How to fix MicroPython 'ValueError: invalid I2C peripheral'

If you see the error message

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ValueError: invalid I2C peripheral

you are likely running code like this:

import machine

i2c = machine.I2C(machine.Pin(5), machine.Pin(4))

Solution

The MicroPython API has changed (source: forum). You need to use this syntax instead:

import machine

i2c = machine.I2C(-1, machine.Pin(5), machine.Pin(4))

-1 is the I2C ID that selects a specific peripheral. -1 selects a software I2C implementation which can work on most pins. See the MicroPython I2C class documentation for more details.