(RESOLVED) How to add unlisted boards like ESP8266 OLED?

Development Tools IDE 2.x
1

I just installed the most recent Arduino IDE 2.3.2 on a Mac mini. I've been using earlier versions of the IDE on Windows machines up to this point.

For one of my first projects programming on the Mac I wanted to try one of the ESP8266 boards that have the small onboard OLED display. I went to the board manager and I don't see any options to install additional boards other than ones already in the IDE or ones that show installable via the IDE. In prior versions I've read about using and other and pasting in a link to a JSON file. Is that an option on the newer IDE? How can additional boards be added? Or, do I need to revert back to an older version of the IDE for those boards?

Appreciate any insight and it is possible that I am missing something obvious.

2

You will need to add a URL to the additional board manager URLs under file / preferences. I do not know what that URL is for your board; for the Wemos D1 mini (also a 8266 board) I use https://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json

After that, you can go to the board manager and install the needed board package.

You can read GitHub - esp8266/Arduino: ESP8266 core for Arduino

PS
I don't have access to a IDE 2.x; from memory you will have to go tools / boards / board manager.

3

Thanks for your response. I have read about using that link for the JSON file. Issue I am running into that with the board manager for the IDE 2.3.2 on the Mac I can't find an option to paste that link to use it.

That is the frustrating part. I don't know if that is normal for the Mac version or if they haven't added an option to use the JSON file in the newer IDE yet. It seems these ESP8266 boards are fairly popular so I would think someone has run into this before.

4

Hi @tiltopia. I'll provide detailed instructions you can follow to install the "esp8266" boards platform in Arduino IDE 2.3.2:

  1. Select *Arduino IDE > Settings... from the Arduino IDE menus.
    The "Preferences" dialog will open.
  2. Enter the following URL into the "Additional Boards Manager URLs" field in the "Preferences" dialog:
    https://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json
    ⓘ The field is at the bottom of the dialog, so if you don't see it then you might need to scroll the dialog down to make it visible.
    :exclamation: If there are already Boards Manager URLs in the field, separate them with commas.
  3. Click the "OK" button.
  4. You will now see a "Downloading index: ..." notification at the bottom right corner of the IDE window. Wait for that notification to close.
  5. Select Tools > Board > Boards Manager... from the Arduino IDE menus to open the "Boards Manager" view in the left side panel.
  6. Scroll down through the list of boards platforms until you see the "esp8266" entry.
  7. Click the "INSTALL" button at the bottom of the entry.
  8. Wait for the installation process to finish, as indicated by a notification at the bottom right corner of the Arduino IDE window:

    Successfully installed platform ...

You should now see the boards of the installed platform under the Tools > Board menu in Arduino IDE.

I personally use the "esp8266" boards platform all the time in Arduino IDE 2.x so I can guarantee that there is no problem using it.

1 Like
5

Appreciate your through response. I think the issue is with me and the Mac installation. When I open the Arduino editor I see icons for boards, libraries, etc but I can't find any way to get to Arduino IDE settings. I'm sure if I go to my Windows laptop it would be there and I wouldn't have any issues. I've setup a Mac mini specifically to get more familiar with the Mac but so far it has been causing more issues for me.

It sounds like I should be searching the forums on how to get to the Arduino IDE settings on a Mac install.

6

You should see an "Arduino IDE" menu in the macOS "menu bar" at the very top of your screen:

If you click on that, it will open a menu that will contain a "Settings" item.

1 Like
8

Ok. That helps. Totally my fault for just learning about the Mac OS and how it is different. I kept looking at the Arduino IDE window that was open and expecting it to be there like it was on Windows. I see now what I was overlooking. Thank You!

9

You are welcome. I'm glad if I was able to be of assistance.

Regards,
Per

10

You definitely were. Learned a bit more about the Mac in the process. After I got past all that I ran into another issue the trying to compile. Kept saying invalid CPU type. At first I thought it was a problem with the ESP8266 board installation but finally realized it was a problem with the newer Apple and the M1 processor. Installed the Rosetta package from Apple and fixed that. Then I could run the simple blink LED to confirm everything was working. Last piece was getting the OLED to work. That took some experimenting but found the right pin combination and made that work too. So I will finally be able to try out these boards.

2 Likes
11

This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.