CircuitPython 7.1.0 Beta 2

This is CircuitPython 7.1.0-beta.2, the third beta release for CircuitPython 7.1.0. It is relatively stable, but contains issues we may still address for 7.1.0.

Notable additions to 7.1.0 since 7.0.0

• Initial port for Raspberry Pi Broadcom-based boards.
• Preliminary support for asyncio cooperative multitasking.
• bitmaptools: dithering and alphablend are new.
• keypad.Events now include timestamps.
• framebufferio: support for IS31FL3741.
• Espressif now provides I2CPeripheral, WiFi monitor mode, setting MAC address, ESP32-C3 support, ParallelImageCapture.
• gifio.GifWriter is new.
• HID now provides boot device and feature report support.
• rotaryio now allows setting the divisor of counts per transition.
• SAMD now provides watchdog, and alarm with sleep.
• SAMx5 boards now all have sleep support.
• The STM port now provides STM32L4R5 support.
• MicroPython 1.17 has been merged in.
• Russian translation.

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).

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, atmel-samd, cxd56 (Spresense), esp32s2, nrf,raspberrypi, stm for the F4 family are stable. stm for other STM chip families is being actively improved but may be missing functionality and have bugs. broadcom (Raspberry Pi), litex and mimxrt10xx are in an alpha state and will have bugs and missing functionality.

Changes since 7.0.0

The full commit log is here.

Fixes and enhancements

• sdcardio. Idle state not needed during early init. #5688. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix _bleio HCI support. #5683. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Update _stage to avoid backlight problems. #5657. Thanks @deshipu.
• Allocate busio.UART object more carefully. #5647. Thanks @jepler.
• Update ulab to 3.3.7. #5642. Thanks @jepler.
• Make bitbangio.SPI keyword args match busio.SPI. #5641. Thanks @jepler.
• Update frozen libraries. #5700. Thanks @dhalbert.

Port and board-specific changes

Broadcom

• Full busio.I2C support. #5648. Thanks @tannewt.

RP2040

• Use proper slice number for PWMOut. #5667. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Protect nvm writes from interrupts. #5663. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Use longer clock-stretch timeout for RP2040 zero-byte I2C writes. #5656. Thanks @dhalbert.

SAMx

• Fix FrequencyIn. #5665. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Enable sleep on all SAM5x boards. #5634. Thanks @dhalbert.

Spresense

• Fix time.time(). #5635. Thanks @kamtom480.

Individual boards

• [no changes for individual boards]

New boards Since 7.0.0

• Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2. #5517. Thanks @ladyada.
• Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2 TFT. #5573, #5570. Thanks @ladyada.
• Adafruit KB2040. #5550. Thanks @ladyada.
• Adafruit QT Py ESP32-S2. #5622, #5621, #5620. Thanks @ladyada.
• AIThinker ESP32-C3S_Kit. #5409. Thanks @skieast.
• Challenger NB RP204. #5395. Thanks @pontus0.
• Cytron Maker Nano RP2040. #5673. Thanks @waiweng83.
• JPConstantineau Pykey60. #5507, #5497, #5365. Thanks @jpconstantineau.
• Lolin/Wemos S2-Pico. #5464. Thanks @skieast.
• Melopero Shake RP2040. #5465, #5372. Thanks @melopero.
• MicroDev microC3. #5404. Thanks @microdev1.
• Oak Development Technologies Bread 2040. #5368. Thanks @skerr92.
• Raspberry Pi 4B. #5610. Thanks @tannewt.
• Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 IO Board. #5610. Thanks @tannewt.
• Raspberry Pi Zero 2W. #5610. Thanks @tannewt.
• Seed XIAO variant build for HID devices. #5442. Thanks @jpconstantineau.
• Solder Party RP2040 Stamp. #5504. Thanks @solderparty.
• Swan R5. #5403. Thanks @blues.

Documentation

• [no documentation changes]

Build and infrastructure changes

• Partial submodule fetching using sha. #5687, #5681. Thanks @tannewt.
• Update file formatting due to blacken and uncrustify updates. #5670. Thanks @hdalbert.
• Fix running traceback test. #5649. Thanks @microdev1.
• Add tests for aesio. #5638. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix CI dependency fetching for automated circuitpython.org updates. #5636. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Add board_deinit() for all boards that lacked it. #5634. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Add make fetch-submodules, to do partial fetches of submodules. #5627. Thanks @tannewt.
• Reorder pins to match silk, for automated pin diagrams. #5652, #5626. Thanks @kattni.

Translation additions and improvements

• Thanks for translations:
  • @Pixel-Clay (Russian)

Known issues

• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for 7.x.x.

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed since 7.0.0, including the contributors above, and many others on GitHub and Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.