Cerb40 II & Gadgeteer

NETMF & Gadgeteer
1

I’ve been looking for basic getting started information for the Cerb40 II, but I haven’t gotten very far. I have 2 Cerb40 II’s right out of the anti-static packages and I’m not sure how to start with the Gadgeteer project. I’ve done Gadgeteer with Cerberus, Cerbuino, and Hydra, but I don’t see a mainboard I can add for the Cerb40 II so of course the project throws the no mainboard defined exception. I’m handy enough with a soldering iron and a multi-meter so that won’t be a problem once I get started.

How does one get started with a Gadgeteer program for the Cerb40 II?

2

Cerb40 II is not a Gadgeteer board. Why make it one?

3

The overview of the Cerb40 II is a bit misleading then since it says “…value is added by GHI Electronics to .NET Micro Framework and .NET Gadgeteer.” and “FEZ Cerberus, a .NET Gadgeteer offer, can be use for evaluating the FEZ Cerb40 II System on Module”.

So I assume it needs to just be used as a NETMF device? I used my FEZ Cerberus to evaluate for it and built a Gadgeteer app that I expected to just have to change how things are referenced. My “creation” uses a custom module so I expected to just map pins from the module to pins on the Cerb40 II.

4

@ PintSize.Me - I see what you mean.
FEZ Cerberus and Cerb40 II use same hardware. Using Gadgeteer on Cerberus makes it easier and faster to prototype and evaluate the platform using Gadgeteer modules and libraries.

If solution works on Cerberus prototype, the same can be done using “raw” NETMF on Cerb40 since the hardware is the same.

5

The documentation is under full review and will be fixed ASAP.

6

Thanks Architect. I’m going to have to brush the cobwebs out of that part of my brain. I seem to have a vague recollection of NETMF and a Koala? I’m sure I’ve got some of that old Panda code somewhere.

7

If you really want to use Gadgeteer just create a Cerberus Gadgeteer project and use that.

possibly not all the pins are available but i haven’t looked…

8

I could be wrong but isn’t the main difference with a NETMF project you have to have the Sleep(infinite) in the main?

9

Under the hood there is main in Gadgeteer project that has Sleep(infinite) in it as well. It is just created for you by VS designer.

10

There is another option, much like the G400HDR module Gadgeteer “board”, and that is to create a Cerb40 Gadgeteer board where you create your own pin mapping. Would one of our prodigious module/mainboard men like to create a shell for such a beast ?

The Cerb40 does not expose the same pins or all the pins on Cerberus, so there is a little bit of work you need to do - you need to manage the transition rather than just creating a Cerberus project and deploying to Cerb40.