I ordered a 4B and can’t wait to try it out on my Hypno.
Presently, the 2 usb’s on my Pi 4 are taken up by a MicroLab and a flash drive with imagery. I’d also like to be able to simultaneously connect a c920 and usb midi from somewhere. I tried this usb hub but it didn’t work so 4B it is.
Here’s to hoping the 4B doesn’t muck up the Hypno 
I got the new Pi 4B hooked up to my Hypno and it’s running!
If you decide to swap Pi’s for a 4B you should know the Pi4 has an update switch but the 4B does not.
This was a source of confusion for a bit. I couldn’t make anything happen with the new Pi 4B connected to the Hypno so I decided to just use my Mac to do a clean Pi OS install on a microSD card. I found out that this let’s you easily setup network & ethernet boot preferences so everything is as you like each time you power up.
Next I Installed the Hypno firmware on the microSD card using Balena Etcher. Then I took the microSD out of my MacBook and slid it into the card slot on the 4B and connected the 4B to the Hypno (press gently and evenly until the 40 pin connector is completely seated). Put the Hypno into whatever you’re using for a case and connect peripherals (graphics disk, controllers, etc.) => before powering up.
On first power up, help mode activated and deactivated immediately and continued to work throughout a few hours of knob twisting. File browsing seems more controlled. I have full access to all my previously saved presets with the MicroLab.
Doesn’t see my c920. When scrolling folders the first thing that comes after root is Smart TV/TN and then Smart TV, but no camera signal.
Otherwise pretty puffed about not screwing this up. TBF, there was no soldering.
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edit: I rebooted the Hypno with the c920 connected to one of the usb A 2.0 ports and the MicroLab to the other one. The only other cable connection was to usb C (on the Pi) for power. The camera shows up on boot but it disappears as soon as I plug in the graphics stick. Is this normal?
Also, what does the usb C on the Hypno do now that the usb C on the Pi is providing power?
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Yet another edit:
I like the fact that the Pi 4B uses the microSD card rather than internal storage for OS and Hypno firmware. This makes for easier updates and keeps you from screwing up a system that was running fine before a botched update attempt. You can always slide the previously working microSD back into the Pi to get things going again.
Now what to do with the old Pi 4 (prob keep it as a spare)?
or better yet, can I just hook the old Pi4 to my MacBook and flash new Pi OS + Hypno firmware? Maybe this would clear up some of the little issues I was having before? I don’t want to screw up the old Pi4.
I’m starting to grok Pi.
pi, pi, pi, pi, pi, pi, pi
To explain some of the “Pi4/Pi4B” confusion:
What you are looking at, with the version with the update switch that you call the “Pi4”, is a “Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4” (the smaller green board). Sometimes abbreviated to “CM4”. The update switch is on the expansion board (the larger blue board underneath).
The CM4 is basically a Raspberry Pi 4, but with all the inputs and outputs missing. It’s mostly designed for “embedded projects” (like the Hypno) as it requires a separate board to expose any inputs and outputs like USB ports, ethernet port, HDMI port. It also has no microSD-card slot, but it does have on-board memory as you note. This is eMMC and has some advantages over microSD cards, but of course you can’t just swap a card and reboot to change what’s running on it.
The Sleepy Circuits YouTube video pinned to the top of the Firmware page in the DOCS section of the website goes over how to tell which version of the Raspberry Pi your Hypno is, in addition to running through the different firmware update process.
On whether you can flash Pi OS + Hypno firmware:
When you use Balena etcher, you are basically overwriting the contents of the card with a new “image”. So you don’t need the Pi OS stage if then flashing Hypno.
Hypno only works with the top board attached afaik, so if I were in your position I’d probably update the firmware on the CM4 version if you have been having issues, and keep the new Pi and use it for something else.
Pi ideas (which I have tried and can recommend):
If you wanted to have fun with music software on it, I’d probably get a Teensy 4.1 board which is pretty cheap, and get the free Dirtywave M8 Tracker “headless” version running on it. There’s a far bit of audio/MIDI software available for the Pi these days, and a fair amount of it is free.
If you wanted a companion to your Hypno, you could look at Andrei Jay’s VIDEO WAAAVES / VSERPI stuff. Free video synth/processing stuff, but without the level of interface that Hypno has. I find they can work very well together though, even running one through the other using a cheap capture card.
Hope some of that helps.
Pi Pi Pi Pi Pi (Pi5)
