Developing applications for Raspberry Pi Pico W, MicroPython

• Operating system Windows 11
• VS Code development program needs to be installed
• Correct firmware needs to be loaded onto the Raspberry Pi Pico W

Installing and setting up WSL

1. Enable WSL2 on Windows
   

   • Enable Windows Subsystem for Linux
     
   • Link to Settings

2. Set WSL 2 as the default version - Windows console
   wsl --set-default-version 2

3. Install Ubuntu distribution - Windows console
   wsl --install -d Ubuntu

4. Update dependencies and upgrade the system - WSL console
   sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y

5. Open the directory I want to mount - WSL console
   cd /mnt/c/Users/David/Desktop/RPIPico

6. Attach VSCode to this folder - WSL console
   code .

Installing tools for connecting USB devices

7. Download the latest version of usbipd (currently 2.4.1)

   • Link to releases
   • Download the .msi file and install it on Windows

8. Install necessary tools for connecting to Windows - WSL console
   

   sudo apt install linux-tools-generic hwdata
   sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/local/bin/usbip usbip /usr/lib/linux-tools/*-generic/usbip 20
   

9. Connect the board to USB

10. Display connected devices - Windows console
    usbipd wsl list

11. Attach USB device to WSL - Admin windows console
    usbipd wsl attach --busid 6-1

12. Display connected devices inside WSL - WSL console
    lsusb

Preparing and uploading the project to the board

13. Find the directory I want to open in VS code, which is connected to WLS - WSL console
    code .

14. Python is already installed, but pip needs to be installed - WSL console
    sudo apt install python3-pip

15. Install the necessary pyserial package for Python - WSL console
    pip install pyserial

16. Install VS code extensions for Raspberry Pi Pico W - VS code
    

    • Pico-W-Go
    • Python
    • Pylance
    • IntelliCode

17. Configure the project - VS code
    

    • CTRL + L SHIFT + P -> Pico-W-Go > Configure project

18. Open a console in the REPL for the board - VS code
    

    • By clicking on the + New Console and selecting the vREPL, open the console for the board.

19. Display the virtual file system of the board to see the files uploaded to it

    • Pico-W-Go > Toggle Virtual File System (closes existing vREPLs)

20. Create program script.py in my local directory - VS code
    

    from machine import Pin
    from time import sleep
    
    led = Pin("LED", Pin.OUT)
    
    led.on()
    sleep(1)
    led.off()
    

21. Drag and drop the program to the remote directory of the board and run it - VS code
    

    • Pico-W-Go > Remote > Run current file

22. Happy Coding!