Using Pico on Windows 7/8 is easier than documented

[ndabas]

In the Getting Started guide, section 9.2 Building on MS Windows, there is a warning note that says:

Using Raspberry Pi Pico with Windows 7 or 8 is not officially supported but can be made to work.

This links to a forum discussion with solutions that I would describe as ad-hoc at best. The basic issue at hand is that Windows 7 and 8 do not auto-install a serial port driver for the Pico's CDC interface -- this is easily fixable using Zadig. Zadig is mentioned elsewhere in the guide to get Picoprobe running as well, so it makes sense to use the same tool for this as well. Something like:

If you need to connect to the USB serial interface on your board using Windows 7 or 8, you will need to tell Windows to use the appropriate built-in driver. (Windows 10 installs the correct driver automatically.)

We will use Zadig (https://zadig.akeo.ie/) for this.

Download and run Zadig.

Select Board CDC (Interface 0) from the drop-down box. Select USB Serial (CDC) as the driver.

Then click Install Driver. A serial port will be assigned when the installation is complete.

[Saultes45]

After the uf2 downloading it didn't even show up as "Board CDC" but it was present in the device manager. I had to unplug/replug 4 times to see it as "Board CDC".
Worked well after.

[lurch]

@Saultes45 Was your experience similar to the one described here? raspberrypi/pico-sdk#257

Seems very odd that unplugging and replugging 4 times magically fixed it, but we don't officially support older Windows versions so meh 🤷 😉

[Saultes45]

Yes, that was the same. I confirm that strange behaviour. I made the mistake of saving a py file and crashed the pick. This I had to redo the whole procedure from the bootloader drag-drop and the driver installation via Zadig. Between the 2, I had to unplug and replug it at least 3 times. I am curious why that happened, though. Regards, Nathanaël Esnault

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On 16/04/2021, at 22:52, Andrew Scheller ***@***.***> wrote:  @Saultes45 Was your experience similar to the one described here? raspberrypi/pico-sdk#257 Seems very odd that unplugging and replugging 4 times magically fixed it, but we don't officially support older Windows versions so meh 🤷 😉 — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.

[ndabas]

After the uf2 downloading it didn't even show up as "Board CDC" but it was present in the device manager.

@Saultes45 Do you mean that the serial port interface was present in Device Manager (without the driver installed), or was it just the USB mass storage device? It seems you were using MicroPython here.

• If the serial port was showing up in Device Manager but not in Zadig: could be some condition where Zadig did not display the USB CDC interface for some reason.
• If the serial port did not show up in Device Manager at all - it could be something in the MicroPython code (either the interpreter itself or your .py file).

[Saultes45]

It seems you were using MicroPython here.

That is correct I am using a vanilla version of Thonny with interpreter "MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico)" which I assume is the latest one. Do you mean that the serial port interface was present in Device Manager

(without the driver installed), or was it just the USB mass storage device?

It was present in the device manager as "Unknown device" when I plugged it back again in the computer. I had a warning notification on the bottom right explorer toolbar from Windows saying that the USB device was not recognised.

- If the serial port was showing up in Device Manager but not in Zadig: could be some condition where Zadig did not display the USB CDC interface for some reason. That is possible, even if you see select the option to list all devices. - If the serial port did not show up in Device Manager at all - it could be something in the MicroPython code (either the interpreter itself or your .py file). Usually, I assume I f**k up somewhere ^^. The 2 problems I had were

forgetting to import the "Time" module but calling it and saving a python file on the pico but forgetting the .py extension and still trying to run it. Le sam. 17 avr. 2021 à 00:56, Nikhil Dabas ***@***.***> a écrit :

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After the uf2 downloading it didn't even show up as "Board CDC" but it was present in the device manager. @Saultes45 <https://github.com/Saultes45> Do you mean that the serial port interface was present in Device Manager (without the driver installed), or was it just the USB mass storage device? It seems you were using MicroPython here. - If the serial port was showing up in Device Manager but not in Zadig: could be some condition where Zadig did not display the USB CDC interface for some reason. - If the serial port did not show up in Device Manager at all - it could be something in the MicroPython code (either the interpreter itself or your .py file). — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#118 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AF5A4SXKPTPLNYVOIEXR763TJAXZVANCNFSM4YXEE3HQ> .

[BrianG61UK]

I don't want to use zadig since I find it totally unintuitive and it has driven me to completely wiping my C: drive when trying to undo it's effects for RTL2382U dongles.
Please can someone provide a normal .inf file driver for Windows 7 64 bit that actually works for this.

[aallan]

I'm sorry, but we do not intend to officially support Windows 7 as Microsoft itself discontinued support for the operating system in January last year.

[BrianG61UK]

I see. But you can still pay for Windows 7 support you know. MS are still doing it, they just insist you pay for it now.

[JamesH65]

None of the money that MS get for support for Win 7 gets to Raspberry Pi.

[Tomwhiting1987]

I have managed to stop my Pico from showing up as a mounted drive in BOOT mode. This happened after I changed the drivers using Zadig to the CDC SErial ones on RP0 and FP1 Interfaces. Any ideas how I can change these back so that the Pico shows up as a drive again?