[HN Gopher] Show HN: Slime OS - An open-source app launcher for ...
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       Show HN: Slime OS - An open-source app launcher for RP2040 based
       devices
        
       Hey all - this is the software part of my cyberdeck, called the
       Slimedeck Zero.  The Slimedeck Zero is based around this somewhat
       esoteric device called the PicoVision which is a super cool RP2040
       (Raspberry Pi Pico) based device. It outputs relatively high-res
       video over HDMI while still being super fast to boot with low power
       consumption.  The PicoVision actually uses two RP2040 - one as a
       CPU and one as a GPU. This gives the CPU plenty of cycles to run
       bigger apps (and a heavy python stack) and lets the GPU handle some
       of the rendering and the complex timing HDMI requires. You can do
       this same thing on a single RP2040, but we get a lot of extra
       headroom with this double setup.  The other unique thing about the
       PicoVision is it has a physical double-buffer - two PSRAM chips
       which you manually swap between the CPU and GPU. This removes any
       possibility of screen tearing since you always know the buffer your
       CPU is writing to is not being used to generate the on-screen
       image.  For my cyberdeck, I took a PicoVision, hacked a QWERTY
       keyboard from a smart TV remote, added an expansion port, and
       hooked it all up to a big 5" 800x480 screen (interlaced up from
       400x240 internal resolution).  I did a whole Slimedeck Zero build
       video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnwPmoWMGqk ) over on my
       channel but I really hope Slime OS can have a life of it's own and
       fit onto multiple form-factors with an ecosystem of apps.  I've
       tried to make it easy and fun to write apps for. There's still a
       lot broken / missing / tbd but it's enough of a base that,
       personally, it already sparks that "programming is fun again" vibe
       so hopefully some other folks can enjoy it!  Right now it only runs
       on the PicoVision but there's no reason it couldn't run on RP2350s
       or other hardware - but for now I'm more interested in adding more
       input types (we're limited to the i2c TV remote keyboard I hacked
       together) and fleshing out the internal APIs so they're stable
       enough to make apps for it!
        
       Author : abeisgreat
       Score  : 133 points
       Date   : 2025-02-21 20:22 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | wayvey wrote:
       | I just watched the authors video on the cyberdeck they made.
       | Impressive project!
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/rnwPmoWMGqk?si=pD3z4mPFuYq61ROq
        
       | westurner wrote:
       | Multiple buffering;
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_buffering
       | 
       | Wikipedia has "page flipping" but not "physical double-buffer"?
       | TIL about triple buffering, and quad buffering for stereoscopic
       | applications.
        
       | rambambram wrote:
       | I watched your video earlier today and I want to thank your for
       | the inspiring project and the funny presentation!
        
       | mouse_ wrote:
       | Love it!!!
        
       | tym0 wrote:
       | Reminds me of Mirage OS for TI Calculators.
       | 
       | I watched the build video and I was completely sucked in, fun
       | project and great presentation.
        
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       (page generated 2025-02-22 23:01 UTC)