# Introduction and problems with plasma2040 **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [September 20, 2025, 4:52am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/introduction-and-problems-with-plasma2040/28346 "2025-09-20T04:52:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nick100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Nick100](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/Nick100)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 4:52am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/introduction-and-problems-with-plasma2040/28346/1 "2025-09-20T04:52:05Z")
Hi All,My name is Nick ,and I’m from Australia. I am a bit of a tinkerer, and sometimes it’s harder than expected. I recently purchased a plasma2040 and I’ve discovered that the coding is a fair bit different to micropython on a Pi Pico. I have seen the web pages and the code for random blinkies,rainbow and rotary and I have them all working . My aim is to blend code that is working on a Pico to run smoothly on a plasma or extend plasma code to be more versatile and useful for my purposes. For instance I want to convert the random blinkies code to have many more colours and for them to only change when I push switch B for instance or possibly when I turn the rotary encoder…….random blinkies code ```auto # This super simple example sets up two alternating colours, great for festive lights! import plasma from plasma import plasma2040 import time # Set how many LEDs you have NUM_LEDS = 1 # Pick two hues from the colour wheel (from 0-360°, try https://www.cssscript.com/demo/hsv-hsl-color-wheel-picker-reinvented/ ) HUE_1 = 0 HUE_2 = 127 HUE_3 = 250 # Set up brightness (between 0 and 1) BRIGHTNESS = 0.5 # Set up speed (wait time between colour changes, in seconds) SPEED = 1 # Pick *one* LED type by uncommenting the relevant line below: # APA102 / DotStar™ LEDs # led_strip = plasma.APA102(NUM_LEDS, 0, 0, plasma2040.DAT, plasma2040.CLK) # WS2812 / NeoPixel™ LEDs led_strip = plasma.WS2812(NUM_LEDS, 0, 0, plasma2040.DAT) # Start updating the LED strip led_strip.start() while True: for i in range(NUM_LEDS): # the if statements below use a modulo operation to identify the even and odd numbered LEDs if (i % 2) == 0: led_strip.set_hsv(i, HUE_1 / 360, 1.0, BRIGHTNESS) else: led_strip.set_hsv(i, HUE_2 / 360, 1.0, BRIGHTNESS) # else: # led_strip.set_hsv(i, HUE_3 / 360, 1.0, BRIGHTNESS) time.sleep(SPEED) for i in range(NUM_LEDS): if (i % 2) == 0: led_strip.set_hsv(i, HUE_2 / 360, 1.0, BRIGHTNESS) else: led_strip.set_hsv(i, HUE_1 / 360, 1.0, BRIGHTNESS) # else: # led_strip.set_hsv(i, HUE_2 / 360, 1.0, BRIGHTNESS) time.sleep(SPEED) ``` The code that I will show below works well on a Pico and I have attempted to convert it for plasma use but it ain’t that easy. It is called Rotating code. I made various changes (which are not here) and it just ends up in a mess ```auto from machine import Pin import neopixel import time # NeoPixel configuration PIXEL_PIN = 28 # Replace with your actual data pin NUM_PIXELS = 7 # Replace with your number of pixels np = neopixel.NeoPixel(Pin(PIXEL_PIN), NUM_PIXELS) # Button configuration BUTTON_PIN = 12 # Replace with your actual button pin button = Pin(BUTTON_PIN, Pin.IN, Pin.PULL_UP) current_mode = 0 num_modes = 7 # Adjust based on your number of animation functions last_button_state = True # True for unpressed (pull-up) last_debounce_time = 0 DEBOUNCE_DELAY = 50 # milliseconds def animation_mode_0(): # Example: Solid Red for i in range(NUM_PIXELS): np[i] = (255, 0, 0) np.write() def animation_mode_1(): # Example: Solid Blue for i in range(NUM_PIXELS): np[i] = (0, 0, 255) np.write() def animation_mode_2(): # Example: Rainbow cycle (simplified, needs more logic for smooth animation) for i in range(NUM_PIXELS): np[i] = (0, 255, 0) # Green for simplicity np.write() def animation_mode_3(): # Example: Rainbow cycle (simplified, needs more logic for smooth animation) for i in range(NUM_PIXELS): np[i] = (0, 255, 250) # Green for simplicity np.write() def animation_mode_4(): # Example: Rainbow cycle (simplified, needs more logic for smooth animation) for i in range(NUM_PIXELS): np[i] = (250, 55, 0) # Orange for simplicity np.write() def animation_mode_5(): np.fill((250, 20, 0)) # ORANGE np.write() time.sleep(0.2) np.fill((0, 0, 0)) # OFF np.write() time.sleep(0.4) np.fill((0, 200, 0)) # GREEN np.write() time.sleep(0.2) np.fill((0, 0, 0)) # OFF np.write() time.sleep(0.4) np.fill((0, 0, 200)) # BLUE np.write() time.sleep(0.2) np.fill((0, 0, 0)) # OFF np.write() time.sleep(0.4) # Blinking # (Implement blinking logic here) pass np.write() time.sleep(0.2) # Example: Rainbow cycle (simplified, needs more logic for smooth animation) #for i in range(NUM_PIXELS): #np[i] = (250, 55, 0) # Orange for simplicity #np.write() def animation_mode_6(): # Example: Solid Red for i in range(NUM_PIXELS): np[i] = (155, 150, 150) np.write() animations = [animation_mode_0, animation_mode_1, animation_mode_2, animation_mode_3, animation_mode_4,animation_mode_5,animation_mode_6] while True: # Button polling and debouncing current_button_state = button.value() if current_button_state == False and last_button_state == True: # Button pressed if (time.ticks_ms() - last_debounce_time) > DEBOUNCE_DELAY: current_mode = (current_mode + 1) % num_modes last_debounce_time = time.ticks_ms() last_button_state = current_button_state # Execute current animation mode animations[current_mode]() # Short delay to prevent busy-waiting too intensely, adjust as needed time.sleep_ms(10) ``` At the moment I am using 1 4watt neopixel led on the plasma as it will be for home made light painting equipment any assistance greatly appreciated Cheers Nick ---
**Author:** ![bablokb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@bablokb](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/bablokb)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 6:58am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/introduction-and-problems-with-plasma2040/28346/2 "2025-09-20T06:58:21Z")
You don’t need the plasma-stuff to run the plasma2040. It is just a Pico with less pins and some hardware that supports level-shifting for the neopixels. Just use your code that is working on the Pico and replace the `PIXEL_PIN` and `NUM_PIXELS`. For the plasma, use `PIXEL_PIN=15`. ---
**Author:** ![Nick100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Nick100](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/Nick100)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 8:31am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/introduction-and-problems-with-plasma2040/28346/3 "2025-09-20T08:31:55Z")
Hi bablokb, Thanks for getting back to me.I looked up yesterday what pin neopixels are connected to. It said GPIO15 which is Pin 18 as I read the schematic, which means that switch B is on Pin16 and swA on Pin15 but neither pin is responding to a push and the colour sequence is grb for some strange reason on the plasma The first pixel in the sequence lights up but its green instead of red cheers Nick ---
**Author:** ![bablokb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@bablokb](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/bablokb)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 9:16am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/introduction-and-problems-with-plasma2040/28346/4 "2025-09-20T09:16:37Z")
Don’t use physical pin numbers, use GPIO numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Nick100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Nick100](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/Nick100)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 11:52am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/introduction-and-problems-with-plasma2040/28346/5 "2025-09-20T11:52:29Z")
Thankyou ,I will keep playing around