Suggestion: Make partitions in CIRCUITPY

[RetireeJay46]

On boards with sufficient non-volatile memory (like RP2040) it would be great to have two "disk partitions" in CIRCUITPY. One partition would be "readonly" from the microprocessor, but Read/Write from the attached computer. This partition would be used for "boot.py", "code.py" and whatever else the computer needs to control. The second partition would be Read/Write from the microprocessor, but "readonly" from the attached computer. This would allow the microprocessor to create non-volatile "files" that could store data or user-specified configurations.
This dual-partition system would be much more convenient to use than the current system of requiring a reboot every time the user wants to update the software ("code.py") while still needing to have the microprocessor write to non-volatile memory files.

[FoamyGuy]

Support for this was added recently, though I think it's only currently turned on for the Fruit Jam. It was added initially here: #10122

It's documented briefly here: https://docs.circuitpython.org/en/latest/docs/workflows.html#cpsaves-drive

You can try adding something like this:

circuitpython/ports/raspberrypi/boards/adafruit_fruit_jam/mpconfigboard.h

Line 50 in 11727bd

#define CIRCUITPY_SAVES_PARTITION_SIZE (2 * 1024 * 1024)

to the mpconfigboard.h file for the device you're using if it has enough flash and make a custom build.

[RetireeJay46]

I'm glad to hear that the feature is being implemented on some boards.

As far as I can tell, my Adafruit Feather RP2040 board with CircuitPython does not have an "mpconfigboard" file at all right now, and I would be way, way out of my league to even attempt adding one (if that's even possible).

So the original post remains my dream - to have dual partitions implemented on all boards where it makes sense to do so.

[dhalbert]

The mpconfigboard.h file is part of the code used to build the board: https://learn.adafruit.com/building-circuitpython. You would need to learn to do a custom build.

Currently we don't have a way to control the existence of this extra partition dynamically.

[tannewt]

What host OS are you using? You might be able to eject from there and switch without a restart.