Category Archives: VoCore

Screen: Firmware CHANGELOG(v0.25)

New features update:

  • support WS2812B DIN via SPI interface.
  • add customized logo support.

This is a test version; both features may still contain bugs.

Download at https://vocore.io/misc/v2scrctl.zip

red pin directly connect to WS2812B data input

The red pin uses SPI to simulate the WS2812B signal, so we does not need additional CH32V003 to generate the waveform. However, this method can be unstable at times, as the SPI bus is also shared with the screen and internal flash. Therefore, this approach is not recommended for high-volume production—but for DIY enthusiasts, it’s a cheap and easy way to drive LEDs.

To use it:

  • Connect the red pin to the WS2812B data input (DIN),
  • Connect 5V to the WS2812B power input,
  • Connect GND to the WS2812B ground.

⚠️ Important: Ensure no CH32V003 is connected to I2CCLK and I2CDAT. If a CH32V003 is present, our firmware will default to sending LED signals over I²C (for backward compatibility), no signal to SPI.

You can test your WS2812B LEDs using the LED button in v2scrctl.exe.

If you prefer not to solder, we also offer a DEMO board to test this new feature—please contact our sales team for details.

📌 Note: In our store, the 6.8 DEMO dashboard still uses the older method (CH32V003 directly driving the WS2812B LEDs), which is more stable and recommended for reliable operation.

Users can now customize the VoCore screen startup logo using mprologo.exe (included in the v2scrctl.zip package, folder v2scrctl).
By default, the firmware logo includes a watermark: “Powered by VoCore”.
If you require a version without the watermark, we can provide a custom firmware build—please contact our sales team for assistance.

4x MPRO Screens + LED DEMO Board

USB3.0 driver board to support 4x MPro screens
Back side with WS2812B LED driver.

SCH and PCB are open source (KiCAD 9), at https://github.com/vonger/multiscr

The sch has tested and works well.

Screen: Firmware CHANGELOG(v0.24)

New firmware version v0.24 now support WCID(Windows Compatible ID), so the screen is no longer require to install WinUSB driver by zadig anymore. For Win10 or Win11, upgrade to the latest firmware, new PC can directly work with the screen, detail list:

  • support WCID.
  • support 4inch square screen.
  • support 7.85inch long screen.
  • update default logo position.
  • optimize extend feature.
  • add LVGL demo firmware.

Also MPro Linux DRM driver support kernel version 6.12, please download at https://github.com/vonger/mpro_drm

Lastest firmware please download at https://vocore.io/misc/v2scrctl.zip

MPro: Multiscreen Solution

CH634F demo board + MPro screens

A stable multiscreen solution is very important for many situations.

MPro driver boards are all using USB2.0 for best compatible, but for more than one screen, USB2.0 HUB is not enough for data transfer and power supply.

This solution is using USB3.0 HUB, its max speed is 5000Mbps, so it should be easy to connect to more than 8pcs screens.

USB3.0 HUB max output current is at least 10W, for our usage, screen only use approx 2W for each, so 4 screen at most 8W.

USBHub chip we can choose CH634F which cost is very low and we have tested it stable enough.

CH634F solution

In June, we will make an open source demo board with at least three screens and also some WS2812B LEDs, hopefully this demo will help a lot for the production develop.

VoCore2: AI Usage – Part 1

The VoCore2 Ultimate has a sound card capable of recording and playing audio, so creating a small device for use with recent open-source AI tools could be a fun project.

  • Sound Play The VoCore2 Ultimate uses the ES8388 sound card, which allows it to directly connect to an external 3.5mm standard speaker.
  • Sound Record The ES8388 also supports audio recording functionality. On the VoCore2 Ultimate, I have already routed a microphone interface to a 3.5mm jack. For higher-quality recordings, you can instead use a USB microphone to achieve better results.
  • AI Server This component cannot run directly on the VoCore due to high memory requirements—even for smaller models—but we can leverage open-source AI APIs like DeepSeek. I will test using the Qwen32B
  • model, which works well on my laptop.

The idea works like this: First, record audio input and send it to a server to convert the sound into text. The text is then forwarded to an AI server for processing, where we wait for its response. Once the reply is received, the text is converted back into an audio file (e.g., WAV format), which is transmitted via Wi-Fi or Ethernet to the VoCore2 device. Finally, the audio is played through a connected speaker.

There’s no difficult part—just a few lines of code should be able to accomplish it. 😊 Maybe I can directly use FFmpeg on the VoCore2, so I won’t need to do most of the coding myself. Additionally, the AI itself will help with coding. Hopefully, I’ll finish this project by the end of this week!


MPro: Screen Extend Functions

After upgrading to v0.23, we are proud to announce an important new feature that enables us to extend MPRO screens for more uses. After many days of rigorous testing, we have now released this feature.

MPRO is based on the ARM core and has approximately 10MB of memory, which is sufficient for most embedded applications. We can easily run LVGL on it. With LVGL (or by directly using MPRO’s extended API), we gain access to several new features:

  • Bluetooth dashboard(use bluetooth to UART adaptor)
  • Fully customized start up logo, with animate supported.
  • Embed setting page in device, can use USB(HID) or UART commuicate with PC.
  • Picture-in-Picture, show another small dashboard into exists one.

Source code public at https://github.com/vonger/mpro-extend

You can directly upgrade your screen with the firmware in bin folder for quick test.

Screen: Firmware CHANGELOG(v0.23)

test compression and partial drawing. source code is partest.c in v2scrctl.zip.

The main upgrade in the new version v0.23 is LZ4 compression. With this compression and partial drawing, we can greatly increase the FPS, making it stable at 60Hz or even higher for high-resolution screens like 10-inch (1024×600). With VoCore and USBIP (VirtualHere), it is also possible to make the screen wireless via WiFi.

New firmware, upgrade tool and sample code, download at https://vocore.io/misc/v2scrctl.zip

PS: end of this month we will make a demo board with 3.4 inch round screen and wireless function.

vocore.io: the site is temporarily offline

🙁 Very bad, vocore.io is offline. I have no idea what is happening; it just won’t turn on (maybe physical damage). Over the past ten years, the server has been offline many times. Sometimes heavy snow crashes the power supply, sometimes floods get into the server room, and sometimes there is a shortage of power supply.

Double hot backup and automatic switching are very important. After the server recovers, I must find a good way to make it more stable. I cannot rely solely on the server provider.

For now, I need to spend several hours recovering the site backup to another server first.

PS: for new order please directly email to sales@vocore.io, our sales will help you handle it directly.