adafruit/circuitpython 11.0.0-alpha.1 on GitHub

This is CircuitPython 11.0.0-alpha.1, an alpha release for 11.0.0. Further features, changes, and bug fixes will be added before the final release of 11.0.0.

Circuitpython 11.0.0 is now planned to be the next stable release after 10.3.x, instead of 10.4.0. There may be further 10.3.x releases for critical bug fixes if needed.

CircuitPython libraries from the 10.x bundles are still compatible with CircuitPython 11.0.0 builds.

Highlights of changes since 10.4.0-alpha.2

import now also looks for filename.<arch>.mpy architecture-specific machine-code files.
hmac and hardwarekey modules.
Isochronous USB IN support.
RP2350 alarm module.
Firmware size reductions.
Zephyr dynamic pin assignment.
The broadcom, litex, and renode ports have been removed.

Incompatibility warnings when upgrading to 11.0.0 from 10.x.x

The broadcom, litex, and renode ports have been removed.

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 code.circuitpython.org or 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-C2, ESP32-C3, ESP32-C5, ESP32-C6, ESP32-C61, ESP32-H2, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3
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:

analog: Analog Devices MAX32690
espressif: ESP32-P4
mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
silabs: Silicon Labs MG24 family
stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families
zephyr: multiplatform RTOS, running on multiple chip families

Changes since 10.4.0-alpha.2

Fixes and enhancements

Speed up TileGrid.fill_area. #11459. Thanks @lynt-smitka.
Fix bitmaptools.dither() for 1-bit destinations. #11455. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
picogame speedups on processors without hardware division. #11454. Thanks @lynt-smitka.
import will now look for somefile.py, then somefile.<arch>.mpy, then somefile.mpy. <arch> is a machine architecture name, like arm7emsp. It implies that the .mpy file contains architecture-specific machine code. #11453. Thanks @mikeysklar.
Add microcontroller.cpu.architecture, which returns a string like arm7emsp specifying the detailed CPU architecture. #11445. Thanks @mikeysklar.
Fix regression causing random.randint(n, 0x7FFFFFFF) to fail. #11443. Thanks @dhalbert.
Implement finalizers for many more native objects, allowing deinit() on them. #11439. Thanks @tannewt.
In _bleio HCI (AirLift) on ESP32-C6, fix advertising and ATT responses. #11432. Thanks @dhalbert.
On ST7735 boards, fix display init sequence. #11429. THanks @lynt-smitka.
Fix RGB444 on picogame. #11428. Thanks @lynt-smitka.
Speed up bitmaptools.blit(). #11413. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
Fix several bugs caught by LLM auditing. #11383. Thanks @peterbay.
Support LittleFS for boards without USB MSC storage. #11352. Thanks @tannewt.
Add hmac module for keyed-hash message authentication, backed by PSA crypto. Currently available on Espressif. #11341. Thanks @mmabey.
Add hardwarekey, enabling use without exposure of values in a hardware key store. Used with hmac. Currently implemented on Espressif. #11319.

Port and board-specific changes

Analog Devices

Broadcom

The bare-metal broadcom port has been removed. In the future a Zephyr port would be possible. #11438. Thanks @tannewt.

Espressif

Update the ESP-iDF esp-protocols submodule to a newer version that fixes some mDNS issues. #11451. Thanks @grgrant.
Update TinyUSB to fix pasting large strings into the REPL. #11433. Thanks @mikeysklar.

i.MX

litex

The litex port has been removed. #11438. Thanks @tannewt.

Nordic

Turn on turbo (machine code) .mpy loader for all boards. #11406. Thanks @mikeysklar.

renode

The renode port has been removed. #11438. Thanks @tannewt.

RP2xxx

Update Pico-PIO-USB to adafruit fork, which includes bug fixes and isochronous IN support. #11458, #11450. Thanks @mikeysklar.
Implement alarm on RP2350, including light and deep sleep, time and pin alarms, and sleep memory. #11434. Thanks @mikeysklar.
Update to Pico SDK 2.3.1. #11426. Thanks @mikeysklar.
Reduce picogame firmware size with careful optimization flag settings. #11358. Thanks @lynt-smitka.
Enable picogame on Pi Pico and Pi Pico W. #11358. Thanks @lynt-smitka.

SAMx

Turn on turbo (machine code) .mpy loader for more boards. #11405. Thanks @mikeysklar.

SiLabs

Spresense

STM

Zephyr

Wake the main task on UART receive. Speeds up first REPL prompt. #11448. Thanks @tannewt.
Automatically update and submit PRs for autogen_board_info.toml files. #11447, #11414. Thanks @tannewt.
Speed up CI builds. #11424, #11416. Thanks @dhalbert.
Fix problem on DEBUG=1 builds. #11423. Thanks @dhalbert.
Fix broken non-English builds. #11422. Thanks @dhalbert.
Turn off ccache on builds; it was not effective. #11421. Thanks @dhalbert.
Support dynamic pin assignment to peripherals with a new "IOBroker" Zephyr module. #11420. Thanks @tannewt.

Individual boards

Studiolab Pico Expander is renamed to IDE-TUDelft RealPicoExpander. #11449. Thanks @Jerzeek.
Adafruit PyBadge: enable picogame. #11430. Thanks @lynt-smitka.

Documentation changes

Clarify when to use make fetch-port-submodules and fetch-board-submodules. #11452. Thanks @lynt-smitka.

Build and infrastructure changes

Update to ARM gcc 15.3.Rel1 from 15.2.Rel1. #11427. Thanks @dhalbert.
Shrink builds by using MICROPY_PY_DOUBLE_TYPECODE consistently. #11410. Thanks @dhalbert.
Generate a builds firmware size report on CI builds. #11408. Thanks @dhalbert.
Store ROM qstrs more efficiently to save firmware space. #11407. Thanks @dhalbert.
Avoid soft-float uint64 conversion in `alarm.time.TimeAlarm, to save firmware space. #11404. Thanks @dhalbert.
Save space on nearly-full builds with ulab by using NDARRAY_BINARY_USES_FUN_POINTER. #11403. Thanks @dhalbert.

Translation additions and improvements

New boards

ELIO Eliobot S3. #11411. Thanks @rboutrois (@Eliobot).
Espressif ESP32-S3-BOX-3. #11431. Thanks @mtrovo.

Known issues

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

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.

adafruit/circuitpython 11.0.0-alpha.1 CircuitPython 11.0.0-alpha.1 on GitHub