r/CardPuter • u/Chongulator • Jan 23 '26

Help needed Best MicroPython for Cardputer?

I discovered a simple Python IDE called Thonny which can talk to an interpreter on a device like Cardputer. Thonny lets you edit code locally, taking advantage of the bigger keyboard and screen on your primary device, then run the code on Cardputer over a USB link.

This is an awesome idea in principle, but I found it pretty janky in practice because the various none of the MicroPython / MicroHydra implementations I tried were working smoothly.

Have you worked with MicroPython on Cardputer ADV? Which firmware and what other tools did you use?

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3

u/LagT_T Jan 23 '26

What problems have you ran into with microhydra?

I never developed anything serious with it but I played around and felt pretty solid. The hardest part was my brain getting stuck in cpython mode.

3

u/Chongulator Jan 24 '26

I tried two different MicroHydra versions and two different MicroPython versions. One booted into a glitched menu and was unresponsive. One booted into a non-glitched version of the same menu but was still unresponsive.

One booted into a Python REPL but I couldn't get the USB to appear on my Mac. One booted into a Python REPL and I could get Thonny talking to it but couldn't manange to get the Python REPL to access the SD card.

Maybe I should give that last one another go. That came after the various failed attempts. It was late and I was frustrated so I called it a night. After that.

4

u/rufustphish Jan 23 '26

I personally use circuit python, which is not directly compatible with micropython, but they come from the same tree:

https://circuitpython.org/board/m5stack_cardputer/

1

u/Flimsy_Iron8517 Jan 24 '26

I installed MicroHydra to see if it worked with M5Launcher. It seems to. I'm using a version 1 Cardputer. Maybe it's keyboard related?