CPython desktop

CPython uses the same displaydev interfaces and examples as embedded targets. The desktop board config is published by pydevices in the pydevices-desktop TestPyPI distribution.

Install

git clone https://github.com/PyDevices/pydevices-examples.git
cd pydevices-examples
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install --index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ \
  --extra-index-url https://pypi.org/simple/ -r requirements.txt
cd lib
../.venv/bin/python examples/pydevices_demo.py

AutoDisplay selects WinDisplay on supported Windows hosts, PGDisplay when pygame-ce is available, and otherwise SDLDisplay through usdl2.

Linux and WSL

Install SDL2 and venv support before the Python packages:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install libsdl2-dev python3-venv

Fedora uses SDL2-devel; macOS users can install sdl2 with Homebrew. Headless CI can set SDL_VIDEODRIVER=dummy and SDL_AUDIODRIVER=dummy.

Windows

Install Python from python.org and use the same two-index pip command with .venv\Scripts\python.exe. pygame-ce is generally the easiest window backend. WSL is also supported for the Linux workflow.

Editable source checkout

Clone pydevices beside pydevices-examples and put these canonical trees on PYTHONPATH:

cd pydevices-examples/lib
export PYTHONPATH=.:utils:../../pydevices/lib:../../pydevices/utils:../../pydevices/drivers/display:../../pydevices/drivers/audio
python3 examples/pydevices_demo.py

To select a specific host config, add the desired pydevices/board_configs/... directory before the other entries.

Config	Display
board_configs/desktop	AutoDisplay
board_configs/sdldisplay	SDLDisplay
board_configs/pgdisplay	PGDisplay
board_configs/windisplay	WinDisplay

Runtime and timers

The board config exports host input and timer_async preferences but no runtime. Non-LVGL examples instantiate optional eventsys through app_runtime; LVGL examples use display_driver.

multimer selects an appropriate host backend. It avoids mixing the SDL timer backend into pygame processes and falls back to threading or polling where needed. See multimer for the detailed matrix.

MicroPython and CircuitPython on Unix

Use the same source layout with MICROPYPATH and the desired interpreter. The desktop MIP board package supplies board_config.py and usdl2.py when a native usdl2 module is not frozen into the firmware.

Linux KMS

For Linux without X11/Wayland, install the board_configs/sdldisplay/linux_kms board config. It sets SDL_VIDEODRIVER=kmsdrm before SDL initializes. The host needs an SDL build with KMSDRM support, access to /dev/dri, and no competing DRM master.

Path	Selection	Use case
Normal desktop	X11/Wayland default	Desktop session
KMS	SDL_VIDEODRIVER=kmsdrm	Direct scanout without a window manager
Headless CI	SDL_VIDEODRIVER=dummy	Automated tests

Input

Mouse input maps to touch-style events. Keyboard, encoder, and joystick adapters use the same application-facing event model as embedded boards.