Installed boards with "esp32" package

[amazed]

Hello,

The esp32 board list is huge and I just use like one.

Is there a way to make it shorter? I know boards.txt for AVR, but I can't seem to find similar for esp.
Thanks in advance.

[UKHeliBob]

Take a look in the Arduino15 folder

C:\Users<username>\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\esp32\hardware\esp32\2.0.6\boards.txt

[amazed]

@UKHeliBob

Take a look in the Arduino15 folder

C:\Users\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\esp32\hardware\esp32\2.0.6\boards.txt

Ohh how did I miss this?! :S

So I could just delete the unnecessary sections, right? E.g. Pico Kit with it's separator:

##############################################################
pico32.name=ESP32 Pico Kit

pico32.upload.tool=esptool_py
pico32.upload.maximum_size=1310720
pico32.upload.maximum_data_size=327680
pico32.upload.wait_for_upload_port=true

pico32.serial.disableDTR=true
pico32.serial.disableRTS=true

pico32.build.mcu=esp32
pico32.build.core=esp32
pico32.build.variant=pico32
pico32.build.board=ESP32_PICO

pico32.build.f_cpu=240000000L
pico32.build.flash_size=4MB
pico32.build.flash_freq=80m
pico32.build.flash_mode=dio
pico32.build.boot=dio
pico32.build.partitions=default
pico32.build.defines=

pico32.menu.PartitionScheme.default=Default
pico32.menu.PartitionScheme.default.build.partitions=default
pico32.menu.PartitionScheme.no_ota=No OTA (Large APP)
pico32.menu.PartitionScheme.no_ota.build.partitions=no_ota
pico32.menu.PartitionScheme.no_ota.upload.maximum_size=2097152
pico32.menu.PartitionScheme.min_spiffs=Minimal SPIFFS (Large APPS with OTA)
pico32.menu.PartitionScheme.min_spiffs.build.partitions=min_spiffs
pico32.menu.PartitionScheme.min_spiffs.upload.maximum_size=1966080

pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.921600=921600
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.921600.upload.speed=921600
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.115200=115200
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.115200.upload.speed=115200
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.256000.windows=256000
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.256000.upload.speed=256000
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.230400.windows.upload.speed=256000
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.230400=230400
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.230400.upload.speed=230400
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.460800.linux=460800
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.460800.macosx=460800
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.460800.upload.speed=460800
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.512000.windows=512000
pico32.menu.UploadSpeed.512000.upload.speed=512000

pico32.menu.DebugLevel.none=None
pico32.menu.DebugLevel.none.build.code_debug=0
pico32.menu.DebugLevel.error=Error
pico32.menu.DebugLevel.error.build.code_debug=1
pico32.menu.DebugLevel.warn=Warn
pico32.menu.DebugLevel.warn.build.code_debug=2
pico32.menu.DebugLevel.info=Info
pico32.menu.DebugLevel.info.build.code_debug=3
pico32.menu.DebugLevel.debug=Debug
pico32.menu.DebugLevel.debug.build.code_debug=4
pico32.menu.DebugLevel.verbose=Verbose
pico32.menu.DebugLevel.verbose.build.code_debug=5

[UKHeliBob]

You could delete them bit I just moved my boards nearer to the top

The situation is easier with IDE 2.0 because board selection works differently

[ptillisch]

The menu really blew up since they added support for the ESP32-C3, ESP32-S2, and ESP32-S3. There was some discussion about making it easier to navigate:

Tools > Board > ESP32 > new submenu

Hi, In the Arduino-ESP32 we have too many boards, which is just a very long list. We were thinking about splitting it into submenus - is this possible? Can you please point us in the right direction to create a submenu in the board selection? In other words - please send a link to the documentation of the language in which is written file boards.txt

Unfortunately I haven't noticed any progress on the subject in the ESP32 platform repository since then.

[Adrianotiger]

Yesterday I made a simple editor to clone an ESP to have 2 identical ESPs with 2 different settings (so you can connect 2 devices and select a predefined configuration).

Maybe this can help you to reduce the quantity of ESP in this list (or I can update the script to remove just what you don't want).

It is a pure javascript page (you can download and edit it if you want):
Board editor

[ficeto]

Hi @ptillisch You can see the reason in my reply here: Tools > Board > ESP32 > new submenu - #11 by ficeto

[amazed]

Does anybody know why there are two Arduino\hardware folder on the system drive?

• c:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\
• c:\Users\i5-10th\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\hardware\

I just noticed when looking for esp32 folder. I have installed 1.8.19 and 2.1.0 IDE also, but they are supposed to use common package in the Users folder, aren't they?

[sterretje]

@amazed

Does anybody know why there are two Arduino\hardware folder on the system drive?

IDE 2.x only uses the latter.

For the older IDEs, the directory in program files only contains the initial (AVR) board package; upgrades of it or additional board packages will be installed in the AppData directory.

[amazed]

Okay, got it.
Thanks for the quick reply.

[ptillisch]

@amazed

c:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\

In order to allow new users to get started working with Arduino with the minimum amount of setup, the Arduino IDE 1.x installation includes a bundled copy of the "Arduino AVR Boards" platform for the popular boards like Uno, Mega, Nano, Leonardo. That bundled "Arduino AVR Boards" platform is stored in c:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\. Any other platforms you install or update via the Arduino IDE Boards Manager will be installed under c:\Users\i5-10th\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages

The approach of bundling the platform with the Arduino IDE installation is limiting because that bundled platform will be whichever version of "Arduino AVR Boards" was newest at the time of the Arduino IDE release, meaning that if a new release of "Arduino AVR Boards" was made after the time of the Arduino IDE, then Arduino is distributing an outdated version of the platform which might be missing important enhancements or fixes. For this reason, a different approach was taken when the IDE was completely rewritten for the 2.x series: Arduino IDE 2.x uses the Boards Manager infrastructure to automatically install the latest version of "Arduino AVR Boards" on the first run after a new release if the user doesn't already have a global installation of that platform. This means there is no equivalent of c:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\ in the Arduino IDE 2.x installation folder.

[amazed]

@ptillisch

that bundled platform will be whichever version of "Arduino AVR Boards" was newest at the time of the Arduino IDE release

Yes, this was my real concern actually, beacuse I compared them with WinMerge and they weren't the same.

So with the 1.x IDE if an Arduino AVR Boards install was made after the IDE installation, the AVR boards package under Program Files was never used later on?

And if I uninstall the 1.x IDE, the c:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\ folder will be removed?

By the way, thanks for the clear explanation.

[ptillisch]

@amazed

with the 1.x IDE if an Arduino AVR Boards install was made after the IDE installation, the AVR borads package under Program Files was never used later on?

That is correct.

@amazed

if I uninstall the 1.x IDE, the c:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\ folder will be removes?

Correct.

@amazed

thanks for the clear explanation.

You're welcome. I'm glad if I can be of assistance.