Utility Apps

The TBD-16 ships with several utility Apps on the SD card. These are not musical instruments – they are tools for development, maintenance, and testing.

Debug Probe

SD card file

tbd-apps/dbg_prb.uf2

What it does

Turns the RP2350 into a CMSIS-DAP debug probe

The TBD-16’s UI board has an STM32F030R8T6 microcontroller that handles I2C communication with the buttons and encoders. The Debug Probe App turns the RP2350 into a debug adapter so you can flash and debug the STM32 without additional hardware.

USB Mass Storage

SD card file

tbd-apps/tusb_msc.uf2

What it does

Exposes the RP2350’s SD card as a USB drive on your computer

Boot into this App and the SD card appears as a removable drive. You can:

  • Copy new .uf2 Apps to the tbd-apps/ folder

  • Back up or restore presets and samples

  • Update the boot menu (BOOT2350.uf2)

No need to remove the SD card from the device.

UI Test

SD card file

tbd-apps/ui_test.uf2

What it does

Hardware test that exercises the OLED display, RGB LEDs, potentiometers, buttons, and SD card

Useful for verifying that all hardware components are working correctly after assembly or if you suspect a hardware issue.

Game

SD card file

tbd-apps/game.uf2

What it does

A small game that demonstrates the RP2350 can run standalone applications beyond audio firmware

A fun proof of concept. It shows that the TBD-16’s App system is not limited to music – any RP2350 firmware can run on the device.