This is the first release candidate of CircuitPython 6.1.0. See Port status below for details on port stability, and Known Issues for known problems. If you find any issues with this release, please file an issue. If no issues are found within a few days, we’ll release this version as stable.

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. Downloads are no longer available from the GitHub release pages because of the large number of files for each release.

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).

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of “ports” that are the core implementation for a variety of microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, atmel-samd, nrf, and stm for the F4 family are stable. cxd56, esp32s2, and stm for other chip families are being actively improved but may be missing functionality and have bugs. litex and mimxrt10xx are in an alpha state and will have bugs and missing functionality.

New features and improvements since 6.1.0 Beta 3

Fixes and enhancements

• Fix initialization of onboard NeoPixels. #3934. Thanks @DavePutz.
• Update ulab to 1.6.0. #3929. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix handling of zero brightness in _pixelbuf. #3917. Thanks @brrzap.

Board- and port-specific changes

• CPX: Add back frozen adafruit_bus_device back to CPX. #3932. Thanks @kattni.
• UnexpectedMaker FeatherS2: Correct pins and add default board devices. #3925, #3914. Thanks @UnexpectedMaker , @askpatrickw.
• ESP32S2: Add alarm.touch.TouchAlarm. #3850. Thanks @microDev1.
• Mini SAM 4: Freeze in adafruit_dotstar library. #3923. Thanks @bwshockley.

Documentation

• Translation additions and improvements. Thanks:
  • @wtuemura (Brazilian Portugese)
  • @HugoDahl (French)
  • @oonid (Indonesian)
  • @bergdahl (Swedish)

Full commit log is here.

Breaking changes since 5.x

• i2cslave is now i2cperipheral and the class in it is changed as well.
• The stop kwarg has been removed from I2C.writeto(). If no stop is desired, then use writeto_then_readfrom.
• The default speed of busio.I2C and board.I2C is now 100khz, not 400khz as before. Use busio.I2C to set the speed explicitly. #3471 Thanks @caternuson, @ladyada, @hierophect and @tannewt
• _bleio.ConnectionError has be removed. Code will now raise the native ConnectionError instead.

New boards since 6.1.0 Beta 3

(none)

Known issues

• ESP32-S2: Crash when repeatedly creating and destroying busio.I2C object on ESP32-S2 (#3846)
• time.sleep() sometimes hangs when a board is connected to certain Macintosh hosts (#3918, #3919). This issue is also present in 6.0.x.
• Built-in adafruit_bus_device has been disabled due to issues (#3859, #3856), please install the version from the Library Bundle
• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues.

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed since 6.1.0 Beta 3, including @askpatrickw, @bergdahl, @brrzap, @bwshockley, @DavePutz, @dglaude, @dhalbert, @hugodahl, @jepler, @kattni, @ladyada, @microDev1, @oonid, @tannewt, @UnexpectedMaker, @wtuemurua, and many others on Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

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

Translations

One important feature of CircuitPython is translated control and error messages. With the help of fellow open source project Weblate, we’re making it even easier to add or improve translations. Sign in with an existing account such as Github, Google or Facebook and start contributing through a simple web interface. No forks or pull requests needed!

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.

Assets

Builds are no longer stored as assets on this release page, because there are too many of them. Please see the Download from circuitpython.org section above.