CircuitPython Libraries on any Computer with Raspberry Pi Pico

by Carter Nelson

published May 01, 2021, last updated March 08, 2024

posted in Sensors CircuitPython Programming/ Python

47

Updated

Beginner

Project guide

Linux

The following shows a typical run through installing and setting things up on Linux.

Install libusb and libudev

Run the following:

sudo apt-get install libusb-1.0 libudev-dev

sudo apt-get install libusb-1.0 libudev-dev

and answer Y to the prompt. This should install libusb and libudev.

Setup udev rules

For this, we just follow recommended setup from the firmware. Use a text editor to create and edit a file named /etc/udev/rules.d/55-u2if.rules and add the following contents:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="cafe", ATTR{idProduct}=="4005", MODE="0666"

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="cafe", ATTR{idProduct}=="4005", MODE="0666"

Install hidapi

To install hidapi, run:

pip3 install hidapi

pip3 install hidapi

Do NOT pip install hid. That is a different library that should NOT be installed.

Install pySerial

To install pySerial, run:

pip3 install pyserial

pip3 install pyserial

Install Blinka

To install Blinka and its dependencies, run:

pip3 install adafruit-blinka

pip3 install adafruit-blinka

Set environment variable

We need to manually signal to Blinka that we have a Pico running the u2if firmware. To do this we set the environment variable BLINKA_U2IF. The value doesn't matter, just use 1:

export BLINKA_U2IF=1

export BLINKA_U2IF=1

Don't forget this step. Things won't work unless BLINKA_U2IF is set.

Run the sanity checks.

Now move on to the Post Install Checks section and run the commands there to make sure everything is installed correctly.

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