CircuitPython 5.0.0 Alpha 5 released! @adafruit @circuitpython

This is an Alpha Release

This is the fifth alpha release of CircuitPython 5.0.0. Alpha releases are meant for testing. Use the latest stable 4.x release when first starting with CircuitPython.

When you find a bug please check the current known issues and file an issue if something isn’t already known.

5.0.0

5.0.0 is the latest major revision of CircuitPython. It features many improvements and enhancements to displayio, including grayscale OLED and e-paper displays, extensive additions and changes to BLE support, support for the STM32F4 and Sony Spresense microcontrollers, and PWM audio support.

Download from circuitpython.org

Downloads are available from circuitpython.org! The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board. The downloads page is here.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in our new 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).

New Features, Updates, and Fixes since 5.0.0 Alpha 4

• Circuit Playground Bluefruit: disable onboard speaker by default. Thanks @jepler.
• Adjust on-board DotStar brightness to accommodate different inherent brightnesses for different versions of DotStars. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Add microprocessor.cpu.voltage to measure voltage supplied to chip. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Better PyPortal Titano display support. Thanks @brentru and @ladyada.
• Allocate two available I2C objects on Circuit Playground Bluefruit and Arduino Nano 33 BLE to accommodate on-board I2C sensors. This is at the expense of dropping down to a single SPI peripheral.
• Remember original specified PWMOut duty cycle and use when recalculating to avoid accumulating errors. Thanks @theacodes.
• Allow setting max USB packet size for MSC. Thanks @kamtom480.
• Parameterize stack location and limits. Thanks @kamtom480.
• Support __bytes__() builtin. Thanks @tannewt.
• Improve unix build support for undefined architectures. Thanks @jerryneedell.
• Fix various minor code problems found by automated code-scanning tool. Thanks @jepler.
• Update lib/tinyusb to fix HID issues. Thanks @dhalbert and @hathach.
• Update frozen modules. Thanks @tannewt.
• On nrf, deactivate PWM on PWMOUT.deinit(). Thanks @jepler.
• nrf: use analog reference voltage that matches other ports. Thanks @jepler.
• Additional German translations. Thanks @Retoc, @Senuros, and @kickbutts.
• Addition Pinyin translations. Thanks @hexthat.
• Improve rtc documentation. Thanks @theacodes.
• Improve automation of module support matrix in documentation. Thanks @sommersoft.
• Improve README.rst. Thanks @darkmusic.
• atmel-samd: Fixes for AnalogOut and AudioOut. Thanks @jepler.
• Remove unsupported ports from ports source tree. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Stop running unneeded thread tests, which sometimes break the builds. Thanks @jepler.
• Always build certain modules needed by all ports. Thanks @hierophect.
• Improve release build handling. Thanks @tannewt.
• Make build fail when boards are missing. Thanks @tannewt.
• Do not re-upload release assets already uploaded. Thanks @tannewt.

New and Improved Boards

Find all boards at https://circuitpython.org/downloads.

• itsybitsy_nrf52840_express. Thanks @dhalbert and @ladyada.
• arduino_nano_33_ble. Thanks @dhalbert and @ladyada.
• serpente. Thanks @arturo182.
• stringcar_m0_express. Thanks @CGrover.
• sparkfun_qwiic_micro_no_flash and sparkfun_qwiic_micro_with_flash. Thanks @edspark.
• circuitplayground_express_displayio: displayio turned on for CPX. Thanks @tannewt.
• pyboard_v11. Thanks @hierophect.
• feather_stm32f405_express. Thanks @hierophect.
• spresense. Thanks Sony @kamtom480.
• robohat_mm1_m4. Thanks @wallarug.
• hallowing_m4. Pin additions. Thanks @makermelissa.
• monster_m4sk. Fix pin errors. Thanks @kattni.

Upcoming BLE Changes

This release does not include a substantial and breaking revamp of the APIs presented by _bleio native module and adafruit_ble library. These BLE changes will be merged into master soon after this 5.0.0-alpha.5 release. We expect the next alpha or first beta release to include these breaking changes.

Breaking Changes and Deprecations from 4.x!

• The displayio refresh API has been revamped to be simpler. wait_for_frame and refresh_soon have been removed. In both 4.x and 5.x, auto refresh will automatically refresh the display so they can be removed. The new auto_refresh property and refresh() function can be used to control when the screen refreshes and at a specific rate.
• The bleio module has been renamed to _bleio to indicate that it is meant to be used only for writing BLE libraries, and that its API may change between CircuitPython minor versions. There are many incompatible changes since 4.0.0. The _bleio API is a work in progress and will change as 5.0.0 progresses. Please use the latest pre-release adafruit_ble library for end-user BLE programming. The adafruit_ble library is evolving too but will hide underlying changes in _bleio.
• Move audioio.Mixer to audiomixer.Mixer and is only available on M4s. Move audioio.RawSample, and audioio.WaveFile to the new module audiocore. However, for backwards compatibility, they are still available in audioio. They will be removed from audioio in 6.0.0. Thanks @jepler.
• Add I2C.writeto_then_readfrom(). Deprecate stop= arg which will be removed in 6.x. Use I2C.writeto_then_readfrom() instead.

Known Issues

• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues.

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or Discord,including @3ach, @ATMakersBill, @AdinAck, @Anton-2, @CedarGroveStudios, @CollinCunningham, @DavePutz, @Mr-Coxall, @Retoc, @Senuros, @TG-Techie, @ThomasAtBBTF, @alexwhittemore, @anecdata, @arturo182, @brentru, @darkmusic, @ddiminnie, @deshipu, @dhalbert, @dmopalmer, @dunkmann00, @edspark, @gallaugher, @hexthat, @hierophect, @iayanpahwa, @iraytrace, @jedgarpark, @jepler, @jerryneedell, @jpecor, @kamtom480, @kattni, @kdb424, @kevinjwalters, @kickbutts, @ladyada, @loganwedwards, @makermelissa, @nis, @rdagger, @santaimpersonator, @shazz, @siddacious, @sommersoft, @tannewt, @theacodes, @timvgso, @wallarug and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Here are all the changes since 5.0.0-alpha.4.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.4 @25ae98f. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Troubleshooting

Check out this guide for info on common problems with CircuitPython. If you are still having issues, then post to the Adafruit Support Forums and join Discord.