CircuitPython 9.2.0 Beta 0 Released!

From the GitHub release page:

This is CircuitPython 9.2.0-beta.0, a beta release for 9.2.0. It has known bugs that wil be fixed before the final release of 9.2.0.

WARNING for nRF52 boards only: If your board has an nRF52 UF2 bootloader whose version is before 0.6.1, you will not be able to load CircuitPython 8.2.0 and later, due to increased size of the firmware. See these instructions for updating your bootloader.

Highlights of this release

• On nRF boards, fix programmatic resetting directly into bootloader.
• Fix BLE storage leak.
• Clear input after ctrl-C on UART REPL boards. This fixes some USB workflow issues.
• Update to Espressif ESP-IDF V5.3.1.
• Merge MicroPython updates from v1.23.
• Raspberry Pi RP2350 additions, fixes, and documentation.
• Espressif BLE improvements.
• Add math.dist().
• _eve updates.

Notable changes in 9.2.0 from 9.1.x

• Raspberry Pi RP2350 support.
• Update to Espressif ESP-IDF V5.3.1.
• Merge MicroPython updates from v1.22.2 and v1.23.
• Espressif BLE improvements.
• Add math.dist().
• _eve updates.

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-C2, ESP32-C3, ESP32-C6
• nordic: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040, RP2350
• 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
• espressif: ESP32-P4 (currently no USB support)
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• renode: hardware simulator
• silabs: Silicon Labs MG24 family
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 9.2.0-alpha.2351

Fixes and enhancements

• Web workflow: warn when trying to leave page while an upload is in progress. #9625. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Fix gc_alloc_possible(). #9619, #9616. Thanks @tannewt.
• Clear serial input buffer when a ctrl-C is received in UART REPL. #9619, #9616. Thanks @tannewt.
• Merge MicroPython v1.23 into CircuitPython. #9638, #9611. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Extend _eve hardware opcodes for future compatibility. #9604. Thanks @jamesbowman.
• Fix reported type name for stdio objects. #9598, #9556. Thanks @timdechant.
• _eve: allow passing a single float to BitMapTransform*() methods. #9592. Thanks @jamesbowman.
• _eve: use ulab.numpy float vectors in Vertex2f(). #9589. Thanks @jamesbowman.
• Avoid crashing when display components are deinitialized. #9568. Thanks @jepler.
• Add math.dist(). #9560. Thanks @FoamyGuy.

Port and board-specific changes

Broadcom

Espressif

• Free _bleio.Characteristic memory properly. #9619, #9616. Thanks @tannewt.
• Update to ESP-IDF v5.3.1. #9607. Thanks @tannewt.
• More support for BLE descriptors. #9597. Thanks @tannewt.
• Fix resume from sleep. #9590. Thanks @tannewt.
• ESP32-C6: fix UART creation. #9580, #9579. Thanks @hdalbert.
• Fix board-specific pin initialization. #9580, #9553. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Validate analogbufio.BufferedIn sample rate. #9563. Thanks @jepler.

i.MX

nordic

• Fix resetting into UF2 bootloader even when the SoftDevice is not active. #9619, #9618. Thanks @tannewt.

renode

RP2

• Add picodvi 320×240 8-bit color support on RP2530. #9636. Thanks @tannewt.
• Document RP2350 A2 limitations due to RP2350-E9 erratum. #9633. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Enable proper RP2350 modules, including picodvi. #9617. Thanks @tannewt.
• Support RP2350 PIO features. #9610. Thanks @jepler.
• Add XOSC startup delay for RP2350 boards. #9600. Thanks @tannewt.
• rp2pio.StateMachine: add .offset and pc properties. #9594. Thanks @jepler.
• Update PIO USB submodule. #9571. Thanks @tannewt.

SAMx

SiLabs

Spresense

STM

Individual boards

• Adafruit Qualia ESP32-S3 RGB666: restore 120 MHz clock speed to fix display tearing. #9564. Thanks @tannewt.
• BDMicro VINA-D21 removed. #9637. Thanks @dhalbert.
• LILYGO T-Watch-S3: initialize AXP2101. #9582. Thanks @bill88t.
• M5Stack Cardputer: expose board.KEYBOARD; allow custom key-event handling. #9529. Thanks @konstantint.
• VIDI X V1.1: include board revision in name. #9613. Thanks @lorojakic.

Documentation changes

• Fix typo in top-level README. #9635. Thanks @mpaw.
• Improve Contributing.md and ports/espressif/README.rst with better links to Learn Guides. #9554. Thanks @samblenny.
• Improve type annotations in _bleio. #9548. Thanks @elpekenin.

Build and infrastructure changes

• Unpin autoapi version. #9591. Thanks @tannewt.
• Fix ReadTheDocs build. #9580, #9578. Thanks @tannewt.
• Upload ..x pull request merge builds to AWS S3. #9580, #9557. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Remove the debug printf adapter #9572. Thanks @jepler.

Translation additions and improvements

• Thanks for translations:
  • @andibing (English – UK)
  • @hexthat (Chinese – Pinyin)
  • @wtuemura (Portugese – Brazil)

New boards since 9.2.0-alpha.2351

• CircuitART Zero S3. #9593. Thanks @CircuitART.
• Espressif ESP32-P4-Function-EV. #9612. Thanks @tannewt.
• Fablab Barcelona Barduino. #9603. Thanks @JosepMartiElias.
• iLabs Challenger+ RP2350 BConnect. #9562. Thanks @PontusO.
• iLabs Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi/BLE5. #9562. Thanks @PontusO.
• Pimoroni Tiny FX. #9575. Thanks @bablokb.
• Seeed XIAO ESP32S3. #9530. Thanks @djairjr.
• Seeed XIAO RP2350. #9532. Thanks @tannewt.
• Weekin/Debroglie WK-50 Trackball Keyboard. #9585. Thanks @Glodigit.

Known issues

• See https://ift.tt/0yZnIsY for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 9.1.x
  • 9.2.0
  • 9.x.x
  • 10.0.0
  • long term
• Native-code .mpy files are not working. This capability is currently enabled only on the winterbloom_sol board.

Thanks

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