Parallel ESP32 Flash Station

A parallel ESP32 firmware flashing and QA tool for Linux/Raspberry Pi with automatic device detection and GUI dashboard.

Features

• Parallel Flashing: Flash multiple ESP32 devices simultaneously
• Auto-Detection: Automatic USB device hotplug detection
• GUI Dashboard: Real-time status display with progress tracking
• CLI Support: Full command-line interface for headless operation
• Metrics & Logging: SQLite database tracking with CSV export
• Cross-Platform: Works on Linux, macOS, and Raspberry Pi

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐
│  PyQt6 GUI      │  Optional graphical interface
├─────────────────┤
│  Flash Daemon   │  Core flashing engine
├─────────────────┤
│  Device Manager │  USB hotplug detection (pyudev/polling)
├─────────────────┤
│  esptool.py     │  ESP32 flashing tool
└─────────────────┘

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10 or higher
• esptool.py (installed automatically via requirements)
• For GUI: PyQt6
• For Linux hotplug: pyudev (optional, falls back to polling)

Setup

# Clone or navigate to project directory
cd parallel_flash_esp32

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Make daemon executable
chmod +x flashd.py

Raspberry Pi Setup

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3-pip python3-venv
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Configuration

Edit config.yaml to customize settings:

baud_rate: 921600          # Flash baud rate
chip: esp32                # Target chip type
flash_offset: 0x1000       # Flash memory offset
firmware_path: static/firmware/firmware.bin
verify: true               # Verify after flashing
max_workers: 10            # Max parallel operations
mqtt:
  enabled: false           # MQTT reporting (future)
  broker: localhost
  topic: zflash/results

Usage

GUI Mode

./flashd.py gui

Features:

• 🔄 Refresh Devices - Scan for connected ESP32 devices
• ⚡ Flash All - Flash all connected devices in parallel
• 🛑 Stop All - Cancel all ongoing operations
• 📁 Select Firmware - Choose firmware binary to flash
• 🔢 Reset Stats - Clear flash history statistics

Click any device card to flash it individually.

CLI Mode

List connected devices:

./flashd.py list

Flash all devices:

./flashd.py flash

Flash specific device:

./flashd.py flash --port /dev/ttyUSB0

Use custom firmware:

./flashd.py flash --firmware /path/to/firmware.bin

Monitor mode (auto-flash on connect):

./flashd.py monitor

View statistics:

./flashd.py stats

Directory Structure

parallel_flash_esp32/
├── flashd.py              # Main daemon entry point
├── config.yaml            # Configuration file
├── requirements.txt       # Python dependencies
├── core/                  # Core modules
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── config.py          # Configuration management
│   ├── flasher.py         # esptool wrapper
│   ├── device_manager.py  # USB device detection
│   ├── logger.py          # Logging utilities
│   └── db.py              # SQLite database
├── gui/                   # PyQt6 GUI
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── main_window.py     # Main window
│   └── widgets/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       └── port_widget.py # Port status widget
└── static/
    ├── firmware/          # Firmware binaries
    ├── logs/              # Log files
    └── flash_history.db   # SQLite database

Development

Running Tests

# Test device detection
python -c "from core import DeviceManager; dm = DeviceManager(); print(dm.scan_devices())"

# Test flasher (dry run)
python -c "from core import ESP32Flasher; f = ESP32Flasher(); print(f.get_chip_info('/dev/ttyUSB0'))"

Adding Custom Features

1. Custom flash offsets: Modify core/flasher.py to support multiple partition flashing
2. MQTT reporting: Enable in config.yaml and implement in flashd.py
3. Web UI: Add Flask REST API in new api/ module
4. QR code scanning: Add barcode support to GUI

Troubleshooting

Permission Denied on Linux

# Add user to dialout group
sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER
# Logout and login again

Device Not Detected

# Check USB devices
ls -la /dev/ttyUSB* /dev/ttyACM*

# Test with esptool directly
esptool.py --port /dev/ttyUSB0 chip_id

GUI Won't Start

# Install PyQt6
pip install PyQt6

# For Raspberry Pi Desktop
sudo apt install python3-pyqt6

Roadmap

• v0.1 - CLI multi-port flasher
• v0.2 - Auto-detect + async flashing
• v0.3 - PyQt6 GUI dashboard
• v0.4 - SQLite logging & metrics
• v0.5 - REST API for headless control
• v0.6 - MQTT integration
• v1.0 - Production release

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

Support

For issues and questions:

• GitHub Issues: Create an issue
• Documentation: See this README

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Made for factory-grade ESP32 production flashing ⚡