2.2.0 Release Candidate 2

Happy New Year! We're almost ready for a 2.2 release of CircuitPython. Here's 2.2.0-rc.2, the next candidate release. Thank you if you can test it.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in our new Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

All builds except ESP8266 are available as both UF2 and bin files here along with test builds.

Changes since 2.2.0-rc1

• audiobusio.PDMIn: (Microphone support.) Fix error in digital filter loop, which was generating quite inaccurate sample values. Fix crashes caused by buffers of certain sizes.
• Fix Arduino bootloader support so that a 1200 baud reset will be noticed and Arduino IDE will be able to upload.
• Intermittent power (e.g., bobbling the battery connector) could cause CircuitPython to think that the CIRCUITPY filesystem was damaged and erase it. Now, it waits two seconds before erasing, and doublechecks just before erasing to see if filesystem still appears to be damaged.
• Update CPX frozen libraries to their latest versions (including tap support on LIS3DH). Include library version info (__version__). Don't include example directories.
• Fix readthedocs documentation build.

Changes since 2.1.0

• Frozen modules in the Circuit Playground Express builds are updated to their latest releases.
• round() was always returning `0'. Fixed to return correct value.
• CircuitPython now writes out version information to boot_out.txt, before boot.py runs when you hard-reset the board or plug it in.
• audiobusio.PDMIn: MEMS microphone support is improved. (There is a MEMS microphone on the Circuit Playground Express.) We fixed several bugs that could cause hard crashes. The minimum and default sampling frequency is now 16 kHz (16000). The microphone is clocked all the time to avoid having to wait for it to start up, which can take up to 0.1 seconds. When you first create a PDMIn object, CircuitPython waits for startup_delay seconds (default 0.11 seconds) so that the first data from the microphone will be useful. The digital filter used to convert microphone data into PCM data is now much faster. Thanks @ladyada!
• busio.SPI now has an additional operation SPI.write_readinto() which does bidirectional input/output. Certain SPI devices need this.
• AnalogIn.value is now much faster. It now uses the native 12-bit ADC resolution instead of doing 16-bit via oversampling. Range is still 0-65535. Also uses a faster clock rate.
• microcontroller.on_next_reset(): Change the behavior of what happens when the reset button is pressed: whether a normal reboot occurs, whether to go into safe mode, or whether to go directly to the bootloader. See microcontroller.RunMode.
• Add missing Feather M0 Adalogger pin names and correct documentation. Thanks @stewmystre!
• Enable framebuf module in ESP8266 port. Thanks @jerryneedell!
• Add support for future products. Thanks @ladyada!
• Add _stage module, to support the CircuitPython Stage game library. Thanks @deshipu!
• Gracefully reset gamepad module after soft reset. Thanks @deshipu!
• Update USB PID for Feather M0 Express.
• Allow zero-length reads and writes for busio.SPI. busio.I2C still disallows empty reads. Thanks @deshipu!
• Add board definition for the uGame handheld console. Thanks @deshipu!
• Add board definition for Feather M0 Express with larger SPI flash chip. Thanks @dastels!
• Document resetting CIRCUITPY using flash erase programs and .uf2's.

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Here are all the changes since 2.1.0.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.2. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or discord:
@mrmcwethy, @stewmystre, @deshipu, @jerryneedell, @dastels, @kattni, @ladyada, @tannewt, @dhalbert, @tdicola, Andon, NorthernPike, willingc, brad, Kurt H, hukuzatuna, Janisku7, cater, onebeartoe, JohnPark, Teevo, process1183, siddacious, Cruadeium, adafruit, microwattbott, cyrborg5, Factory Factory, jramsdale, Pedro, pcurryinahurry, adamwolf, Olanskyl, HappyDay, Raiden, TechGuy12, dobra-dobra, MattBoston, donalus, cartere, Azure Skies, CGrover, ntoll, petroochio, donalus, mpalemuse, BravoDelta, ogredrew, cascade, Darragh, BWingZero, histo, TG-Techie, ericwertz, Jack, Dao20, fede2, oldcrow, waldo, ryespy, nis, chalkers, Skr0d, Billy, Dad, Instinctive, ATMakers, Cat, sommersoft, Coldreactor, BillOwens, tastemakerchuck, CrimsonKringle, Al Bee, vj pussycat, Daikojun, rocketcoder, Ringo, and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

2.2.0 Release Candidate 1

We're almost ready for a 2.2 release of CircuitPython. Thank you if you can test this release candidate!

Changes since 2.1.0

• Frozen modules in the Circuit Playground Express builds are updated to their latest releases.
• round() was always returning `0'. Fixed to return correct value.
• CircuitPython now writes out version information to boot_out.txt, before boot.py runs when you hard-reset the board or plug it in.
• audiobusio.PDMIn: MEMS microphone support is improved. (There is a MEMS microphone on the Circuit Playground Express.) We fixed several bugs that could cause hard crashes. The minimum and default sampling frequency is now 16 kHz (16000). The microphone is clocked all the time to avoid having to wait for it to start up, which can take up to 0.1 seconds. When you first create a PDMIn object, CircuitPython waits for startup_delay seconds (default 0.11 seconds) so that the first data from the microphone will be useful. The digital filter used to convert microphone data into PCM data is now much faster. Thanks @ladyada!
• busio.SPI now has an additional operation SPI.write_readinto() which does bidirectional input/output. Certain SPI devices need this.
• AnalogIn.value is now much faster. It now uses the native 12-bit ADC resolution instead of doing 16-bit via oversampling. Range is still 0-65535. Also uses a faster clock rate.
• microcontroller.on_next_reset(): Change the behavior of what happens when the reset button is pressed: whether a normal reboot occurs, whether to go into safe mode, or whether to go directly to the bootloader. See microcontroller.RunMode.
• Add missing Feather M0 Adalogger pin names and correct documentation. Thanks @stewmystre!
• Enable framebuf module in ESP8266 port. Thanks @jerryneedell!
• Add support for future products. Thanks @ladyada!
• Add _stage module, to support the CircuitPython Stage game library. Thanks @deshipu!
• Gracefully reset gamepad module after soft reset. Thanks @deshipu!
• Update USB PID for Feather M0 Express.
• Allow zero-length reads and writes for busio.SPI. busio.I2C still disallows empty reads. Thanks @deshipu!
• Add board definition for the uGame handheld console. Thanks @deshipu!
• Add board definition for Feather M0 Express with larger SPI flash chip. Thanks @dastels!
• Document resetting CIRCUITPY using flash erase programs and .uf2's.

Documentation

Documentation is available here.

Here are all the changes since 2.1.0.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.2. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or discord:
@mrmcwethy, @stewmystre, @deshipu, @jerryneedell, @dastels, @kattni, @ladyada, @tannewt, @dhalbert, @tdicola, Andon, NorthernPike, willingc, brad, Kurt H, hukuzatuna, Janisku7, cater, onebeartoe, JohnPark, Teevo, process1183, siddacious, Cruadeium, adafruit, microwattbott, cyrborg5, Factory Factory, jramsdale, Pedro, pcurryinahurry, adamwolf, Olanskyl, HappyDay, Raiden, TechGuy12, dobra-dobra, MattBoston, donalus, cartere, Azure Skies, CGrover, ntoll, petroochio, donalus, mpalemuse, BravoDelta, ogredrew, cascade, Darragh, BWingZero, histo, TG-Techie, ericwertz, Jack, Dao20, fede2, oldcrow, waldo, ryespy, nis, chalkers, Skr0d, Billy, Dad, Instinctive, ATMakers, Cat, sommersoft, Coldreactor, BillOwens, tastemakerchuck, CrimsonKringle, Al Bee, vj pussycat, Daikojun, rocketcoder, Ringo, and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Installation

Have a Feather M0 Express, Metro M0 Express, Gemma M0, Trinket M0 or Circuit Playground Express? Download a .uf2 and follow these instructions. To install our libraries:

• For Express boards, simply download the bundle for your release and copy the lib folder onto your CIRCUITPY drive. New bundle release are created whenever the included libraries are updated.
• For Gemma M0 and Trinket M0, the library bundle is too large. These are the 2.0.0 libraries and files that are shipped with the boards: Gemma M0 files; Trinket M0 files. You will probably want to update the library .mpy files with the ones from the latest bundle.

To install on legacy boards, download a .bin file and follow the guide here for M0 and here for ESP8266. All builds except ESP8266 are available as both UF2 and bin files here along with test builds.

2.1.0

We're pleased to bring you CircuitPython 2.1.0, with many new features and many bugfixes. Notably, Trinket M0 and Gemma M0 now include pulseio (PWM) support.

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or discord: @asherlie, @kattni , @caternuson, @KurticusMaximus (Kurt H), @jerryneedell, Sigafoos, @fabitencourt, @hukuzatuna, scruffynerf, Janisku7, ogredrew, @mrmcwethy, NorthernPike, cascade, @ntoll, CGrover, Pyrrhis Productions, TitiMoby, dastels, jramsdale, @tdicola, brad, Surrend, microwattbott, Becky Button, @dglaude, ATMakers, Instinctive, histo, Wolf, siddacious, @deshipu, caitlinsdad, smartRF, HappyDay, @deanm1278, @jedgarpark, Noe, Andon, adafruit, @ladyada, @tannewt, @dhalbert, dobra-dobra, Factory Factory, Mr. Certainly, and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Notable New Features

• All boards, including Trinket M0, Gemma M0, and Feather M0 Basic, now support pulseio, which provides PWM and other other pulse based input/output.
• The touch/no-touch threshold computation for TouchIn pins has been adjusted to be more sensitive. Added .raw_value and .threshold value access. Thanks to @ladyada for finding and testing.
• ESP8266: Updated built-in neopixel support and library to match M0 boards. Thanks @jerryneedell.
• The Circuit Playground Express release now includes several libraries built into the firmware. This saves considerable RAM when they are imported. To enable, remove the library .mpy files from your sys.path (e.g., from your lib/ directory). To override, put a newer version on your sys.path. The modules included are:
  • NeoPixel
  • adafruit_thermistor
  • adafruit_lis3dh (accelerometer)
  • adafruit_bus_device (base library for many drivers)
• New gamepad module scans pins for debounced button presses regularly in the background. Thanks to @deshipu.
• Added names for analog pins on Trinket M0. Update by @jerryneedell.
• M0 boards: Turned on higher current drive capability for DigitalOut pins.
• Status NeoPixel or DotStar brightness is now adjustable (#246). Thanks to @asherlie.
• Switched to using a smaller version of the math library to make room for other features. Complex number support is also turned off on non-Express boards to make room.
• Support added for hacked Trinket M0 with added SPI flash (Trinket M0 Haxpress). Thanks to @deshipu.

Notable Bugfixes

• Pin A0 is no longer available as a TouchIn pin on Circuit Playground Express. It is unreliable because it is also connected to the on-board speaker
• All ...io objects (AnalogIn, DigitalInOut, etc.) now raise an exception if you try to reuse them after they are deinitialized (deinit()). Previously, reuse might cause crashes. Thanks to @tdicola for uncovering.
• Reset PDIMIn pins after deinit(). Thanks @tdicola for finding this problem.
• ESP8266: Fixed problems with SPI.
• Reinitialize the ADC before every use. Thanks @ladyada for reporting erratic ADC results.
• If CircuitPython restarts in safe mode, it does not attempt to re-create the SPI or internal flash filesystem if it appears to be damaged or missing. @tdicola noticed that this may occur when a battery runs down.

Known Issues

• If you use the gamepad module and then do a soft-reset, CircuitPython will crash. This will be fixed in the next release.

Documentation

Documentation is available here.

Here are all the changes since 2.0.0.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.2. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Installation

Have a Feather M0 Express, Metro M0 Express, Gemma M0, Trinket M0 or Circuit Playground Express? Download a .uf2 and follow these instructions. To install our libraries:

• For Express boards, simply download the bundle for your release and copy the lib folder onto your CIRCUITPY drive. A new 2.1.0 bundle will be available shortly, with updated and additional libraries. The current 2.0.0 bundle is completely compatible with CircuitPython 2.1.0.
• For Gemma M0 and Trinket M0, the library bundle is too large. Download a smaller set of 2.0.0 libraries and files that are shipped with the boards: Gemma M0 files; Trinket M0 files.

To install on legacy boards, download a .bin file and follow the guide here for M0 and here for ESP8266. All builds except ESP8266 are available as both UF2 and bin files here along with test builds.

2.0.0 - Storage

2.0.0 is here! 2.0.0 updates CircuitPython to a MicroPython 1.9.2 foundation that we built awesome data storage related functionality on. Now you can write files to the file system and, on some boards, write raw bytes to a non-volatile section of memory.

Thank you to all CircuitPython and MicroPython contributors. Second, thank you to all who tested and found issues with 2.0.0 betas: @ladyada, @ntoll, @deshipu, @willingc, @jerryneedell, @KurticusMaximus, @kattni, @cledic, @diogoviannaaraujo, @cpunches, @eighthree, @joeynelson, @mrmcwethy, @fabitencourt, @hukuzatuna. From discord: scruffynerf, Sigafoos. Please keep up the awesome testing! Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Here are the changes since 1.0.0:

• Update to MicroPython 1.9.2 which supports mounting multiple file systems at once.
• Introduce a storage module to facilitate mounting and unmounting file systems.
• atmel-samd: Increase heap size from 16k to 20k. This means more code can be loaded. Thanks @dhalbert!
• Introduce a nvm.ByteArray to provide limited byte storage even when the file system is read-only.
• Explicitly load frozen modules from the .frozen python path instead of the empty path implicitly.
• Documentation improvements thanks to @willingc, @KurticusMaximus, @mrmcwethy and @dhalbert .
• atmel-samd: microcontroller.cpu.temperature support added.
• atmel-samd: Introduce audiobusio.PDMIn for recording sound to memory from a PDM microphone such as the one on the CircuitPlayground Express.
• atmel-samd: CircuitPlayground Express. NeoPixel library is now frozen in.

Moving from 1.0.0 to 2.0.0 is not a perfect process. There are a few things that break when doing so.

• mpy files compatible with 1.0.0 are NOT compatible with 2.0.0 because MicroPython changed the format. A 2.0.0 bundle is available here. (Its built by changing the branch of circuitpython in the bundle repo before building it.)
• uos is replaced by os, storage and multiterminal
• urandom is replaced by random

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.2. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Have a Feather M0 Express, Metro M0 Express, Gemma M0, Trinket M0 or Circuit Playground Express? Download a .uf2 and follow these instructions. To install our libraries:

• For Express boards, simply download the bundle for your release and copy the lib folder onto your CIRCUITPY drive.
• For Gemma M0 and Trinket M0, the library bundle is too large. Download a smaller set of 2.0.0 libraries and files that are shipped with the boards: Gemma M0 files; Trinket M0 files.

To install on legacy boards, download a .bin file and follow the guide here for M0 and here for ESP8266.

2.0.0 Release Candidate 2

2.0.0 is getting close to ready! We had a number of people who tested and found issues with RC1: @ladyada, @ntoll, @deshipu, @willingc, @jerryneedell, @KurticusMaximus, @kattni. Please keep up the awesome testing! Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

DO NOT use this release if all you want to do is try CircuitPython. 1.0.0 is much better for playing around.

Here are the changes since Release Candidate 1:

• Add the machine module back to the ESP8266 build. This fixes WebREPL. (Thanks @jerryneedell and @KurticusMaximus for finding this.)
• Add support for 8-bit audio recording with audiobusio. Thanks @ntoll for testing audiobusio.
• Documentation improvements thanks to @willingc, @KurticusMaximus and @dhalbert .
• .frozen in sys.path can now be overridden by new files on the file system.
• Reliability improvements around CTRL-C thanks to @dhalbert and @ladyada.

Moving from 1.0.0 to 2.0.0 is not a perfect process. There are a few things that break when doing so.

• mpy files compatible with 1.0.0 are NOT compatible with 2.0.0 because MicroPython changed the format. A 2.0.0 bundle is available here. (Its built by changing the branch of circuitpython in the bundle repo before building it.)
• uos is replaced by os, storage and multiterminal
• urandom is replaced by random

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.2. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Have a Feather M0 Express, Metro M0 Express, Gemma M0, Trinket M0 or Circuit Playground Express? Download a .uf2 and follow these instructions. To install our libraries simply download the bundle for your release and copy the lib folder onto your CIRCUITPY drive.

To install on legacy boards, download a .bin file and follow the guide here for M0 and here for ESP8266.

2.0.0 Release Candidate 1

2.0.0 is getting close to ready! We just need folks to test all of their projects with this new code and report back if they find bugs. Thanks to those who found bugs and those who contributed code.

DO NOT use this release if all you want to do is try CircuitPython. 1.0.0 is much better for playing around.

Here are the changes since Beta 1:

• Update to MicroPython 1.9.2.
• Introduce a nvm.ByteArray to provide limited byte storage even when the file system is read-only.
• Explicitly load frozen modules from the .frozen python path instead of the empty path implicitly.
• digitalio.DigitalInOut now errors on extra arguments thanks to @deshipu for finding the issue.
• atmel-samd: microcontroller.cpu.temperature support added.
• atmel-samd: CircuitPlayground Express. NeoPixel library is now frozen in.
• atmel-samd: Fix PulseIn.resume. Thanks @asherlie and @brentru for finding the issue.
• atmel-samd: Fix PB07 pin ADC mapping. Thanks to @cledic for reporting the issue.
• atmel-samd: Trinket M0 now has named SPI pins at @deshipu's request.
• esp8266: Fixed file system issues.

Moving from 1.0.0 to 2.0.0 is not a perfect process. There are a few things that break when doing so.

• mpy files compatible with 1.0.0 are NOT compatible with 2.0.0 because MicroPython changed the format. A 2.0.0 bundle is available here. (Its built by changing the branch of circuitpython in the bundle repo before building it.)
• uos is replaced by os, storage and multiterminal
• urandom is replaced by random

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.2. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Have a Feather M0 Express, Metro M0 Express, Gemma M0, Trinket M0 or Circuit Playground Express? Download a .uf2 and follow these instructions. To install our libraries simply download the bundle for your release and copy the lib folder onto your CIRCUITPY drive.

To install on legacy boards, download a .bin file and follow the guide here for M0 and here for ESP8266.

2.0.0 Beta 1 - Storage & SD Cards Oh My!

Woohoo! After our first stable release with 1.0.0 we're back to breaking things while we improve them. DO NOT use this release if all you want to do is try CircuitPython. 1.0.0 is much better for playing around.

However, 2.0.0 is shaping up to have some awesome new features. Here is a short list:

• Update to MicroPython 1.9.1 which supports mounting multiple file systems at once.
• Introduce a storage module to facilitate mounting and unmounting file systems.
• Replace uos with os which is a subset of CPython's os
• Replace urandom with random which is a subset of CPython's random
• Increase heap size from 16k to 20k. This means more code can be loaded. Thanks @dhalbert!
• atmel-samd: Introduce audiobusio.PDMIn for recording sound to memory from a PDM microphone such as the one on the CircuitPlayground Express.

Moving from 1.0.0 to 2.0.0 is not a perfect process. There are a few things that break when doing so.

• mpy files compatible with 1.0.0 are NOT compatible with 2.0.0 because MicroPython changed the format. A beta bundle is available here. (Its built by changing the branch of circuitpython in the bundle repo before building it.)
• uos is replaced by os, storage and multiterminal
• urandom is replaced by random

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.1. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Exhaustive change list since 1.0.0.

Have a Feather M0 Express, Metro M0 Express, Gemma M0, Trinket M0 or Circuit Playground Express? Download a .uf2 and follow these instructions. To install our libraries simply download this beta bundle and copy the lib folder onto your CIRCUITPY drive.

To install on legacy boards, download a .bin file and follow the guide here for M0 and here for ESP8266.

1.0.0!

This is the first stable release of CircuitPython! That means we believe everything works well and that the APIs are largely fixed. This release was made from the stable branch. The master branch is now working towards the 2.0.0 release.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed including those to upstream MicroPython. @dpgeorge and @pfalcon are the core devs of MicroPython. Thanks to @deshipu, @dhalbert, @ladyada, @tdicola, @hukuzatuna, @mindforger, @cyborg5, @robomike, @ianrrees, @bobricius, @g-ollivier, @rmd6502, @willingc, @fede2cr, @cversek, @turbinenreiter, @ptorrone and @jerryneedell for their testing and code contributions. Thanks to Adafruit for making this possible.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.8.7. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Change highlights since 1.0.0-rc.4:

• No functionality changes. Only doc updates.

CircuitPython comes preinstalled on the Gemma M0 and Trinket M0.

To install, download a .bin file and follow the guide here for M0 and here for ESP8266.

Have a Feather M0 Express, Metro M0 Express, or Circuit Playground Express? Download a .uf2 and follow these instructions. To install our libraries simply download the latest bundle and copy the lib folder onto your CIRCUITPY drive.

1.0.0 Release Candidate 4

One consistency change thanks to @ladyada! This release was made from the stable branch. The master branch is now working towards the 2.0.0 release.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.8.7.

Change highlights since 1.0.0-rc.3:

• atmel-samd: Change to non-blocking mode for streams. That means UART.read() will return None when no data is available instead of raising OSError.
• atmel-samd: Reboot to bootloader after 1200 baud serial connection is closed. Arduino uses this to flash a new sketch.
• atmel-samd: Give on-board flash file systems unique Volume IDs based on the serial number of the MCU.
• atmel-samd: Prep for Gemma M0 and Trinket M0.

To install, download a .bin file and follow the guide here for M0 and here for ESP8266.

Have a Feather M0 Express, Metro M0 Express, or Circuit Playground Express? Download a .uf2 and follow these instructions. To install our libraries simply download the latest bundle and copy the lib folder onto your CIRCUITPY drive.

1.0.0 Release Candidate 3

One fix thanks to @ladyada and @dhalbert! This release was made from the stable branch. The master branch is now working towards the 2.0.0 release.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.8.7.

Change highlights since 1.0.0-rc.2:

• atmel-samd: Fix keyboard HID supporting. Misalignment of the USB descriptor was leading to a USB Busy error. Thanks to @ladyada for finding it and @dhalbert for fixing it.
• atmel-samd: Add IR_TX and IR_RX pin names to board for the CircuitPlayground Express.
• atmel-samd: Update to ARM GCC 6.3 Q2 update.

To install, download a .bin file and follow the guide here for M0 and here for ESP8266.

Have a Feather M0 Express, Metro M0 Express, or Circuit Playground Express? Download a .uf2 and follow these instructions. To install our libraries simply download the latest bundle and copy the lib folder onto your CIRCUITPY drive.