firmware News - Page 2 of 36 - CNX Software

March 24, 2026March 23, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ESP-IDF v6.0 framework adds support for ESP32-C5 and ESP32-C61, preview for ESP32-H21 and ESP32-H4

Espressif Systems released the ESP-IDF v6.0 framework a few days ago with stable support for ESP32-C5 and ESP32-C61 SoCs, as well as preview support for ESP32-H21 and ESP32-H4 low-power wireless microcontrollers. The framework also implements a new ESP-IDF Installation Manager (EIM) to make the ESP-IDF installation easier, relies on the low-footprint Picolibc C library, adds security and tooling updates, as well as a few Wi-Fi enhancements, and the ability to update the bootloader over the air. Here are some of the ESP-IDF v6.0 highlights: ESP-IDF Installation Manager – Unified cross-platform tool to simplify the setup process for ESP-IDF and compatible IDEs. It’s available as a graphical interface or a CLI for automation and CI/CD pipelines. You can check the installation instructions for your OS. Picolibc replaces Newlib for a smaller memory footprint and better performance on resource-constrained devices. Check the Newlib vs Picolibc comparison for details. Contrary to some of […]

March 23, 2026March 24, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ESP32-P4 revision 3.0 gains new power rail, requires new PCB design and firmware

Espressif’s ESP32-P4 revision 3.0 and greater converts pin 54 of the chip from NC (not connected) to a power rail (VDD_HP_1), requires a few extra passives, and an updated firmware. Espressif Systems first unveiled the 400 MHz ESP32-P4 dual-core RISC-V SoC in January 2023, and the official ESP32-P4-Function-EV development board was launched in August 2024, with commercial solutions slowly ramping up last year. You’d think the silicon and related hardware would now be frozen, but apparently not. The pin 54 was likely converted from NC (not connected) to VDD_HP_1 to improve the stability of the high-performance digital domain. The old revisions 1.0, 1.1, and 1.3 are not recommended for new designs, and the company advises people to use revision 3.0 or 3.1. They also provided updated reference schematics with the following key changes: The main differences between chip revisions v1.0/v1.3 (not recommended for new designs) and v3.0 and later versions […]

February 18, 2026February 18, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

AsteroidOS 2.0 open-source smartwatch OS released, now supports around 30 devices

AsteroidOS 2.0 Linux-based, open-source smartwatch operating system has just been released with features such as always-on display support, Tilt-to-Wake, a customizable QuickPanel, multiple launcher styles, Nightstand mode, performance improvements, and support for about 30 devices. It’s been a long journey. We first noted the open-source project in 2016 when Florent Revest showcased a basic user experience on the LG G Watch, just before giving a talk at FOSDEM 2016 introducing AsteroidOS. This was followed by the launch of the Connect Watch (crowdfunded) AsteroidOS smartwatch in 2017 by a French company (which didn’t get funded), and AsteroidOS 1.0 was released in 2018. So it’s been ten years since it all started, and the developers have now released AsteroidOS 2.0. AsteroidOS 2.0 highlights: New features Always-on Display, Tilt-to-wake, Palm-to-sleep Heart rate monitor app Initial step counting support Music volume control Compass support Support for Bluetooth HID and Audio Design, Usability, and App Improvements […]

January 21, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

ESPHome 2026.1.0 optimizes memory usage on ESP32/ESP8266, adds Zigbee support on nRF52, WiFi roaming, and more

ESPHome 2026.1.0 open-source firmware has just been released with new features like automatic WiFi roaming and Zigbee support for Nordic Semi nRF52 targets, as well as memory optimization for ESP32/ESP8266 hardware, among many other changes. Other notable changes include security updates with the project replacing API password authentication with API encryption and requiring SHA256 authentication for OTA updates, better support for non-ASCII configuration, and updates to LibreTiny platforms (BK72xx, RTL87xx, LN882x), which received thread-safe WiFi, atomics, and deep sleep support. ESPHome developers used to advise users not to use ESP8266, not because it was not suitable for the task, but because the runtime heap on ESP8266 routinely dropped below 10k, and devices were unreliable. Since millions of ESP8266 devices were already deployed in homes, they decided to do something about it. The project was greatly helped thanks to increased support from the Open Home Foundation, which allows the project to […]

December 29, 2025December 29, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Open-source hardware USB to GPIB adapter connects legacy GPIB/IEEE-488 instruments to modern hosts

XyphroLabs’s UsbGpib is an open-source hardware, inexpensive, and portable USB to GPIB adapter aiming to provide “access to legacy GPIB/IEEE-488 instruments using contemporary hardware and software, with a focus on accessibility, openness, and ease of integration into current workflows”. Initially developed by Hewlett-Packard in the late 1960s/early 1970s, GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus), also known as IEEE-488 or initially HP-IB (Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus), is a short-range digital communications bus standard designed for connecting and controlling programmable electronic test and measurement instruments such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, and power supplies to computers or controllers. The UsbGpib project helps connect GBIP-compliant equipment to modern host computers with a USB port. UsbGpib key hardware features and specifications: Microcontroller – Microchip ATMega32U4 8-bit AVR microcontroller for 5V I/O compatibility USB – USB Type-C port with full USBTMC (USB Test and Measurement Class) support 24-pin GPIB interface – Fully IEEE-488.1 and IEEE-488.2 enabled, including service request […]

December 22, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

ESP-Scope is a web-based oscilloscope built using the ESP-IDF framework and Gemini 3 LLM

ESP-Scope is an open-source firmware transforming any ESP32 board into an oscilloscope using one of the ADC pins up to 83,333 Hz sample rate (on the ESP32-C6) and visualizing the results over Wi-Fi in a web browser, be it Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or others. It’s not the first ESP32 oscilloscope project we’ve seen, as last year, we covered Bojan Jurca’s “Esp32_oscilloscope” Arduino sketch doing something very similar. The ESP-Scope is a little different, since it’s based on the ESP-IDF framework, and was used to test AI code generators, specifically “Google Antigravity using Gemini 3, with refinements, hints and tips and overall design specified by a human”. It just took a few hours to build. ESP-Score firmware features: Real-time signal visualization on a web browser. Adjustable sample rate (1-83333 Hz) and attenuation. Crosshair functionality for precise measurements Adjustable trigger level Test signal generation Reset functionality to clear settings and reload […]

December 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

MicroPython v1.27 adds support for ESP32-C5, ESP32-P4, and STM32U5 microcontrollers

MicroPython is one of the most popular firmware for microcontrollers due to its ease of use. The MicroPython v1.27 release adds support for some interesting microcontrollers, namely Espressif Systems ESP32-C5 and ESP32-P4, thanks to an update to the ESP-IDF v5.5.1 framework, as well as STMicroelectronics STM32U5, and features a range of other changes. These include improvements to the test suite to cater to the increasing number of supported hardware platforms, the introduction of tier levels for different hardware platforms, various optimizations and bug fixes, updated libraries, new ESP32 and STM32 boards, and more. The last time we reported on a MicroPython release was for v1.24, which added support for Raspberry Pi RP2350 and ESP32-C6 microcontrollers. Other MicroPython v1.27 highlights: Test suite improvements Auto-detecting if the target has Unicode support Automatically including float tests when possible Always including stress tests Improving the skipping of tests that use slice and the […]

December 13, 2025December 17, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

CIX releases P1 CPU TRM and developer guides for GPU, AI accelerator, OS and firmware/BIOS

CIX has finally released the technical reference manual (TRM) for the P1 (CD8180/CD8160) Arm Cortex-A720/A520 SoC, along with developer guides for the GPU (Arm Immortalis G720 and NVIDIA/AMD discrete graphics cards), the AI accelerator, as well as OS (Android, Linux, and Windows) and firmware (BIOS) installation and development. A slow (but steady?) progress There was a lot of excitement when the Radxa Orion O6 mini-ITX motherboard was introduced in December 2024, as we were told the CIX P1 12-core Armv9 processor would offer performance similar to Apple M1 SoC and Qualcomm 8cx Gen3 platform, at an affordable price ($199 and up for the mini-ITX board), and software support would include a Debian image, full UEFI via an open-source EDKII implementation, as well as an SDK along with hardware and software documentation, community forum support, and regular firmware & OS updates. CIX was even called “a native open source ecosystem chip […]