Trackpads made in 2025 can't connect via SPI

[ramensum]

I just received 3 sizes of Cirque trackpads from Mouser (TM035035-2024-003, TM040040-2024-302, and TM023023-2024-002). When trying to run any of the CircuitPython examples, I receive the error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 35, in <module>
  File "/lib/circuitpython_cirque_pinnacle.py", line 956, in __init__
  File "/lib/circuitpython_cirque_pinnacle.py", line 185, in __init__
RuntimeError: Cirque Pinnacle ASIC not responding

Adding print(f"{firmware_id=:02X} {firmware_ver=:02X}") before

CircuitPython_Cirque_Pinnacle/circuitpython_cirque_pinnacle.py

Lines 183 to 184 in f7d8217

	if firmware_id != 7 or firmware_ver != 0x3A:
	raise RuntimeError("Cirque Pinnacle ASIC not responding")

shows:
firmware_id=0E firmware_ver=75

Is it possible to update the library to work with newer Cirque firmware?

[2bndy5]

It is possible to add supported values for this. But I'm more concerned with hardware support. Did they change the registers too? I need to look at the latest version of the Pinnacle datasheet (should have a list of updates).

In the mean time you can change it to

        if firmware_id not in (0x07, 0x0E) or firmware_ver not in (0x3A, 0x75):
            raise RuntimeError("Cirque Pinnacle ASIC not responding")

please report back

Please let me know if further operations are successful or erroneous. I don't have any newer trackpads to test with. Running all the examples should suffice for hardware tests.

[2bndy5]

Cirque changed the IC that drives their circular trackpads

It seems that Cirque is no longer using the Pinnacle (1CA027) IC on their circular trackpads. I don't know exactly when this hardware change happened. Once I find out, I'll update the package description/documentation.

The dev kit's page now notes that they are using a Gen6s "Timp" IC. According to the Cirque IC resource page,

• the Pinnacle (supported by this library) is a Gen2/Gen3 IC.
• Gen4 IC was only used for rectangular trackpads (not supported by this lib).
• the Gen6 IC is not the same as the Gen2/Gen3 ICs.

I'm having trouble finding a documented table of registers for the Gen6 IC. This seems to be typical for Cirque 😞. I had to ask questions on the Cirque Support forums to understand some of the undocumented aspects of the Gen2/Gen3 IC (for this lib).

Important

Looking at Cirque's example code for the newer dev kit, this library will not support the new Gen6 IC. Such a task would better served by a completely different library (which as far as I know does not exist).

Caution

I see the data sheets uploaded to mouser for these products has not changed since November 2017.

[ramensum]

Thank you for digging into it. I've reached out to Cirque requesting any documentation they might have for the trackpads currently for sale at Mouser.

Cirque does have Arduino code available for the Gen6 ICs on their github at https://github.com/cirque-corp/Cirque_Gen6. Would it help your efforts at all for me to set up a trackpad with an MCU running one of their examples and record any sort of output? (asking in case that'd be simpler than purely perusing the source)

[2bndy5]

Would it help your efforts at all for me to set up a trackpad with an MCU running one of their examples and record any sort of output? (asking in case that'd be simpler than purely perusing the source)

No. That would be like developing a complete library via proxy. I appreciate the sentiment though. Furthermore, that example code only uses I2C (from what I saw), and your trackpads are pre-configured to use SPI by default.

FWIW, I initially developed this library based on the old Cirque example code (found at https://github.com/cirque-corp/Cirque_Pinnacle_1CA027).

[2bndy5]

@ramensum Can you send a picture of the chip? It would help others to identify if this library can be used for the trackpad(s) they have. For example, I know this library works with The Pinnacle IC which looks like this:

[ramensum]

Sure. Here are some pics of the TM035035 I ordered with a curved overlay, pre-configured for SPI.
It looks like the chip is still a 1CA027, but the line below it reads 25A7FTTB2.

[2bndy5]

It looks like the chip is still a 1CA027, but the line below it reads 25A7FTTB2.

That is good news! 🎉 It means we can safely explore using this library for them 🤞🏼

The line below it is info related to the manufacturer (date and batch number).

I'm more inclined, now, to have you try my initial suggestion.

[ramensum]

What part of that would you like for me to try?

[2bndy5]

See if the [library] examples work first.

[ramensum]

(Bringing things back here per your other message)

Changing the library code to:

        if firmware_id not in (0x07, 0x0E) or firmware_ver not in (0x3A, 0x75):
            raise RuntimeError("Cirque Pinnacle ASIC not responding")

On lines 183-184 in circuitpython_cirque_pinnacles.py makes it so that the RuntimeError doesn't appear, but there is no further output. I've tried both the relative and usb mouse examples.

[2bndy5]

Just to be clear, the examples expect you to touch/drag your finger on the trackpad.

The USB mouse should not have any data printed out (other than the user prompts), rather you should see the computer's mouse move (as you touch the trackpad) because it turns the MCU board into a USB mouse device.

Any data output in the relative example is entirely dependent on the pin connected to the trackpad's DataReady (DR) pin:

CircuitPython_Cirque_Pinnacle/examples/cirque_pinnacle_relative_mode.py

Lines 52 to 54 in f7d8217

	while trackpad.available(): # is there new data?
	trackpad.read(data)
	print(data)

[ramensum]

Correct, I looked for movement from the USB mouse example, and terminal output through Thonny while running the relative example.