The Root Cause
This issue is attributed to Arduino IDE Boards Manager not cleaning up previous package installation before a new one is applied. As this is not done, then it is user responsibility to remove previous package before applying a new one.
To prevent it from happening, if you are changing between
staging and
stable, first press
Remove button to delete currently used installation.
There is no need to remove the installed package if you are changing it to another version (without switching between staging and stable).
Depending on selected module the error message is slightly different. For instance, if you choose
Generic ESP8266 Module, it will look as follows:
Board generic (platform esp8266, package esp8266) is unknown Error compiling for board Generic ESP8266 Module.
Below is an example messages for WeMos:
.
If the issue already happens, then uninstalling and re-installing the package with
Boards Manager typically will not fix it.
Uninstalling and re-installing the Arduino IDE will not fix it as well.
Well, OK, fine. You will be able to fix it with Boards Manager. To do so, you need to carefully go step by step through the effort of removing new and then the old package. Once done you can install again the new package. Did I mention that in between you need to change twice
JOSN in
Additional Boards Manager URLs?
Fortunately there is a quicker and more effective fix. See below.
How to Fix it?
Issue resolution is as simple as deleting a folder with older esp8266 / Arduino installation.
Procedure is identical on Windows, Linux and Mac OS. The only difference is folder path. For instance, on Mac, it will be /Users/$USER/Library/Arduino15/packages/esp8266/hardware/esp8266. Example below shows the path for Windows.
- Check location of installation folder by going to File > Preferences (Ctrl+,). The folder location is at the very bottom of the Preferences window.
- Click provided link to open the folder. For Windows 7 it will look as follows:
- Navigate further down to Arduino15\packages\esp8266\hardware\esp8266 directory. Inside you will find two folders with different esp8266 / Arduino package installations.
- Delete the older folder. Restart Arduino IDE, select your ESP module and the error should be gone.
Note: If you are not sure which folder to delete, then remove both of them. Restart Arduino IDE, go to
Tools > Board: > Boards Manager and install the esp8266 / Arduino package again. Select ESP8266 module and the issue should be resolved.
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