(16MB ESP32-S3 feather) web flasher seems to not be writing bootloader correctly

[ancipital]

What happened?

Using a 16MB ESP32-S3 feather, I can flash it with the https://install.wled.me/ - but then I seem to get a device that doesn't boot, so the AP never appears etc..

I tried manually flashing a bootloader after flashing with the web app, with:

esptool.exe write_flash 0x0 .\esp32_bootloader.bin

...using the esp32 bootloader that you provided in another issue thread. I also tried the "v4 bootloader", with identical results:

esptool.exe write_flash 0x0 .\esp32_bootloader_v4.bin

I am not very au fait with these devices, it's possible I had the wrong bootloader. Please speak up if that is the case!

I also tried flashing manually:

esptool.exe write_flash 0x10000 WLED_0.15.0-b3_ESP32-S3_16MB_opi.bin

I've tried adding either of the above bootloaders before or after flashing the main payload. I also erased before each "permutation", just in case, with:

esptool.exe erase_flash

No dice, whatever I tried. Observed behavior is that the serial port keeps coming and going, which is why I assume it's failing to boot with WLED on board. I'd love you to point out a neophyte mistake that I've made, if there is one. If there isn't, if there's a way I can help provide better info, please let me know.

It's worth noting that it works fine with ESPHome, flash and boots perfectly and joins the provisioned network ready to be adopted by Home Assistant. I was expecting that to be harder than setting up WLED :)

To Reproduce Bug

Flash 16MB ESP32-S3 feather with https://install.wled.me/ tool. Try to find AP without success.

Expected Behavior

ESP boots, and brings up an AP.

Install Method

Binary from WLED.me

What version of WLED?

WLED_0.15.0-b3 (and others, all behave the same)

Which microcontroller/board are you seeing the problem on?

ESP32-S3

Relevant log/trace output

No response

Anything else?

No response

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct

[dosipod]

@ancipital This might not be true for your particular board but i used this https://wled-install.github.io/ to flash initially ( there is also a post from softhack on the discord with esptool ) after that i used OTA to test other builds

[blazoncek]

Please open an issue at WLED installer repository.

[softhack007]

using the esp32 bootloader that you provided in another issue thread. I also tried the "v4 bootloader",

-S3 (and also -S2, -C3) need their own bootloader, they won't start with a bootloader for esp32.

[dosipod]

@softhack007 Hey , I recall the post(s) you did on discord for s3 ,s2 and C3 . Even if the installer works for some boards it might not works for others so as we see a lot of guys having issues like this we tried to get them to contact you on github , might be not worth opening an issue for flashing ( Other repos enabled discussion on github so might be that could help as closed issues is sometime missed ) .Otherwise I was thinking to retest again once we could get more boards as we have only lolin s3,s3 and c3 and might be repeat your post ( with your help) to again setup a package for each board ( Will cost us a lot if you have any please spare us )

[ancipital]

@ancipital This might not be true for your particular board but i used this https://wled-install.github.io/ to flash initially ( there is also a post from softhack on the discord with esptool ) after that i used OTA to test other builds

No it doesn't.

Thanks for the kind thought, but this is exactly why I haven't opened an issue on the wled installer repo (which looks pretty quiet). None of the installers, the "official" WLED flasher, https://wled-install.github.io/ or using ESPtool produce a working install, no matter which of the apparently relevant firmwares I use. This makes me suspect that it's a wider WLED issue, and that closing this is premature.

Worth noting, as above, that it works with the ESPhome installer, so the hardware is functional ("Chip is ESP32-S3 (QFN56) (revision v0.2)" according to esptool).

If there's a way to get @Aircoookie better information, happy to do so. Trying quite hard to avoid having to go lurk on yet another Discord. It's not really a longterm viable replacement for project docs and after a while you do hit Discord saturation :)

[blazoncek]

Using esptool produces working WLED installation. So not a WLED issue per se.

[softhack007]

Worth noting, as above, that it works with the ESPhome installer, so the hardware is functional ("Chip is ESP32-S3 (QFN56) (revision v0.2)" according to esptool).

Well this just tells us that ESPHome has a firmware that works with your device. Please keep in mind that support for -S3 (and -S2, -C3) is still experimental for WLED. Compared to last year, more -S3 devices are able to run WLED, but there are still some boards that won't boot.

@dosipod thanks, maybe I should take a bit of time and make a PR for our KB pages to explains how to use esptool for flash WLED to the "new" MCU's; as of today the KB description is only valid for "classic" esp32....

@ancipital I saw you've down-voted the proposal from blazoncek - However the WLED-WebInstaller would be the right place to report your problem. I can assure you that the repo is actively maintained. If you're curious, the latest information on our current understanding and research for flashing WLED to the newer board models is here:

• [WEB Installer] Lolin S3 mini loads but does't boot wled WLED-WebInstaller#22

For the WLED core, we focus on the aspect of source code, and when it runs on the devices we have at hand, then we're happy. Flashing WLED to lots of previously unknown devices is clearly the responsibility of installer projects like https://wled-install.github.io/ or https://install.wled.me/

To better understand why your board might be special, you could provide us with a few more pieces of information
a) output of esptool flash_id
b) debug output on the USB port: attach a USB cable to your board, and start a serial monitor tool.

[softhack007]

... and yes, you should enter our WLED discord.

WLED is developed by "a few good men", however we are all doing it in our free time and there are simply not enough people available to develop new features, fix bugs and maintain an exhaustive and up-to-date set of documents.

On discord we have a very active user community, and very likely you'll either find the answer to your problem by searching previous messages, or you can ask in one of the channels (however no double posting!), and an experienced user might have the time to share his ideas on your problem.