RP2040 Internet access

#1

Hi,

I have a Radxa X4 12Gb on the way and am looking forward to tinkering with the GPIO and RP2040 which I’ve never used before. One project I’m thinking of requires the RP2040 to pull a JSON file from a web server - I’m just wondering how I can give it access to the internet? I’ll be running under Windows.

Another fun project I had in mind to help my learning process was to hook up a Pimoroni Blinkt and play with the LEDs - just unsure if it will be compatible? I expect the Blinkt code provided by Pimoroni will not work, but what about using other APA102 LED code?

Here are the GPIO pins for the Radxa:

Here are the GPIO pins for the Blinkt:

I realise this discussion might be outside the scope of this forum, but welcome any pointers from those ‘in the know’ that might help me get started. Thanks!

#2

You might want to look for a more mainstream spi\i2c Ethernet module to connect to the gpio and find a way to drive this module on the rp2040. Or write a serial communication software that forwards network requests from the rp2040 through the intel cpu.

#3

Thanks, I’ve gone the route of writing code that will grab the JSON on the Windows side and pass it to the RP2040. I think this is probably the simplest solution. As for the Blinkt, I’m hopeful Adafruit’s Dotstar CircuitPython code can be adapted - if not there are a couple of other approaches to try. Going to play about with using the LEDs to show CPU load and temperature, just as a fun project to get started :nerd_face:

#4

The x86 CPU can retrieve the JSON and pass it over to RP2040. The communication between the RP2040 and the Intel chip can be done through serial interface. There isn’t a newt to connect the RP2040 to the Internet if the x86 Intel CPU is already connected to the Internet.

Some basic info here: https://dphacks.com/2024/08/18/radxa-x4-the-sbc-everyone-has-been-asking-for/

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#5

Hey Andre! Great to see you on here, I was really pleased to see your reply. I’ve recently discovered your videos and have found them really helpful and enjoyable - thank you! I’m at a point in life where I finally have some proper time to tinker again. I have the Radxa on the way and have also purchased some Raspberry Pi models (Zero 2W, 3A+ and 5) to play about with. It has been great fun and is bringing back happy memories of childhood with a Commodore 64! Thanks also for the link, that’s really helpful - I’ll probably go the route of either a python or Powershell script to pass the necessary data to the RP2040.

#6

That’s awesome!

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