CircuitPython 8.1.0 Beta 2

This is CircuitPython 8.1.0-beta.2, a beta release for CircuitPython 8.1.0, and is a new unstable release.

Notable changes to 8.1.0 since 8.0.0

• Silicon Labs (SiLabs) MG24 microcontroller family port (silabs), contributed by Silicon Labs.
• Add animated GIF support, including palette support: gifio.OnDiskGif.
• Add safemode.py, for programmatic handling of safe mode.
• Add ESP-NOW support on Espressif.
• synthio improvements and new features. API may change before 8.1.0 final.
• Add picodvi on RP2040: DVI/HDMI framebuffer and displayio support.
• Add 7-color e-ink display support.
• Add bitmaptools.drawpolygon().
• Allow setting pystack size in settings.toml.
• Add dither support to Palette.
• Support array.extend(iterable).

Download from circuitpython.org

Firmware downloads are available from the downloads page on circuitpython.org. The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board.

Installation

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

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of "ports" that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable (but see Known Issues below):

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• nrf: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040
• stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

• broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• silabs: Silicon Labs MG24 family
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.1.0-beta.1

Fixes and enhancements

• Remove redundant abs() in vectorio.Circle. #7980. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Fix displayio root_group=None documentation. #7899. Thanks @RetiredWizard.
• Fix web-editor debugging on non-standard ports. #7897. Thanks @thess.
• Enforce a minimum 2x2 TileGrid size. #7892. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Handle little-endian e-ink displays. Initialize displayio memory. #7891. Thanks @tannewt.
• Add palette support for OnDiskGif. #7878. Thanks @gamblor21.
• Simplify web workflow CORS checks; don't restrict hostnames. #7876. Thanks @thess.
• Improve web workflow static pages. #7869. Thanks @thess.
• Improve displayio arg validation. #7867. Thanks @RetiredWizard.
• Allow 64-character hex WiFi passwords. #7866. Thanks @rich123.
• Improve stuck-low detection on reset in onewireio. #7865. Thanks @CanyonCasa.
• Allow setting web workflow board name in settings.toml. #7846. Thanks @isacben.
• Fix tick handling. #7845. Thanks @tannewt.
• synthio new features and improvements. #7840, #7825. Thanks @jepler.
• Improve web workflow reliability and performance. #7836, #7814. Thanks @thess.
• Add displayio circuitpython_splash to only one group. #7829. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Add wifi.radio.connected and wifi.radio.ap_active properties. #7823. Thanks @dhalbert.
• bitmaptools circle support. #7782. Thanks @jposada202020.

Port and board-specific changes

Broadcom

Espressif

• Fix analogbufio attenuation setting and data values. #7879. Thanks @milindmovasha.

i.MX

RP2040

• Fix picodvi.Framebuffer documentation. #7900. Thanks @dglaude.
• Fix idle state handling. #7893. Thanks @tannewt.
• Add picodvi support on RP2040: DVI/HDMI framebuffer and displayio support. #7880. Thanks @tannewt.

SAMx

SiLabs

• Support for SiLabs MG24 BLE boards. #7874, #7833. Thanks @SiliconLabs (@silabs-BelaV, @silabs-ChatNguyen).

Spresense

STM

Individual boards

• Adafruit Feather RP2040 Scorpio: fix NEOPIXEL pin. #7908. Thanks @Neradoc.
• DeneyapKart1A_v2: fix VID and hostname. #7820. Thanks @deneyapkart.
• M5stack Stick-C: pin and initialization fixes. #7818. Thanks @CDarius.
• Seeeduino WIO Terminal: add comments to pins.c. #7889. Thanks @stonehippo.
• SparkFun SAMD51 MicroMod: fix pins. #7849. Thanks @stonehippo.

Documentation changes

• Note that supervisor.next_stack_limit() does nothing on espressif. Thanks @anecdata.
• Fix link to OneWire software reference. #7870. Thanks @CanyonCasa.
• Fix urandom status on nRF; fix broken CoC link. #7852. Thanks @applecuckoo.
• Fix typo in OnDiskGif. #7816. Thanks @dhalbert.

Build and infrastructure changes

• Update and refactor shallow git tag use. #7909. Thanks @mjsir911.
• Do sudo apt-get update before sudo apt-get install when installing prerequisites. #7872. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix gcc13 warnings. #7855. Thanks @flom84.
• Improve aesio tests. #7838. Thanks @jepler.
• Sort boards and new languages in circuitpyton.org update PR. #7819. Thanks @jepler.

Translation additions and improvements

• Thanks for translations:
  • @andibing (English - UK)
  • @Atalanttore (German)
  • @bergdahl (Swedish)
  • @hexthat (Chinese - Pinyin)
  • @jposada202020 (Spanish)
  • @wtuemura (Portugese - Brazil)

New boards since 8.1.0-beta.1

• Adafruit Feather RP2040 CAN. #7834. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Adafruit Feather RP2040 Prop-Maker. #7877. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Adafruit Feather RP2040 USB Host. #7835. Thanks @dhalbert.
• M5Stack Core2. #7854. Thanks @CDarius.
• Silabs XG24 Dev Kit. #7874, #7833. Thanks @SiliconLabs (@silabs-BelaV, @silabs-ChatNguyen).
• SiLabs XG24 Explorer Kit. #7874, #7833. Thanks @SiliconLabs (@silabs-BelaV, @silabs-ChatNguyen).
• SparkFun Thing Plus MGM240P. #7874, #7833. Thanks @SiliconLabs (@silabs-BelaV, @silabs-ChatNguyen).
• VCC-GND YD-ESP32-S3 (N16R8). #7844. Thanks @bill88t.
• VCC-GND YD-ESP32-S3 (N8R8). #7844. Thanks @bill88t.
• Waveshare RP2040-LCD-0.96. #7843. Thanks @waptang.

Known issues

• ESP32-S3 has issues with I2C devices that sleep (LC709203F), use clock stretching, or violate the I2C protocol (e.g., BNO055). Retry operations on these devices as necessary, or use ESP32-S2 boards.
• Espressif boards have ESP-IDF storage leaks and occasionally crash after extended WiFi use.
• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 8.1.0
  • 8.x.x
  • long term

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed since 8.1.0-beta.1, including the contributors above, and many others on GitHub and Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.