Waveshare ESP32-S3-ETH support

[stanelie]

How do I go about having CircuitPython work on this device?

Wanting to do some ethernet to ESPnow, I got myself a Waveshare ESP32-S3-ETH, a ESP32-S3 device with a W5500 WIZnet ethernet port. I only now realize that this board is not supported by CircuitPython. I've tried to install a few of the ESP32-S3 builds for other devices on it, without luck.

Here is the wiki link for it : https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/ESP32-S3-ETH
Schematic : https://files.waveshare.com/wiki/ESP32-S3-ETH/ESP32-S3-ETH-Schematic.pdf

According to the schematic, the W5500 ethernet device is a SPI device connected to the following ports :

GP9 : RST
GP10 : INT
GP11 : MOSI
GP12 : MISO
GP13 : SCLK
GP14: SCSn

[dhalbert]

If you're interested in trying this, see
https://learn.adafruit.com/how-to-add-a-new-board-to-circuitpython
and for general background on doing builds:
https://learn.adafruit.com/building-circuitpython

The easiest thing would be to copy an existing W5500-capable board and modify as needed.

[stanelie]

There are a few boards with a W5500 interface, but they are RP2040 based. Would that work?
Do you think I have enough info with the wiki page from waveshare to attempt this? I'm just a simple user, not a dev...

[bablokb]

You will actually have to merge a suitable ESP32-S3 board definition with a W5500 board-definition. You need the basic setup including source-code position below ports/espressif/boards from the first and the SPI-definitions (adapted for your pins) from the second.

[stanelie]

I will require some hand holding...
Trying to setup the build environment on Ubuntu 22.04, I run into this issue : on the page https://learn.adafruit.com/building-circuitpython/espressif-build , it says to

cd circuitpython/ports/espressif
esp-idf/install.sh

However, the install.sh script is missing...
Thoughts?

[bablokb]

I always recommend to use the instructions from .devcontainer/Readme.md. This creates a complete dev-environment in the cloud automatically and you don't have to mess with installing everything yourself.

[stanelie]

Ok, I did that.
I am now encountering some errors trying to compile for a device I own (so I can test the setup is working correctly). How do I go from here? Should I continue in this thread or elsewhere?

-- Found assembler: xtensa-esp32s3-elf-gcc
CMake Error at esp-idf/tools/cmake/project.cmake:564 (__project):
  The CMAKE_C_COMPILER:

    xtensa-esp32s3-elf-gcc

  is not a full path and was not found in the PATH.

  Tell CMake where to find the compiler by setting either the environment
  variable "CC" or the CMake cache entry CMAKE_C_COMPILER to the full path to
  the compiler, or to the compiler name if it is in the PATH.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  CMakeLists.txt:12 (project)


CMake Error at esp-idf/tools/cmake/project.cmake:564 (__project):
  The CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER:

    xtensa-esp32s3-elf-g++

  is not a full path and was not found in the PATH.

  Tell CMake where to find the compiler by setting either the environment
  variable "CXX" or the CMake cache entry CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER to the full path
  to the compiler, or to the compiler name if it is in the PATH.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  CMakeLists.txt:12 (project)


CMake Error at esp-idf/tools/cmake/project.cmake:564 (__project):
  The CMAKE_ASM_COMPILER:

    xtensa-esp32s3-elf-gcc

  is not a full path and was not found in the PATH.

  Tell CMake where to find the compiler by setting either the environment
  variable "ASM" or the CMake cache entry CMAKE_ASM_COMPILER to the full path
  to the compiler, or to the compiler name if it is in the PATH.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  CMakeLists.txt:12 (project)


-- Warning: Did not find file Compiler/-ASM
-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
make: *** [Makefile:555: build-waveshare_esp32_s3_zero/esp-idf/config/sdkconfig.h] Error 1
@stanelie ➜ /workspaces/circuitpython/ports/espressif (main) $ 

[stanelie]

found the missing compiler and added it to the path with
export PATH=/home/codespace/.espressif/tools/xtensa-esp-elf/esp-13.2.0_20240530/xtensa-esp-elf/bin:$PATH
Now, I get a new error :

CMake Error at esp-idf/tools/cmake/build.cmake:552 (message):
  /home/codespace/.python/current/bin/python: Error while finding module
  specification for 'idf_component_manager.prepare_components'
  (ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'idf_component_manager')

[jepler]

The commands are added o the path when you "source" the "export.sh" script" (from the espressif specific page of the guide linked above):

After this, in each fresh terminal window in which you are doing builds, you need to use esp-idf/export.sh in order to set up the correct PATH and other environment variables.
Note that export.sh sets up a Python venv (virtual environment). If you are already using a venv, maybe because you're using a recent Debian or Ubuntu version of Linux, you'll need to deactivate that venv before running export.sh. Otherwise you will get an error that you can't create venv inside another venv.

# Do this in each new terminal.
cd circuitpython/ports/espressif
source esp-idf/export.sh

note that you have to also install circuitpython's requirements into the virtual environment that export.sh uses, a step that appears to be missed in that document. (I submitted a feedback note about it)

[bablokb]

Ok, I did that.

I am not sure. If you follow the instructions verbatim, you won't have any problems with missing compilers, environments and so on. It is just a number of clicks and then you are ready to build your board.