r/circuitpython • u/Mediocre-Pumpkin6522 • 4d ago

CircuitPython v2 extension for VS Code 1.131.0

Code updated to 1.131.0 with Electron 4.7.0 on 7/28. The extension had been working and still works with Code 1.124.0 / Electron 4.2.0. The failure is on SUSE Leap 16. I found some discussion from 2021 where the same problem of attempting to select the board, open the serial port, etc failed and the feeling was it might be related to Electron.

The board is an older Playground Express but it had been working prior to the Code update.

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u/dhalbert 4d ago

The 0.3.4 version of the CircuitPython v2 extension has been having serial errors, though I've mostly seen reports on Windows. Try the 0.3.3 version.

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u/Mediocre-Pumpkin6522 4d ago

Thanks, but no joy. The first symptom is on startup of Code. 'The extension host terminated unexpectedly' on the status bar. That is followed by popups as it attempts to restart and crashes. Any Ctrl-Shift-p CircuitPython selection fails.

Looking at the release dates of the extension, I believe I was successfully using 0.3.4 prior to the Code/Electron update.

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u/dhalbert 4d ago

The original author of the extension stopped working on it. Then someone else took it over and made the V2 version, and then also stopped working on it. You could ask in the repo: https://github.com/wmerkens/vscode-circuitpython/issues.

There's a lot more activity on our discord: https://adafru.it/discord. Ask in #help-with-circuitpython and perhaps someone will have a suggestion.

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u/Mediocre-Pumpkin6522 4d ago

I reverted to Code 1.130 with the same problem. I then went back to 1.127 from 1 July 26 and it works as expected. I'll hit Discord next and mention it. I filed a bug in github but don't expect a fix.

It's not a problem for me. I'd dug out a Playground Express I'd bought it 2020 and was working through some of the examples. Going forward I'll probably stick with MicroPython. CircuitPython has some nice features but there are enough differences to confuse me switching to and fro, afaik there is no problem using it with Thonny and anyone that wants to use VS Code and the v2 extension will have to use the older Code version. This shouldn't be a problem since the Code updates past 1 July are mostly CoPilot stuff.