Go even faster by using hardware SPI

[simon3270]

Hi fangfuf. Nice code - certainly faster and neater than the original!

If you really want a boost, though, you need to use hardware SPI. Enable SPI in raspi-config ("sudo raspi-config", then enable SPI in the "Interface options" page), separate the tree from the Pi, then use breadboard wires (male-to-female) to connect the 4 wires you need:

• Pin 2 on the tree to pins 2 or 4 on the Pi (5volts)
• Pin 6 on the tree to pin6 6 on the Pi (Ground)
• Pin 22 (GPIO25) on the tree to pin 23 (GPIO11) on the Pi (SPI Clock)
• Pin 32 (GPIO12) on the tree to pin 19 (GPIO10) on the Pi (MOSI)

Update tree.py line 35 and remove the "mosi_pin=12, clock_pin=25" to leave just

super(FastRGBChristmasTree, self).__init__()

Now watch the LEDs fly!

Still not quite sure why they picked non-standard, and slow, pins for SPI.

[fangfufu]

Oh wow, thanks! I suppose one can just mod the board itself.

But yes, I certainly feel their design did not go through proper review process, much like their driver code - there definitely was no code review.