Circuit Playground Classic with Code.org / Arduino IDE

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ChenW001
 
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Circuit Playground Classic with Code.org / Arduino IDE

Post by ChenW001 »

Our school district purchased a number of Circuit Playground Classics for use with the CS Discoveries curriculum (Express were out of stock at the time). I ran through some of the Code.org lessons without any issue, and our students have been using them for that unit.

Recently, I have been exploring broader applications for the CPs and getting excited about their potential for student projects. I started toying with some code in Arduino IDE and was able to get those working on the board, but now I am no longer able to connect it to Code.org. By installing code from Arduino IDE did I mess up a configuration for Code.org? The instructions on Adafruit say to drag a Firmata file over to the CPLAYBOOT drive on the computer, but I'm not getting any drive showing up when the CP is plugged in. I am also not getting green lights when pressing or double clicking the reset button. I get a blinking red light near the power source when I double click reset.

Admittedly, I am not experienced with physical computing or Arduino beyond about the level of the CS Discoveries unit, but I'm hoping to learn more with the board and understand enough to begin pitching expansions to our course offerings. I appreciate any input you can offer.

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Classic with Code.org / Arduino IDE

Post by mikeysklar »

Are you using the same cable and computer setup you had been when the CPLAYBOOT drive had appeared? MacOS Ventura (current release) has had some issues mounting fake USB drives so that could be related.

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ChenW001
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Classic with Code.org / Arduino IDE

Post by ChenW001 »

I am using the same cable/dongle set up. I don't recall ever seeing it appear as CPLAYBOOT or any other drive on the desktop, even when it was working with Code.org.

I tried a second Circuit Playground with just Code.org and it worked normally. So now I have one that will work with Code.org and one that will work with Arduino IDE. Does that make sense? Do they become formatted for a specific platform and only recognized by that one? If so how would I switch between the two platforms, if say, a student wanted to do some Arduino programming on a classroom CP that would need to be returned?

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Classic with Code.org / Arduino IDE

Post by mikeysklar »

When you install the Code.org FIRMATA it blows away the drive contents and CPLAYBOOT will not return. Which is fine for the most part because you can still upload Arduino IDE code without issue getting into bootloader mode. It also appears that entering bootloader is a single reset after installing the Code.org FIRMATA.
The CPX will reboot automatically after a few seconds. The CPLAYBOOT disk drive will go away (you may get a warning from the computer that it didn't expect the ejection, ignore it!)
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-cir ... re-2982807

If you want CPLAYBOOT to come back you need to re-install the bootloader.

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-cir ... er-2929760

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Classic with Code.org / Arduino IDE

Post by mikeysklar »

I was wrong in my post suggesting CPLAYBOOT can be restored. On a Circuit Python Classic which is 32u4 based it does not have a bootloader that provides a mountable USB drive. That would require a CircuitPython Express or Bluefruit.

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ChenW001
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Classic with Code.org / Arduino IDE

Post by ChenW001 »

Thanks for your help! So I just shouldn't expect to see CPLAYBOOT. I haven't had a chance to fiddle with this again this week. I'm still wondering why the one that has Arduino IDE code loaded is no longer recognized by Code.org. I'll try reinstalling the Code.org Firmata and see if that brings it back. That may be a straightforward enough process to ask of a student who wants to experiment in Arduino.

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Circuit Playground Classic with Code.org / Arduino IDE

Post by mikeysklar »

Yes, you should not expect to see CPLAYBOOT with a Circuit Playground Classic.

Re-installing the FIRMATA should get you back to a usable code.org.

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