Arduino install cleanly

Using Arduino IDE 1.x
1

I have had Arduino in my computer for a long time and have updated it several times , just not confident that the files system is correctly installed. Is there a way I could totally delete this from my PC and do a fresh install .I know I would have to go through and update the items I have installed for the boards and libraries.

If I go to my IDE program and look at preferences it shows me
C:\Users\HP\Documents\libraries , I would think it it was correctly installed it would be something like C:\Arduino and so on.
Thanks.

2

There are 3 folders used by the Arduino IDE:

  • Sketchbook - The sketchbook folder location can be found (or changed) at File > Preferences > Sketchbook location:.
    Libraries installed via Library Manager are installed to the libraries subfolder.
    Boards platforms may be manually installed to the hardware subfolder.
  • IDE installation folder - if you used the installer to install the IDE, then make sure to use the uninstaller to remove it. If you used the .ZIP version, then you can just delete the folder.
  • Data folder - the location is shown on the line following File > Preferences > More preferences can be edited directly in the file in the Arduino IDE.

The default location is usually C:\Users\HP\Documents\Arduino. However, you are free to set any sketchbook location you like. As long as the Arduino IDE has access to that folder, then it is fine. But you should note that if you delete the data folder you will reset your preferences and the IDE will go back to using the default sketchbook location. So don't assume the sketchbook is in the same location after doing that. Start the IDE and go back in to the preferences to check the actual location.

3

Ok thanks , so what I happening is that I was trying to install LittleFSFilesystem , instructed to go to release page (github) and click ESP8266LittleFS-X.zip which I did then drop that file into the Arduino Ide directory and open Tools folder, I didn't find one so I created one. Unzip file to the tools directory and you get a folder called ESP8266LittleFSor similar ,then you can get the ESP8266LittleFS folder from the zip file cut and paste this in the tools folder then delete the zip file. Then you should get <home_ dir >/ arduino-/tools/ESPFS/toolesp8266fs.jar Done that , restarted my IDE and plugin does not show in the Tools menu.
confused, I believe I followed the instructions correctly other than I did not see a Tools folder in my Ide directory .
Thats what makes me believe It may have the wrong structure.Thanks

4

That will work, but it is not a good idea. The reason is that everything you put in the Arduino IDE installation folder is lost every time you update to a new version of the Arduino IDE.

For this reason, you should always use the sketchbook folder instead. The contents of the sketchbook folder persist through Arduino IDE updates.

Which version of the Arduino IDE are you using?

5

Arduino IDE ver 1.8.1.6 .

6

OK. That is good. I was checking because the new Arduino IDE 2.x doesn't have support for tools, but 1.8.16 does so you should be able to get it working.

Please try installing the LittleFSFilesystem tool in your sketchbook folder. If it still doesn't show up in the IDE after that, let us know and we'll help you troubleshoot the problem.

7

So no it doesn’t show up in my tools section when I click on the UI Tools.

8

Please follow these instructions:

  1. Start the Arduino IDE.
  2. Select File > Preferences from the Arduino IDE menus.
  3. Note the path shown in the "Sketchbook location:" preference.
  4. Click the Cancel button.
  5. Select File > Quit from the Arduino IDE menus.
  6. Download the latest version of the "ESP8266 LittleFS Data Upload" tool by clicking this link: https://github.com/earlephilhower/arduino-esp8266littlefs-plugin/releases/download/2.6.0/ESP8266LittleFS-2.6.0.zip
  7. Using your file browser, open the sketchbook folder you noted from the Arduino IDE preferences.
  8. Create a folder named tools if one doesn't already exist.
  9. Unzip the downloaded file (ESP8266LittleFS-2.6.0.zip) inside that tools folder.
    You should now have a folder structure that looks like this:
    <sketchbook folder>
`-- tools
    `-- ESP8266LittleFS
        `-- tool
            `-- esp8266littlefs.jar
    (where <sketchbook folder> is the path that was shown in the "Sketchbook location" IDE preference)
  10. Start the Arduino IDE.

You should now have a Tools > ESP8266 LittleFS Data Upload menu selection in the Arduino IDE:

image

9 
 So I followed your install directions, was exactly what I had done previously before I posted this question.
 In my preferences I copied my sketch book location;

Then I closed it and quit Arduino 1.8.51.0 and went to that location.
Found my Tools directory, downloaded said file in that directory,
when all was done, I did have the file structure as you described ,same as before.
I opened my Arduino Ide program, selected Tools and that structure for the ESP8266LittleFSDataDownload does not show up.

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