CircuitPython 8.0.0 Release Candidate 2 Released! @circuitpython

From the GitHub release page:

This is CircuitPython 8.0.0-rc.2, a release candidate for 8.0.0. We believe it is stable, and are making a release candidate for further testing before final release.

NOTE: Since 8.0.0-beta.6, the file for specifying startup values for WiFi, etc., is now called settings.toml instead of .env, and uses slightly different syntax. Use double quotes instead of single quotes. Further documentation is here.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for 2MB and 4MB flash ESP32 and ESP32-C3 boards has changed since 8.0.0-beta.2. When you load 8.0.0-beta.3 or later over beta.2 (or vice versa), on these boards, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for the Raspberry Pi Pico W has changed since 8.0.0-beta.1. When you load 8.0.0-beta.2 or later over beta.1 (or vice versa), on the Pico W, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

Notable changes to 8.0.0 since 7.3.0

Functionality additions

• Add WiFi workflow with browser-based device discovery, filesystem browsing, upload, download, file editing, serial/REPL connection (available on Espressif and Pi Pico W).
• Add a one-line status bar, which displays connection status, last exception, and version on a terminal window title or on the top line of an attached display. Mu 1.2.0 and Thonny 4.0.x and later are able to suppress status bar information in the REPL output.
• A settings.toml file in CIRCUITPY provides environment variable values. Some value names are read by CircuitPython to specify WiFi connection parameters, BLE name, and other startup values. But you can also use settings.toml to specify your own parameters for your programs. Values from settings.toml can be retrieved using os.getenv(). More details here.
• WiFi functionality implemented on the Raspberry Pi Pico W.
• Revised Espressif camera support, now available on ESP32, ESP32-S2, and ESP32-S3.
• Bulk analog input: analogbufio (available only on RP2040 for now).
• Pin state can be preserved during deep sleep (available only on Espressif for now).
• Allow setting USB VID, PID, manufacturer, and product ids at runtime.
• Enable collections.deque on most builds.
• AnalogIn values are full range from 0 to 65535, instead of having zeros on low-order bits.
• In-place firmware update (dualbank) capability may be disabled at runtime in favor of a larger CIRCUITPY drive. This is the default.
• Add TileGrid.contains().
• Add os.utime().
• Add espulp module, for running programs on the ULP co-processor in Espressif chips.
• Add memorymap module for general though limited access to various memory regions.
• A serial “break” on the USB or UART REPL serial connection will cause a KeyboardInterrupt, like ctrl-C. The advantage over ctrl-C is that the break interrupts even if the input buffer is full.
• Add hidden property to vectorio shapes.
• Add native _pixelmap.PixelMap support, for speed.
• Chained exceptions are now implemented.
• Add VfsFat.readonly property.
• Add memorymap to allow access to raw memory locations (currently only on Espressif). #7359. Thanks @tannewt.

Compatibility changes

• PulseOut no longer accepts a PWMOut. Use a Pin instead.
• Auto-brightness support in displayio and framebufferio has been removed. It was never implemented completely.
• OneWire is only in onewireio, and is no longer in busio or bitbangio.
• gamepadshift has been removed: use keypad.ShiftRegisterKeys instead.
• MP3Decoder and WaveFile can now take a filename instead of an open file.
• Print out whole-number floats exactly and correctly.
• Restored rainbowio and onewireio to a number of boards. Some boards still have rainbowio turned off for space reasons.
• i2ctarget.I2CTarget is the new name for i2cperipheral.I2CPeripheral. Accept both for now. I2CPeripheral is deprecated and will be removed in 9.0.0.
• Allow display.root_group to be set, instead of using display.show(). display.show() is deprecated and will be removed in 9.0.0.
• The property supervisor.runtime.ble_workflow replaces supervisor.disable_ble_workflow().
• The property supervisor.runtime.next_stack_limit replaces supervisor.set_next_stack_limit().
• The property supervisor.runtime.rgb_status_brightness replaces supervisor.set_rgb_status_brightness().

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:

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32-S2
• 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
• espressif: ESP32, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.0.0-rc.1

Fixes and enhancements

• Update ulab to version 6.0.7. #7533. Thanks @jepler.

Port and board-specific changes

Broadcom

Espressif

i.MX

nRF

RP2040

• Do not raise an exception for length of nvm. #6482. Thanks @geneverov.

SAMx

STM

Individual boards

• Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2 Reverse TFT: add pins for buttons. #7526. Thanks @jepler.
• Adafruit Feather ESP32-S3 Reverse TFT: add pins for buttons. #7526. Thanks @jepler.
• BananaPi BPI-Bit-S2: enable status LED. #7510. Thanks @BPI-STEAM.
• Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3: correct flash mode. #7509. Thanks @RetiredWizard.

Documentation changes

• Document how to add version information to libraries. #7529. Thanks @jposada202020.
• Fix broken RTD builds. #7508. Thanks @MicroDev1 and @dhalbert.

Build and infrastructure changes

• Reformat Python code after black update. #7532. Thanks @MicroDev1.

Translation additions and improvements

• Thanks for translations:
  • @jposada202020 (Spanish)

New boards since 8.0.0-rc.1

• BrainBoardz Neuron. #7530. Thanks @BrainBoardz.

Known issues

• ESP32-S3 has significant issues with I2C devices that sleep or use clock stretching. 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://ift.tt/5xsH7dC for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 8.0.0
  • 8.x.x
  • long term

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed since 8.0.0-rc.1, including the contributors above, and many others on GitHub and Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

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