Circuit Playground Express Can't Bootload

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Lisa_M
 
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Circuit Playground Express Can't Bootload

Post by Lisa_M »

I bought an educators pack and 15 playground express units last June after experimenting with one that was given to me.

I had planned to use them for a couple of days with MakeCode so my computer programming students could interact easily with features on the board, and then switch over to circuit python and Mu editor.

However I cannot get any of these new boards to go into Bootloader Mode so that we can flash .uf2 files onto them from MakeCode.

I also cannot get Mu to see them.

I'm using Windows 10 and the USB cables that came with the circuit playgrounds so they should be appropriate for data. I even tried a microbit data cable that I know works with our microbit units.
I have tried single pressing and double pressing the reset button.
After pressing/double pressing the reset button the board pauses it's rainbow animation, goes dark except for the little red and green leds near the port. The PC I"m connected to chirps to indicate a device has disconnected, then the board lights up with it's rainbow animation again, and the computer chirps again to indicate that a device has connected. The Circuit Playground does not show up as a drive in This PC so that I can drag .uf2 files to CPLAYBOOT. It never does the all lights red and all lights green as per the instructions here: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-cir ... d-flashing

I did all of this last year with my single unit and had no difficulty.

Since it is unlikely that all 15 circuit playgrounds could be bad, I'm going with ..."I'm missing something here" ...what have I not done that needs to be done.

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Lisa_M
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Express Can't Bootload

Post by Lisa_M »

I forgot to add that I did download and install the latest drivers as posted here: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Wi ... /tag/2.3.3

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Re: Circuit Playground Express Can't Bootload

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

Let's verify the hardware. Can you post a photo of the backside of one of the boards.

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Lisa_M
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Express Can't Bootload

Post by Lisa_M »

I'm now noticing that it says "Classic". I'd ordered the "Express". :(

Argh.

I've attached a photo anyway.
Attachments
PGE.jpg
PGE.jpg (735.04 KiB) Viewed 698 times

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adafruit_support_carter
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Express Can't Bootload

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

Thanks. Yep. That's what I was wondering - a photo just makes it easy to verify along with a bunch of other possible gotchas.

Sorry, but the CP Classic does not have the UF2 bootloader and can not run CircuitPython. Did you actually order Express's and get Classic's? Or if it was via some other confusion we need to clarify somewhere?

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Lisa_M
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Express Can't Bootload

Post by Lisa_M »

I ordered the Circuit Playground Educator's Pack according to the invoice. At the time I thought these were Playground Express ...did I order the wrong thing? Now I'm panicking as I was going to work with these with my students for the next 3 weeks ...starting today. My students are comfortable with Python so Circuit Python was going to be a nice fit. I wonder if I could exchange these for express? ...and quickly.

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Re: Circuit Playground Express Can't Bootload

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

What's the PID from the invoice? In the "Info" column for each item it should say something like "Part No:" what is that number?

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Lisa_M
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Express Can't Bootload

Post by Lisa_M »

Invoice No. 1785200
Part No. 3399
SID: G9.1.0

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adafruit_support_carter
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Express Can't Bootload

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

That PID is currently shipping with the Express:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/3399
I bought an educators pack and 15 playground express units last June after experimenting with one that was given to me.
This may just be unfortunate timing. The board that someone gave you was probably a CPX (CP Express). But the educator pack was shipping with the CPC (CP Classic) until about July of this year. See new products video from 7/4/2018: https://youtu.be/VxpQC-Y8Gfk?t=133

All I can suggest is emailing [email protected] and see what they can offer. Sorry for the confusion.

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Lisa_M
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Express Can't Bootload

Post by Lisa_M »

Thank you. I've decided to keep the Playground Classic and suck it up and learn Arduino ....like overnight :P

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Re: Circuit Playground Express Can't Bootload

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

Nothing wrong at all with Arduino + CPC. Tons of fun to be had with that combo. And in some ways, more capable than CircuitPython.

Here's the main guide for the classic:
https://learn.adafruit.com/introducing- ... d/overview

And you'll want this library, which the guide has you install via the library manager:
https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPlayground

Good luck and have fun!

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