# Raspberry Pi Pico & Code-OSS on Archlinux - A Comprehensive Guide

I got really annoyed trying to figure out how to use the pico with vscode on arch, and I'm sure others are as well. Here's everything I did to get it working. I'll definitely forget all this so it def needed to be written down.

## System Packages

```bash
sudo pacman -Syu --noconfirm git cmake gcc arm-none-eabi-gcc arm-none-eabi-gdb automake autoconf base-devel texinfo libtool libftdi libusb code minicom
```

For some reason, I needed to import the Maintainer's gpg key.

```bash
gpg --recv-keys 92EDB04BFF325CF3
```

```bash
cd ~/Downloads && git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/gdb-multiarch.git &&  cd gdb-multiarch && makepkg -sri && cd .. && rm -rf gdb-multiarch
```

## SDK install

```bash
cd ~/Development/Libs && git clone https://github.com/raspberrypi/pico-sdk.git
```

```bash
cd ~/Development/Libs/pico-sdk && git reset --hard origin/master && git submodule update --init && mkdir build && cd build && cmake .. && chmod -R 755 ~/Development/Libs/pico-sdk
```

build it, change 16 to however many cores you want to allow the compiler to use.

```bash
make -j16
```

## Environment Variables

```bash
export PICO_SDK_PATH=/home/nathan/Development/Libs/pico-sdk
```

check the variable is set

```bash
printenv | grep PICO
```

make it persistent

```bash
nano ~/.zshrc
```

add `export PICO_SDK_PATH=/home/nathan/Development/pico-sdk`

then source it

```bash
. ~/.zshrc
```

**if you screw up**, unset the variable and restart this process.

```bash
unset PICO_SDK_PATH
```

## VSCode

**Extensions:**

```bash
    code --install-extension marus25.cortex-debug &&
    code --install-extension ms-vscode.cmake-tools &&
    code --install-extension ms-vscode.cpptools
```

open vscode

1. Click the **Extensions** button
    
2. Select **"CMake Tools"** under installed
    
3. Click the gear icon then **"Extension Settings"**
    
4. ![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1678037344410/fa67833e-7b91-443b-870c-1b4e601b2b5a.png align="center")
    
    Scroll down to find "**Cmake: Generator"**
    
5. Paste in “**Unix Makefiles**”
    
    ![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1678037578965/1825a9ce-2f98-46ec-997d-978822305d8e.png align="center")
    
6. Open a blank folder and create a file "**main.c**"
    
    ```c
    #include <stdio.h>
    #include "pico/stdlib.h"
    
    int main() {
    
        const uint led_pin = 25;
    
        // Initialize LED pin
        gpio_init(led_pin);
        gpio_set_dir(led_pin, GPIO_OUT);
    
        // Initialize chosen serial port
        stdio_init_all();
    
        // Loop forever
        while (true) {
    
            // Blink LED
            printf("Blinking!\r\n");
            gpio_put(led_pin, true);
            sleep_ms(1000);
            gpio_put(led_pin, false);
            sleep_ms(1000);
        }
    }
    ```
    
7. create a file "**CMakeLists.txt**"
    
    ```c
    # Set minimum required version of CMake
    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.12)
    
    # Include build functions from Pico SDK
    include($ENV{PICO_SDK_PATH}/external/pico_sdk_import.cmake)
    
    # Set name of project (as PROJECT_NAME) and C/C++ standards
    project(blink C CXX ASM)
    set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 11)
    set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
    
    # Creates a pico-sdk subdirectory in our project for the libraries
    pico_sdk_init()
    
    # Tell CMake where to find the executable source file
    add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} 
        main.c
    )
    
    # Create map/bin/hex/uf2 files
    pico_add_extra_outputs(${PROJECT_NAME})
    
    # Link to pico_stdlib (gpio, time, etc. functions)
    target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} 
        pico_stdlib
    )
    
    # Enable usb output, disable uart output
    pico_enable_stdio_usb(${PROJECT_NAME} 1)
    pico_enable_stdio_uart(${PROJECT_NAME} 0)
    ```
    
8. restart vscode
    
    \*Note: #include will be squiggled until you build the project. You do not need to add any additional includes in the C/C++ or CMake tools.
    
9. there will be a popup at the bottom right hand side when you reopen the project, click yes, then "**Scan for Kits**".
    
    ![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1678038280158/4a0aeaac-0445-4b5b-91ea-17b9563a3cd9.png align="center")
    
10. At the bottom of VS Code, you should see a blue status bar. At the bottom left, click "**No active kit"** then "**GCC arm-none-eabi".**
    
11. Click "**Cmake: \[Debug\]: Ready"** next to that, and select "**Debug"** This should run CMake and create a *build* directory in your project folder.
    
12. Click "**Build**" in the same status bar. This will call *make* to build your project. You should see new, compiled binaries appear in the *build* folder
    

## cmake arguments

If you want to specify cmake options, like selecting a board:

1. Click the **Extensions** button
    
2. Select **"CMake Tools"** under installed
    
3. Click the gear icon then **"Extension Settings"**
    
4. Scroll down to "**Cmake: Configure Args"** and add your arguments there.
    
    ![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1678039808575/e5dd07e5-16f4-44fc-b7e8-bbaeb1626733.png align="center")
    
    ```bash
    -DPICO_BOARD=pico_w
    ```
    
5. Click press build as done before.
    

## Install additional libraries using **pico-arduino-compat**

```bash
cd ~/Development/Libs
```

```bash
git clone https://github.com/fhdm-dev/pico-arduino-compat.git && cd pico-arduino-compat && git submodule update --init arduino-compat/arduino-pico
```

You'll need the exact library name for the Arduino library that you're planning to use.

I suggest the arduino app or cli.

[`This guide kinda works`](https://www.hackster.io/fhdm-dev/use-arduino-libraries-with-the-rasperry-pi-pico-c-c-sdk-eff55c)