[Board Manager] Arduino Extension doesn't load valid boards

[legionaryu]

I've downloaded the breadboard-1-6-x.zip from the URL https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoToBreadboard and it loads correctly in the Arduino IDE but is ignored by the VS Code Arduino Extension.

Debugging the Arduino Extension from the source, I've found out that it expects a "platform.txt" file in the same folder as the "boards.txt".

Is this the desired behavior? Shouldn't the Arduino Extension behave like the Arduino IDE itself?

Thanks in advance!

[JulianGmp]

I'm having a similar issue, I downloaded the package for the Espressif ESP 8266 and installed it, according to their installation guide in my documents directory (D:\Users\Julian\Documents\Arduino\hardware\esp8266com\esp8266). However when trying to verify/upload I get an error saying the package is unknown and it exists with code=3

Output:

[Starting] Upload sketch - example.ino
[Warning] Output path is not specified. Unable to reuse previously compiled files. Upload could be slow. See README.
Looking for library 'user32'
Adding paths from jna.library.path: null
Trying user32.dll
Found library 'user32' at user32.dll
DPI detection failed, fallback to 96 dpi
Looking for library 'shell32'
Adding paths from jna.library.path: null
Trying shell32.dll
Found library 'shell32' at shell32.dll
Looking for library 'Ole32'
Adding paths from jna.library.path: null
Trying Ole32.dll
Found library 'Ole32' at Ole32.dll
Konfiguration wird geladen... (Loading Config)
Pakete werden initialisiert... (Initialising Packages)
Boards werden vorbereitet... (Preparing Boards)
Fehler: esp8266: Unbekanntes Paket (Error: esp8266: unknown package)
[Error] Exit with code=3

Note: I edited some translations in, since some output is in German (my system language).

I tried manually adding the path(s) to the package in my config, trying the multiple paths, but without any luck

"arduino.additionalUrls": [
    "D:/Users/Julian/Documents/Arduino/hardware/",
    "D:/Users/Julian/AppData/Local/arduino15/packages",
    "D:/Users/Julian/AppData/Local/arduino15/staging/packages",
    "D:/Users/Julian/Documents/Arduino/hardware/esp8266com/esp8266"
],

For now I just have intellisense helping me out and I verify and build using the arduino "IDE".

[czgtest]

@Sneezry Can you help to investigate ?

[sslupsky]

Attempted to load Arduino SAMD boards package and received "selected board is not available" error. Successfully loaded the package using the Arduino IDE.

[cemoke]

Same issue here Arduino board packages runs without any problem on Arduino IDE however the installation is unseen by the vscode. Please fix this issue.

[cemoke]

Hello guys, i think i found a solution. I am using OSX and after a little investigation of where are the board package installations are, i found out that the installation locations for non-avr boards were a little messy. So first, i carried out a full uninstall by deleting all arduino related files from my system. Including the hidden library folders. After that, i downloaded Arduino 1.8.6 as requested by the extension and copied Arduino application from Downloads folder to the Applications folder and when i tried to install the board package by using the vscode arduino extension it is carried out sucessfuly and now the boards are seen by the extension. I hope it will also help to solve your problems. I think the main issue is with the corrupted Arduino IDE installations since a fresh install solved the problem.

[Reynolds-Beta]

I've downloaded the breadboard-1-6-x.zip from the URL https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoToBreadboard and it loads correctly in the Arduino IDE but is ignored by the VS Code Arduino Extension.

Debugging the Arduino Extension from the source, I've found out that it expects a "platform.txt" file in the same folder as the "boards.txt".

Is this the desired behavior? Shouldn't the Arduino Extension behave like the Arduino IDE itself?

Thanks in advance!

Having the exact same problem. Arduino IDE (1.8.12) shows my custom board definition for ATMega328P on a Breadboard (8Mhz internal clock), but VSCode doesn't list this board.

As per the Arduino IDE, I have an additional boards.txt in: C:\\Documents\Arduino\hardware\breadboard\avr

atmega328bb.name=ATmega328 on a breadboard (8 MHz internal clock)

atmega328bb.upload.protocol=arduino
atmega328bb.upload.maximum_size=30720
atmega328bb.upload.speed=57600

atmega328bb.bootloader.low_fuses=0xE2
atmega328bb.bootloader.high_fuses=0xDA
atmega328bb.bootloader.extended_fuses=0x05

atmega328bb.bootloader.file=atmega/ATmegaBOOT_168_atmega328_pro_8MHz.hex
atmega328bb.bootloader.unlock_bits=0x3F
atmega328bb.bootloader.lock_bits=0x0F

atmega328bb.build.mcu=atmega328p
atmega328bb.build.f_cpu=8000000L
atmega328bb.build.core=arduino:arduino
atmega328bb.build.variant=arduino:standard
atmega328bb.bootloader.tool=arduino:avrdude
atmega328bb.upload.tool=arduino:avrdude
atmega328bb.build.board=AVR_ATMEGA328BB

[agucova]

I'm trying to load a Sparkfun Pro RF board using arduino.additionalUrls (which actually loads some boards) but it doesn't load the Pro RF to the list integrated in VSCode. (It works fine on Arduino IDE).

[dasfdlinux]

Having the exact same problem. Arduino IDE (1.8.12) shows my custom board definition for ATMega328P on a Breadboard (8Mhz internal clock), but VSCode doesn't list this board.

As per the Arduino IDE, I have an additional boards.txt in: C:\Documents\Arduino\hardware\breadboard\avr

Same here. My board shows up in Arduino IDE (1.8.13) but not in VSCode. I am not using a custom platform.txt file as my board is based on a current Arduino variant.

mega2560_8MHz.name=Arduino Mega 2560 (8MHz External Crystal)

mega2560_8MHz.upload.tool=arduino:avrdude
mega2560_8MHz.upload.protocol=wiring
mega2560_8MHz.upload.maximum_size=253952
mega2560_8MHz.upload.maximum_data_size=8192
mega2560_8MHz.upload.speed=115200

mega2560_8MHz.bootloader.tool=arduino:avrdude
mega2560_8MHz.bootloader.low_fuses=0xFF
mega2560_8MHz.bootloader.high_fuses=0xD8
mega2560_8MHz.bootloader.extended_fuses=0xFD
mega2560_8MHz.bootloader.file=stk500v2/stk500boot_v2_mega2560.hex
mega2560_8MHz.bootloader.unlock_bits=0x3F
mega2560_8MHz.bootloader.lock_bits=0x0F

mega2560_8MHz.build.mcu=atmega2560
mega2560_8MHz.build.f_cpu=8000000L
mega2560_8MHz.build.core=arduino:arduino
mega2560_8MHz.build.variant=arduino:mega
mega2560_8MHz.build.board=AVR_MEGA2560V

If I tried to burn a bootloader my boards.txt would fail since it's looking for the bootloader.file in my custom directory, but I just use the burn bootloader command for the purpose of setting fuses.

[jaajuu]

Hi, I came across this ancient thread while running in to the same/similar issue. current setup: VSCode Version: 1.87.2 Arduino: 1.8.19 Trying to compile a ESP8266 project in a new VM with VSCode, that was working fine in the old development environment. I have installed the esp8266 via Arduino IDE and all the needed libraries. And eventually only error left was: "Error: esp8266: unknown package"

However it turned out, that once I compiled the project with ArduinoIDE also the VSCode version worked afterwards. Go figure...