Hi,
For both Windows and Linux cases I'm interested in installing this board (Pi Pico) into sketch.
So far I have only tried it on windows, but when I go into board manager then search Pi I see 'Mbed OS RP2040', which the manager will allow me to install into sketch online. However, I'm interested in downloading this for an offline machine. I did install it for a test online and I searched everywhere, but I can't see where the Raspberry Pi Pico board installed to. I was hoping to just copy the file, but I don't think that will work. Is there a github or something where I can just download it?
This is a very good thing to know, but it is quite complex to install the Arduino Mbed OS RP2040 Boards platform from that repository (there are instructions in the readme if you're interested).
I would say that you'll have a much easier time by copying your installation to the offline computer.
On Windows, this will be at C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Arduino15
On Linux, it's at ~/.arduino15
These are both in hidden folders so you'll need to configure your file browser to show hidden folders before you'll be able to see them.
Just copy the entire folder from one PC to the other. Note that this contains OS-specific toolchains, so, for example, you can't copy the folder from a Windows PC to a Linux PC.
Thanks for the great reply. Okay, so I can copy those respective folders over to the same respective directory on the offline PC and it should show up in Sketch?
Note, on a Windows machine I downloaded the .zip, extracted it and just ran the .exe. So I assume I do the same on the offline machine. The extracted .zip is about 566mb and the Arduino15 is over 600mb, and I assume this is basically just relevant to the RP2040 (because I've never used Sketch/Arduino IDE on this machine)
I don't know what you mean by "Sketch". "sketch" is the term used for the programs you write in the Arduino programming language. For example, here's the Blink sketch:
// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
void setup() {
// initialize digital pin LED_BUILTIN as an output.
pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}
// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
delay(1000); // wait for a second
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW); // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
delay(1000); // wait for a second
}
These folders contain the boards platforms their toolchains that you installed via the Arduino IDE's Tools > Board > Boards Manager. After you do that, the boards you installed show up in the Arduino IDE's Tools > Board menu (e.g., Tools > Board > Arduino Mbed OS RP2040 > Raspberry Pi Pico).
That is the Arduino IDE application and the Arduino AVR Boards platform that comes pre-installed with it.
That is whatever boards platforms you have installed via Tools > Board > Boards Manager. If you want to make it a bit smaller, you can delete the staging subfolder. When you install a platform, the compressed files are first downloaded from the Internet to that folder, before being extracted to their final location. The Arduino IDE doesn't automatically delete the compressed files from staging because it can be useful to reuse them later instead of re-downloaded if you are reinstalling a platform that uses them. But they aren't actually needed for anything and they do end up taking up quite a bit of space.
No worries. We're all on the journey of learning here.
As someone with no formal education in these subjects, I often find that I often don't know the terminology associated with a something I want to learn more about. That can make research and discussion difficult. But it all works out in the end with enough perseverence
