StoreIndustryEducation
    International Singapore Malaysia Thailand Vietnam
Tutorials
Resource Hubs
Cytron Tutorials
EDU:BIT
ZOOM:BIT
REKA:BIT RBT Project Kit
rero:micro
PikaBot
EDU PICO
Community
micro:bit
Arduino/Maker Boards
Raspberry Pi
3D Printing
Nvidia Jetson

Setting Up Maker Uno RP2040

This guide will show you how to set up your Maker Uno RP2040 for CircuitPython and provide some simple troubleshooting tips if you cannot connect it to your laptop.

 

Connect Maker Uno RP2040 to Your Computer

 

The Maker Uno RP2040 comes with pre-installed CircuitPython firmware and demo code, so you can start coding right away without the need to flash the CircuitPython firmware. However, you may need to update the firmware to access the latest features or bug fixes.

  1. Use a USB Type-C cable to connect your Maker Uno RP2040 to your computer and turn on the on-board power switch. 

Note: Always turn on the switch if you want to flash the code to your Maker Uno RP2040

 

  1. You will be able to see a CIRCUITPY drive on your computer. You can start coding right away!

 

 

  1. Before you start to code, make sure that the “CircuitPython (generic)” has been chosen as the interpreter (if applicable) in your coding software. And the required lib bundle can be found here.

 

What if?

A. The CIRCUITPY drive doesn’t appear?

  1. Make sure that the USB Type-C cable you used is a data cable not charging cable.
  2. Press the “Reset” button on the board and take a look again. If the CIRCUITPY drive still doesn’t appear, you might need to reupload or reflash the CircuitPython firmware to your Maker Uno RP2040. 


B. I have changed the firmware for other programming languages (eg. Arduino IDE etc.)?

In this case, you will need to reflash the Circuitpython firmware onto your board. Follow the steps shown the next sub

 

 

Flashing CircuitPython Firmware on Maker Uno RP2040

There are two ways to flashing the CircuitPython firmware onto your Maker Uno RP2040:

  1. By paste the CircuitPython .uf2 file to the Raspberry Pi Drive.
  2. Installing CircuitPython by using Thonny IDE.

 

Method 1

  1. Download the .uf2 file for Maker Uno RP2040 from the CircuitPython website. Turn on your Maker Uno RP2040 and then you need to enter bootloader mode. For that, hold down the BOOT button, and while continuing to hold it (don't let go!), press the RESET button. 

  1. Continue to hold the BOOT button until the RPI-RP2 drive appears!

 

 

  1. Drag the adafruit_circuitpython_etc.uf2 file you have downloaded to RPI-RP2. The RPI-RP2 drive will disappear and a new disk drive called CIRCUITPY will appear.

Method 2

  1. For this method, you need to install Thonny IDE. Similar to the previous step, you need to make sure your board in bootloader mode. For that, hold down the BOOT button, and while continuing to hold it (don't let go!), press the RESET button.

Note: Please make sure your board is switched on and you are using a data cable to connect to your computer

 

  1.  Continue to hold the BOOT button until the RPI-RP2 drive appears.

 

 

  1. Open Thonny IDE, on the bottom right, select 'Install CircuitPython...' and choose the the correct CircuitPython variant. Then, click install.

 

 

  1. Choose the the correct CircuitPython variant. Then, click install.

 

 

  1. Once installation completed, you should get the output 'Done!' as show in the figure below. 

 

 

and a new disk drive, CIRCUITPY will appear.