Picoware (Open-Source Custom Firmware)

Check out the guides → Picoware/guides at main · jblanked/Picoware · GitHub

As is my usual luck, that doesn’t work.

Should I be able to see the .uf2 file via the File Manager function?

And I’m assuming the “Up button” in step 3 refers to the up arrow of the direction control? Or is it another key? Following step 3 I see the System Information screen. Sorry to be such a pita all the time.

Btw, after the pico tells me the download is complete and the file is on the SD I put the SD in my PC and there aren’t any files in the root, only folders.

You need the uf2loader. Check the Updates.md

The download isn’t saved on the root of the SD card. It’s saved in the proper uf2loader folders

Believe it or not I was a software developer for decades. We had a “test” during code reviews etc that was “could my grandmother use this successfully, without support”.

Two thing - 1. I guess I’ve become my grandmother and 2. This project is obviously way beyond my being able to use successfully.

I do appreciate your work & zeal. But being a complete nag, bugging you constantly for help, isn’t fun for either of us I’m sure. For now I’ll find something else to play with. If it ever appears that picoware can pass “the granny test” I’ll try again.

There’s a video guide and written guide on the process; it’s not “picoware cant pass the granny test”. You just need to follow the guides.

If you’re having trouble with OTA updating, then just install it the normal way.

I myself am of the view that this “granny test” that supposedly basically means any non-trivial software is somehow a no-go just because someone cannot follow directions is entirely unreasonable, but to insist that people watch a “video guide” for directions is also unreasonable because a lot of people (such as myself) will not sit through a video for instructions, whereas written instructions are much more suitable for many. I personally avoid most videos aside from things like music videos on YouTube like the plague, and I bet I am not alone in that department.

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You are not alone. I will avoid video guides in favor of a written instructions any day. Unfortunately we are the minority it would seem.

Ditto. I don’t always have a tablet handy and my phone is too small to read comfortably when I put it next to my work. In a video, they may not explain things very well so I can usually get more out of a printed text.

This is a forum for Picoware. Let’s please keep it as so.

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This actually does help a lot. os.xxx() is reading from the flash storage (unless you add /sd/ to the path). So that lib folder is in the flash of the Pico since you copied in/created that directory on that device.

If you want to check what modules are available use help("modules") in Thonny.

Yes! If they are .py or .mpy files you could add them to a folder and the app will import them when it loads your app

Thank you for your support man :fire:

There is a USB library available in micropython that (to my knowledge) can do what you need (class USBDevice – USB Device driver — MicroPython latest documentation), however if you have a working USB-hid C project (and have it on GitHub), I could take a look at it and see how difficult it is to create a micropython C module of it.

Those are perfect actually, thanks for sharing! You can just use those directly them.

I’ll probably port some of that into Picoware if we don’t go the C route. It looks like they have already figured out an esp flasher app too.

Haha well as long as it works we could still port it. Im working on porting pelrun’s uf2loader into mp

I’ve been working on Picoware for almost 11 months now. Here’s a quick review about the latest releases (v1.7.0 and v1.7.1):

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OK, so I did that, flashed firmware to my picocalc w/pico2w, including all the .mpy apps from GITHUB. WHen I select the Applications option from the menu the list is blank. The SD card is loaded with all .mpy files under the picoware directory as you stated in the instructions. When I select the File manager option from the main menu I am able to visualize all the files on the SD card but when I hit ‘Enter’ into the apps directory and select a .py file and hit ‘Enter’ again the screen comes up with two selections, VIew or Delete. If I hit ‘View’ I get a message that says unsupported file type: .mpy

Basically my question is - how do you run the apps?

Hey, welcome to the forums and thanks for checking out Picoware.

You just need to add the apps folder to your SD card within a folder named Picoware

Alternatively since you have a Pico2W, you can just download them all using on the on-device App Store.

Once apps are installed correctly on the SD card, they’ll appear in Applications, Games, and Screensavers

Bravo, that worked. I had created apps under picoware directory but did not pick up on the fact that all apps should go in apps directory - DUH! Thanks for quick response.

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NEW Picoware update, v1.7.2 :fire:

This is an update to the MicroPython version that introduces a C++ game engine, a new logging system, and a significantly improved FileBrowser with copy and move support. It also brings a high-performance textbox_mp C module for near-instant text rendering, an expanded Settings app with manual time and theme controls, three new screensavers, and audio recording support via the new INMP441 app.

Check out the full release notes here:

Picoware v1.7.2 was released over the weekend which includes an updated game engine, new system settings, a midnight commander-like File Browser, and a new app that (with an external module) allows you to record and save audio on the device!

Check out the latest review:

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NEW Picoware update v1.7.3 :fire:

This is an update to the MicroPython version with a Game Boy Emulator that runs at 60 FPS and only uses PSRAM, a Text Editor GUI with cursor support, and many optimizations to several C modules.

Check out the release here:

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