Couple of questions about Neo-monitor mode

[josh77]

Hi all. Currently playing around with Neo-Monitor mode on a Wifi+Cell notecard, using a strip of 5 NeoPixels. I have 2 questions so far that I can’t find answers to in the forum or API:

Question 1
One of the replies from Carl in the forum post below mentions overriding LED colors, which I see mentioned in the documentation for the standard Monitor mode. Can the colors used in Neo-Monitor mode also be overridden, or is this only a behavior of Monitor mode?

External led for the notecard

I’m putting my notecard inside a case, and it’s very difficult to know what is going on (sync, modem status), since I don’t have the visibility of the card led. Is there a way to wire an outside led so I and my customers get a visual feedback?

Question 2
I definitely plan on using Neo-monitor mode, so AUX2 pin will be driving my Neopixel strip. However in regard to the other 3 AUX pins… I don’t need the front panel test button that AUX1 is reserved for in this mode, nor do I need the Neopixel power trigger that AUX3 is programmed for. And I assume AUX4 has no function in Neo-monitor mode since it’s not mentioned in the documentation.

So my question is if any of these three other AUX pins can be tasked for other purposes while using Neo-monitor mode. I haven’t found anything in the documentation suggesting this is possible, however the post below mentions that Neo-Monitor mode is compatible with another AUX mode, DFU mode. This seems to suggest that there is some flexibility in the other AUX pin functions. Can someone please clarify what’s possible?

Can I manually take control of the functions of these other three AUX pins? Or is it simply that certain AUX modes can be enabled simultaneously and this changes the mapped functions of some of the pins?

Outbound Firmware Update & Monitor Mode (for LEDs) at the same time

Hi, I figure that I cannot use outbound host firmware update and monitor mode (to enable external LEDs) at the same time, but would like to verify that here. I had been successfully performing OTA host firmware updates, but after adding monitor mode to my code (and uploading via USB), I get the following error when trying another subsequent OTA host firmware update: DFU of host firmware aborted: cannot update host: outboard DFU using AUX pins requires using a supported card.aux mode such as ‘…

Thanks in advance!

[RobLauer]

Hi @josh77,

Can the colors used in Neo-Monitor mode also be overridden, or is this only a behavior of Monitor mode?

Please see this example app for more info on overriding an individual NeoPixel color. However, this just lets you control one NeoPixel in a strip that is unused, it doesn’t override the colors used in neo-monitor mode.

So my question is if any of these three other AUX pins can be tasked for other purposes while using Neo-monitor mode.

Not simultaneously, no. You could, however, program in different card.aux requests depending on what functions you want to perform. Like you could start with neo-monitor and then switch to gpio temporarily, and then back to neo-monitor mode in firmware.

Thanks,
Rob

[josh77]

Thanks Rob, appreciate the info.