Aug 27, 2023, 8:24:22 AM8/27/23
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Hi Chrono,

In most cases at the very least you need heat sinks on SoC, ram and USB controller.
Without some cooling, the Pi4 will overheat and throttle down to 1/3 of its speed to prevent damage.
There are many active and passive cooling solutions and they don't cost much.

A few tips if you want to put the board in a box. 
Closed aluminum boxes will effect your WiFi and Bluetooth in a negative way. If these are important,
go with acrylic/plastic boxes.
If you need access to on board connections make sure the box you are getting has the proper openings.
If you are getting active cooling try to get a 40mm fan with 3 wires. They are quieter and can be replaced
with a higher quality Noctua fan down the road. The third wire lets you chose the temperature for the
fan to come on.
I am using a Frankenstein setup on my second board. Layered acrylic box with open sides. 3 hand shortened
heat sinks and the famous ice cooler fitted in the middle. 40mm fan always on at 3.3volts.
Total overkill and impossible to overheat. But it puts a smile on my face every time I look at it :)
20230827_080658.jpg

Marc Hamilton

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Aug 27, 2023, 10:22:29 AM8/27/23
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Here's the back side of my 7" touch screen. Raspberry Pi 4b 8GB, booting from a thumb drive.20230827_071833.jpg

Marc

Murat

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Aug 27, 2023, 1:48:42 PM8/27/23
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Looks great Marc

Kyle Washington

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Aug 27, 2023, 7:18:34 PM8/27/23
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That does look nice.  For my Rpi 4 boards, I have a Small 4" touchscreen contraption that is really too small to be of value, a 7" touchscreen kiosk, and an metal Argon M2 case which gives easy access to the GPIO pins. These are all nice, but they don't lend themselves to being portable. I haven't been able to play for the last couple of weeks on this, but I think I'm going to take my time tonight and tomorrow to just buckle down and create a portable setup with one of my Pi 3 cases.  I have one of the Pi-branded clear ones with the Raspberry-shaped holes in the top, so I can run my clock cable out of that.  

What I have discovered, is that with my M2 case - it works great via HDMI to a monitor, so I don't need the DGT clock OR a speaker attached.  Instead of trying to force something to redirect sound, I'm just going to make that my normal home setup like Mark does with his YouTube videos.  (OK, maybe not that fancy yet.)  :-)  Then I can create a portable setup with the 3 case, which will use the clock for the menus and not need a monitor.  I've never used the Lite Image, so this gives me a reason to try it.  I have the IP address of that board, so I can load the lite image, SSH into it to set it up, then it ought to boot and work.  I've picked up a lot of Pi stuff reading these forums, so I'm ready to get all of these wires off of my dining room table and find a good solution.

Kyle

Marc Hamilton

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Aug 27, 2023, 8:34:18 PM8/27/23
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7" Monitor - Here's a YouTube video of the Picochess WEB Play environment. 

Kyle Washington

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Aug 27, 2023, 11:53:04 PM8/27/23
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That came up on my YouTube Feed a few minutes ago! I honestly hadn't thought about using the touchscreen to use to PLAY. It was one of those "Ah-ha" moments. I thought the kiosk stand would be easy to use next to the DGT board instead of a monitor, but the touchscreen could be a standalone picochess setup.  That would be cool!  I don't have sound on that one though, and the audio jack from the Pi doesn't auto connect to the kiosk ports.  I'll work on that.

Tonight I have been playing with my 3B and the clear Pi case, and I finally disconnected my homemade Pi cable from my 4 case and re-counted the GPIO pins on the 3b. I was scared that if I moved it, it wouldn't work... and it didn't.  Short version - tried 2 different 3b boards, thought it was my pin placement, and went back to the 4 case. Still didn't work. Thought it was my cable. I connected it exactly like the screenprint of pins from your old red/white Pi case YouTube video said to.  Still didn't work.

As a last resort, I searched back to the phone picture I took of my 4 case... and that's when i remembered that the Red and the White cables on my Audio Cable are reversed from your setup.  Arrgh!  Switched again - Got it.  Then I realized that the AYL speaker needed to be CHARGED first.  Goodness.  But now I have a working Pi 3b with a homemade cable and my DGT 3000. Changing default engines and such should be easy tomorrow.  In a perfect world, I can have a touchscreen standalone setup, a monitor setup for home, and then maybe this 3b to be portable.  Now that I have a working model though, I may lose a few games in the morning first before tinkering more.  

I enjoy your videos! I get good information and good new ideas too.

Kyle

Marc Hamilton

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Aug 28, 2023, 10:09:21 AM8/28/23
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Remember the GPIO connections vary slightly depending on whether you are using a series 3 or series 4 Pi. For the 3 series it's 5, 35 (red); 3, 12 (white) and a ground. For the 4 series, the 35 red cable is place on 23 and the 12 white cable goes to 19. 




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Kyle Washington

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Aug 28, 2023, 10:50:24 AM8/28/23
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Yes - I took a screenshot of the video to make sure I had that part right.  I had even ordered the same audio cable that you recomended... but when I made my cable last year, I used an old  PC audio cable with the green plug... and apparently the red and white cables were reversed in that one.  I knew that way back then, but I didn't write it down. That's why I took a picture before I disassembled my working Pi, thank goodness.  I'll make a new cable soon, but that means solder and crimping.. so I'll get this running and then revisit that another day!

This morning I tried to relaunch the Pi4 running the Desktop version, and it wouldn't boot. Turns out SD cards can get bent... not sure how that happened. So now I'm back on the PC burning a new image.  

Marc Hamilton

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Aug 29, 2023, 11:12:54 AM8/29/23
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20230829_080657.jpg
I put a quarter inch wood ring around the monitor to make it easier to hold and found a stand I can sit it on. I just won a 50 minute long match on lichess playing on it a few minutes ago. Admittedly, it takes some getting use to... 

Kyle Washington

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Aug 29, 2023, 10:54:43 PM8/29/23
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That looks really slick!  I haven't tried to connect to Lichess yet, but that is coming soon.  I set up my kiosk with the touchscreen today, and I showed my 12-year-old how to start it and change engines.  He has beat my Centaur board before, so I showed him how to pick that adaptive engine, and how to bump up the difficulty with the menus.  He played with it, but it won't be 'cool' until it is his idea - and that likely means taking it to his room or showing off to his friends or something. (I don't know his rating, but he's won a small city tournament with his chess class.  He's definitely the best player in our household.)

My DGT board is connected via HDMI to a monitor, and I showed that to my 9-year-old. She has had lessons, and she's known piece names/moves since she was 6, but until we got her on ADHD meds, she didn't want to focus on it. Now she is really interested. She is playing the Rodent Kids engine, and she became completely immersed in it as soon as I showed her.  This is exactly why I got into the picochess ecosystem!

I work overnight this evening, so I'm about to go through the Picochess readme and pull out the moves list (resign, offer draw, etc) to make a cheat sheet for them. I've never bothered to set up the feature to email games, but my son might actually be interested in analyzing his since he does that with some of his online games.  Lichess connection will follow soon!

Your new graphic looks great too.  That's a fun addition.

Kyle

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