[Bug Report] Issue with ESP-IDF Installation (EIM-527)

[JordanMajd]

System Information

• OS info: OS: Windows 11 (26200) | Architecture: x86_64 | Kernel: 26200
• App Version: 0.8.0

Description

Please describe the issue you encountered:

I shouldn't have to reinstall a whole new environment if I already have a working environment

• I installed everything using esp-idf-tools-setup-online-2.4.1.exe
• When selecting "Configure extension" in vscode it there is no way to point to the existing install and local dependencies

UPDATE:

I was able to get it to kind of run by setting idf.currentSetup in .vscode/settings.json

{
  "idf.currentSetup": "C:/Espressif/frameworks/esp-idf-v5.5.3/"
}

And now it seems to work kind of but then it fails

ERROR: tool riscv32-esp-elf-gdb has no installed versions. Please run 'C:\Espressif\python_env\idf5.5_py3.11_env\Scripts\python.exe C:\Espressif\frameworks\esp-idf-v5.5.3\tools\idf_tools.py install' to install it.
Command failed: C:/Espressif/python_env/idf5.5_py3.11_env/Scripts/python.exe C:\Espressif\frameworks\esp-idf-v5.5.3\tools\idf_tools.py export --format key-value
ERROR: tool riscv32-esp-elf-gdb has no installed versions. Please run 'C:\Espressif\python_env\idf5.5_py3.11_env\Scripts\python.exe C:\Espressif\frameworks\esp-idf-v5.5.3\tools\idf_tools.py install' to install it.

When I run the command C:\Espressif\frameworks\esp-idf-v5.5.3\tools\idf_tools.py install nothing changes. If I realod the IDE everything errors again with the same issue

UPDATE 2:

I was able to run the command from the esp powershell python C:\Espressif\frameworks\esp-idf-v5.5.3\tools\idf_tools.py install and now it seems like it is working.

It's kind of frustrating that the documentation doesn't really tell you what to do at all and you have to do a bunch of undocumented things to get anything to run at all

None of the vscode commands work out of box

• ESP-IDF: Open ESP-IDF Installation Manager
• ESP-IDF: Select Current Verison
• ESP-IDF: Welcome

You have to click on the "activating extensions..." in the bottom bar to get a notification popup to select configure IDE then nothing in the configure actually works and you have to create a settings file and set the installation. Then you have to open a prompt and run a python command command and then everything works

Actual Behavior

Logs

Please attach logs from the app logs folder.

Additional Information

[Fabricio-ESP]

Hi @JordanMajd , thank you for your message.
Currently the feature to import an existing IDF installation into ESP-IDF Installation Manager is not implemented.
If you had installed ESP-IDF int he past with a previous installation tool and had imported that in the past into VSCode using the previous ESP-IDF extension (release 1.x), the ESP-IDF installation would have been saved into VSCode and it would be available for you after the upgrade to the latest extension version.

The scenario you described is that you are using an older installation method and attempting to import on the new ES-IDF VSCode extension that makes use of the ESP-IDF Installation Manager as the mechanism for ESP-IDF installation.

Your use case is quite peculiar on that sense.

If using VSCode, for future ESP-IDF installations please use the Installation Manager and the framework will be automatically available in VSCode without the need to create any file or perform any manual step.

You also mentioned that the command ESP-IDF: Open ESP-IDF Installation Manager didn't work out of the box in your system, can you elaborate on that so we can try to understand where the issue could be located? When using that command you should see a dropdown menu to select the source to download EIM for you system. In case the ESP-IDF Installation Manager is already installed it wold be automatically launched by the VSCode extension.

Regards,
Fabricio

[JordanMajd]

Hey, I'd like to clarify that the only reason I tried doing things the way I did was because the extension doesn't work in the first place and that I had no previous installations

With nothing having ever been installed in the past:

1. Open up VS Code
2. Install ESP-IDF extension
3. Press F1 select ESP-IDF: Open ESP-IDF Installation Manager nothing happens
4. Press F1 select ESP-IDF: Select Current Verison nothing happens
5. Press F1 select ESP-IDF: Welcome nothing happens
6. Restart VS code, extension asks if it wants to activate even though I'm not in a project

• Select "yes" and repeat selecting options, nothing happens
• Select "no" and repeat selecting options, nothing happens

The only way I could get anything to work:

1. Install ESP-IDF extension
2. Restart vs code and select yes to activate extension even though I'm not in a project
3. bottom status bar clicking "Activating Extensions...", which produces a handful of notifications that almost instantly vanish
4. clicking notification bell icon in bottom right bar
5. Selecting the notification that says you need to configure the extension which opens the welcome page for the extension
6. Selecting configure on the welcome page
7. In the new menu selecting install but then it fails because it can't bundle / install local dependencies like esp-idf-tools-setup-online-2.4.1.exe does

So that's why I used esp-idf-tools-setup-online-2.4.1.exe

[Fabricio-ESP]

Hi again @JordanMajd,
It is clear, taking note that esp-idf-tools-setup-online-2.4.1.exe is an obsolete installation process, to support it inside the extension would require some manual approach. There is a concern that the tools configuration and python environment may not be fully operational since you have used a couple of manual steps.

Since you are already able to launch the Installation Manager, I would recommend you to reinstall the desired ESP-IDF version and use the new installation in VSCode, so you have a controlled installation environment. Once you complete the installation, the version will show in the drop down menu after running the Select Current Version command.

The issue that we need to address in the extension is not being able to launch EIM from there. I can see you are already able to launch and run the installation manager, if you close the application, and use the command in VSCode to Open ESP-IDF Installation Manager, does it open the application, or still it is not able to execute it?

This is then an issue we need to track here: https://github.com/espressif/vscode-esp-idf-extension/issues
It would be great if you could share the results of the Doctor Command in the issue so we can try to reproduce what you are seeing and identify the root cause for this command not working.

Thanks again,
Fabricio

[JordanMajd]

It seems like it linked all the issues instead of a specific one, which doctor command should I run?

[kotyara12]

It seems like it linked all the issues instead of a specific one, which doctor command should I run?

To use the old ESP-IDF installer you're using, you need to use a VSCode plugin version LOWER than 2.0 (e.g. 1.6.5).

If you use EIM (the new installation method), you'll be forced to use version 2.0 or higher of the plugin.

In this sense, the EIM developers really screwed us all over. I had to uninstall all previously installed versions and reinstall them. Some versions are completely lost because the new EIM doesn't support them.

[amaschas]

Just to note here, I am having this same problem and have no real desire to use the installation manager. I'd like to use a git-controlled version of esp-idf, and point the extension to that codebase. This always worked in the past, and command to perform that action exists, but seemingly does nothing. Can we please restore the ability to point the extension at an esp-idf codebase of our choosing?

[Fabricio-ESP]

It seems like it linked all the issues instead of a specific one, which doctor command should I run?

Hi @JordanMajd , I apologize for the lack of details, please create a ticket in the VSCode extension repository page to track the issues with the extension itself. The ESP-IDF extension on VSCode there a command called ËSP-IDF: Doctor Command" That generates a report text file with information about your environment and error logs. That will help us investigate why you are not able to run EIM from the extension directly.

[Fabricio-ESP]

Just to note here, I am having this same problem and have no real desire to use the installation manager. I'd like to use a git-controlled version of esp-idf, and point the extension to that codebase. This always worked in the past, and command to perform that action exists, but seemingly does nothing. Can we please restore the ability to point the extension at an esp-idf codebase of our choosing?

Hi @amaschas , when running the ESP-IDF Installation Manager, use custom installation, and on the step to select the installation path, enter the path to your git folder where IDF is cloned. The installer will use your git controlled version and will only install the required tools and python virtual environment as specified in the IDF installation.
This can also be done using CLI interface with the -p parameter for the installation path. Over CLI it is also possible to control the path for the tools installation. Please refer to the documentation for the CLI parameters at https://docs.espressif.com/projects/idf-im-ui/en/latest/cli_commands.html

[Fabricio-ESP]

@kotyara12 , @JordanMajd

It is important to highlight that for users that had ESP-IDF installed in their system using other method than the ESP-IDF Installation Manager AND had imported that into VSCode when it was running a previous version of the extension, will still be able to use the ESP-IDF installation. The VSCode extension release 2.0 and higher will still identify ESP-IDF version that had already being saved into the extension.
For any new installation of ESP-IDF into the machine it is required to use EIM as it is no longer possible to import new installations into VSCode extension.

Regards,
Fabricio

[kotyara12]

It is important to highlight that for users that had ESP-IDF installed in their system using other method than the ESP-IDF Installation Manager AND had imported that into VSCode when it was running a previous version of the extension, will still be able to use the ESP-IDF installation. The VSCode extension release 2.0 and higher will still identify ESP-IDF version that had already being saved into the extension.

It is important to emphasize that, ALAS, this is not the case at all. I came across the fact that the updated VSCode plugin suddenly stopped seeing all previously installed ESP-IDF. That's how I found out about EIM.

[Fabricio-ESP]

@kotyara12 sorry to hear that. Could you please log a ticket in the vscode extension repo, so we can track this issue there.

The extension should be able to "see" all ESP-IDF version that were already configured in the extension.
Also, if you open a project created with the previous ESP-IDF install location (project previous edited with the vscode extension) it should be able to pull up the IDF installation based on the project settings.

We have tested several scenarios, with different project structures, you may be using a setup differently than what we expected, collecting information will help us fix the issue you saw and improve our tests.

[kotyara12]

We have tested several scenarios, with different project structures, you may be using a setup differently than what we expected, collecting information will help us fix the issue you saw and improve our tests.

Unfortunately, I have already deleted all the old versions that were installed earlier. In an attempt to make the assembly work somehow. I tried to install esp-idf using the old installer again, but it didn't give any result. And I deleted everything again. There are currently only two versions on the computer that were created using eim.

Apparently, I tried to reinstall esp-idf too much in different ways and the system no longer understands what to do.