Unable to flash

[gravesjohnr]

G'Day.

I just received my ESP32-S3-BOX-3 device. As directed, I went to flash the latest software and followed the directions. From the ESP Launchpad, I was able to connect and start a flash. It went to about 45%, then stopped. I gave it about an hour, but nothing. I tried again, and it went to about 20% and stopped. I left it trying the rest of the night, but no luck.

This morning, I tried plugging it back in, but the "connect" shows it connecting and disconnecting over and over again. it won't let me connect so I can try the flash again. Is there a way to reset this device? What can I do to flash/boot?

Thanks.
-John

[ESP_Minatel]

Hi gravesjohnr,

Thanks for reaching us!
Could you please test using a new USB cable? Sometimes USB cables are not capable of providing the current needed.
Another thing you can try is to keep the BOOT button pressed, plug in the USB cable, and try to flash it again.

Thanks!

[gravesjohnr]

Thank you!

Swapping the cable didn't help the boot loop, but holding down the BOOT button did!. But I think a new cable helped with the flash.

I flashed the ESP-BOX-Lite_Demo_EN_V0.5.0.bin file, but the device isn't running. Did I pick the wrong file? The docs suggest to get the latest. Or should I be choosing one of the many options in the drop-down list?

Thanks.
-John

[gravesjohnr]

Ok. I think I was supposed to flash SP-BOX_Demo_EN_V0.5.0.bin. I tried on Windows, then on Linux. Both "finish", but the device doesn't boot.

---------------- Linux Log -----------------------
python3 -m esptool --chip esp32s3 write_flash 0x0 Downloads/ESP-BOX_Demo_EN_V0.5.0.bin

Serial port /dev/ttyACM0
Connecting...
Chip is ESP32-S3 (QFN56) (revision v0.2)
Features: WiFi, BLE, Unknown Embedded PSRAM (AP_1v8)
Crystal is 40MHz
MAC: 24:ec:4a:52:ba:1c
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Configuring flash size...
Flash will be erased from 0x00000000 to 0x00b7ffff...
Compressed 12057588 bytes to 6269421...
Wrote 12057588 bytes (6269421 compressed) at 0x00000000 in 68.2 seconds (effective 1414.8 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.

Leaving...
Hard resetting via RTS pin...

[ESP_Minatel]

Hi,

Can you try to flash using the Launchpad?

Please note that you have the ESP32-BOX-1, ESP32-BOX-3, and the ESP32-BOX-Lite. Make sure you are flashing the correct version.

[gravesjohnr]

Thanks for the reply.

I've tried via launchpad as well. No errors, but it still doesn't boot.

As mentioned, it is the ESP32-S3-BOX-3 device. As I understand it I should be flashing this:
https://github.com/espressif/esp-box/re ... V0.5.0.bin

-John

[ESP_Minatel]

Hi,

This is the wrong bin file for the ESP32-S3-BOX-3.

Try to flash this bin file at the address 0x0. This is a merged bin file for factory test. It should work for you.
After flashing, you need to reset the device.

For the demo, try the factory_demo-ESP-BOX-3-1_2_4 on the Launchpad.

Thanks.

[gravesjohnr]

Thank you!

It really wasn't clear what to flash. It is back to factory now. I just have to figure out how to setup with HomeAssistant now. Thanks!

-John