Cannot get code to run on pico

Question

I just got a pico. I placed the uf2 micropython file on it. The device then is unmounted from the system (Ubuntu 20.04). It is never automatically mounted back like all tutorials say.

Anyway, i unplug and plug it back in. I start thonny and type a simple program to test if my pico is working:

import machine
import utime

led_pin = machine.Pin(25, machine.Pin.OUT)

while True:
    led_pin.value(1)
    utime.sleep(3)
    led_pin.value(0)
    utime.sleep(3)

When i hit Run, it opens up a window in order to save the file somewhere. I select the external storage (that is pico). Note that it doesn't explicitly ask me whether i want to save the file to the computer or the pico - like all the tutorials i watched.

I save the file as blink.py, hit Run and i get an error that:

>>> %Run blink.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/media/user1/RPI-RP2/blink.py", line 1, in <module>
    import machine
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'machine'

I am not sure i understand what is going on, or if i am doing something wrong...

Answer 1

OK, i found the solution. I had installed thonny with:

sudo apt install thonny

This version does not support pico. Pico was not even in the list of the interpreters.

So i uninstalled it with: sudo apt remove thonny

I installed thonny with downloading this installer:

wget -O thonny-latest.sh https://thonny.org/installer-for-linux

Changed permissions with:

chmod +x thonny-latest.sh

And then the program was installed. I opened it. Then selected the pico interpreter from the Tools menu, and it even installed micropython on the pico itself.

Everything run smoothly.