Hacking [Tutorial] Printing Spla2n Posts with an Arduino/Teensy Board!

[Dizz_SA]

i think i managed to make the hex for my Uno R3 using 'make uno'. i flashed it to my board after putting it into DFU mode and plugged it into the switch's USB-C port, but nothing is happening. is it supposed to show up as a controller on the PC? something's wrong and im not sure what.

 

[Phosphatide]

Finally managed to get the printer working, but it looks like the print also ends up with misaligned rows like others have reported. Any suggestions on how to stop this from happening? It seems like it's definitely due to the controller stalling and dropping inputs for a period of time, and it's not fully consistent on when it occurs.

 

[Ghawblin]

I'm very familiar with linux and programming (cybersecurity engineer by trade), however have never used arduino's before and decided this should be my first project with them. I'm going to use this with Splatoon 3.

No issues generating a .hex with my image, however, I need someone to noob speak to me on the arduino.

I have an Arduino Uno R3 (ATmega328P) which to my understanding contains the ATmega16U2 USB chip? Regardless, I can't seem to figure out how to upload a .hex to it. I've tried a couple, including flip and "arduino builder". It seems to work (in that it doesn't error out and upload) but nothing happens when plugged into the switch, and I'm not even sure if I uploaded it correctly.

I'll cashapp anyone cappuccino fare if they can help me figure this one out lol.


EDIT: Seems my issue is that flip drivers don't support x64 machines. Guess I'll need to try it the linux way.

EDIT2: ugh. Tried the linux way. sudo apt-get install dfu-programmer doesn't work so I manually downloaded the package online. Went to manually install it, and the dependencies it needs are literally too obsolete to work on Ubuntu 22 (so says the terminal). What an annoying issue to run into

EDIT3: Alright. Setup a virtual box with a 32bit linux install, and was able to flash the hex to my arduino no problem. Plugged it into my switch and it moved the cursor to the top left corner, changed the brush to medium, and that was it lol. At least now my issue is compiling the hex and not the arduino.

EDIT4: Got it working! Ended up just compiling everything on linux and it worked swimmingly *pun intended*. Gonna go buy myself a cappuccino now lol.

EDIT5: Seems a line or two will get shifted over a few pixels. Not a huge deal, pretty simple to hand fix, but I wonder what causes that.

 

[EvilBakura]

Hello everyone
A friend of mine gave me his old Teensy ++ 2.0 board so i decided to try this
But, every guide i followed, including the one in this thread, did not work
tried different threads too, different githubs, even virtual machines with ubuntu but nothing ( i am on Windows 10 Home )
Always ended up with errors no matter how many times i tried or started over

The only guide that worked for me is this one:

 https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Use-a-Teensy-to-Print-Pictures-on-Splatoon-/

Followed step x step and it worked 100% for Splatoon 2

So if you have a teensy and are having problems try to start from 0 using that guide

If i try this method on Splatoon 3 however, it works, but the drawing is completely messed up

it draws only the top right side of the picture and it looks like it always skips a line of pixels

I saw on different githubs in the issues comments that a solution is :

" You can workaround it for now by removing the -DZIG_ZAG_PRINTING in makefile and replacing "SWITCH_MINUS" with "SWITCH_LCLICK" in Joystick.c "

However inside the makefile and Joystick.c from the guide i used i can't find those lines, must be totally different

So anyone knows what to change for the instructables guide to work in Splatoon 3?
Thanks in advance

 

[ChuChuey]

Finally managed to get the printer working, but it looks like the print also ends up with misaligned rows like others have reported. Any suggestions on how to stop this from happening? It seems like it's definitely due to the controller stalling and dropping inputs for a period of time, and it's not fully consistent on when it occurs.

View attachment 329691

Its really annoying, I like making pixel perfect art and it botches it up pretty bad the more detail it has, wondering if its a timing issue, can we slow down the script some how?

 

[Ghawblin]

Its really annoying, I like making pixel perfect art and it botches it up pretty bad the more detail it has, wondering if its a timing issue, can we slow down the script some how?

Probably just a sleep command lol.

_delay_ms(250);

Something like that would make it sleep for a quarter second.

Here's the code for the actual drawing process

    if (state != SYNC_CONTROLLER && state != SYNC_POSITION)
        if (pgm_read_byte(&(image_data[(xpos / 8) + (ypos * 40)])) & 1 << (xpos % 8))
            ReportData->Button |= SWITCH_A;

Plain text my guess is

"If the state of the program is not synching the controller or synching position, then
if you read the PNG and find black pixels at (math for position), then
press A"

That math looks wonky and I'm trying to figure out why we're diving the cursor X position by 8 and multiplying the Y position by 40. I bet the issue isn't timing, but that math. The latter part of that statement is checking if the X position (divided by 8) is greater than 1. Considering that the first pixel of the image (top right corner) is (0,0), I bet the code can't handle zero values and is having to add one (1,1 being the starting pixel; 121,321 being the last) and I bet it's wonkyness surrounding that.

Could stick a delay after it presses A just to see if the issue goes away, if not, I need someone to explain to me this math. Is the raw data the program uses in a different resolution than Splatoon's 120x320 canvas?

 

[EvilBakura]

Hello

I found a new method for Splatoon 3 and it works 100%

However you need a different board, a Raspberry Pi Pico
i got one from amazon ( but the guide says you can use any other RP2040 board )

This is the github with the new method:

https://github.com/aveao/splork

The tutorial is based on Linux which i don't have, i have windows, so i used VMware-player + a Xubuntu -22.04.1 iso file and
no problem

I used this image:

Spoiler

Resized it with Gimp to 320 x 120 and converted in only black and white pixels
Exported as a png then followed the tutorial

the final file i got was called splork.uf2 and i simply copied it inside the pi pico

I wanted to try this in docked mode, while using the joycons
since drawing with these boards in portable consumes the battery pretty fast

I went to the drawing screen in splatoon 3, selected the smallest pen and put the cursor at the top left

then i pressed the sync button on the joycons in order to make the sync controller screen appear, connected the pi pico to the usb on the side of the dock and it got recognized

Then i pressed the button on the pi pico board and it started drawing
Took like 25 minutes and this is the result:

Spoiler

I'm gonna try more images later but it seems this method doesn't suffer from the misaligned rows problem like the old method, for now at least

 

[Phosphatide]

As a follow-up note, the misaligned printing is definitely widespread, and seems to be caused by something in the game dropping the controller inputs while the printer is still ticking away. According to some users, the printer worked fine up until the release of version update 1.1.1, and people are keeping an eye out on whether it eventually gets fixed. On the plus side, this has nothing to do with the printer itself possibly malfunctioning; it's just the game. One of the Issues posts in the github page for the code discusses it.

On the topic of trying to fight it with adding delays, I would still recommend sticking a line of "_delay_ms(10)" or so right after the line that determines whether to draw a dot or not. I noticed that sometimes the movement speed desyncs with the dot drawing, so you get extra spots depending on how your connected device is feeling. The minor delay ensures that the timing of the print is more accurate (aside of the game itself dropping inputs anyway).

 

[strawberrypyro]

Hello

I found a new method for Splatoon 3 and it works 100%

However you need a different board, a Raspberry Pi Pico
i got one from amazon ( but the guide says you can use any other RP2040 board )

This is the github with the new method:

aveao/splork

The tutorial is based on Linux which i don't have, i have windows, so i used VMware-player + a Xubuntu -22.04.1 iso file and
no problem

I used this image:

Resized it with Gimp to 320 x 120 and converted in only black and white pixels
Exported as a png then followed the tutorial

the final file i got was called splork.uf2 and i simply copied it inside the pi pico

I wanted to try this in docked mode, while using the joycons
since drawing with these boards in portable consumes the battery pretty fast

I went to the drawing screen in splatoon 3, selected the smallest pen and put the cursor at the top left

then i pressed the sync button on the joycons in order to make the sync controller screen appear, connected the pi pico to the usb on the side of the dock and it got recognized

Then i pressed the button on the pi pico board and it started drawing
Took like 25 minutes and this is the result:

I'm gonna try more images later but it seems this method doesn't suffer from the misaligned rows problem like the old method, for now at least

I've never used VMware-player or Xubuntu so this is probably gonna go over my head but the Pi Pico seems easier to come by than a teensy right now, so I'll give it a whirl! I'm also running windows as well.

 

[EvilBakura]

I've never used VMware-player or Xubuntu so this is probably gonna go over my head but the Pi Pico seems easier to come by than a teensy right now, so I'll give it a whirl! I'm also running windows as well.

For me it was not immediate what you had to do to and already have to make this to work, had to figure some things out since i never used ubuntu/xubuntu or linux etc, and im used to step x step guides without too many hassles

so i am going to write exactly what i did from 0 and hopefully it helps:

Spoiler

I tried with VirtualBox first, which seems to be a more popular virtual machine, and i could not make it work

With VMware it worked

I got this version:

https://customerconnect.vmware.com/...up=WKST-PLAYER-1624&productId=1039&rPId=91446

As for Xubuntu i got it from here:

https://xubuntu.org/download/

the 22.04 version


Once xubuntu is installed ( make sure to give it enough disc space and ram usage, otherwise it will be super slow and laggy )

the first step is to go install and update what you need to run those commands in the tutorial

First of all if when xubuntu is installed it says there is a new version available let it download and update it

Then open the terminal, from the top left icon it opens the menu and you can find it there, it is a black icon that looks and works very similar to windows command prompt

and type, one line at a time:

apt update
apt upgrade

close the terminal then open it again and type

apt install sudo

close the terminal then open it again and type

sudo apt-get update -qy
sudo apt-get upgrade -qy

Then i went here:

https://datasheets.raspberrypi.com/pico/getting-started-with-pico.pdf

Followied the points:

2.1. Get the SDK
and
2.2. Install the Toolchain

always by typing in the Terminal, just copy and paste the lines inside those grey boxes, one at a time

Using Xubuntu web browser i choosed the image i wanted to use and went here

https://www.iloveimg.com/resize-image

resizing it to 320 x 120

then i opened the resized image with GIMP, which is already installed inside Xubuntu

You have to click at the top on Image>Mode>Indexed.

In the new window that opens click "Use black and white (1-bit) palette." If the image is not black and white already, change the drop-down menu next to color dithering to "Floyd-Steinberg (normal)" Once done, click convert.

Lastly Click File>Export As...

give it an easy name, like IMAGEX.png so it is easier to type later

I downloaded splork from github and extracted it on the xubuntu desktop

i opened the folder splork-main > imageconverter

then i right clicked and choosed to open a terminal there and then typed

pip3 install -Ur requirements.txt

In this passage, it might say you can't to it because you don't have python / pyp3 installed, but it will also tell how to get it so follow what it says

then once done retry with the

pip3 install -Ur requirements.txt

Take the IMAGEX.png file you created earlier and put it inside the imageconverter folder

then right click and open terminal there again and type

python3 instructionconverter.py IMAGEX.png

a new file will be created called drawing.h

take that file and bring it inside the splork-main > rp2040src folder

Choose to open a terminal there and type, one line at a time:

mkdir build

cd build


The next line you have to change a bit by typing the username you choose:


export PICO_SDK_PATH=/home/THE USERNAME YOU CHOOSE WHEN YOU INSTALLED XUBUNTU/pico/pico-sdk


So in my case it was

export PICO_SDK_PATH=/home/franky/pico/pico-sdk

then:

cmake ..

make

Once done a new folder will be inside the rp2040src folder, called build

You have to open the build folder and if everything went correctly inside there you will have a file called splork.uf2

That is the file that needs to go inside the Raspberry pi pico

I was not able to connect the raspberry to the virtual machine, and for some reason not even able to transfer files from real machine to virtual, so what i did was, while inside xubuntu:

Open internet browser and go here:

https://easyupload.io/

uploaded the splork.uf2 file there and once done i copied the download link to my real windows browser and downloaded it there

Then while holding down BOOTSEL button on the Raspberry pi pico, plug it onto your computer

the board will be recognized as a normal usb stick, so just copy the splork.uf2 inside there and that's it

I went to the drawing screen in splatoon 3, selected the smallest pen and put the cursor at the top left

then i pressed the sync button on the joycons in order to make the sync controller screen appear, connected the pi pico to the usb on the side of the dock and it got recognized

Then i pressed the button on the pi pico board and it started drawing

 

[strawberrypyro]

For me it was not immediate what you had to do to and already have to make this to work, had to figure some things out since i never used ubuntu/xubuntu or linux etc, and im used to step x step guides without too many hassles

so i am going to write exactly what i did from 0 and hopefully it helps:

Spoiler

I tried with VirtualBox first, which seems to be a more popular virtual machine, and i could not make it work

With VMware it worked

I got this version:


As for Xubuntu i got it from here:


the 22.04 version


Once xubuntu is installed ( make sure to give it enough disc space and ram usage, otherwise it will be super slow and laggy )

the first step is to go install and update what you need to run those commands in the tutorial

First of all if when xubuntu is installed it says there is a new version available let it download and update it

Then open the terminal, from the top left icon it opens the menu and you can find it there, it is a black icon that looks and works very similar to windows command prompt

and type, one line at a time:

apt update
apt upgrade

close the terminal then open it again and type

apt install sudo

close the terminal then open it again and type

sudo apt-get update -qy
sudo apt-get upgrade -qy

Then i went here:


Followied the points:

2.1. Get the SDK
and
2.2. Install the Toolchain

always by typing in the Terminal, just copy and paste the lines inside those grey boxes, one at a time

Using Xubuntu web browser i choosed the image i wanted to use and went here



resizing it to 320 x 120

then i opened the resized image with GIMP, which is already installed inside Xubuntu

You have to click at the top on Image>Mode>Indexed.

In the new window that opens click "Use black and white (1-bit) palette." If the image is not black and white already, change the drop-down menu next to color dithering to "Floyd-Steinberg (normal)" Once done, click convert.

Lastly Click File>Export As...

give it an easy name, like IMAGEX.png so it is easier to type later

I downloaded splork from github and extracted it on the xubuntu desktop

i opened the folder splork-main > imageconverter

then i right clicked and choosed to open a terminal there and then typed

pip3 install -Ur requirements.txt

In this passage, it might say you can't to it because you don't have python / pyp3 installed, but it will also tell how to get it so follow what it says

then once done retry with the

pip3 install -Ur requirements.txt

Take the IMAGEX.png file you created earlier and put it inside the imageconverter folder

then right click and open terminal there again and type

python3 instructionconverter.py IMAGEX.png

a new file will be created called drawing.h

take that file and bring it inside the splork-main > rp2040src folder

Choose to open a terminal there and type, one line at a time:

mkdir build

cd build


The next line you have to change a bit by typing the username you choose:


export PICO_SDK_PATH=/home/THE USERNAME YOU CHOOSE WHEN YOU INSTALLED XUBUNTU/pico/pico-sdk


So in my case it was

export PICO_SDK_PATH=/home/franky/pico/pico-sdk

then:

cmake ..

make

Once done a new folder will be inside the rp2040src folder, called build

You have to open the build folder and if everything went correctly inside there you will have a file called splork.uf2

That is the file that needs to go inside the Raspberry pi pico

I was not able to connect the raspberry to the virtual machine, and for some reason not even able to transfer files from real machine to virtual, so what i did was, while inside xubuntu:

Open internet browser and go here:


uploaded the splork.uf2 file there and once done i copied the download link to my real windows browser and downloaded it there

Then while holding down BOOTSEL button on the Raspberry pi pico, plug it onto your computer

the board will be recognized as a normal usb stick, so just copy the splork.uf2 inside there and that's it

I went to the drawing screen in splatoon 3, selected the smallest pen and put the cursor at the top left

then i pressed the sync button on the joycons in order to make the sync controller screen appear, connected the pi pico to the usb on the side of the dock and it got recognized

Then i pressed the button on the pi pico board and it started drawing

TYSM for such a detailed reply!! I'm verrry close to getting it I think. Literally the last terminal I have to open but for some reason keeps saying my directory doesn't contain CMakeLists.txt even though I'm looking right at it. When I switch things around I get
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:8 (include): include could not find load file:
pico_sdk_init.cmake
So I'll have to look at my folders with fresh eyes

 

[EvilBakura]

TYSM for such a detailed reply!! I'm verrry close to getting it I think. Literally the last terminal I have to open but for some reason keeps saying my directory doesn't contain CMakeLists.txt even though I'm looking right at it. When I switch things around I get
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:8 (include): include could not find load file:
pico_sdk_init.cmake
So I'll have to look at my folders with fresh eyes

That's strange
I'll look into my folders later and I'll let you know

 

[strawberrypyro]

That's strange
I'll look into my folders later and I'll let you know

Thanks! I fumbled around with it and ended up getting farther than last but when I do the 'make' command it says no makefile found. The build files are written in the rp2040src folder, not the build one for some reason. So I thought maybe to open the terminal in the rp2040src but then the make file gives me a long list of errors.

Not sure if you can assist any more than what you have but, maybe the pictures add some context?

 

[EvilBakura]

TYSM for such a detailed reply!! I'm verrry close to getting it I think. Literally the last terminal I have to open but for some reason keeps saying my directory doesn't contain CMakeLists.txt even though I'm looking right at it. When I switch things around I get
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:8 (include): include could not find load file:
pico_sdk_init.cmake
So I'll have to look at my folders with fresh eyes

Ok i think i know why that happens

Based on your screenshot i see you have the pico folder on your desktop

it should not be there, put it inside the home folder

like mine:

Then try again

 

[strawberrypyro]

Ok i think i know why that happens

Based on your screenshot i see you have the pico folder on your desktop

it should not be there, put it inside the home folder

like mine:

View attachment 334440

Then try again

Is Splork also in your home folder?

 

[EvilBakura]

Is Splork also in your home folder?

No, my splork-main is on the desktop, i have everything like this:

Spoiler

(ignore the 3 folders at the bottom those are for something else)

 

[strawberrypyro]

No, my splork-main is on the desktop, i have everything like this:

(ignore the 3 folders at the bottom those are for something else)

Thanks! I fumbled around with it and ended up getting farther than last but when I do the 'make' command it says no makefile found. The build files are written in the rp2040src folder, not the build one for some reason. So I thought maybe to open the terminal in the rp2040src but then the make file gives me a long list of errors.

Not sure if you can assist any more than what you have but, maybe the pictures add some context?

The folders are in the right spots, but the above quote with images is where I'm stuck at now

 

[EvilBakura]

The folders are in the right spots, but the above quote with images is where I'm stuck at now

So you are able to create the drawing.h file but can't make the splork file right?

Try to delete the build folder from your rp2040src folder, so you can start again and it does not make like a conflict, i delete that folder too everytime i make a new image

So, when you put the drawing.h file inside the rp2040src folder, then you right click inside that folder and choose to open a terminal there, this is what you write corret?

mkdir build

cd build

export PICO_SDK_PATH=/home/marina/pico/pico-sdk

cmake ..

make

 

[strawberrypyro]

So you are able to create the drawing.h file but can't make the splork file right?

Try to delete the build folder from your rp2040src folder, so you can start again and it does not make like a conflict, i delete that folder too everytime i make a new image

So, when you put the drawing.h file inside the rp2040src folder, then you right click inside that folder and choose to open a terminal there, this is what you write corret?

mkdir build

cd build

export PICO_SDK_PATH=/home/marina/pico/pico-sdk

cmake ..

make

Nope! I have the drawing.h file, but after I've done

mkdir build

cd build

export PICO_SDK_PATH=/home/marina/pico/pico-sdk

cmake ..

I can't do the final 'make' to get the splork.uf2
Says:

marina@ubuntu:~/Desktop/splork-main/rp2040src/build$ make
make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found.  Stop.

 

[EvilBakura]

Nope! I have the drawing.h file, but after I've done

mkdir build

cd build

export PICO_SDK_PATH=/home/marina/pico/pico-sdk

cmake ..

I can't do the final 'make' to get the splork.uf2
Says:

marina@ubuntu:~/Desktop/splork-main/rp2040src/build$ make
make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found.  Stop.

I see, well that's strange i never had that error and i do the same passages

I don't know if it will help, but deleting everything and starting from zero? Maybe one installation went wrong?

Anyway, do you have a hacked switch with atmosphere?

Because if you do, there is another method to draw now, this:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/shiverbot-splatoon-3-memory-editor-using-sys-botbase.620129/

That program connects directly to your switch, you put the PNG in the program and it draws for you

If you use it only for drawing it's safe, just don't edit other stuff like money or abilities, people are getting console banned ( myself included lol )