ArduinoIDE

ArduinoIDE was the first IDE simple enough to be used by hobbyists. Meanwhile, it is available in a much-improved version 2.x.

Overview

ArduinoIDE is a simple and free development environment for developing C++ source code. You can compile your code and upload it to your microcontroller.

ArduinoIDE has recently been upgraded to version 2.x. You should no longer use the old and limited version 1.x. There are numerous free download options for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Adding Support For ESP32 And Other Microcontrollers

Out of the box, ArduinoIDE works for Arduino microcontrollers and a few others. To use additional microcontrollers, i.e. ESP32, you need to add more board definitions manually. For example, if you want to use the popular ESP family of microcontrollers, install the ESP32 board managers.

http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json, https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json

Now you are ready to work on C++ source code, compile it, and upload it to your microcontroller.

Selecting Microcontroller

It is crucial for success to configure the microcontroller board you use. If you pick the wrong board, ArduinoIDE creates firmware that may not be compatible to your hardware.

Selecting Board

On top of the ArduinoIDE user interface, right below the main menu, you find a drop down list where you can select the board you are using. If the board that is currently shown in the list does not match your board, click into the list, and choose Select other board and port.

This opens a dialog with two lists:

• Select Board: search for your board.
• Select Port: select the port to which your microcontroller is connected.

You can configure a board and start composing C++ code even when no microcontroller is connected. In this case, ignore the right list, and do not pick a port.

Finding Board Definition

With many microcontroller boards - especially well-known brands - you find a dedicated board definition that exactly matches your particular board. That’s the optimal case, and you are already done.

With lesser-known or no-name boards, this can be much more difficult. If you cannot find a board design in the list that matches your microcontroller, here are some options:

• Look It Up:
  Look up the microcontroller to see if it has been covered already here. If so, I already did the research for you and suggest a compatible board definition name that you can use. If i.e. you are using a no-name ESP32-S2 Mini board, the corresponding article provides you with the necessary information.
• Find Compatible Board:
  In the dialog, search for the microcontroller type, i.e. enter ESP32S2 or ESP32-S2. Next, select a board definiton that seems similar to your board. To make sure the board definition matches your board, use test code to compare its settings to your board. Be sure the board definition assigns the correct GPIOs to the commonly used pin constants such as MOSI, MISO, SS, SDA, and SCL.
• Search the Web:
  Look for projects using your microcontroller type, and try and find out which board definition these projects have successfully used.
• Add New Board Design:
  Take a deep insight into the way how ArduinoIDE manages board designs, and review the board designs available to identify the one that matches your microcontroller. If no appropriate board design exists, copy a board design that is as similar as possible, and adjust the settings to fully match your board. This approach, while being a great learning experience, involves deeper knowledge about your board, and the willingness to invest a few hours in explorations.

Select Port

In order for ArduinoIDE to communicate with your microcontroller board, it needs to be connected to the PC running ArduinoIDE. Typically, you connect your microcontroller board with a USB cable.

In a perfect world, you hear a “connecting sound” from your PC once you plug in your microcontroller board, and in the menu Tools/Port, a new port is selectable with the name of your microcontroller board.

Once you connect your microcontroller to your PC, in ArduinoIDE always visit the menu Tools/Port, and select the appropriate port. It is not sufficient to just plug the board in.

In a not-so-perfect world, connecting ArduinoIDE to your microcontroller can be challenging. Below are the top two reasons, and workarounds.

Missing Port

When ArduinoIDE shows no port in its menu Tools/Port once you connected your microcontroller, here are the common issues causing this:

• Wait: simply waiting for 15-30 sec can occasionally solve the issue, especially with modern microcontrollers that use USB-emulated ports. It can take a moment for the USB controller and the devices to (re-)negotiate all settings.
• Reboot: before investigating anything else, reboot your PC, and try again. Very often, USB ports are locked by other running software - especially when you use different IDEs in parallel and may be using platformio, too. Even a stand-alone ArduinoIDE may have trouble re-using a USB connection after it ran for a while.
• Missing Driver: if you haven’t used this particular microcontroller before, it may use a UART that requires a specific driver to be installed on your PC. Without this driver, your PC cannot recognize the microcontroller. Find out which UART the board uses, and install an appropriate driver for it, then try again.
• Wrong USB Cable: make sure you firmly plugged in the USB cable on both ends. If the connection still does not work, and you haven’t used this particular USB cable successfully before, then the cable may not be suitable (some are for charging only and lack data cables) or damaged. Try a different cable. Once you successfully used a particular USB cable, mark it with a label so in the future you know that this cable is good to go.

Wrong Port / Upload Errors

If ArduinoIDE shows a port, but once you are trying to upload new firmware to it, you get error messages, then here are the typical reasons:

• Port Locked: most typically, the port is locked. Some other application may have taken ownership, or ArduinoIDE did not correctly release it after a previous upload. To solve this, reboot your PC, and try again.
• Firmware Upload Mode: Ideally, the IDE can automatically switch the microcontroller to firmware upload mode which is required to upload new firmware to it. Many boards, like ESP32 DevKitC V4 or ESP32-S2 Mini, do not support this automatic switch. You need to manually switch the microcontroller to firmware upload mode before starting the upload in your IDE, which is typically done through two push buttons on the microcontroller board:
  • Enable Firmware Upload: hold down and keep pressed the button labeled BOOT or 0. Then press the button RES or RESET, and release all buttons.
  • Disable Firmware Upload: to resume to normal operations after you have uploaded the new firmware, press RES or RESET without pressing the other button.

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