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TypeScript for Uncertainty

This is an experimental project to run TypeScript on the Uncertainty Eurorack module using Microsoft's DeviceScript platform.

This repository has a working proof-of-concept you can try. At the time of writing, DeviceScript is still a "technical preview" release. My code probably has bugs too.

Files of interest

  • src/main.ts: firmware entry point
  • boards/uncertainty.board.json: hardware configuration

Local development setup

  • Install Visual Studio Code
  • Install the DeviceScript extension for Visual Studio Code
  • Install Node.js 18+
  • Install dependencies. In this folder, run:
npm install
  • Flash the DeviceScript runtime
    • With Uncertainty unpowered, hold down the boot button and plug into your computer with USB
    • Then run:
npx devicescript flash --board uncertainty

Note: Once the devicescript runtime is flashed, you don't need to hold the boot button when powering on. Just connect with USB and you're good to go.

Running the firmware

  • Open the project folder in Visual Studio Code
code .

  • From the left panel, open the DeviceScript pane

  • Click "Connect Device"

    • A dropdown appears. Select "Serial"
    • Assuming Uncertainty is still connected to the computer via USB and had the DeviceScript runtime flashed onto it, it should appear in a Devices pane (with some cryptic name like "VT28")

  • Open src/main.ts (this script has lots of comments explaining what it does, so take a read through it)

  • In the code editor pane, a play button should appear up top by the file tabs. Click it to build and run the firmware. To the right is a little drop down where you can switch between running with and without the debugger.

  • After making changes to the code, click the run button again. Sometimes it doesn't work and I have to ctrl+C the terminal, and then reconnect to the device. Maybe you're supposed to stop it in one of the side panels first.

Running from the command line / running other firmware files

With Uncertainty connected over USB, you can use a different file as its firmware with:

npx devs devtools --logging --serial src/alt.ts

(devs is short for devicescript)

This probably won't work at first. The DeviceScript plugin for VS Code often automatically connects to the device. You should see two terminals are actually open off to the side. Kill the one called DeviceScript. Then the above command should work in your main terminal.

If you're lucky, saving changes to your firmware file may auto-reload the hardware. Or hit Ctrl+C to detach the logger connection, then rerun to load your latest code changes onto the hardware.

Note, when rerunning this command, it sometimes prints out logs from the previous version of the firmware for a moment. If you look closer, there's build, deploy, and init steps happening, so ignore any logs you see before that.

Also note, if you're logging, sometimes build errors fly by and it attaches the console to the logger from the last successful firmware build. So if it seems like your code changes are not being picked up, that might be why. Try npx devs build on your firmware file to see if there are build errors.

Changing the board config

After editing boards/uncertainty.board.json, you need to re-flash the firmware. See the "Flash the DeviceScript runtime" instructions above (power on into boot mode, run the devicescript flash command).