adafruit/circuitpython 8.1.0

CircuitPython 8.1.0

on GitHub

This is CircuitPython 8.1.0, the latest minor revision of CircuitPython, and is a new stable release.

Notable changes to 8.1.0 since 8.0.0

• Silicon Labs (SiLabs) MG24 microcontroller family port (silabs), contributed by Silicon Labs.
• Add animated GIF support, including palette support: gifio.OnDiskGif.
• Add safemode.py, for programmatic handling of safe mode.
• Add ESP-NOW support on Espressif.
• synthio improvements and new features; API is still experimental and will continue to change after 8.1.0.
• Add picodvi on RP2040: DVI/HDMI framebuffer and displayio support.
• CPU frequency is settable on RP2040.
• Add 7-color e-ink display support.
• Add bitmaptools.drawpolygon().
• Allow setting pystack size in settings.toml.
• Allow static IPv4 addresses for access points.
• Add dither support to Palette.
• Support array.extend(iterable).

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-C3
• 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
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• silabs: Silicon Labs MG24 family
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.1.0-rc.0

This release is a relabeling of 8.1.0-rc.0 and is otherwise the same as that release.

Known issues

• ESP32-S3 has issues with I2C devices that sleep (LC709203F), use clock stretching, or violate the I2C protocol (e.g., BNO055). Retry operations on these devices as necessary, or use ESP32-S2 boards.
• ESP32-S2 used as an HTTP server may crash after several hours. This is a regression from 7.x.x.
• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 8.x.x
  • 9.0.0
  • long term

Thanks

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