diff --git a/bootloaders/eboot/eboot.c b/bootloaders/eboot/eboot.c
index f53d3c912..69bc692e9 100644
--- a/bootloaders/eboot/eboot.c
+++ b/bootloaders/eboot/eboot.c
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
+#include <string.h>
 #include "flash.h"
 #include "eboot_command.h"
 
@@ -17,6 +18,20 @@
 extern void ets_wdt_enable(void);
 extern void ets_wdt_disable(void);
 
+int print_version(const uint32_t flash_addr)
+{
+    uint32_t ver;
+    if (SPIRead(flash_addr + APP_START_OFFSET + sizeof(image_header_t) + sizeof(section_header_t), &ver, sizeof(ver))) {
+        return 1;
+    }
+    const char* __attribute__ ((aligned (4))) fmtt = "v%08x\n\0\0";
+    uint32_t fmt[2];
+    fmt[0] = ((uint32_t*) fmtt)[0];
+    fmt[1] = ((uint32_t*) fmtt)[1];
+    ets_printf((const char*) fmt, ver);
+    return 0;
+}
+
 int load_app_from_flash_raw(const uint32_t flash_addr)
 {
     image_header_t image_header;
@@ -114,6 +129,8 @@ void main()
 {
     int res = 9;
     struct eboot_command cmd;
+    
+    print_version(0);
 
     if (eboot_command_read(&cmd) == 0) {
         // valid command was passed via RTC_MEM
diff --git a/bootloaders/eboot/eboot.elf b/bootloaders/eboot/eboot.elf
index aa61b97f0..1ccbe25fc 100755
Binary files a/bootloaders/eboot/eboot.elf and b/bootloaders/eboot/eboot.elf differ
diff --git a/cores/esp8266/Esp.cpp b/cores/esp8266/Esp.cpp
index 0ea0fef1d..cd0786a08 100644
--- a/cores/esp8266/Esp.cpp
+++ b/cores/esp8266/Esp.cpp
@@ -158,6 +158,19 @@ uint32_t EspClass::getChipId(void)
     return system_get_chip_id();
 }
 
+extern "C" uint32_t core_version;
+extern "C" const char* core_release;
+
+String EspClass::getCoreVersion()
+{
+    if (core_release != NULL) {
+        return String(core_release);
+    }
+    char buf[12];
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%08x", core_version);
+    return String(buf);
+}
+
 const char * EspClass::getSdkVersion(void)
 {
     return system_get_sdk_version();
diff --git a/cores/esp8266/Esp.h b/cores/esp8266/Esp.h
index 83f4b1b73..c506a525f 100644
--- a/cores/esp8266/Esp.h
+++ b/cores/esp8266/Esp.h
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ class EspClass {
         uint32_t getChipId();
 
         const char * getSdkVersion();
+        String getCoreVersion();
 
         uint8_t getBootVersion();
         uint8_t getBootMode();
diff --git a/cores/esp8266/core_esp8266_main.cpp b/cores/esp8266/core_esp8266_main.cpp
index f63fe24f5..634eb7902 100644
--- a/cores/esp8266/core_esp8266_main.cpp
+++ b/cores/esp8266/core_esp8266_main.cpp
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ extern "C" {
 #include "user_interface.h"
 #include "cont.h"
 }
+#include <core_version.h>
+
 #define LOOP_TASK_PRIORITY 1
 #define LOOP_QUEUE_SIZE    1
 
@@ -38,6 +40,16 @@ extern "C" {
 
 struct rst_info resetInfo;
 
+extern "C" {
+extern const uint32_t __attribute__((section(".ver_number"))) core_version = ARDUINO_ESP8266_GIT_VER;
+const char* core_release = 
+#ifdef ARDUINO_ESP8266_RELEASE
+    ARDUINO_ESP8266_RELEASE;
+#else
+    NULL;
+#endif
+} // extern "C"
+
 int atexit(void (*func)()) {
     return 0;
 }
@@ -134,6 +146,7 @@ void init_done() {
     system_set_os_print(1);
     gdb_init();
     do_global_ctors();
+    printf("\n%08x\n", core_version);
     esp_schedule();
 }
 
diff --git a/cores/esp8266/core_version.h b/cores/esp8266/core_version.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..09e384c1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cores/esp8266/core_version.h
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#define ARDUINO_ESP8266_GIT_VER 0x00000000
+
+// ARDUINO_ESP8266_RELEASE is defined for released versions as a string containing the version name, i.e. "2_3_0_RC1"
+// ARDUINO_ESP8266_RELEASE is used in the core internally. Please use ESP.getCoreVersion() function instead.
+
+// ARDUINO_ESP8266_RELEASE_<version number> are defined for releases, for use in #ifdef... constructs
diff --git a/package/build_boards_manager_package.sh b/package/build_boards_manager_package.sh
index f713b1c69..8859603d8 100755
--- a/package/build_boards_manager_package.sh
+++ b/package/build_boards_manager_package.sh
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ rm exclude.txt
 
 # Get additional libraries (TODO: add them as git submodule or subtree?)
 
-# SoftwareSerial version 2.2
-wget -q -O SoftwareSerial.zip https://github.com/plerup/espsoftwareserial/archive/097712eb07f5b3a70ef419b6e7a7ed2ada5aab85.zip
+# SoftwareSerial library
+wget -q -O SoftwareSerial.zip https://github.com/plerup/espsoftwareserial/archive/3.1.0.zip
 unzip -q SoftwareSerial.zip
 rm -rf SoftwareSerial.zip
 mv espsoftwareserial-* SoftwareSerial
@@ -66,9 +66,17 @@ cat $srcdir/platform.txt | \
 $SED 's/runtime.tools.xtensa-lx106-elf-gcc.path={runtime.platform.path}\/tools\/xtensa-lx106-elf//g' | \
 $SED 's/runtime.tools.esptool.path={runtime.platform.path}\/tools\/esptool//g' | \
 $SED 's/tools.esptool.path={runtime.platform.path}\/tools\/esptool/tools.esptool.path=\{runtime.tools.esptool.path\}/g' | \
-$SED 's/tools.mkspiffs.path={runtime.platform.path}\/tools\/mkspiffs/tools.mkspiffs.path=\{runtime.tools.mkspiffs.path\}/g' \
+$SED 's/tools.mkspiffs.path={runtime.platform.path}\/tools\/mkspiffs/tools.mkspiffs.path=\{runtime.tools.mkspiffs.path\}/g' |\
+$SED 's/recipe.hooks.core.prebuild.1.pattern.*//g' \
  > $outdir/platform.txt
 
+# Put core version and short hash of git version into core_version.h
+ver_define=`echo $ver | tr "[:lower:].-" "[:upper:]_"`
+echo Ver define: $ver_define
+echo \#define ARDUINO_ESP8266_GIT_VER 0x`git rev-parse --short=8 HEAD 2>/dev/null` >$outdir/cores/esp8266/core_version.h
+echo \#define ARDUINO_ESP8266_RELEASE_$ver_define >>$outdir/cores/esp8266/core_version.h
+echo \#define ARDUINO_ESP8266_RELEASE \"$ver_define\" >>$outdir/cores/esp8266/core_version.h
+
 # Zip the package
 pushd package/versions/$ver
 echo "Making $package_name.zip"
diff --git a/platform.txt b/platform.txt
index d1bce473a..209a4c8c3 100644
--- a/platform.txt
+++ b/platform.txt
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ build.lwip_flags=-DLWIP_OPEN_SRC
 
 compiler.path={runtime.tools.xtensa-lx106-elf-gcc.path}/bin/
 compiler.sdk.path={runtime.platform.path}/tools/sdk
-compiler.cpreprocessor.flags=-D__ets__ -DICACHE_FLASH -U__STRICT_ANSI__ "-I{compiler.sdk.path}/include" "-I{compiler.sdk.path}/lwip/include"
+compiler.cpreprocessor.flags=-D__ets__ -DICACHE_FLASH -U__STRICT_ANSI__ "-I{compiler.sdk.path}/include" "-I{compiler.sdk.path}/lwip/include" "-I{build.path}/core"
 
 compiler.c.cmd=xtensa-lx106-elf-gcc
 compiler.c.flags=-c {compiler.warning_flags} -Os -g -Wpointer-arith -Wno-implicit-function-declaration -Wl,-EL -fno-inline-functions -nostdlib -mlongcalls -mtext-section-literals -falign-functions=4 -MMD -std=gnu99 -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections
@@ -63,6 +63,12 @@ compiler.ar.extra_flags=
 compiler.objcopy.eep.extra_flags=
 compiler.elf2hex.extra_flags=
 
+## generate file with git version number
+## needs bash, git, and echo
+recipe.hooks.core.prebuild.1.pattern=bash -c "mkdir -p {build.path}/core && echo \#define ARDUINO_ESP8266_GIT_VER 0x`git --git-dir {runtime.platform.path}/.git rev-parse --short=8 HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo ffffffff` >{build.path}/core/core_version.h"
+## windows-compatible version may be added later
+recipe.hooks.core.prebuild.1.pattern.windows=
+
 ## Compile c files
 recipe.c.o.pattern="{compiler.path}{compiler.c.cmd}" {compiler.cpreprocessor.flags} {compiler.c.flags} -DF_CPU={build.f_cpu} {build.lwip_flags} {build.debug_port} {build.debug_level} -DARDUINO={runtime.ide.version} -DARDUINO_{build.board} -DARDUINO_ARCH_{build.arch} -DARDUINO_BOARD="{build.board}" {compiler.c.extra_flags} {build.extra_flags} {includes} "{source_file}" -o "{object_file}"
 
diff --git a/tools/sdk/ld/eagle.app.v6.common.ld b/tools/sdk/ld/eagle.app.v6.common.ld
index 90d9fc18c..ac03c8987 100644
--- a/tools/sdk/ld/eagle.app.v6.common.ld
+++ b/tools/sdk/ld/eagle.app.v6.common.ld
@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@ SECTIONS
   .irom0.text : ALIGN(4)
   {
     _irom0_text_start = ABSOLUTE(.);
+    *(.ver_number)
     *.c.o( EXCLUDE_FILE (umm_malloc.c.o) .literal*, \
            EXCLUDE_FILE (umm_malloc.c.o) .text*)
     *.cpp.o(.literal*, .text*)