In Germany there we have this saying that talking about music is like dancing to architecture.

In a simillar way, I find it rather difficult to describe to people why I prefer coding in a language which is usually considererd one or all of the following: old / outdated / dead / feeding-to-a-niche / hard-to-understand - but I will give it a last try:

One of the things I like about the Forth programming language - in this case #esp32forth - is that you can easily add hardware specific words from the Arduino library.

I was missing analogWrite, analogWriteFrequency and analogWriteResolution so I just added those.

But aside from that, using Forth on the ESP32 makes prototyping so much easier: you save yourself the endless cycle of "code, compile, upload, test, code..." since you can actually write your code interactively on the device (using either the Block Editor or the Visual Editor).

Being able to remotely connect to this development environment via either #Http or #Telnet just rounds it up for me.

Maybe it's because it brings me back to the times when I was coding BASIC on my bedsit, but maybe it really is because it is a very efficient way to code ...

#Forth
#ArduinoIDE
#Coding

One of the things that annoyed me when using #ESP32forth is that with recent versions of the #ArduinoIDE it is no longer possible to use plugins for uploading additional files to the #SPIFFS partition of the ESP32.

There is a workaround solution for ESP32forth that allows a user to copy-paste code into the terminal, which is then stored on the filesystem - but that didn't convince me.

So I spent the last two days tinkering with mkspiffs and esptool.py and finally found a way to not only upload files to the SPIFFS partition but also dumping files *from* that partition back to your computer. All from the command line, no ArduinoIDE and plugins required - see here:

https://ufud.org/posts/2025-08-07-esp32forth-spiffs/

#ESP32
#Forth
#ueforth

a question to the #arduinio crowd: is there any working way for the current 2.3.6 #arduinoide to upload files to a #spiffs filesystem?

Yes, I know there is arduino-esp32fs-plugin but this *does not* work with the current 2.3.6 IDE. It only worked with 2.0.

Making Sure the Basement Stays Dry with an ESP8266 - The hack we have for you today is among our most favorite types of hack: a good, h... - https://hackaday.com/2025/05/17/making-sure-the-basement-stays-dry-with-an-esp8266/ #microcontrollers #floodingmonitor #humiditymonitor #arduinoide #homehacks #hardware #esp8266 #bmp280 #aht20

a Code writing test using China's #deepseek

I want to make a readout for my lathe that displays headstock spindle speed since I added a VFD motor to run it.

Simple Arduino code to display on a 0.96" OLED driven by hall effect sensed pulses from a magnet on the shaft were OK but boring.

I want a fancy looking analog meter on a round OLED display and realise that calls for something like an ESP32.

Hearing about DeepSeek, I thought I'd give it a try, asking it to write me some code in my preferred Arduino IDE format.

See Pastebin link for what it cam up with. I haven't tested it yet but it's very detailed with lots description on the choices it made.

impressive!

https://pastebin.com/embed_iframe/y9P1RV73

Support for creating .tar and .tar.gz archives with ESP32-targz library is finally available for testing

It will stay on an experimental branch until enough feedback is provided for the supported architectures (esp8266, rp2040, esp32)

Request for feedback: please boost for visibility

https://github.com/tobozo/ESP32-targz/tree/LZ77

A #Cheerlights #Christmas Tree.
using a Digistump Oak #ESP8266 and a Digistump Holidays 2016 tree that I bought off Kickstarter in Christmas 2016. Still works.... now using the #ArduinoIDE and #OTA to update sketches.

Now let's see if the cheerlights bot is working, and make the color green

Milestone!!

This rather unspectacular screenshot shows my #FreeBSD desktop running #ArduinoIDE and #compiling #ESP8266 code (#Zimodem firmware). Serial communication also works, which is absolutely brilliant!

It's been quite a ride until I got it all to work. It's a combination of the steps documented here:

https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/a-guide-for-installing-esp8266-for-arduino-on-freebsd.78411/

with additional info (checkout of #espressif 2.7.4 codebase) from here:

https://imin.red/2021/05/12/compile-esp8266-esp32-arduino-code-with-gmake-on-freebsd/

but it also required me to set up #Linux compatibility (for the #xtensa compiler which is a Linux x86_64 binary) and modify arduino-builder before installing it from #ports

I'll write down my steps in the next days, until then - if you have any questions - please comment. Thank you!

I mean, i have been struggling with the tooling for #EmbeddedRust with the #ESP32c6 a bit lately (some of it was #NixOS) mostly to the still fast moving development and changes.
But overall the experience is quite nice compared to #Arduino and #ArduinoIDE.
In regards to tooling i think only #CircuitPython or #MicroPython came close.
I hope that i can get #Embassy working by the end of the week, then i should have a reproducible environment across my devices.
#RustLang #MicroControllers #IOT

ESP32 Partition Tool for #ArduinoIDE 1.8.x is now available in 14 languages

some translations still need peer review

please boost for visibility

https://github.com/serifpersia/esp32partitiontool

Discovering the ESP32... They appear to be very affordable and extremely capable little boards, even if they need some creativity when placing on a breadboard as they are quite wide.

Anyway, I successfully installed the board in the Arduino IDE and got a blink sketch running.

Using the internet I visually matched my board to be a "DOIT ESP32 DEVKIT V1".

This RandomNerd tutorial was very useful:

https://randomnerdtutorials.com/installing-esp32-arduino-ide-2-0/

Chuffed, I am, immensely, oh yeah!

#esp32
#arduinoIDE
#RandomNerd

I'll soon release a #Java plugin for #ArduinoIDE 1.8.x to manage hidden boards

since jdk8 is used and Arduino IDE 1.8.x development has stopped more than two years ago, can this be considered as #retrocomputing?

ESP32PartitionManager for Arduino IDE 1.8.x

https://github.com/serifpersia/esp32partitiontool by serifpersia and tobozo

Arduino IDE 1.8.X Partition Utility - Create Custom Partition Table & Generate SPIFFS image

ESP32PartitionTool got a new release!

#esp32 #arduino #arduinoIDE #Java

https://github.com/serifpersia/esp32partitiontool

CH32 RISC-V MCUs Get Official Arduino Support - Like many of you, we’ve been keeping a close eye on the CH32 family of RISC-V micr... - https://hackaday.com/2024/01/04/ch32-risc-v-mcus-get-official-arduino-support/ #microcontrollers #arduinohacks #arduinoide #arduino #risc-v #ch32

After years of using the Arduino IDE, even taking some PlatformIO projects and converting them back to use the Arduino IDE - I finally decided I was beating my head in for nothing, and join the many others that use PlatformIO.

Fine, I just got started with the #arduinoIDE to do some stuff with #arduino and #ESP chips

But is there a go-to setup to work and build with your favourite editor on a mac?
I am just exploring some #esptool or #mpython things but I am still very new to the party and don't know if there is a common way to develop your micro programs.

Would be great if you'd share your way to from writing, building and deploying your apps.

P.S. windows or linux desktop are also fine